College Application Narratives

I followed the standard suggestion I heard, which is to have a set of "safety", "target", and "reach" schools. I didn't have many other factors that influenced where I applied. I applied to my state's public colleges for safety; schools with strong STEM programs as target schools; and top 20s for reach schools. I also applied to the UC schools.

I'm based in California, so naturally, I applied to the UC schools. As far as other schools, I factored in application difficulty vs. time spent on application when creating my list of "safety", "target", and "reach" schools. Also specifically, I toured Harvard and felt the vibes were off, so I didn't apply there.

My process was very vibes based. I made a list of 40 schools, of which I could imagine myself being in. Then I did research on if any of the schools had anything off-putting. Some of my reasons of putting a school in my list are location and strength in a subject I'm interested in.

I mostly thought of applying to in-state universities because of in-state tuition. After that, I went for reach schools that were strong in the CS department, like MIT, Stanford and such.

I'm from Virginia, and I mostly looked at in-state schools because Virginia schools have pretty good aid for low-income here. I think at University of Richmond, Virginia residents with income under $75,000 can get a full ride. And this was a primary motivation behind my choices.

I value student culture in a college the most, and I also like bigger schools. And those were the primary influences when I chose my schools.

I had a healthy mix of safety, target, and reach schools. But I also based my choices on my GPA and preferences. I also didn't apply to many Ivy Leagues because they didn't fit my vibe.

The places I chose were based on my family's vision of what colleges I need to go to. I also applied for specific programs that were very good for engineering. I'd say the influence between parental guidance and program strength was half-and-half.

I applied ED to Brown and ED2 to Pomona College. I kind of knew they were my top choices because of environment, prestige, and a smaller school size.

I applied ED to Brown. I chose Brown because I wanted to do whatever I wanted, and the open curriculum fits that. It also has a good enough prestige, which is a good tool if I want to get employment after.

I chose not to apply early decision anywhere. I kind of figured that I didn't feel too strongly about any individual school. But in hindsight, it might have been worth it to just shoot my shot at a school. I did apply non-restrictive early action to schools in my list that had it.

I applied ED to University of Virginia because I like that it's a bigger school and has nice student culture. Since I'm really interested in student culture and community, I made this decision by following online accounts of the schools I was considering and found which one fit me the most.

I applied ED to Brown. Since I knew I was going for classics, Brown was a natural choice because it has a really good classics program. I also knew that I wanted to do multiple things, so the open curriculum really fit my needs.

I applied early decision to CMU and actually got in, but I actually couldn't take the offer because of financial reasons. I chose CMU because I did a summer program there, SAMS, and that was really the first time I got to see students with similar backgrounds and interests.

I really didn't have an idea of what to apply as, so I just applied as BME (Biomedical Engineering) since I had biology olympiad experience. As a matter of fact, I just chose whatever fit my portfolio the best. During college though, I decided that engineering was a bad idea and switched to APMA.

I chose sociology when I applied and I did stick with it. I chose sociology because it resonated with my essays and portfolio in healthcare inequalities and stuff like that. I guess I could've also chosen public health, but I chose sociology in the end because I think it covers a broader area of my interest, and I also didn't want to go into the full medical track.

I applied in the range of philosophy, religion, French, psychology, and linguistics, which are all, broadly, my interests. I declared philosophy in my first semester in college because I wanted to have an anchor. But I'm still exploring other majors as well.

I always wanted to do computer science, so I didn't really think too hard about it and applied as CS for all the schools.

I actually didn't choose a major. I applied undecided.

I had a really tough time choosing between visual arts and psychology. I applied psychology for UVA, but other than that, I mostly applied as visual arts because I felt like I had a stronger background in arts. For CMU specifically, I applied visual arts because I liked their art program and integration with technology.

I applied classics and also put archaeology as my second major. My story with classics was in high school, my English teacher had a classics degree, and he taught a classics class. He's like one of those once-in-a-lifetime teachers, and it really made me interested in the subject. Here at Brown, I also picked up IAPA because I also have an interest in modern politics.

I was choosing between mechanical engineering and civil engineering. In the end, I chose and stuck with mechanical engineering because of my interest in CAD, design, and manufacturing.

I'm really fortunate to say that my parents were able to pay for all of my tuition.

Mostly parents, plus a very small portion of federal financial aid.

I didn't pay anything tuition-wise; I received full financial aid for tuition and school-related expenses.

I took aid and loan from FAFSA. I also had parental contribution, it's a mix of the two.

I'm paying mostly through scholarships from UMich. I actually received a lot of merit scholarships because I applied early action. It's roughly a 2:1 split between scholarships and my parents. I actually also applied for a lot of external scholarships, such as ethnic-specific scholarships, writing competitions, and stuff like that.

They asked for so many things: tax filing from two years prior, income documentation, proof of employment and specific household information from my parents. All of that information also has to be routed through College Board/FAFSA.

I remember having to get W2 forms, tax forms, taxpayer numbers, etc. They weren't difficult to find, mostly because I had them organized already.

I had to get financial documents and information from my parents to put into FAFSA. Because my parents are immigrants and don't really know how to do these things, and I had to do a lot of research by myself to make sure I'm submitting the FAFSA correctly.

I vaguely started knowing about college applications in middle school, but I really didn't care about it until junior year of high school. I started preparing for the SAT in my junior year, asked for recommendation letters at the end of junior year, and started writing my essays in the summer before senior year. The essays and applications continued all the way until the end of regular decisions.

I started writing my application in senior year of high school, but I guess I started thinking about colleges since the start of high school. I had a sister who was four years older, so my parents kind of started reminding me about college applications early, though it didn't really affect me in freshman and sophomore years.

I started thinking about the application in freshman year of high school. I took my SAT in my sophomore year, but I didn't start with the actual application until the summer before senior year.

I started my application halfway through the summer before my senior year. I started by looking at schools that had rolling decisions and honors colleges which were a higher priority for me. After those were done, I repurposed my existing essays for the other schools closer to the deadline. I think I finalized my essays about a week before all the deadlines.

I think I started everything in late June. But honestly, I procrastinated quite a bit and submitted my applications pretty last-minute.

I kind of knew about applying to colleges from a young age. But I really started working on my application in June of the summer before senior year. I put together my first draft in August, did the Brown video essay in September, and submitted the application in October.

My first thought about college was at the start of high school. The first time it really affected me in school was sophomore year, where I realized I needed to study and prepare for college. I think I started my application in the summer before senior year, and I submitted my first application in August because it was rolling decisions, and I stopped applying in November.

The first time I knew about colleges was in 6th grade. But since my parents never attended college, it remained just an early idea for me. I really started doing research about college applications in 9th grade. In 10th grade, I started writing my personal statement. I also realized I wasn't doing anything outside of classes, so I started doing some extracurriculars as well. In 11th grade, I really honed in on my extracurriculars and applied for programs colleges offer. When 12th grade rolled around, I asked my teachers to read through my essays and finalized my application.

Outside of the required counselor recommendation letter, I asked for recommendation letters from my math and English teacher. I read somewhere that you should have your two teacher recommendations be from two non-adjacent subjects, and I figured I had the best relationship with my math teacher in STEM classes, and English teacher in non-STEM classes.

I asked my history teacher from freshman and junior year. He was also a club moderator for a club I was in, so I felt like he could give a helpful perspective. I also asked my math teacher because that was my favorite subject at the time and I participated frequently in the class. I also actually had an additional letter from my mock trial coach.

I asked my math and CS teacher, who taught me for three years. I felt his class challenged me the most; I always walk out of his class dead, in a good way. I also asked my philosophy teacher, who taught me and also saw me through my ethics bowl stuff, which was one of the biggest struggles I had in high school. I also had a letter from a professor at another college who I did online research with.

I asked my Latin and English teacher. I feel like those two were the teachers whom I had the most developed relationships with outside of the classroom. Also, on the topic of suggesting to have recommendation letters from different subject areas, I think it didn't apply to me as much because I was applying for two humanities degrees. I also think it helped show me as someone who kind of knows the direction they're going.

I asked my English and philosophy teachers for recommendation letters because I did well in their classes and also had good relationships with them. I also asked one of the people in a youth organization I was participating in. I had strong connections with them and strong qualifications in that area.

I feel like my specific background comes with some stereotypes, also especially because I'm applying in STEM. So I had a tactic where I asked two STEM teachers and two humanities teachers, and asked one of each to talk about my personal strength, and the other to talk about my academic strength.

My English teacher and my dad both helped me proofread my essays. My dad also helped me do school research on which schools to apply. Other than that, I was in brief contact with a college advising company, but I didn't end up working with them. My school also provided college counselors, but they weren't super useful for me.

My mom reminded me about college and planning ahead for applications. My sister helped look at my essays. I had some interaction with my college counselor in school as well; they looked at my college list and actually suggested ROTC to me, which I didn't do.

I remember some graduated students who helped me choose schools. My parents were also somewhat involved in the process. Most help came from an external paid college advising company. It was very much of an out of school operation.

I think the most help I got was from my father who read over a lot of my essays. He also helped me edit them before submitting. My literature class teacher also had us submit our personal statement and give feedback on those as well.

Beyond my college counselor who gave me good general advice and knowledge about applications, I didn't really get much other help. I didn't feel like other people were able to speak for me.

My college advisor from high school helped me a lot with the technical side of the process, like dealing with CommonApp, getting documents for different schools, and stuff like that. I also had my family and friends read my essays.

I took a leap when I participated in a summer program at CMU by talking to an admissions officer there for the CS department. She helped me check my essays and extracurriculars, even had a one-on-one zoom call with me to go through each sentence of my personal statement. Other than that, I received a lot of motivation from my parents, and I also had my English teacher help read my essays.

I had plenty of olympiad experiences during high school, such as in computer science, math, and biology, so I mainly centered my application around those. I also included chess as my main hobby outside of academics, but that was about it. I would say I presented myself as a biomedical engineer who was interested in natural sciences.

I presented myself as someone who cares about other people and the broader society. I focused on my observations about things that were going on around me in detail and engaged with them on a deeper level.

I think an application is not nonfiction. It's fiction based on reality. In that regard, if you want to make a character memorable, you have to give them backstories that are tragic or funny. Which is why I chose a tragic and funny one. I wanted to be seen as a nerd, but for good reasons, not because I want to go to some university, but because I'm somehow born and disposed to being that way.

I was really interested in math and CS stuff, so I tried to frame it around my passion for math and CS. In hindsight though, I think I probably should've knit some of my other activities in that would differentiate me from the crowd.

I really valued community, and I wanted colleges to know that. I've really tried to show that point through my personal statement and extracurriculars. Also, for my art portfolio, I also made sure that messages related to humility and empathy get across.

I wanted to present myself in two ways: who I am, and where I am going. And I was really concerned with every part of the application matching up with a bigger story that's authentic to myself. I think people sometimes get scared thinking that another person's on the other side, but as weird as this may sound, the admissions officer knows you're still a kid, so I took advantage of that to have some fun.

An important thing for me was presenting myself as a sort of a niche thing. It's not just about having a strong application in terms of standardized tests and grades, but also in ways you engage your society and community as a whole. In my application, I really emphasized my political participation and involvement in youth organizations.

I think I might not be the most extraordinary in academics, so I honed in on my story and my background of overcoming adversity, which I think are my strengths.

Arguably, one of the most important components of your college application outside of activities and grades is your essay. Make sure you start early on those. Personally, I had over 10 versions of my personal statement essay, with some complete rewrites!

Really put forward what you're interested in. If it's hard to figure out your exact interest, you should still try to center your application around a theme/subject. Also, remember you can exaggerate in your application, but don't lie!

For individual students, they should avoid being tutored by current college students. Just because they've been through the process doesn't mean they know how it works. Also, don't spend too much time on your safety schools, since you will most likely get in.

I was really stressed during the application season about things like getting into a really prestigious college. But now that I'm in my second year of college, I've found myself to be doing pretty well. So yeah, I think as stressful as the application season may be, you will generally end up okay.

You should at least start thinking about your essays in the summer before senior year. Also make sure to reach out for help if you need it. Research the colleges you're applying to, and definitely visit colleges too!

While you don't have to be set, I feel like you should have an idea why you want to go to college, and where you'll be at the end of it. Your application should also be a cohesive story, with different parts of the application being distinct subsections pointing towards the same thing.

I think you should do something to differentiate yourself from the general population. Maybe through unique extracurriculars, making the admissions officer think you're engaged with your education. Also, you need to be organized with the documents and stuff you're sending to college.

The most important thing is to have motivation for yourself. Because at the end of the day, where you'll get in really depends on where you want to go. Also really research the admissions process: it always changes and schools care about different things. I did my research on sources like YouTube, web search, and forums, which often had suggestions and instructions on parts of the admissions process.