Submitted by: Prab Singh

Im Late, Im Late, For a Very Important Date

Most schools with Early Application plans in the US will have deadlines in early November. Usually November 1st or November 15th. So I will assume that most of you reading this soon after I post it will already have a good portion of your application done already! For those reading this later and considering whether you will apply ED, EA or not, you should refer to an earlier post: http://parentedge.in/should-you-apply-early-decision/ This post will focus on some of the more common mistakes and areas to be aware of while completing your early applications.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference. The Serenity Praye

Students will inevitably get anxious as these deadlines approach, start scouring the web for sample essays and come across all kinds of advice. They may feel that they have had too sheltered a life with too much good fortune to write a great impact essay. They may want to bend, or completely fabricate, the truth to have a good essay. Well, all I say to that is that if fiction was that easy, everyone would be a novelist. In fact, non-fiction is much easier, and will always be better. If you feel that you dont have an amazing thing that happened to you, then tell them what is amazing about how little happens. That is, sometimes it is not the big changes, but more the little observations that say the most about you. Focus on two main questions when considering a story you might tell: Would the reader learn something more about me that is not on other parts of my application? Is this an interesting story, is it memorable? Dont be afraid to start over. The best essays are written authentically and are quite simple in form.

The Pedantic: The other thing that I see happening at this stage is students, or sometimes parents, over complicating the essay that has gone through so many drafts already by using difficult words or complex sentences. We are somehow brainwashed in school to think that good writing is difficult to understand; but it is quite the opposite. Keep it authentic!

Time and Space Continuum:There are usually parts of the application that allow you to list your various activities and the time you spent doing these activities. I have found that students will often undersell the number of hours that they put in. If you were in a school play, that should not be reported as just the three hours that the play took. It needs to include your rehearsing and time just being stressed about opening night! The second problem that students have is that the space in the activity list is very limited. Colleges understand this, and that is why they have left the Additional Information area for you to elaborate on these. Try grouping your activities into two or three areas that broadly define what you have done. Admissions people will be reading so many applications, it is unlikely that they will remember all of your activities, but they will remember the broad areas.

But Enough about Me, What do you Think of Me?: Your school recommendations are a very important part of your application, and the ones that you use for your early application will be used for all of your applications. So give the school time to write these, dont spring it on them at the last second. You should also think about it yourself first: How have you contributed to your school or particular class? Are there good examples of you as a student that you could remind them of? Are there activities in your application that your school counsellor or teachers could verify through the application? Many schools will ask you to copy certificates from your activities and they will send these in. But in my experience, most colleges will just throw those away. But the admissions will ALWAYS read your recommendations.

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder: Many colleges have Why Us essays, asking you to tell them why you want to attend their schools. Your early application school is likely one of your top choices, so you may be tempted to write a flirtatious letter to them. They want specific details, make sure that you have shown them that you have done your research and made connections between you and the school.

The Devil is in the Details: Before you send the application, take a print preview of the whole application and read through everything again. You want to focus on whether you have added everything that you want to talk about, but also that you have not been overly redundant in doing so. There should not be any copy/paste sentences in the application. I would also recommend that you go to the colleges admissions page and take a quick look at their requirements for International students. We get so preoccupied with the Common Application that we might miss something that is required by that school for International students. For example, Carnegie Melon has a Pre-application they would like you to submit earlier, and many schools require something called a Certification of Finances.

It Aint Over till its Over: Pressing submit is obviously a very important step, but it is not the last step. You will need to pay the application fee, make sure that all of the school documents are sent and send official scores to all the colleges from any standardized testing that you have done. Then it is over! Congratulations, you have finished your early application! Now, get to work on the rest! Do NOT wait for your decision to come out before you complete all of your other applications.

Also see more @Prab Singh heads CollegeSource (http://thecollegesource.net/), an organisation that provides life coaching to adolescents and support to their family through the process of deciding their higher education and career goals..in

About the Author: Prab Singh heads CollegeSource (

thecollegesource.net/

), an organisation that provides life coaching to adolescents and support to their family through the process of deciding their higher education and career goals.

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