College (it's boring but fitting)

Some of us seniors are beyond excited for college, while others wish that senior year would never end. But all of us seem to be dreading the application process, myself included. The common application has made it somewhat easier on us, but almost all schools still include multiple supplement essays. Let’s face it, it’s a drag. The entire application is just searching to find out who you are, and personally, I find it difficult to write about myself. To make it even harder on us, the essays can be no more than 500 words. That is not long enough to lay out my life story or express the depths of my soul, but that’s what they want. 

Now let’s talk about expectations. The top colleges expect each of us to be superheroes. We have to save the world (by age 17), get straight A’s while being a top-notch athlete, and have a 2400 SAT score. And it helps a whole lot if you’ve had a major challenge such as a deceased family member or a debilitating disease, and don’t forget about race - minorities win. What are we supposed to do if we’re “normal?” Most of us, kill ourselves with numerous AP classes, tons of community service, along with sports practices and competitions. What do we do in our free time? Oh wait, we don’t have any. 

The problem is that everyone knows how high the expectations are, so everyone is looking to do the next best/most impressive thing. Many of us have fed the homeless or built houses in places ravaged by natural disasters. But even with an impressive community service project and stellar grades, how are we supposed to compete with those kids who go to prep schools and win national science contests or take AP Calculus in 5th grade? To a certain extent, we can’t. We have to be crafty with our applications. I personally know two “normal” people who have gotten into IVY league schools, one Harvard, the other Princeton. Both were good academically, but nothing outstanding in the eyes of an IVY admissions officer. When asked, both students said that they believed it was their essay that got them into the university. So I think here is the key, the essay. 

An article by the New York Times reported that in 2008 Harvard received a record number of applicants: 27,278. That’s a lot of fierce competitors we have to face. So if our academic achievements don’t set us apart from the average applicant, our essay has to if we’re gonna have a chance at acceptance. The essay is a place where admissions can see and understand our character and the things that matter to us. But it is also a place for us to showcase our accomplishments and brag about our very successful selves. Hopefully, our application essay will make just one person in admissions look twice and think “wow he/she is very unique, we need to have him/her on our campus!” With a strong resume, good test scores, a killer essay, and a some luck, maybe we’ll have a chance at receiving that acceptance letter. Good luck to us all!