May 18, 2012

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Preparing Your Portfolio for College Admission

Everyone knows going to college is essential these days in order to be competitive in the work force. With more people going to college, getting into the college of your choice and earning the scholarships to get there is more and more competitive as well. Applying for college can sometimes seem like a job in and of itself! Thankfully, there are people who are experts in developing a winning college admission portfolio.

Knowing What Admissions Officers Want

Getting high GPAs is not all that most colleges want anymore; in fact, some don’t want students with 4.0′s anymore. Knowing what colleges want is half of getting accepted. You also need to highlight the specific areas of your qualifications to make your application standout in the crowd of applicants.

Writing the All-Popular Admission Essay

Most colleges now require an admissions essay. Sometimes it will be one or two pages, or it might only be 700 to 1,000 words. That isn’t a lot of space to let them know how wonderful you are and how much you can do for their college! Getting help with college admission essays is essential in getting accepted to your college choice. Many scholarships require essays as well, so having a good proofreader or editor on your team is a great asset.

Looking for and applying for scholarships can start as soon as the sophomore year in high school. One girl made it her hobby and had more than $200,000 in scholarship money by the time she graduated from high school! It sure alleviates lots of worry when college is paid for before you start!

Filed Under: Education, Requirements Tagged With: , ,

How To Write A College Admission Essay

When writing a college admission essay there are some important details to include. For instance, you want to have a nice part about who you are as a person, who you want to be as a professional, and how your efforts are going to impact the industry that you are looking to enter. This will help colleges gain an understanding of who you are as a person, and what you are desiring and looking for with their college program. This will also give you a good base of what to discuss if you are given the opportunity to meet with the Dean of students regarding your enrollment. It is important that you are detailed and honest about all of the information you provide, but remember, there are some things that are best left un-said. For instance, mentioning fights in school, not getting along with a sibling, or how your parents talk down to you should be something that would not be included in your essay. Remember, this is an entrance essay to a college, not a expository on why you are angry with your family.

The other aspects that you would consider including would be your academic career, or why you would work hard on your academics at this particular school. It is always wise to included your ambitions with the individual school, naming it by name, and making your essay personalized. You are allowed to use first person for these essays, but refrain from too many “we” and “let’s” usage. This tells the college that you might not fully respect their position as the deciding factors on your enrollment, and that can be taken in an off hand manner. Use good grammar, no contractions, and have a lot of natural language that you would use in a formal conversation.

Filed Under: College Essays, Education Tagged With: , ,

What to Never Write About in a College Admission Essay

It’s true the subject for many admission essays for college are very general and vague. They either ask you to state why you deserve to be admitted into their university, or questions about what makes you unique. Colleges use essays not only to assess your writing ability and garner a little background info about you, but also to see how creative you can be, how dedicated you are and if you can make yourself stand out. Unfortunately, some applicants go a little overboard to separate themselves from the pack by writing about some off the wall topics. Here are examples of what material to never include in a college admission essay:

Experience With Drugs
Some applicants may feel the need to include information about low points in their past–including their drug use–to either show how they were once rebellious but are now mature, or how they can overcome adversity. But you’re not applying for a spot on Oprah, so don’t even think of trying to write a “from drug addiction to redemption” sob story. It will not work. The same goes for time in the slammer.

Personal Issues
Another thing the admissions board at universities would rather not hear about is your love life. Unless you loved Ronald Reagan, in a fan sort of way, and you want to follow in his footsteps, then leave the word love behind. You should also exclude stories of unflattering characteristics or moments. Colleges do not like stalkers.

Jokes
Sure, humor is an endearing personality trait. But if you show a college that you can’t take their admission process seriously, then why would they think you would take their school seriously?

A Travelogue
Flights to faraway lands are cheaper and more abundant than ever before. So, it’s really not that unique that you’ve been the exotic lands of the United Kingdom, or experienced the local culture that abounds in sunny Cancun, Mexico. Keep travel stories out.

Filed Under: Appliations, College Essays, Education Tagged With: , ,

How Parents can Help in the College Admissions Process

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College is the time when a parent has to finally let their children grow up as it is the time when their children finally head out on their own. Some parents have trouble with this aspect, as they start to miss having a loved one in the house that depends on them. Luckily for parents in this group, there is one last thing they can help their children do, and it’s an important one. The college admission process is thorough affair, and students can use a little help during it all. Here are a few ways in which parents can lend one last helping hand.

Write the Application Checks
Applying to a school costs money, usually anywhere from $30 to $75 dollars. For a child that is applying to multiple schools, the cost of applications can add up to much more than their allowance money. Parents should just consider it an investment in their education.

Place Applications in the Mail
If your college-bound child decides to apply to schools through the mail, they may need to get them to the post office. Since parents are better suited than their digitally-oriented children to handle postal operations, like calculating postage costs, it could be an area where a parent can flourish.

Give Deadline Reminders
Parents have calendars on the refrigerator and day planners. Children on the other hand have Facebook. Guess who might be better at knowing what the date is?

Help Review Essays
It is highly recommended that applicants have people review their essays to not only find mistakes, but to provide some positive feedback. Parents can play the role of editor and get essays in tip top shape.

Be Supportive
Being supportive is what parents do best, and what they are there for. The college admissions process can mean getting rejection letters along with acceptance letters. If your child is rejected from the college of their choice, let them know that there are perfect alternatives.

Filed Under: Appliations, College Essays Tagged With: , ,