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Constructing Your College Application: Essays, Activities, Honors,
Recommendations, and More
By the EditRevise Team
Copyright 2015 Editate Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any
form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical
methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by
copyright law.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword ................................................................................................................................... 3
Chapter 1: Understanding Yourself ........................................................................................... 5
Chapter 2: The Big Picture: What You Will Need to Do ......................................................... 10
Chapter 3: The Three Real Things Colleges Look for in Your Application ............................ 14
Chapter 4: The Myth of the Well-Rounded Applicant ............................................................. 18
Chapter 5: Playing the Game: Making the Most of the Activities Section .............................. 21
Chapter 6: Short and Sweet: Listing Your Awards ................................................................... 27
Chapter 7: Structuring Your Rsum ..................................................................................... 31
Chapter 8: Writing Powerful Descriptions ............................................................................... 34
Chapter 9: Perfect Form: Submitting an Eye-Catching Rsum ............................................ 38
Chapter 10: Brainstorming ....................................................................................................... 42
Chapter 11: How to Select Your Essay Prompt for the Common Application ....................... 47
Chapter 12: Decoding the Prompt .......................................................................................... 53
Chapter 13: The Secret to Great Writing: Revision, Revision, Revision ................................. 57
Chapter 14: The Three Keys to Writing the Perfect College Application Essay .................... 61
Chapter 15: The 40/60 Essay Rule: Story Time versus Introspection .................................... 64
Chapter 16: Show, Dont Tell: Tips on How to Demonstrate Your Qualities without Bragging........................................................................................................................................ ......66
Chapter 17: Weaving Supporting Evidence into Your College Application Essay ................. 69
Chapter 18: Getting Your Outline in Line ................................................................................ 74
Chapter 19: An Introduction to Writing Your Introduction ..................................................... 78
Chapter 20: Developing Your Thesis ....................................................................................... 83
Chapter 21: A Great Body ......................................................................................................... 87
Chapter 22: Writing Introspectively: The Three Donts .......................................................... 92
Chapter 23: The Conclusion .................................................................................................... 96
Chapter 24: How to Write a Short Essay ............................................................................... 100
Chapter 25: How to Differentiate Your College Application ................................................. 104
Chapter 26: Five Points to Clean up Your Grammar ............................................................. 106
Chapter 27: Make No Mistake about It .................................................................................. 111
Chapter 28: Important Elements of Style for Formal Writing ................................................116
Chapter 29: Choosing the Right Recommenders .................................................................. 120
Chapter 30: Writing a Killer Outline to Help Your Recommender ....................................... 123
Chapter 31: Recommendations for Recommenders .............................................................. 128
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Every fall, hordes of nervous high school students scramble to put the value of their lifes
work into a few short essays and descriptions. Get into your dream school and be set for life, they
are told. But how does one gain acceptance to their dream school? What do universities look for,
and what should applicants write about on their applications?
A select few will have the resources to seek guidance from costly private counselors, but
those who cannot afford this pricey help will depend on a deluge of contradictory advice from
potentially questionable sources. First generation college students will not even have their parents to
help guide them through the complicated application process, but even the students who do receive
advice from adults who attended college will be receiving outdated knowledge on a rapidly changing
process that becomes more competitive each year. Tragically, many otherwise strong applicants are
denied the opportunity to attend their dream schools simply because they are unequipped with the
writing skills and knowledge of the application process that they need to present themselves as the
perfect candidates they are. All it takes is a serious grammatical blunder, a poor topic choice, or a
misallocation of space on an application to seriously jeopardize any chances you have of impressing
admissions officers. At EditRevise, we aspire to maximize your chances of admission by eliminating
writing and presentation inaccuracies, so that only the best of you shines through. In order to help
us do this, we created a handbook for all applicants to use as a source of reliable advice throughout
the application season.
It is with great pleasure that the EditRevise team releases Constructing Your College Application:
Essays, Activities, Honors, Recommendations, and More, an eBook composed of a series of articles
intended to arm you with the fundamental strategies you need to best present yourself on your
college applications. Our hope is that we can provide you with a bit more certainty by giving you a
source of reliable guidelines based on common types of feedback we have provided to EditRevise
customers on their applications.
Aside from taking pride in the reference material we have produced for college applicants,
we are also happy to provide affordable access to advice and feedback. EditRevise accomplishes
this not only by releasing free content like Constructing Your College Application, but primarily through
our revolutionary online feedback services. We believe that aside from being advised on how to
write high quality essays, it is crucial that all applicants have access to extra sets of eyes that can
thoroughly revise their work and provide helpful comments to improve application and essay
content, structure, flow of thought, word choice, and grammar. EditRevise believes in the power of
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perfecting applications and essays through careful and repeated revision, and we are committed to
providing college applicants with timely, affordable, and convenient feedback. Your 650-word
Common Application essay costs only $28 for feedback within 48 hours or $37 for feedback within
six hoursno matter the day or time.
We hope that Constructing Your College Application will be your trusty guide to writing an
outstanding application. For more content on writing competitive college applications, like articles
and recommender worksheets, be sure to visit our writing center at writingcenter.editrevise.com.
After you have used this eBook to write the first drafts of your essays, save $10 on your first revision
with the promo code eBook and submit your writing to editrevise.com. After all, reading about
how to write essays can only take you so farthere is no better way to improve your writing than
practice and revision!
Write well and prosper!
The EditRevise Team
Save $10 on your first revision with discount code: eBook
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Chapter 1: Understanding Yourself
Before embarking on your college application, you should reflect on yourself, your passions,
and your goals. While your goals and vision of yourself will certainly change with time, colleges are
looking for applicants who have a solid sense of self and some concrete, achievable goals.
Increasingly, top universities are striving to curate incoming classes with diverse interests and
strengths. Therefore, you should consider what you will offer a campus community, and also what
you hope to glean from your college experience. Colleges are not only looking for candidates who
will be an asset to campus activities, but also for candidates who will make the most of the resources
provided to them. By reflecting on your own interests, you will not only gain insight about yourself
and what you are looking to gain from your college experience, but also about how you might thrive
in a university environment.
As you prepare your application, try to imagine yourself in your readers shoes. Your reader
will be trying to put together a picture of you based on your application, interests, and writing
samples, so you should strive to make your application as indicative of your interests and goals as
possible. Before you begin drafting your responses to the Common Application writing prompts or
college-specific essays, consider these questions:
What are you good at?
Which activities have you loved participating in? Which might you want to continue
in college, or potentially as a career?
What do you want from your college experience? Consider the resources a college
offers: friends, networking, extracurricular activities, access to esteemed professors,
opportunities for learning about new fields, etc.
What are the things you enjoy doing the most? These dont necessarily need to be
related to school.
What are your life goals after college? Do you want to continue in academia?
Become a professional athlete? Start your own business?
How will the schools that you are applying to help you achieve your goals? To
answer this question, you should research the faculty and resources that each college
offers. Even though you will be applying to several colleges, your application should
be tailored as specifically as possible to each college you apply to.
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What are your life goals after college? It is very likely you may switch careers more
than once after college, so try to think beyond your ideal first job, and instead
consider the life you hope to be leading many years after graduation.
When answering these questions, allow yourself to dream big. College is an incredible
opportunity that can connect you to professionals in your field, expose you to new ideas that may
completely change your worldview, and introduce you to friends who can challenge you in exciting
ways. Admissions boards will expect you to transform over your four years attending college, but are
also looking for ambitious candidates who will make the most out of their college experience. So if
you want to be the next Steve Jobs, have the confidence to say so! Colleges are interested in playing
a part in shaping a new generation of thinkers and global citizens; they know it is entirely possible
for a candidate to enter school with pre-med plans, and leave with an acceptance to a PhD program
in English Literature. Therefore, it is useful to think about how you might change in the next four
years. What interests have you not been able to explore in high school that you may be exposed to in
college? It is important to enter into the application process as both ambitious and flexible. Your
enthusiasm for learning and your open-mindedness and excitement about what college offers will be
your greatest assets.
Applying This Understanding
Once you have articulated your goals and interests, you will be faced with the task of
strategically expressing these ambitions in your application. While colleges will not explicitly ask
about your 20-year plan, there are ways of communicating your goals and passions within your
application. As we will discuss throughout this book, there are various opportunities within the
application to demonstrate that you understand yourself and your passions.
Strategy 1: Honors Section
The honors section of your application is one opportunity to direct a readers attention
towards your greatest strengths. If you have received many academic honors, focus on using the
ones which best display your specific skill set. For example, if you love the sciences and made
Honor Roll every semester, but also won a national or regional science fair, choose the science fair
recognition over mentioning Honor Roll. By strategically highlighting honors that demonstrate your
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expertise and passions, you will show your reader not only that you have won recognition in the
past, but that you are likely to contribute your passion to campus communities as well.
Strategy 2: Activities Section
With a maximum of ten activities to list (on the Common Application), you can be even
more strategic in the activities section. As we will discuss in chapter 5, you should not feel pressured
to fill all ten slots. Rather, choose to list activities that demonstrate your spikes of interest, and show
a strong time commitment to the activities that are most important to you. If you are most well-
defined by your passion for English, for example, your activities section should reflect that interest,
with several activities (newspaper, literary magazines, blogging, etc.) that demonstrate how you have
devoted your time to pursuing what you love. As with the honors section, the activities section is
also a way for readers to gauge not only your past, but also your future. Highlight activities that
correspond to your goals and ambitions, and that hint at future participation in similar organizations.
Strategy 3: Writing Sample
Your writing sample is your opportunity to shine. Think strategically about how to
incorporate your passions and goals into your essay. The following are the five options the Common
Application gives as writing prompts. Weve included examples of applicants who know how to
leverage these questions into dynamic reflections of their goals and interests.
1. Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application
would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
Carla is a first-generation Mexican-American who hopes to study Spanish literature and
Hispanic cultures. While she has many stories that are central to her identity (her participation in
Girl Scouts, her love of theater, etc.), she wants her readers to know that she is passionate about
her heritage and that she will be active in Hispanic societies on campus. She chooses to write on
this prompt and tells about her experience growing up in a bilingual household. She not only
discusses her past, but also how her background has influenced her academic and extracurricular
interests.
2. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you
learn?
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Evan is a top-tier basketball player and is being recruited for athletics, but he is also a
passionate scientist. He chooses this prompt and writes about an experiment he conducted on
energy efficiency in his high school. The experiment went through several permutations, and he
modified his hypothesis after his findings were not what he had hoped. He ties in his basketball
experience when he discusses how sportsmanship has helped shape his approach to both
academic and athletic set-backs, and he makes it clear that in college, he will continue growing as
both an athlete and a member of the scientific community.
3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same
decision again?
Ambika is passionate about human rights, and wants to major in International Relations. She
chooses this prompt because it will allow her to highlight not only her time as Student Council
President, when she approached her school principal about a controversial idea, but will also
give her the opportunity to demonstrate that she is devoted to changing unfair policies. Since
this question asks if she would make the same decision in the future, she will be able to discuss
her ambitions to become involved in student government on campus.
4. Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why
is it meaningful to you?
David loves his familys lake house in Nantucket, but he knows that writing about a vacation
spot isnt exactly what this prompt is looking for. Instead, he thinks about how he hopes to
someday be the editor of a regional or national newspaper, and writes about his high schools
newsroom. Throughout the past four years, he has spent hours in this room working on stories,
having exciting conversations with his peers, and fulfilling his love of journalism. By focusing on
this place and all he has accomplished there, he can demonstrate his exhaustive commitment in
high school to his schools newspaper, and also discuss how he cannot wait to become involved
in journalism classes and activities in college.
5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to
adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
Andrea is passionate about social justice, and has won various recognitions for her
leadership in her community. She has spent three years volunteering at a womens shelter in her
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town, and hopes to study public policy and law. After reflecting on this question, she remembers
the time when the manager of the womens shelter was sick on the day of a large fundraiser, and
Andrea had to spearhead the event by herself. She discusses how this responsibility made her
realize her own potential as an adult, and then talks about the values she has learned from her
volunteer experience and how she will put those values into action by becoming involved in law.
Final Tips
A thorough understanding of yourself, your passions, and your goals can deeply influence
how you put together your college application. By understanding both how you see yourself, and
how you hope your reader will see you, you can leverage your experience and interests to best
express your potential as a student, leader, and citizen.
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Chapter 2: The Big Picture: What You Will Need to Do
Preliminary Preparation
Before beginning the Common Application, you will need to create a password and
username. If you are still using that Hannah Montana-themed email address from middle school,
now would be a great time to create a more professional email address (ideally using a combination
of your first and last name). Once you have created an account, save the information in a secure
place. You may also want to take some time to ensure that your social media accounts are private,
and to remove any information that you do not wish to be available to admissions boards, which are
increasingly running Internet searches on top candidates. Once you have your account, you will be
ready to get started. The left-hand side of the Common Application will walk you through the six
major categories: Profile, Family, Education, Testing, Activities, and Writing. On the right hand
side, you will find tips specific to each section. Take some time to read through the tips while you
are completing your application.
Section One: Profile
The first section of the Common Application will ask for various details about your personal
information, including your full name, address, citizenship status, and demographics. Some of these
sections, such as Demographics, which pertains mainly to ethnicity and religion, are optional.
However, you should strive to complete all sections that you feel comfortable answering. You also
will be asked whether you feel you qualify for a fee waiver; this is an issue best discussed with your
school counselor, as he or she will be asked to verify your response.
Section Two: Family
The Family section is brief, and will ask about details about your living situation. This section
will also ask you to provide details about your parents level of education.
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Section Three: Education
We start getting to the meat of the Common Application with the third category, which
begins to paint a picture of you as a student and candidate. This section will first ask for your school
counselors name and contact information, and then will ask if any community organizations (i.e.
Boys and Girls Club) have offered you free assistance, such as mentoring or editing, with your
application. If you transferred high schools, took time off between grades, or took any college-level
courses while in high school, you will have the opportunity to disclose this information here. You
will also be required to provide details about your current GPA and the courses in which you are
currently enrolled.
Extra tips:
Pay special attention to the final two sections of the Education category: Honors and
Future Plans. The honors section will ask you to list as many as five awards or honors, and will
ask if these achievements were on the local, regional, national, or international level. As a general
rule, you should list your achievements from most impressive to least, so if you have won any
national or international awards, list these first. The Future Plans section asks only two questions:
your intended career, and the level of education you hope to attain (Masters, PhD, etc.). Remember
that your response is not set in stone by any means, but try to avoid selecting Undecided. With
options ranging from Artist to Optometrist, you should be able to find a potential profession
that interests you. Admissions boards do not expect you to have a 10-year professional plan, but
they are looking for candidates who are passionate about learning, and who hope to leverage their
education into an interesting and fulfilling career. They know that your response will very likely
change over the course of your college experience, but you will have an advantage if you
demonstrate a concrete goal.
Section Four: Testing
You will be required to submit your official test sources, but the Common Application also
gives you the option of self-reporting your scores as well. Most candidates choose to self-report in
addition to sending official test scores, in the event that the official scores arrive late to the colleges.
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If you have your final test scores when you are filling out the application, take a few minutes to
input your scores.
Section Five: Activities
The Activities section will help colleges glean a better understanding of how you pursued
your interests during high school. The Common Application allows you to input a maximum of ten
activities. For each activity, you will be asked to describe your role in the organization, and include
any specific accomplishments or honors. This section will also measure the extent of time you spent
doing each activity, with several questions geared towards the level of your participation. When
filling out this section, it is important to recognize that readers are clearly more interested in
activities in which you spent a significant amount of time. Also, remember that you do not need to
fill out all ten slots; instead, focus on activities that display your passion, commitment, and impact.
As with the Honors section, you should rank your activities from the most impressive to the least; in
this context, you should begin with the activities in which you held a leadership role or participated
for more than one year.
Section Six: Writing
The Common Application saves the best (and most important!) section for last. The final
section is your essay, with a word count requirement of between 250 and 650. The application will
provide you with five prompts from which to choose. You should spend a considerable amount of
time preparing your essay prior to submitting your application. If possible, you should also submit it
to a school counselor for evaluation before you include it in your application. When choosing
among prompts, try writing an outline for each prompt, and then see which essay seems the most
interesting to write.
Outside of the Application
Besides filling out the Common Application, you will also be required to take additional
steps in your college application journey. These include the following:
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Letters of recommendation
o Make sure to give your recommenders sufficient time to write you a letter (at least
three months), but do not be shy about reminding them about upcoming deadlines.
When you ask someone for a letter, you should come prepared with your list of
schools, each schools deadline, and each schools preferred method of receiving
letters. If schools prefer hard copy letters of recommendation, you should provide
each of your recommenders with stamped, addressed envelopes as a courtesy.
Interviews
o If you have the option to request an interview with a representative from a college,
you should take the opportunity. While interviews are optional, they provide colleges
with a more personal idea of who you are and what you will contribute to the
campus community.
Additional Essays
o Some colleges that use the Common Application will require supplemental essays.
Some of these are tailored to the school, while others ask more creative questions.
These supplemental essays are just as important as your major essay, and you should
take time to outline, draft, revise, and receive feedback on your responses.
This guide will break down each section of the Common Application and provide specific
tips and strategies for making the most of your responses. But before you begin, look over the
application and familiarize yourself with the different categories, as outlined above, and begin
planning your responses. Make sure to give yourself sufficient time to understand the application,
and to spend significantly more time on the most important sections (Activities, Honors, and
Writing). With time, strategy, and effort, you will be able to submit a successful application.
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Chapter 3: The Three Real Things Colleges Look for in Your Application
Ever read a colleges post about what it looks for in applicants? Its all fluff. Its hard to
distill the flowery language into actionable items you can include on your application and its
probably not what they are actually looking for. Take a look at Harvards How Your Application Is
Considered post. You will see phrases such as growth and potential, interests and activities,
character and personality, and contribution to the Harvard community. Many other schools say
they are looking for similar things. Some will just use a bunch of buzzwords like leadership and
teamwork. So what does this all actually mean? What do you need to think about when you are
actually putting together your application? We have the answers.
Before we dive in, the most important thing for you to understand is that there are only four
items that set you apart from other applicants: your rsum, essay, recommendations, and interview
(for schools that offer one). Grades and test scores are not as important, as you are likely competing
against applicants with similar grades and test scores. Here at EditRevise, we have helpful content
on dealing with all four items that can set you apart. For more details on how to separate yourself
from your competition, check out How to Differentiate Your College Application in chapter 25.
Without further ado, here are the specifics you need to include in your application to
differentiate yourself from your competition.
Drive and Initiative
Achieving challenging goals and consistently going above and beyond expectations is a
strong indicator of future success. Colleges may talk about growth and potential, but they really try
to understand what you have done in the past to indicate a successful future. Colleges are looking
for people who are hard-working, driven, and constantly striving for success. Make sure your
rsum, essay, and recommendations all clearly point to your propensity for taking on challenges and
being successful. Heres how you do it:
1) Write an IMPACT focused rsum. Some colleges ask for your activities to be entered into
their format; others want a full rsum; the end result is the same. When writing the details,
do not describe mundane tasks that anybody could do. Instead, focus on the impact you had
on the organization and indicate what you did to achieve that impact. There is a simple
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formula for writing your points accomplished [X] as measured by [Y] by doing [Z]. Read
chapter 8 on writing killer college rsum descriptions to make sure you do this right.
2) Tie your essays in with your future ambitions and past successes. If you have solved tough
problems in the past that may be relevant to your future career choice, focus in on those
tough problems and situations. Ideally, focus on past successes where you needed to take the
initiative to move a situation forward and to achieve an amicable and successful resolution
for all parties. Read through chapters 11 and 14 for more specific suggestions on writing
college essays.
3) Make sure your recommenders can speak to your personal drive and continuous need to take
the initiative. Here at EditRevise, we recommend you choose recommenders who have
known you for multiple years and have seen you succeed in difficult situations (e.g., student
activity leadership, challenging AP/honors classes, athletics). Make sure your recommenders
are articulate and will put in the time required to write you a convincing recommendation.
Interpersonal Skills
Being able to interact with people in an effective, constructive, empathetic way is vital for
success. In fact, interpersonal skills are the single most important skill to success in your future
career. Colleges talk about character and personality, but what they really mean is that you need to
be a nice person who plays well with others. Its hard to make this come across in your application,
but if you do it successfully, you will have a significant leg up on other applicants. Heres how you
do it:
1) Display clear cases of leadership and teamwork on your rsum. We are sure that you will list
your leadership positions, but how can you make your leadership and teamwork show
interpersonal skills? Use examples like, Led team of four to design and create an underwater
basket weaving autonomous robot that took second place in a regional competition. This
clearly indicates that you were able to lead an effective team and therefore likely have strong
interpersonal skills. Led baseball team to second place finish does not indicate
interpersonal skills as it does not indicate your explicit role.
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2) In your essay, tell stories in which you resolved a conflict within a group of people. Relaying
a story in your essay where you played a central role resolving a conflict between two or
more individuals (including yourself) will clearly display your interpersonal skills.
3) Select recommenders who have seen you work in or lead teams. Ask your recommenders to
write about specific situations involving conflict resolution in which you played an integral
role.
4) Do an interview if offered. An in-person interview is generally the best way to showcase
your interpersonal skills because the school actually gets see how you interact with people.
You will likely get questions that allow you to discuss your interpersonal skills such as tell
me about a time where you had to lead or tell me about a time where you had to solve a
difficult problem with a team.
Diversity of Thought
Colleges are trying to build a class. This means taking people from a multitude of
backgrounds with variety of passions, opinions, and goals. When colleges ask for interests and
activities, they are attempting to understand how your unique personality will fit with the other
students they are selecting. Contrary to popular belief, colleges are NOT looking for well-rounded
people unless the people are REALLY round. They are looking for spiky people, meaning that a
person will be exceptional at one thing and may only be mediocre at others. Admissions officers
look at a persons spike to determine their potential contribution to their college community.
They combine these different areas. In other words, you need to showcase what makes you unique
your spike. Maybe it is your passion for pursuing your career choice based on your past experiences.
Maybe it is your fondness for unique and different interests and activities. Who knows, the
possibilities of uniqueness and spikiness are endless! The main thing is that you need to be
memorable and come across as authentic. Heres how you do it:
1) Showcase your uniqueness on your rsum. Highlight your school activities and your
activities outside of school. Ranked Top 10 in a video game? Include it in your application; it
is unique. Heavily involved in your church youth group? Put it down. Passionate about
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band? Make sure your description in your bullet points makes it clear that you are a band
geek. Colleges love geeks. Geeks are spiky.
2) Write a unique essay. The most memorable essays are the ones that are truly different than
the typical applicant. On his MIT application, one of our founders wrote about how he
wanted to be a roller coaster designer. Roller coaster design did not work out for him (sadly,
he is not a roller coaster designer today), but he was passionate about it and it differentiated
him from other candidates because it was unique, memorable, and authentic.
A rock star who was accepted to a multitude of schools once told us, Look at applying to
college as a sort of political campaign in which you need to make your campaign platform known.
Central to my platform was the idea that I am absurdly curious and I use everything as a learning
opportunity. Smart words. Create your platform and weave it throughout your essay this will
make your uniqueness and spikiness shine.
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Chapter 4: The Myth of the Well-Rounded Applicant
Colleges want well-rounded students. This fatal assumption leads college applicants to
rejection every year. While this misconception makes intuitive sense, the truth is that admissions
officers are trying to put together a well-rounded class, which cannot be achieved by accepting
students who are each moderately interested in a wide array of fields. In fact, the best way for a
university to assemble a class that excels in all areas is to accept many students who each excel in
only one or two disciplines. We refer to these specialist students as spiky due to their sharp
spikes of distinction in one or two areas. Spiky students are more desirable applicants than
students who present themselves as well-rounded while failing to present their spikes in a focused
way.
This chapter is not meant to encourage you to actively exclude some activities from your
application. Rather, we encourage applicants to show off spikes in areas of interest or particular
skills on their applications. This is because (1) spiky applications are memorable, (2) spiky applicants
are more likely to be successful in their area of specialty, and (3) it is easier for admissions officers to
see how spiky applicants will fit into the class. To show you what we mean, consider an applicant
named Amy who is applying to Stanford through the Common App.
Amy tried to impress Stanford by cramming all of her interests into her application and
showing the admissions committee that she can do it all, from being an active member of Habitat
for Humanity, to participating occasionally in science fairs, to having earned a few medals as a
member of her schools cross country team. She also has a powerful interest in politics, and has
served as a member of a youth city council program since the beginning of high school. However,
she chooses to stress all of her interests equally on her application to fit as much diversity as possible
with the space she has. If I show Stanford how involved and well-rounded I am, they will realize
that I am perfect have no choice but to accept me! thought Amy.
Meanwhile, an admissions officer named Melinda is in the middle of reading hundreds of
applications and has started assessing Amys. Melinda rubs her tired eyes and yawns at Amys
application as she gets ready to throw it in the rejection pile with the rest of the flat applications.
While Amys achievements in a wide range of activities are impressive, Melinda will probably not
remember Amy for the rest of the selection process.
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And why should she remember Amy? Amys philanthropic work with Habitat for Humanity
is commendable, but it is forgettable compared to the way that another applicant presented her work
by focusing on showcasing her 1,000 hours of community service. Amys participation in science
fairs shows her passion for science, but when compared to another applicants four-year science
project dedicated to developing a cheaper blood test, Amys scientific pursuits seem like just another
one of her many hobbies. Finally, Amys cross country medals do little to help her stand out either,
because another application is saturated with passion for running, focusing on a journey to a top-10
finish in a state competition.
In the end, Melinda forgets about well-rounded Amy and instead decides to offer admission
to the other three applicants. The moral of Amys story is that competitive applicants will show
passion, commitment, and skill in specific areas as opposed to weighing all of their skills equally on
their application. Perhaps if Amy had sharpened her application by focusing more on her interest in
politics and her four-year involvement with her city council, Melinda the admissions officer would
have seen a more well-defined role for her in the upcoming class and offered her admission as well.
Admissions officers favor and remember applicants who can fill specific niches within the
next class. By displaying yourself as the schools next potential student body president, famous
entrepreneur, robotics champion, or fencing star, for example, you will make admissions officers
much more interested in what you could contribute to a well-rounded class. Therefore, be sure to
advertise yourself as a specialist in the areas where you have excelled and invested yourself in the
most throughout your life. Show off your spikiness!
While showing off your spikiness on an application is easier if you have accolades like an all-
state athlete award, a national master chess title, or trophies from several debate tournaments, it is
not necessary to be the absolute best at something to make your application alluringly spiky to
admissions officers. You can sharpen your applications spike simply by demonstrating vigorous
and sustained interest in a given area. This can mean indicating strong interests in specific hobbies,
sports, or subjects, but you can also choose to emphasize more general skills, such as leadership
capabilities. Virtually any passion can give your application the spike that it needs, as long as you
have the concrete evidence to validate it. After all, admissions officers are trying to build a well-
rounded class.
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Next time you are wondering whether you should fill that last spot on your activities section
with your month-long participation in a slam poetry club, or an additional entry related to your deep
interest in music, for example, choose the latter. It is always better to sharpen your spike than to
waste space for the sole purpose of wanting to seem well-rounded. Be efficient with the space you
are given on an application and put the spotlight on what you do best. Dont fall flatbe spiky!
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Chapter 5: Playing the Game: Making the Most of the Activities Section
The Strategy behind the Scenes
The activities section of the Common Application (and most university-specific applications)
is a vital opportunity to showcase your achievements and commitments outside of class. While
listing your activities may seem straightforward, following a strategy can go a long way in helping
you distinguish yourself to admissions boards. By carefully choosing how to present your activities,
you can show evaluators not only how you have pursued your passions, but also the positive impact
you will have on their campus community.
In the Common Application, the activities section asks for the names of the clubs or
organizations in which you participated, as well as the amount of time you devoted to the activity
and a description of your work and specific accomplishments. Taking these factors into account,
your list should be ranked beginning with the most important activity and ending with the least
important. This may sound simple to do, but how can you tell which of your activities will be the
most impressive to your readers? First, start with an outline of all activities in which you participated.
Then, pare down your list by eliminating activities on which you did not expend considerable time
or effort. Finally, prioritize your list based on three factors: time, impact, and leadership roles. Lets
break down that process:
Step 1: Creating Your List
As you draft your list, consider what your activities tell about your interests, how you have
spent your time, your personality traits, and the impact you will have on campus communities.
When deciding what to include, remember that admissions boards are looking for candidates who
demonstrate spikes of interest in certain fields. These spiky applicants have a clear passion in
specific areas, subjects, and hobbies. Admissions boards are trying to build a well-rounded class of
students who have diverse interests. So what does this mean for you?
Quality over Quantity
While the Common Application allows you to list up to ten activities, it is okay to list only a
few. Focus on showing the quality of your work in specific areas, rather than aiming to fill up all
sections with activities that do not demonstrate your focus and commitment. Prioritize activities to
which you devoted at least two or three hours a week, and those in which you were a member or
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leader for at least a full year. That Photography Club you joined for a few weeks during freshman
year? Not as impressive as those two years on the Debate Team, especially if you held a prominent
role.
Diverse Interests
Your activities do not necessarily have to be related to school. Here are some examples of
activities that could help illustrate both your diverse interests and your dedication to pursuing your
passions:
Did you build a highly trafficked website that relates to your interests?
Did you start a successful blog?
Do you play in a band and hope to pursue music, or music management?
Did you start a small business?
Did you spend a significant amount of time volunteering with an organization whose
mission aligns with your passions?
Did you spend hours playing video games, and dream of designing them someday?
Do you write in your spare time?
Do you run a witty Twitter account with thousands of followers?
Admissions offers are looking to see that you have pursued your interests with creativity and
enthusiasm. Once you are in college, you will have many opportunities to participate in both
organizations and clubs, and also in the local community. If the activities where you spent the most
time are not school-related, but demonstrate your focus and investment in a certain issue, do not
hesitate to include them. The activities section is an opportunity to help colleges envision you as a
person with strong interests that you plan to pursue in a college community.
Step 2: Paring Down Your List
Once you have made a first draft of your list, it is time to make sure that each item you have
included helps paint a picture of who you are as a student, leader, and applicant. Remember, even
though you are allowed to include ten activities, the number of activities is less important than how
each activity demonstrates your commitment, leadership, and contributions to an organization.
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As you begin paring down your list, ask yourself these questions to decide which activities
are relevant:
Did I invest a substantial amount of time in this activity?
Is this activity related to something I might be interested in pursuing in college?
Does this activity reflect an interest I might want to pursue as a career?
Did my role change and grow the longer I was involved in this activity?
How did my participation and leadership positively impact this organization?
Did I receive any special recognition for my work in this organization?
After asking yourself these questions for each activity, you may be able to eliminate some
activities. However, if you did not hold many leadership positions but feel you grew as an individual
from certain activities, do not hesitate to include themjust make sure they are strategically ranked.
Step 3: Prioritizing Your Activities
Once you have a finalized list of your most relevant activities, arrange them in order from
most important to least important. What does this mean? Consider these three factors:
Whether you had a leadership role
The time you invested in each activity
The impact you made in the organization
Not sure how to prioritize your list? Read below to see how your activities and awards should rank.
Leadership and Growth
If you have held any leadership positions, they should be placed at the top of your list. Also,
consider how your role in each organization has grown and changed over the course of your high
school career. Include both formal and informal leadership positions. For example:
Did you go from a benchwarmer to team captain over four years?
Did you eventually become editor of the newspaper where you used to be a reporter?
Were you the sole founder of a website, blog, or small business?
Did you increase your volunteering hours at an organization once you realized you
were passionate about its cause?
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Were you elected or nominated for any titles by your teachers and peers? (e.g.
student council positions, athletics, editorial boards, student liaison, peer mentor, or
leadership roles within a club)
This is your opportunity to show how you have distinguished yourself against your peers.
Your application is a chance to demonstrate how you will seek leadership positions on campus, and
how you measure up against other applicants.
Time and Effort
Next, consider the amount of time you put into each activity. If you spent hours each week
preparing and competing with your Model UN team, but only attended a few meetings of a
photography club, prioritize Model UN. The same applies to volunteer experiences; in fact, if you
only volunteered once or twice with a certain organization, it would be better not to include it. That
being said, you can use your judgment; that week you spent building a house with Habitat for
Humanity might catch a readers eye, but volunteering once at a soup kitchen does not demonstrate
significant time or effort. Again, remember that the quality of your chosen activities is more
important than filling up the activity section.
Impact
Finally, consider your impact. Admissions boards are looking for applicants whose effort,
dedication, and leadership have helped an organization succeed. Prioritize activities where you had
significant quantitative and qualitative impact. For example:
Did your school newspaper win an award while you were editor-in-chief?
Did you successfully lobby for important changes as a student council member?
Did an event you organized and publicized have increased attendance this year?
Did you help lead your soccer team to a regional championship?
Did you play a major role in fundraising for your organization?
Showcase how your leadership contributed to the success of an organization, and prioritize
any activities where your effort was beneficial to your club and community.
Dos and Donts
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From your rough draft of your activities, you now have a list of activities that best showcase
your interests, strengths, and well-deserved recognitions. This list should be ranked from the
most impressive to the least, taking into account the factors of leadership roles, time, and
impact. Remember these tips as you prioritize and finalize your activities section:
Do:
Prioritize activities in which you held a leadership position (President, Team Captain,
Founder, etc.).
Prioritize activities where you had a concrete, positive impact on an organization or
event.
Prioritize activities to which you devoted a considerable amount of time.
Prioritize activities, both inside and outside of school, that showcase your diverse
interests.
Remember that activities in which you were a member or participant can go towards
the end of your list. For these activities, you will have room in the Description
section to explain why they were important for your growth as an individual, and
how you served as an effective team member.
Remember that the Common Application also asks you whether you plan to pursue
this activity during college, so make sure to include activities that reflect both how
you have spent your time in the past, and also how you might contribute to a college
community.
Dont
Include activities that are irrelevant to your interests.
Include activities where you spent a very minimal amount of time (a few hours
volunteering once or twice, or only a few meetings of a club).
Prioritize activities where you were a member or a participant with minimal impact,
especially if you held leadership roles in other activities.
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By prioritizing your activity list and considering your specific role in each activity, you can
guide a readers attention to your most impressive accomplishments. Permission to show off:
granted!
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Chapter 6: Short and Sweet: Listing Your Awards
While the activities section of the Common Application allows you to list up to ten activities,
the honors section is much simpler. Here, you can list up to five honors and you will not be asked to
describe them. Instead, the Common Application asks only for these factors:
1. Title of award
2. Grade level in which you received the award
3. Level of recognition (school, state, national, or international)
When preparing to fill out this section, first consider which of your accomplishments will fit
into the category of academic honors. Then prioritize your list, beginning with the most impressive
and ending with the least selective awards. If your high school does not give out academic awards,
you can note this in the honors section. If you are using a college-specific application you may also
be able to include a brief description of your honors. If so, follow the steps below, and then read the
Describing your Awards section.
Step One: Making Your List
The Common Application specifies that the awards you list should be related to your
academic achievements. This means that if you received non-academic awards, they should be
included in your activities section instead. For example, if you were named MVP of the soccer team,
put that achievement under the description in the activities section. Here are more examples:
Academic Awards
National Merit Award, or National Merit Commended Scholar
Presidents Award
National Honor Society or subject-based honor society
o Note: Honor societies could be considered honors or activities. If you held a
leadership position and have room in your activities section, place it there. If you
dont have space in the activities section, it is also acceptable to include it with
your honors.
Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards
Science Olympiad
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Winner of regional or national science fair or academic competition
Recognition from national language exams (e.g. National German Exam)
AP scholar
Any subject-based award given by your school (e.g. Latin Award, Chemistry Award,
etc.)
Honor Roll
o Note: Honor Roll is a common award. If youve won any national or
international awards, prioritize those first.
Non-Academic Awards
Any award related to one of your extracurricular activities
Athletic achievements (i.e. Varsity, MVP, championships etc.)
Community awards (i.e. Eagle Scouts, Girl Scouts)
Recognition for volunteering efforts
Many high schools offer limited academic awards, so do not worry if you have fewer than
five awards to list. However, if you do have a range of honors, you should rank them from the most
impressive to the least impressive. What does this mean? Read below to find out.
Step Two: Ranking Your Awards
As you list your awards, consider the level of recognition of the award, as well as its
selectivity.
Level of Recognition
If you have any regional, national or international awards, list these accomplishments before
honors granted on a local or school level. For example, a second place prize in a state science fair is
more impressive than winning first place at your school science fair (though both could be
included!). These accomplishments will show college admissions boards that you have distinguished
yourself outside of school. Then, list any awards granted by your school.
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Selectivity
Consider the selectivity of each award. For example, if you were one of thirty students to
make Honor Roll, but the only student in your school named a National Merit Finalist, prioritize
your National Merit award. Also, if your transcript already shows that you had consistently high
grades, you might not even need to mention that you were on the honor roll. Instead, you could use
that slot for a different award.
Step Three: Describing Your Awards
If you are using a college-specific application, you may be allowed a brief space (typically
under 150 characters) to describe your honors. If so, follow these tips:
Be precise: Because you have a limited space, each word has to count. Focus on the
selectivity of the award, and avoid unnecessary descriptions.
o Example: Selected as one of ten recipients out of one thousand
applications.
o Example: Awarded first place in national competition with over ten
thousand participants.
Choose impressive verbs: Focus on language that emphasizes selectivity and prestige.
o Examples: Achieved recognition for, Awarded, Selected for/as, and
Recognized as
Dos and Donts
Do
List only academic awards and honors in this section.
Prioritize the most selective awards.
Prioritize any awards granted at the state, national, or international level.
Remember that if you have more than five awards, you could include your remaining
accomplishments on the Additional information section of the Writing page.
Dont
Include non-academic awards; instead, try to integrate these in your activities section.
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Eliminate less selective awards (i.e. honor roll) unless you lack more impressive
honors to put in their place.
The honors section is an opportunity to demonstrate that you have achieved recognition for
your academic work. Again, do not worry if you are not able to fill all five slots; if you do not have
many awards to name, there will be many other opportunities on your application to show
admissions boards that you are a driven, passionate, and enthusiastic candidate.
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Chapter 7: Structuring Your Rsum
In Perfect Form (chapter 9) we discuss the importance of submitting a clear, polished
rsum. Once you have an easily readable format for your rsum, your next step is to strategically
structure its content. Since readers will only be able to spend a few minutes with your rsum, you
should follow the conventional formula that readers will expect and make sure that each item you
include is relevant, specific, and focused on your impact and achievements.
The Formula
Section 1: Education
Begin with the Education section, following the formatting guidelines in Perfect Form
(chapter 9). Your education section can be brief, but if you have top-performing test scores and a
solid GPA (3.0 or above), you should include them. Your readers will already have this information
from your transcript as well as official SAT and AP scores, but it never hurts to emphasize
impressive achievements. Here is an example of what your education section should look like:
EDUCATION
Central Valley High School, Williston, VT
Diploma expected June 2015
GPA 3.5
SAT Math: 720, Reading: 700, Writing: 740, Essay: 11
Note: If you transferred high schools, include the names of both schools, and add in italics the dates
of attendance for each school. Otherwise, you need not include the dates of attendance for one high
school.
Section 2: Experience and Activities
The Experience section of your rsum is by far the most important. Here you have the
opportunity to show your readers how you spent your time outside of school, and the positive
impact you achieved in your academic or local communities. Depending on your experiences, this
section could be divided into two or three categories: for example, Work Experience,
Extracurricular Activities, and Athletics. Only divide your experiences into sections if you have
more than two relevant experiences per section. If not, one section should suffice.
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Prioritizing Your Activities
Regardless of how you decide to divide your activities, these general guidelines will always
apply:
Order your activities chronologically, beginning with the most recent. If you are
currently involved in several activities, include the most impressive one first. For
example, if youre editor-in-chief of the newspaper, and also your student councils
treasurer, put editor-in-chief first since it is a more impressive leadership role. Then,
list activities you have been involved with in the past (see chapter 5 to decide which
activities to include).
Your bullet point descriptions of each activity should focus on your impact. If you
had extensive responsibilities that a reader might not guess by your title, you could
briefly describe them, but you should focus primarily on showing readers that you
went above and beyond in your activities.
Only include activities where you have enough content to write at least three and at
most five bullet points. These bullet points should highlight your impact, specific
role, and the effort you put into each activity. The example below demonstrates the
candidates impact in the activity, while also painting a picture of the responsibilities
and roles the activity entailed.
ST. JOES DAILY HERALD
Editor-in-Chief
Increased readership by 20% through local advertising and social media outreach
Facilitated weekly editorial meetings with a staff of 15, including assigning stories and
pitching ideas
Responsible for copy-editing ~30 articles per issue, overseeing layout, and proofing galleys
Section 3: Awards and Honors
This is an optional section that you should only include if you won any awards or honors
that are not already apparent on your transcript (i.e. Honor Roll). See Short and Sweet: Listing
Your Awards (chapter 6) to learn which honors and awards you should include, and how to
effectively describe them in your bullet points.
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Additional Sections
Some candidates may want to include optional sections, such as interests, languages, and
skills. Only include these sections if you have room, and if you feel they will showcase your unique
passions. Most students are required to learn a foreign language in high school, so your intermediate
French might not attract much attention, but if you speak three languages fluently, or taught yourself
American Sign Language, a reader may be more interested. The same applies to the skills section.
Colleges will assume you have a basic understanding of social media and Microsoft Office, but have
you been building websites since middle school? Having a rare skill that is harder to master can be a
bonus.
Final Tips
Consider your rsum as a self-portrait you can personally tailor and perfect. By using a clear
format and strategically selecting and describing the achievements that make you unique, you have
control over how a reader will perceive your impact and interests. A clean rsum structure and well-
written descriptions of your activities will contribute positively to a readers impression of your
professionalism and achievements.
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Chapter 8: Writing Powerful Descriptions
In Playing the Game: Making the Most of the Activity Section, we discussed how to rank
your activities in order of most important to least important by focusing on impact, time, and
leadership roles. Your next step is to write brief descriptions for each activity. The Common
Application allows you only a small space (enough for about one or two sentences) to describe
Details, honors won, and accomplishments. To do this effectively, you should use efficient,
powerful language, and emphasize your efforts and impact within each activity.
Emphasis on Impact
College admissions boards are looking for applicants whose interests have led them to go
above and beyond their responsibilities. The spikes of interest that you display in the activities
section should demonstrate the impact you have had in your various academic and extracurricular
communities. When drafting your descriptions, consider the following two questions:
What impact did I have?
Remember, your impact could be quantitative or qualitative.
Quantitative impacts are measured with numbers and will concretely
demonstrate your impact. For example, I raised money for the American
Cancer Society does not sound as impressive as I spearheaded a campaign that
raised $10,000 for the American Cancer Society, double what was raised in
previous years.
Qualitative impacts describe success that isnt measured by numbers, but is
related to leadership, entrepreneurship, achieving challenging goals, and
interpersonal skills. Did your leadership as team captain play a fundamental role
in your teams unprecedented success this year? Did your Debate Team win a
regional or national award? Take credit as a valuable team member or leader.
Did I achieve any recognition or honors for my involvement in this activity? If so, why?
While the honors section of the Common Application will ask about academic honors, this
section consists of any recognition you achieved in extracurricular activities. If you were
named Employee of the Month at your after-school job, consider what characteristics helped
you earn that title. If you undertook major projects in your community and received
recognition, describe the project and the kind of an impact it has had on your community.
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Language that Packs a Punch
Because you have only a small space to describe the activity, your impact, and any
recognition you may have achieved, you can follow this simple formula for packing as much
information as possible into one sentence: I did X as measured by Y by doing Z. For example: I
increased readership of the newspaper by 30% through quality reporting and advertising.
In addition to using this formula when applicable, you should also pay attention to your
language use. Instead of focusing on your responsibilities and what you had to do, use language that
demonstrates that you went above and beyond your tasks. Powerful language emphasizes your
impact and sounds more impressive to a reader. For example, the verbs below sound stronger than
weak language like helped or participated.
Accomplished
Achieved
Attained
Coordinated
Established
Founded
Increased
Maximized
Organized
Raised
Streamlined
Weak language, by comparison, is vague and does not highlight your accomplishments. For
example, if you have already stated you were student council treasurer, writing Managed the groups
money as a description does not tell the reader anything new. Instead of focusing on your basic
responsibilities, use language that highlights your impact. This means being specific and using
dynamic verbs like the ones listed above.
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Sample Activities Descriptions
Student council: Increased fundraising by 40% through wide-reaching school and
social media campaign.
Newspaper: Pitched and authored several front-page stories on subjects ranging
from current events to school athletics.
Yearbook: Coordinated with local advertisers and edited 200 pages of content.
Athletics: Led team to regional and national victories.
Writing: Completed a forty thousand-word novel in one month as a participant of
National Novel Writing Month.
Describing Your Academic Awards and Honors
While the Common Application does not ask that you provide a description of your
academic honors, some university-specific applications will allow you to briefly describe your
academic achievements. If so, the above guidelines can also apply to discussing your honors. As
youve read in Short and Sweet: Listing your Awards, you should focus descriptions of honors on
the selectivity and level of recognition of the award. Similarly to your activity section, you should
focus on dynamic language and quantitative evidence to help convey the importance of your award.
For example:
Recognized as AP Scholar in Chemistry for being one of only three students to
receive a perfect score.
Selected as finalist in regional science fair with over 400 participants.
By using quantitative evidence here, you demonstrate the selectivity of your award, and show
readers not only that your achievement was personally rewarding, but also that you have
distinguished yourself from your peers.
Final Tips
Use quantifiable evidence whenever possible.
Focus on your impact rather than your basic responsibilities.
Carefully choose dynamic language that emphasizes the importance and impact of
your role.
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With strong, detailed descriptions of your activities, you will show readers that not only did
you participate in activities that correspond to your spikes of interest, but also that you have had a
positive impact on your community.
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Chapter 9: Perfect Form: Submitting an Eye-Catching Rsum
While the Common Application provides space to write about your accomplishments and
experience, some university-specific applications may ask you to upload a rsum. Having a solid
rsum before entering college is an enormous benefit, and will also help as you apply for summer
jobs and internships. A professional and eye-catching rsum will attract the attention of admissions
boards, and highlight your achievements and experience. EditRevises Writing Center can help you
turn a blank document into a polished rsum that will attract attention and showcase your
achievements.
What Do Readers Look for in a Rsum?
The first thing readers will notice is the rsums format.
o Is it clearly presented, or convoluted and padded with unnecessary
information?
o Is there enough white space so readers can differentiate between sections?
o Does it prioritize relevant information that will catch a readers eye?
Then, readers will look at your grades and test scores, which you should include if
they are strong.
Next, readers will skim your headlines and focus on your experience and activities.
Readers will then go through your bullet points. Learn about how to write dynamic,
impact-focused descriptions of your activities in chapter 8.
Finally, readers will look at any other additional sections, such as hobbies or skills.
Your first priority should be to achieve a streamlined, polished format. Readers will only
spend a few minutes reading your rsum, so all of your information should be clearly presented,
and relevant information should be prioritized.
Formatting Your Rsum
Since format is the first thing a reader will notice, you should consider downloading one of
EditRevises recommended formats. If youre not working from a template, you can follow these
guidelines to ensure that your rsum is easy to read and prioritizes the most important information,
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including your GPA, your achievements and accomplishments, and any activities that are especially
relevant to your intended college major.
Nuts and Bolts
Remember, you want a clean and polished rsum; the format is not an area to get creative
in or show your zany sense of humor through liberal use of clip art and Jokerman font. Keep your
format simple to make your rsum easy to read.
Font Size
Choose a basic font like Times New Roman, Georgia, Garamond, Arial, or Lucida
Sans. Times New Roman and Arial are the most commonly used fonts.
Your font size should be no smaller than 10-point font, and no larger than 12-point.
Typically, 11-point font should be large enough for the rsum to be clearly read, but
also allows you extra space.
Number of Pages
Try to include all of your information on one page (at most, 1.5-2 pages).
Admissions boards are reading thousands of rsums and need to read quickly, so
your rsum should make efficient use of limited space.
Margins
Whitespace is your friend. It might be tempting to change the margins in order to
cram more information on the page, but try to leave the margins standard.
If you want just a little more space, you can adjust the margins to three fourths-inch
for the top and bottom, and keep the standard one-inch margin on the sides. Other
options include three fourths-inch or half-inch on all sides or half-inch top and
bottom with three fourths-inch sides. Ideally, you should set your margins before
you begin writing the rsum as formatting can become frustrating if you have to
change it later.
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PDF versus Word
Check the application guidelines to see if there is a preferred format for uploading
your rsum, but use PDF if possible. Also, make sure to look at the PDF file before
you submit it in case there are any formatting errors.
Bullet Points
Try to keep the number of bullet points under each section to no fewer than two and
as much as six. Fewer than two bullet points will indicate that you may not have
accomplished much, and more than six can become overbearing. At the end of each
bullet point, do not use a period, but simply end without any punctuation.
Punctuation is not needed since your bullets should not be written in full sentences,
and periods unnecessarily add extra marks to the page. Try to keep each bullet point
to one line if possible, and do not go over two lines. Remember to include a one to
three-point space between bullet points to improve readability.
Organizing Your Content
Name
Your name should be in a larger font size than the rest of the rsum. Use
somewhere between 24-point and 36-point. Your name should be bold, in all capital
letters, and centered. The name and the contact information are the only items that
are centered.
Contact Information
Centered beneath your name should be your basic contact information. Your contact
information should include your email, phone number, and current city. While many
people include their mailing address, you could choose to skip it, and instead use the
space to include a website or appropriate social media account.
Section Headings
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There are two main sections every rsum should include: Experience and
Education. Your Education section should be brief, and include the name of your
high school, expected date of graduation, and your GPA and test scores if they are
competitive. Your Experience section can include after-school jobs and
extracurricular activities.
Leadership Roles
We go into more detail about including and describing leadership roles in chapter 5,
but if you held any title in an organization, it should be located under the name of
the activity and should be italicized, but not bolded.
Dates
You should also include the time you spent doing any activity or job. As we discuss
in chapter 5, colleges want to be able to gauge your participation in each activity. On
the left hand side of the page, on the same line as the name of the activity, write the
amount of time you held each position. For example, on the same line as Orchestra,
write September 2012-June 2015.
A well-organized rsum will be the first thing that readers notice as they evaluate
your candidacy. By paying close attention to detail and ensuring that your rsum is
clear and readable, you will have an advantage over candidates who present
themselves less professionally. Once you have a rough draft of your rsum in its
format, you can begin editing the content to make sure that your descriptions are
both dynamic and highlight your achievements and interests. Establishing a
consistent and effective format will serve you later as well, as you advance in your
career and return to tailor or edit your rsum.
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Chapter 10: Brainstorming
Even the most experienced writers often find starting to be the most difficult part. In this
chapter, you will find four of the most popular methods of brainstorming that should help you hone
in on your topic and devise your supporting points. There is no right way to brainstorm, and what
works for some writers may not work for others. If you are finding that one particular technique is
not particularly helpful in stimulating ideas, abandon it and try another.
Pre-Brainstorming Tips
1) Start early. It is difficult to produce a meticulously polished, well-articulated paper that has been
thrown together last minute. The earlier you start your brainstorming, the sooner you can come
up with an excellent thesis sentence (your golden ticket to your dream school!).
2) Analyze your prompts. Before you start thinking of answers to the prompts, make sure that you
have a very clear understanding of what each prompt is asking (for more on understanding essay
prompts, see chapter 12). However, understanding the prompt is not your only task. Simply
identifying and answering a question is not enough. Regardless of what the prompt may be, it is
very important to portray yourself as an excellent candidate for the school to which you are
applying (think of this as the question behind the question). Lets take a look at the first prompt
option for the Common Application:
Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application
would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
While brainstorming, you should try to not only come up with stories that are central to your
identity, but also ones that have had a positive impact on your identity. Do not tell a story that has
helped you develop a social anxiety or a fear of heights. Try to come up with a story that has helped
you develop positive skills that are relevant to your capabilities as a student.
3) Brainstorm over a series of days. Try different brainstorming techniques for each of the different
prompts to see which prompts and techniques yield the best results.
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Brainstorming Techniques
Now that we have given you a way to approach the prompt, here are some useful
brainstorming techniques for coming up with topics, subtopics, and support.
1. Freewriting: Write down every idea that comes to mind when you think about your essay
topic. Set a time limit (five minutes is usually a good starting point) and, most importantly, do not go
back and edit. You can write anything in your freewriting; this includes things that may be
completely irrelevant. Freewriting is simply intended be helpful in getting you into the creative
thinking mode.
Take a look at Johns Freewriting sample, which he wrote in response to the first Common
Application prompt:
I used to spend summers at a cabin while growing up. My brother and I used to play on the train tracks. My
grandfather built the cabin. My mother used to always go to Germany when I was little. My brother begged my dad for
a canoe and he said he could have one if he saved up. Then I copied him and saved up for one too. My little sister got
an iPad instead. Germanythe farm house. The house was so integral to my childhood; I was so upset when my
family had to sell it. But that wasnt what was important.
From here, John may choose to write about his experiences at the family farm house in
Germany and how those experiences unexpectedly came to an end. He might choose to convey
how, although he has such fond memories of this farm house, there came a point where he had to
move on and let go. As you can see, the freewriting is unorganized and most will probably not yield
any results, but this is completely okay. Just as we mentioned before, freewriting is simply an
exercise to get thoughts flowing and can be very useful during the earlier development of your ideas.
2. Play the Journalist: Think of yourself as a journalist asking yourself questions about your
topic. Answer the "who," "what," "when," "where," "why", and "how."
Lets continue with our example in response to the first essay prompt. So far, John has
decided that he will write about his or her experience at the family farm house in Germany. Observe
how Playing the Journalist might lead to further idea development as follows:
Who? My entire family. The farmhouse used to belong to my grandparents. I hoped that when I would have a
family one day, my children could visit it.
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What? The farmhouse on property that has been in my family for years. Now it has been sold.
Where? In Germany, near Korbach, the town where my parents got married.
When? Last year it was sold. I had visited it almost every summer while my grandparents were still alive.
Why? It was sold because nobody in the family wanted to move out there to take care of the property.
How? I was able to get over it because I realized that the effect of the farmhouse was extremely positive on my
family. So, although the farmhouse is no longer around, we will always reap the benefits.
As you can see, John can cater the questions to his needs. This forces John to think about
how he might approach his topic from different angles. From here, John might decide to focus on
the short-term and long-term benefits that his family has received as a result of the farmhouse.
These benefits are intangible and much more valuable. Having a strong sense of duty and moral
background are very admirable qualities to demonstrate to a university.
3. Clustering/idea mapping: Take a general idea and circle it. From there, write ideas that are
subcategories of the original idea in surrounding circles, and join them to the center circle with lines.
Ideas can stem out from the outside circles, gradually contributing to more narrow topics. The
following example is Charlottes writing in response to the fifth essay prompt on the Common
Application:
Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to
adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
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As you can see, Charlotte has decided to write about studying abroad (in purple in the center
of the web). She has come up with three subcategories (in blue), which can be the main topics in her
body paragraphs. From there, Charlottes supporting evidence may come from the ideas in green,
which represent support for her subcategories.
4. The X is Y Approach: Try to fill in the following blanks in a way that relates to potential
essay topics:
X is/was/are/were Y
Once you think of one topic, you will then be forced to think about a different perspective
on that topic. This can be useful if you have a general idea of your topic but you would like to
present it from a different angle.
The following example is from Alex, who came from a family of self-made entrepreneurs.
Therefore, the first paycheck that each of his sibling receives is a rite-of-passage of sorts. Alex
knows he wants to write about his first job and how in his family, earning your first paycheck marks
the transition from childhood to adulthood. However, he doesnt know where to go from there and
is having trouble expounding upon his thoughts. Here are the comparisons that Alex might come up
with:
Getting your first job is the first sign of independence.
Spending money from your paycheck is rewarding because it makes you appreciative and teaches you the value
of a dollar.
Your first job is your first experience under an authority figure besides your parents.
My parents philosophy is that if you work at all, you must work hard.
Starting to work your first job early is beneficial because it makes you experience the real world before
beginning college.
As you can see, the X is Y approach forced Alex to expand on what earning his first
paycheck meant to him and his family. From here, Alex might notice that the encouragement from
his family for him to get a job has given rise to many of his positive traits. He may choose to write
his thesis on how this accomplishment has helped him become independent, resourceful, and
familiar with the way that businesses operate.
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Dos and Donts
Do
Start early. This will make sure the material you hand in is as carefully thought-out as
possible.
Try different brainstorming techniques. They can all yield different results, and some are
more useful i