How Do I Write a Competitive Personal Statement?

It’s that time of year again! When students across the country sit down in front of their laptop computers and try to come up with a compelling Personal Statement for their College Applications… What do I write? How do I convey it? What does “showing rather than telling” mean? What is the Admissions Committee looking for? All of these questions are probably going through the minds of millions of students across the nation as we come upon the opening of the Common App in a few days on August 1st.

There are 2 main strategies for crafting a compelling Personal Statement. The first is risky, but can pay off big time, if the student is a great creative writer! Recently, a student was accepted to 5 Ivy League Universities writing a creative piece about shopping at Costco. Yes, shopping at Costco… This was one of her favorite pastimes, so as a Physics major, she incorporated Newton’s Law of Gravitation, the concept of Momentum pertaining to other shoppers running into her cart, Faraday’s Law, and even the Law of Conservation of Energy as it relates to eating the plethora of samples offered in the aisles of the iconic warehouse store. It was masterfully crafted as a creative writing piece! Her Personal Statement discussed one of her hobbies, namely shopping, in a scientific context related to her declared major.

The other strategy, which is the path taken by the vast majority of DowEdu students, is writing about a life changing experience. This can be a challenge (e.g. death in the family, illness, injury, financial hardship, etc.) or a triumphant event that made an enormous impact on the student’s life. The goal is to illustrate a theme using imagery, so that the reader feels that they are right there in the room during this seminal event. The theme is then supported by describing one’s qualities, my favorite of which is perseverance. Discussing a desire to help humanity and giving back is extremely important in today’s College Admissions landscape. Too often, we read Personal Statements that involve the student only talking about themselves without any mention of others. Not only should they give credit where credit is due in terms of their teachers, mentors, and parents, but they should also discuss serving others. A desire to serve humanity in a selfless display of philanthropy is very important in the current College Admissions landscape.

So, while you and your student are seated at the dining room table wondering what to write about, remember that Admissions Officials want to learn more about the student. This is an opportunity to elicit emotions in the reader in order to win them over. However, the way you depict your experience can determine whether you get into your school of choice. We are here to help… Reach out for a DowEdu Personal Statement Workshop or a College Counseling Assessment with our representatives to assist you in your journey of achieving your dreams!

What is the Difference Between the Common App and the UC System Application?

As students prepare to submit their College Applications across the country, it is important to differentiate between the key features of the Common App and the University of California System Application. The Common App is the main application portal for the vast majority of private Colleges and Universities in the United States, as well as some public schools. However, the UC System Application is specific to the 10 University of California campuses in the state of California. The features of each of these application portals also differ in terms of the Writing section, Extracurricular Activities, and other features.

The Writing section of the Common App consists of a 650 word Personal Statement that is the most important essay of a student’s high school career. Several prompts are given, where a student needs to select one and write a thoughtful essay, generally about a life changing experience. There is one open-ended prompt, which allows students to write about any topic of their choice. Regardless of which prompt is chosen, at Dow Educational Solutions, we highly recommend that our students write about an event that has had a significant impact in their life!

The Writing section of the UC System Application consists of 8 Personal Insight Questions with a maximum word count of 350 words each. The student must choose their top 4 writing prompts and submit their answers to only those 4 Personal Insight Questions. Examples include a diversity essay, challenge essay, leadership essay, and an open-ended essay. These writing samples provide an opportunity for the UC System Admissions Officials to learn about the student and “get to know them better,” in their words.

The Common App has a separate Activities section and Awards section, where up to 10 Activities and 5 Awards can be inputted. The ranking of the Activities is extremely important in terms of the order in which they are listed, because this indicates to the Admissions staff which Extracurricular Activities hold greater value in the mind of the candidate. Therefore, if community service is of utmost value to the student, then these activities should be listed first. However, if there was a significant time commitment associated with an athletic endeavor (e.g. Equestrian), then this activity should be at the top of the list. Having a College Consultant, such as Dow Educational Solutions, guide you through this process is critical to preparing the most competitive College Application.

The UC System Application, on the other hand, has a combined Activities & Awards section, which allows you to input up to 20 entries. Therefore, if your student has 15 Activities and 5 Awards, then all of them can be inputted into this combined section. Again, we at Dow Educational Solutions underscore the importance of ranking these Activities and Awards in order of importance to the student. Often times, the student has been granted an Award that is closely associated with an Activity that they have participated in. In these cases, we recommend that the Award be listed immediately following that Activity, especially if it is a significant Award. Additionally, the UC System Application allows the student to describe the Community Service organization for which they volunteered by inputting their mission statement or some other explanation of the organization. This is a feature that is not provided on the Common App.

Finally, although both the Common App and UC System Application have an Additional Comments section that is used to explain special circumstances (e.g. anomalous grades, caring for an ill parent, or several moves due to family military service, etc.), only the Common App provides a COVID-19 Essay, where students can explain the effect that virtual distance learning may have had on their academic performance and GPA.

Ultimately, it is also important to note the values of the University of California when producing writing samples and inputting other information into the UC System Application. The University of California System highly values DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion) initiatives, Community Service (e.g. serving others from underprivileged areas and disadvantaged backgrounds), and Employment while in high school. With this in mind, one should focus on the values of the Colleges and Universities that they are applying to when filling out their College Applications. Here at Dow Educational Solutions, we provide expert consultation on how to craft competitive and first-rate College Applications for the best outcomes… Fill out a form submission today, using the Contact tab on our website, to setup an Introductory Assessment to get your student on track to get into their dream College or University!

Should I Apply Early Decision or Early Action Instead of Regular Decision for My College Applications?

With College Admissions becoming increasingly competitive over the last several years, Universities are encouraging applicants to differentiate themselves via a variety of methods. One way that College Counselors suggest that an applicant differentiate themselves is through the strategic use of Early Decision and Early Action applications.

Early Decision (ED) is a binding agreement between the candidate and the University that upon acceptance the student will withdraw consideration at any other University and attend the University where they applied ED. Therefore, an applicant can only apply to one College via ED. The deadlines are earlier, some as early as October 1st... Why would one want to bind themselves to such an agreement? Well, candidates that apply ED have an advantage, because they are indicating to the College or University that this school is their first choice. College Admissions officials want to know whether you genuinely have them ranked as your #1 selection, and the way they can confirm that is whether you apply Early Decision.

Early Action (EA) is non-binding and can either be restrictive or non-restrictive. For example, USC is non-restrictive EA, which means that a candidate can apply to multiple schools EA. However, Stanford is restrictive EA, which means that a candidate cannot apply to other EA programs. Therefore, it is important to find out whether a school is restrictive or non-restrictive with respect to EA applications. Why would one apply EA if they have the opportunity to apply ED? Since EA is non-binding, if you gain acceptance to a College or University to which you apply EA, then you do not necessarily have to attend that school. EA simply indicates to the Admissions staff that the school is one of your top choices. EA applications are also due earlier, usually around November 1st… Is there any advantage to applying EA? Yes, because it conveys that the likelihood of you attending that school, should you gain admittance, is rather high. Admissions Officers like to extend letters of acceptance to students who have a high probability of attending.

Regular Decision (RD) is both non-binding and non-restrictive. The deadlines are later in the admissions cycle, and there is no indication that this College or University is your first choice or last choice. The vast majority of applicants go through RD, so there are many more applicants to compete with in this round of Admissions decisions. Last year, the top two UC System Schools received nearly 150,000 applications for less than 10,000 spots. That is an acceptance rate of only 7.5%!

Therefore, it is important to consult with an expert College Counselor who can lead you and guide you through this extremely competitive process. There are no safety schools anymore… Now, some of the UC System schools have acceptance rates that are comparable with Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, and Duke. We are living in a different world where everyone is being encouraged to apply to College, which is causing application numbers to skyrocket to unprecedented levels! Assembling a strategy and concrete action plan on how to navigate the College Admissions landscape with expert College Consulting is more important now than it has ever been. Call Dow Educational Solutions today for your College Counseling Initial Assessment or fill-out the contact form by selecting the Contact tab above.

What Does the College Admissions Landscape Look Like in the Post-COVID Era?

With the Common App coming out in a few days on August 1st, it’s time to assess how College Admissions has changed over the past year. Virtual learning, the inability to participate in sports and other extracurricular activities, the lack of available SAT and ACT test dates, and the cancellation of Summer Enrichment Programs during the COVID era threw a wrench in the College Admissions landscape. No longer could Admissions Officials rely on grades and Standardized Test scores to accurately assess the aptitude of their candidates. Grades during virtual learning were taken with a grain of salt… They couldn’t even rely on sports or other extracurricular activities to assess a well rounded candidate. The Personal Statement and supplemental essays became the most important factors in College Admissions for the first time in history.

Now that things have been getting back to normal this past year, we have found ourselves slowly transitioning back into the traditional College Admissions landscape. However, the post-COVID era has combined both of the previous scenarios by providing a blend of the two. Although the Personal Statement is still of elevated importance compared to pre-pandemic years, reinstituting high school sports and on campus clubs and organizations has reestablished those elements that are traditionally assessed in College Applications. SAT and ACT Standardized Test Prep actually provides an excellent opportunity right now for candidates to distinguish themselves among the other applicants by providing another strong numerical metric for Admissions Officers to assess.

The bottom line is that we need to accept that we lost a year of metrics and activities to impress College Admissions Directors. Therefore, we need to be creative in presenting ourselves before Admissions Committees. Videos, photos, reels, shorts, and other media that can be uploaded to the Common App can either make or break a College Application these days. If you have some special content that you feel will impress Admissions Officials, then now is the time to upload it! This provides an opportunity to further distinguish yourself from the rest of the candidates in a highly competitive environment. USC recently published that among the nearly 70,000 applicants this last cycle, only approximately 8,000 students were admitted. That is just a little over a 10% acceptance rate. This means that for every 10 applications that are reviewed, 9 get put in the trash can, while only 1 is accepted... We are entering an unprecedented era of competition in College Admissions, therefore you need to take advantage of every opportunity to set yourself apart from the rest of the applicants!

Turning in applications early is a critical component of any College Admissions plan, so please do NOT procrastinate. Call Dow Educational Solutions today at 858-829-2838!

What Should I Know About College Visits in Preparation for College Applications?

Spring Break is often an opportunity to go on vacation and relax. However, if you are a Junior in High School, then Spring Break is prime time to parlay that vacation into College visits. Be sure to meet with a College Counselor beforehand in order to generate a list of schools that you are in the running for given your metrics. College admissions has become much more competitive over the last decade, and especially with the influx of applicants who took a gap year or two during COVID, there are fewer spots available. Having an idea of which schools would be a possible good fit for you is important before planning your College visits, because you don’t want to waste your resources visiting Colleges and Universities that are outside of your metric range. You don’t necessarily need a list of Reach, Target, and Safety schools solidified in concrete, but you do need to sit down with a College Counselor for an Initial Consultation.

When visiting Colleges, make sure to sign up for an Official Tour. This puts you on the school’s radar for recruitment and marketing. Be sure to pay close attention to the tour and possibly foster a relationship with the tour guide, and exchange email addresses in order to not only thank them afterwards, but to also ask questions. Scheduling a College Admissions session in the Office of Admissions is another way to foster relationships while gaining valuable information regarding the College Admissions process at that University. The key is forming relationships everywhere that you go…

Finally, get a sense of the city or town that surrounds the College or University. Is it a college town or is it a big metropolitan city? Get a feel for what College life would be like in the area by checking out local essentials, such as the grocery store, the drug store, the movie theater, and local restaurants. Also, get an idea from the locals how life might be in the Winter or in the Summer when the weather might be more extreme than in the Spring. I remember talking with a student of mine from San Diego who went to a prestigious school in the south and never considered that ice storms in the Winter can get down to 15 degrees F with the windchill factor… They thought that the Southern states are warm and sunny most of the year, so the Winters must be mild. This is an example of something to think about in advance of visiting and applying to these schools. It can mean the difference between a happy four years and an unhappy four years!

Are you ready to turn in your UC System Application before the November 30th deadline?

There is only one week left until the UC System Application deadline! There are several components that go into the evaluation of your UC system Application by Admissions Officials. I remember when I started attending a conference with all 9 Directors of Admissions for each of the UC System Schools. We went into breakout rooms and had question-and-answer sessions regarding what makes a superior candidate. There has been a great deal of valuable information gleaned from those conferences over the years… Some of the highlights include:

The Personal Insight Questions are the best way for the Admissions Officials to get to know you. This is your opportunity to tell the Admissions Committee about yourself. Your talents, skills, strengths inside and outside of the classroom, life experiences, and unique circumstances. Choose the top 4 out of 8 Personal Insight Questions and write a 350 word Essay that will impress the Admissions Staff.

The Activities Section is critical in terms of separating yourself from the other candidates. A great deal of strategic planning is required in this section. Ranking of activities and describing them with resume terminology is key.

The Special Circumstances Section allows you to discuss anomalous grades, being a caregiver for a family member, or personal/family military service. Those students who are from a disadvantaged background and/or underprivileged community should include this information in this section. 

The Summer Enrichment Program Section is an addition over the last decade that emphasizes the importance of completing a Summer Camp, Fellowship, or Certification Program. Summer Camps such as Law Camp, Business Camp, or Coding Camp are among the most common. Summer Research Internships and Fellowships will definitely separate a Science major candidate from the rest of the competition… It is extremely important to plan at least one 4-6 week program every summer of your high school career in order to be competitive for impacted majors at top UC System Schools.

If you need assistance with utilizing strategies and tips that have been accumulated over the past 25 years from Admissions Officials themselves, then contact Dow Educational Solutions today for a College Counseling Assessment. Time is running out!

What does the College Application Landscape Look Like in the COVID era?

COVID not only changed our personal lives to something that seemed unrecognizable, but it has dramatically changed the College Application landscape for the current Admissions cycle as well. While we Zoomed in our living rooms, social distanced, and used more hand sanitizer than humanly thought possible, College Admissions Officials were going back to the drawing board on how they were going to assess prospective applicants. Test dates for Standardized Tests were being cancelled and grades during Distance Learning were not exactly representative of a student’s aptitude. They needed to change the emphasis that they placed on different sections of the application and pivot the admissions process, much like we all had to pivot during the pandemic…

Although there were no sports for a significant amount of time during the pandemic, there were clubs and organizations that met via Zoom. Volunteer work, on the other hand, was possible only in a socially distanced manner. Therefore, beach clean-ups and other activities that could be done safely during the pandemic were the best ways to log in those volunteer and community service hours while serving others. Community Service activities such as shopping for groceries for the elderly and immuno-compromised, and leaving it at their doorstep were ideal ways to serve the community.

The emphasis during this current application cycle will be placed on these other sections of the Common App, Coalition App, and UC System Application. Now more than ever, a subpar Standardized Test taker can gain entry into a top tier school in California! The special emphasis placed on other components of the admissions application that assess extracurricular pursuits, volunteer work, and community service is now to an applicant’s favor. However, since many students deferred enrollment last year due to COVID, there will be fewer open spots combined with the fact that there will be more applicants this year in the applicant pool compared to last year. Therefore, the way that you rank and describe your activities is critical to your success in gaining admission during this highly competitive time... Get help from an expert in the field of College Counseling with over 20 years of experience and call Dow Educational Solutions today! 858-829-2838

How important are Summer Internships, Summer Enrichment Programs, & Summer Camps?

March is the month when several deadlines approach for Summer Extracurricular Activities. The importance of Summer Internships, Summer Enrichment Programs, and Summer Camps for College Applications is underscored by the fact that several application systems have dedicated sections for each of these activities. In fact, the University of California Application System has a separate section for “Summer Enrichment Programs.”

Summer Internships are an opportunity to show future Colleges and Universities that you have taken the time to learn skills outside of the classroom in the prospective field that you will major in. For example, for Science majors an Internship or Summer Research Fellowship in Biomedical Science would be invaluable as a learning resource and as a method of distinguishing your student from the other College applicants. Future Business majors have the largest expectation to participate in a Summer Internship due to the need for Admissions officials to see an applicant’s willingness to immerse themselves in a business environment before embarking on such a career.

Summer Enrichment Programs can range from Law seminars and conferences to Native-American cultural classes. Any program that enriches one’s education in a classroom or outdoor group setting qualifies as a Summer Enrichment Program. As stated above, the UC System seeks to differentiate between candidates through Summer Enrichment Programs. I remember a UCSF School of Medicine Interviewer once asking me what I did every summer in high school. That was over 20 years ago! Now, the competition is dramatically more fierce, therefore it is expected that each summer in high school is spent doing one of the above extracurricular activities.

Summer Camps are a great way for students to expose themselves, in a short setting consisting of only a few weeks, to different fields that they may want to major in. Law, Science, and Medicine are the most common, but Summer Camps can involve everything from Visual & Fine Arts to Computer Coding. These Summer Camps provide yet another way to set your student apart as a candidate for admission to top ranked Colleges & Universities.

As always, seek every possible opportunity to make your student stand out, and the Summer is the best time to do that… Contact us today for a College Counseling Initial Assessment, so we can recommend and assist in Summer Extracurricular Activity selection and applications!

Should I Take the SAT or ACT and What About the MCAT, LSAT, and GRE during COVID?

Amid all of the adjustments that Colleges and Universities have made during COVID, the one that affects you and your student the most is the changes to Standardized Tests such as the SAT, ACT, MCAT, LSAT, and GRE. Although California has seen the most disruption in its Testing schedule, the rest of the country has been open for several months now. Therefore, if you are thinking about attending a College or University outside of California, then the SAT and ACT will be REQUIRED for the upcoming admissions cycle. That being said, there have been some adjustments to Graduate level Testing, such as in the case of the MCAT, LSAT, and GRE.

The Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) has been shortened from 7 hours to 5 and a half hours in order to fit in an additional sitting at Pearson Test Centers to make up for the 2020 cancellations. Medical Schools across the country have refused to waive the MCAT requirement, even during COVID. This is an extremely long and difficult exam for prospective Medical School applicants, therefore we at Dow Educational Solutions recommend approximately 80 hours for content review. Yes, 80 hours!… However, we have prepared a full color-coded version of all of the Notes associated with the Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Psychology, Sociology, and Critical Reasoning content on the MCAT. We can save you over 75% of your study time by accessing our complete MCAT Content Review materials…

The Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) will be administered at home while proctored remotely using your webcam. Spots fill up quickly, and registration deadlines are firm, with no late registration. Since Testing can occur in the comfort of your own home, Law Schools have not decided to waive the LSAT requirement. The LSAT is another complicated Standardized Test that requires practice, practice, and more practice…

The Graduate Record Examination includes 3 areas of focus: Analytical Writing, Verbal Reasoning, and Quantitative Reasoning. Since this Test is short by most standards, only 3 hours and 45 minutes, previous cancellations have been easy to make up. There are several Testing Centers that have been serving students for the past several months, even in California.

The bottom line is that now is the time to start planning your Standardized Test Prep for the SAT, ACT, MCAT, LSAT, and GRE as requirements for undergraduate Colleges outside of California remain the same, and Graduate & Professional School requirements for Universities across the county have always been the same despite COVID.

What is the FAFSA, and how do I pay for College?

Financial Aid 101 is the most difficult course to navigate for parents… There are so many acronyms and abbreviations and a multitude of forms to fill out. It all starts with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, a.k.a the FAFSA! Starting in October and running through March 1st, parents need to sit down with their students and fill out the FAFSA online at www.FAFSA.gov. Here, parents and students will input their financial information and create a Federal ID in order to sign the form electronically. The FAFSA is the first step; the gateway so to speak in the world of Financial Aid. Once you input the school codes for the Colleges & Universities that your student is applying to (up to 10 permitted), then you submit and wait for supplemental Financial Aid forms, from the Colleges & Universities where your student is accepted, to start pouring in…

In the meantime, the CSS Profile is another Financial Aid form that is requested by some Private Colleges & Universities, and it was created by the College Scholarship Service. Therefore, this is the primary application for College Scholarship consideration at these private institutions. Each school has their own institutional scholarships with very specific criteria. For example, there are scholarships for students with Italian-American ancestry who want to pursue a career in Real Estate Law and are an only child. It gets that specific… There are hundreds of these types of scholarships at each institution, so make sure that you inquire within!

Outside Private Scholarships from Fortune 500 Corporations such as Coca-Cola, Qualcomm, and Illumina are also options for many high school and current College students. Other organizations, such as Daughters of the American Revolution and the American Heart Association, provide scholarships for Essay writing and Video recorded speeches. Yes, they are competitive, but the awards are usually in the thousands of dollars, so it is well worth the couple of hours that your student might spend on the scholarship application!

What is the SMART way to make Educational New Year’s Resolutions?

An estimated 50% of people in the United States make New Year’s Resolutions… only 20% actually keep them after 1 week… and only 10% of those people keep their resolutions after 1 month. That is an average of only 1 person out of 100 who can actually stick with a goal for a full month after the New Year! Why is there such a disparity in the number who can keep a resolution versus those who cannot? The answer resides in the SMART methodology...

The S.M.A.R.T. method of goal setting involves 5 principles:

1. Specific

2. Measurable

3. Achievable

4. Relevant

5. Timely

Your goal must be specific, such as start studying for all Tests at least 3 days in advance. It must also be measurable; for example, achieve nothing lower than a 90% on any Assignment. The goals must also be achievable. Trying to run a marathon in under a half hour is not humanly possible at this time (we shall see what jet-pack technology in the future may say about that), therefore it is not a SMART goal. Your Educational New Year’s Resolution should also be relevant. Hence, being accepted to a Top 25 University is an example of a relevant goal for one who has above a 4.0 GPA and is working on College Admissions. Finally, the goal must be bound by some sort of timetable, such as finishing all College Applications by December 1st, even the ones that are not due until January 1st. That will allow you to enjoy your Holiday Break without worrying about scrambling to finish before the deadlines. Set a deadline for yourself, because as a wise man once said, “Set your own deadlines or they will be set for you!”

Here’s to NO PROCRASTINATION in the New Year!

How do I know if my student has Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?

October is National ADHD Awareness Month, and in honor of those working hard to raise awareness about this disorder, we at DowEdu want to reach out and offer our over 20 years of experience working with students with ADHD.

First, what is ADHD? It stands for Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder, therefore the pathopneumonic symptoms are an inability to focus and concentrate, which is often accompanied by hyperactivity. The symptomology associated with ADHD is a laundry list of manifestations ranging from impulsivity, disorganization, and increased locomotor activity to thought bombardment and gaze avoidance. There are 3 main types: Inattentive Type, Hyperactive Type, and both Inattentive/Hyperactive Type. Often times, the student is unable to organize their schoolwork, daydreams during class and misses key information, impulsively seeks euphoric activities instead of getting schoolwork done (e.g. video games), is seen staring off into space, and an inability to sit still and focus on the task at hand.

Our President & Founder, Steven Alan Dow, M.S., wrote his Master’s Thesis on ADHD, therefore his unique expertise in this field has led to the overwhelming success of DowEdu in providing Educational Therapy for students demonstrating ADHD symptoms. Upon working with DowEdu, student grades go from F’s to A’s in a matter of a few weeks!

Don’t let your child fall behind… Call us today to schedule an Introductory Assessment, and end the immense stress and strain of trying to navigate through online Distance Learning with a student that suffers from ADHD.

What is a “Pod,” and why should you be forming one for your student in order to get the most out of online Distance Learning?

Whether you call them Learning Pods or Study Pods, they have been all the rage recently. Parents across the nation are scrambling to put together a group of 3 to 4 students to work together on learning the information presented during online Distance Learning. These Pods also serve as a study group for doing Homework, studying for Quizzes, and preparing for Exams as well. I’m sure you’ve read and heard about them by now, so it’s time to start forming them for the Fall semester!

Pods are directed by a Teacher or an Educational Therapist after school. We offer Pod group services in order to reteach and reinforce the class material, while incorporating Homework assistance and Educational Therapy to address special needs. With Dow Educational Solutions, you always have an Advocate. During this time of Distance Learning, the accommodations that are pursuant to federal law need to be implemented for students with an Independent Education Plan IEP or 504. Now is the time to bring in an experienced Advocate who will fight for your student!

Pods are usually formed among students of the same grade due to the fact that they traditionally are taking the same course, but with different Teachers. For example, 4 Freshman high school students may not all be in the same class, but they may be each taking Biology. This allows for flexibility in forming your Pod. The key is that students learn the material that is mandated for them to learn under state guidelines and be able to complete the Homework, and prepare for Assessments such as Quizzes and Tests. This time it counts, meaning their grades can go down and will appear on their official transcript and permanent record. Be on the forefront of Education during this challenging time, and get the help you need in order to make online Distance Learning successful for you and your student.

What is the Common Application, and how do I fill it out in order to maximize my chances of getting into my dream school?

The Common Application is the product of a non-profit organization with 900 member Colleges and Universities across all 50 states and 20 countries. The purpose of the Common App is to have one centralized hub for applying to multiple schools across the country and around the world. Once you create an account and log in, you are provided a dashboard that can be filled with Colleges and Universities that you wish to apply to. Although the Personal Statement is a major component of the Common App, which is sent to all of the schools from which you wish to gain acceptance, the Activities section is by far the most misunderstood section…

Often times we can be self-deprecating or too humble when discussing our talents and accomplishments. In the Activities section of the Common App, this is the time to brag about yourself and announce your Extracurricular pursuits from the rooftops! Far too many students describe their Activities in an unprofessional and haphazard manner. The Activities section is your opportunity to present your body of work outside of the classroom in a curriculum vitae type fashion using resume type language. Word choice for the Title and Description of your Activities is of paramount importance. For example, if you participated in an Internship that involved data entry, one could describe it as inputting data into a spreadsheet in the office. However, a savvy applicant will fill out the Common App Activities section by writing, “Database management in order to generate sales leads and maximize revenue for the corporation.” Although these two ways of communicating the information mean the same thing, the way you present yourself and your Activities is crucial to getting accepted to your dream school!

Assigning the duration of each Extracurricular pursuit on the Common App can be confusing… The minimum number of hours for an activity is 2 hours per week. The summer is approximately 12 weeks long and the school year is generally 40 weeks. If you participated in a performance based activity such as violin year round, then you would select 52 weeks.

The Ranking of your Extracurricular Activities is also a critical component of this section. Generally speaking, the activities in which you have had the most consistent and sustained involvement over a long period of time should be ranked highest. Therefore, #1 should be playing a sport for all 4 years of high school, where as second priority would be given to participating in the Robotics Club for only 2 years during your Sophomore and Junior year. Even though the Robotics Club is more revered among Math and Science based Colleges and Universities that do not have extensive athletic programs, the 4 years of involvement in another activity takes precedence.

Don’t waste this opportunity fumbling through the growing pains and mistakes that most applicants make while applying to College. Get trusted advice from an experienced College Counseling firm by calling Dow Educational Solutions for help on your Common App today!

“What makes a College Application Personal Statement stand out?”

Everyone is unique… Each of us has something special about us. It may be a special skill or accomplishment, or it may just be an experience that shaped the person you are today. Yes, the College Application Personal Statement is a way for Admissions Officials to get to know you, but it requires a strategic approach. There is indeed a formula for a successful Personal Statement. We go through this in a systematic way during our Personal Statement Workshops…

Tell a story. No one likes to hear someone ramble off a bunch of facts with no context. Tell us what you could hear, see, feel, and smell… Take the reader back to the setting and tell us YOUR story. The most successful Ivy League Personal Statements incorporate this style and approach. Focus on a life changing experience, then the other components of the formula will simply fall into place around this experience. What unique characteristics set you apart from all of the other applicants? What makes you stand out among the over 100,000 College Applications received at that University? These are the questions that you need to ask yourself before embarking on the most important essay of your academic career.