Author Archives: va

Tips For Writing Your Personal Statement



Over the past few years, many admission committees have placed great emphasis on the personal statement section of a college application. While the other sections are generally facts regarding academics and other information, this section is designed to really illuminate the individual. This is what differentiates students from each other, as everyone has their own unique ambitions and experiences to narrate. Here are a few tips to write an effective personal statement.

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College Application Blunders & How to Avoid Them



Moving from high school to college is generally regarded as your shift into adulthood and is supposed to be your mark of maturity. For most students, however, this is only a theoretical proposition until they’re actually physically in college.

Many do not make it to their preferred colleges, not because they lack the necessary credentials, but because they end up making some critical mistakes on their applications.

There are a few college application blunders that are very common, particularly because students don’t always realize how important certain elements of the application are, don’t pay enough attention, or think they can somehow circumvent admissions requirements. However, such mistakes can be easily rectified and actually substantially boost your chances of getting into your desired college.

Dishonesty: To start with, one of the most widespread and unethical practices that some applicants tend to resort to is dishonesty. A number of students believe it is okay to make up or otherwise exaggerate details that don’t actually reflect them. Some overemphasize grades, some embellish their extracurricular activities, while others plagiarize or lie on their essays and personal statements.

The point to remember here is that you need to come across as an honest and unique individual. While dealing with the essay portion, just be yourself and write about something that is personal to you. This is exactly what will make you stand out amongst the rest because colleges receive thousands of applications each year and so many are rejected because they have nothing unique to offer.

Also, don’t forget that admissions officers are getting streams and streams of applications and are presumably experienced enough and good enough at their jobs to pick out an application that doesn’t sound genuine.

Unanswered questions: The second error generally arises from a lack of awareness. Most students have a subject that they are not good at. Hence, even the brightest of students sometimes have to explain a bad grade on their transcripts. Students generally tend to overlook such issues. However, it is important that you address such a result instead of ignoring it. Owning up to it and explaining it will make you come across as a mature and responsible individual.

The key here is to understand that you shouldn’t risk leaving anything to chance or that whoever reads your application will just know what you mean if you don’t do your best to explain it. Also, don’t write anything that you cannot follow up with a proper explanation. In such cases, it is better to leave out the information.

Laziness: The third major error is slacking off while filling out the application forms. It can lead to a number of disastrous outcomes. For instance, students who don’t study the application forms carefully tend to overlook the fact that all applications are not the same. Hence, they tend to either omit important details or give unnecessary or incorrect information.

The biggest blunder occurs when students forget to change names and specific details for different colleges. This can cost you all the hard work that you otherwise put in to the application. Other errors include overlooking important and relevant information as required by the admissions department. In fact, it is advised to contact the relevant college department and inquire about your application and ascertain that they received all the necessary details.

The way to avoid such errors is to take the application process seriously and fill them out actively. The most important rule however is to proofread your applications a number of times before submission. In fact, get a friend or instructor to do it for you as well. This will ensure that your application is free of any careless mistakes.

Applying to college will likely be the most important thing you’ve done so far, so be careful not to try and use any shortcuts. Every last application deserves your full attention.

Students tend to make a number of other errors as well, however those are generally case specific and if you can attend to these major ones, you are very likely to produce a near flawless application.

Dealing With Study-Related Stress

toomuchstress

More often than not, it’s the fear of not doing well on their exams that causes panic in students. What most students fail to appreciate is that freaking out and hyperventilating over all the things they haven’t done and need to do is incredibly counterproductive. There are certain methods that can be applied in period of both long- and short-term anxiety. A few tips for stress management will change your attitude towards study-related jitters completely.

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Differences Between High School & College

Differences Between High School Life and College Life

For those of us who haven’t actually experienced college, it often seems like it’s just going to be a bigger and more difficult version of high school—basically the same. Those who do go to college or have been, know that the two are poles apart. There are actually very few similarities between high school and college, and you’ll have entirely different lives in both places.

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5 Ways To Concentrate On Studying

concentrate on studying

Studying can be pretty tedious for most students, especially if the student has little to no interest in the material in question. This’ll make it hard to concentrate right off the bat and make students feel helpless and persecuted.

It’s not as bad as it sounds though—a few steps can go a long way with helping students better their relationship with school and academics in general, developing effective concentration techniques.

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Study Hard Or Study Smart?

study hard or study smart?

Academically speaking, life in college is much more demanding than in high school and many students are scared of the idea that it requires a huge amount of studying. College definitely demands more effort, but, it does mainly depend on how you tend to study.

One of the most common perceptions of college students is that the amount of course work is so massive, they have to lock themselves up in their rooms and cram all night before the exams. This kind of studying is by no means the ideal method. Continue reading