Best last minute common app review/tricks?

[Anonymous]

Helping kid finalize top EA app and ED1 app this weekend.

Looking for tips:

Contacts: if school asks for contacts list as many people as you can (students; alumni etc)

Activities: power verbs; quantify impact; reorder; end with an EC that makes them smile or tugs at heart (family responsibilities or something sweet)

Future plans: use “Other” to personalize and wrap description into overall application narrative/theme

Essays: read all essays out loud - if a word sounds too big, it is too big. End personal essay with a one line emotional “hook”.

Additional info: explains anything on transcript that isn’t clear or reinforces academic theme; only add extra awards that are high profile (outside school or local community); link to student material/website - always short and bulleted ; no essays.

Glimpse video - should say something about you not covered elsewhere in any part of the app.

Overall: read the application to make sure nothing is ever repeated. Make sure there is a clear concise application theme that develops about who the kid is and what the kid values .

Imagine being an admissions officer and reading that. Do you have something to take away about the kid. A few words. If so, that’s how they will describe kid in committee.

What am I missing?
Any tips?

[Anonymous]

Use the Preview button, in the upper right corner of each section, to print the PDF of the section. Then proofread, on paper, with a red pen in hand.

[Anonymous]

Agree. Go to “submit” and print a pdf of the entire app. Really helpful to read it like an AO in order.

And look at the older posts on what AO look for (and how they score). Sometimes you can figure out what will stand out (negatively or positively) for your kid.

Think about what has been given to teachers for LOR and hopefully kid hasn’t repeated info.

Make some parts funny or happy. No AP likes to be sad unless kid is really underprivileged- most of our kids are not. Their apps should read happy.

[Anonymous]

That PDF trick is good!

OP, you sound very detail-oriented. I'm sure your kid will do great. Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

1. Make sure the "voice" of the applicant is strong (hopefully not diluted by over-editing) - the essays MUST humanize the kid for T20 privates (biggest red flag = "flat" essays). What is the core or basis for your life story? That should be clear.

2. Make sure applicant's EC's and essays speak to: intellectual curiosity; grit; creativity; open-mindedness; kindness; cultural engagement and how applicant "pushes limits"

3. The best ECs tell a story, give you a good sense of the "whole package"

4. Don't add ANY ECs to the Additional Info. It should be for clarifying things that are not obvious. Expanding on research is fine - but short 1-2 bullets. Links are fine.

5. AO know the "quality" of essays coming out of a school. Your essay is compared to your peers (now and those admitted in the past). Same with your in-school ECs and leadership.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. Make sure the "voice" of the applicant is strong (hopefully not diluted by over-editing) - the essays MUST humanize the kid for T20 privates (biggest red flag = "flat" essays). What is the core or basis for your life story? That should be clear.

2. Make sure applicant's EC's and essays speak to: intellectual curiosity; grit; creativity; open-mindedness; kindness; cultural engagement and how applicant "pushes limits"

3. The best ECs tell a story, give you a good sense of the "whole package"

4. Don't add ANY ECs to the Additional Info. It should be for clarifying things that are not obvious. Expanding on research is fine - but short 1-2 bullets. Links are fine.

5. AO know the "quality" of essays coming out of a school. Your essay is compared to your peers (now and those admitted in the past). Same with your in-school ECs and leadership.

How do you know if an essay is flat?

[Anonymous]

For my kid, reading essays on paper (not just on screen or even out loud) for some reason makes a huge difference in catching word choice or flow problems. Printing out papers (and now college essays) for review before finalizing them has become a key step in the editing process.

[Anonymous]

I think Crimson published a cheat sheet this week. Anyone have it?

[Anonymous]

Will system crash if app is submitted Nov 1? Should we do 1-2 days early to be safe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. Make sure the "voice" of the applicant is strong (hopefully not diluted by over-editing) - the essays MUST humanize the kid for T20 privates (biggest red flag = "flat" essays). What is the core or basis for your life story? That should be clear.

2. Make sure applicant's EC's and essays speak to: intellectual curiosity; grit; creativity; open-mindedness; kindness; cultural engagement and how applicant "pushes limits"

3. The best ECs tell a story, give you a good sense of the "whole package"

4. Don't add ANY ECs to the Additional Info. It should be for clarifying things that are not obvious. Expanding on research is fine - but short 1-2 bullets. Links are fine.

5. AO know the "quality" of essays coming out of a school. Your essay is compared to your peers (now and those admitted in the past). Same with your in-school ECs and leadership.

How do you know if an essay is flat?

I just googled:
Too many thesaurus words.
The essay should read as if you're having a conversation with the reader.

[Anonymous]

This post is very helpful, thanks! Is it OK to add an extra EC to additional info? It is a language program and self-study of a 2nd foreign language that I think shows depth of my kid's language and cultural interest. They already have a lot of info about their primary foreign language but not this one. Kid is applying for an 'area studies' major that relate to both languages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This post is very helpful, thanks! Is it OK to add an extra EC to additional info? It is a language program and self-study of a 2nd foreign language that I think shows depth of my kid's language and cultural interest. They already have a lot of info about their primary foreign language but not this one. Kid is applying for an 'area studies' major that relate to both languages.

Rearrange the activity section to fit this in there, where it belongs. Activities can be combined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will system crash if app is submitted Nov 1? Should we do 1-2 days early to be safe?

Crashing tends to happen late in the evening on the 1st. Sometimes it's the payment function.

Submit early in the day or the day before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Crimson published a cheat sheet this week. Anyone have it?

Not sure about cheat sheet, but a lot of content online:

https://www.crimsoneducation.org/us/blog/how-to-make-your-college-application-stand-out-with-a-theme/

[Anonymous]

Could someone explain what that "contact" list is about? Have never heard about this.