College essays and personal statements are difficult things to tackle; they are used by college admissions counselors to see what you are all about. Personal statements, while meant to showcase your academic prowess, are used to give the college a sense about who you are a person. They already know you have a 2.5 GPA, played track for 3 years, and scored a 25 on the ACT. But who are you really? That's what they want to know. Lacy Crawford of The New York Times says "Above all, it’s the freedom that lets a student reveal her voice in a way that admissions offices, in my experience, find wonderfully compelling." In other words, let your true voice shine through. Tell them something they wouldn't know by just looking at your resume and application. Admissions counselors read thousands of these essays every day; do you really want to write that essay about sports as a metaphor for life? Don’t rely on phrases or ideas that people have used many times before. These could include statements like, “There is so much suffering in the world that I feel I have to help people.” Avoid overly formal or business-like language, and don’t use unnecessary words. Secondly, be honest. Admissions counselors can smell dishonesty a mile away. And be humble. This doesn't mean downplaying your accomplishments, but it does mean don't sound stuck-up. Lastly, proofread! Turning in an essay that is full of grammatical errors is unprofessional and does not reflect well on you. You can have me, your English teacher, and/or a parent look it over before you submit it. |
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You, too, can be like this cat: flush with cash! One of the biggest concerns I've heard about applying to college is the cost. I won't lie; college is costly. But you know what's even more costly? Not going to college. College grads out-earn high school grads by 1.2 million dollars over their lifetime! The question then becomes how to pay for school. Let's look at Mizzou for our example of how scholarships work. A Missouri student going to Mizzou for the 2014-2015 school year can expect to pay a total of $20, 926 for tuition, books, and room and board. That's a lot of money! Keep in mind, though, that this is the sticker price. The sticker price is the total amount it costs to go to a certain school, but you will not pay that full amount, so don't let it scare you too much. All schools offer automatic scholarships to their students. These are scholarships that the school gives to students who meet the requirements. The higher your ACT score and GPA, the more money you will receive. Let's take a look at one of Mizzou's automatic scholarships, the Chancellor's Award. In order to qualify, you must have the following:
After receiving automatic scholarships, you will have to apply for competitive scholarships through your college. The deadlines for these differ, and you need to apply for these. Deadlines are generally around January, but double-check. Let's say you receive an extra $2000 through competitive scholarships at Mizzou. Your cost is down to $10,426. That's half of the full amount! And we're not even done. You will get money from the college you apply to, but you also need to apply to private scholarships. These are available in the counselor's office, under the "Scholarships and Financial Aid" tab here on my website, as well as on my Facebook. You also have to do some looking on your own. Let's say you enter the AES Engineering Scholarship. It's a simple essay contest and the prize is $500. You win the $500. You also win the Horatio Alger Scholarship, which requires that you write an essay and have a 2.0 GPA. The prize for that scholarship is $5000. So you win $5500 from private scholarships, which brings your total cost down to $4926. That's a lot more manageable than $20,926! How you come up with the rest of that money is up to you. You can use savings, work while you're in school, and/or take ou
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AuthorHi! I'm Ms. Coyne. I'm the college advisor at St. James High School in St. James, Missouri. Archives
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