College websites can be frustrating. Many are designed by professional web and marketing firms using unusual fonts or straw-like shapes that morph into a picture about the latest theatre arts production. Such flash might prove more a distraction than an aid when seeking necessary information.
How Colleges Evaluate Applicants
Submitting a Solid Application
A Reddit article by Hayden Shumsky, ‘Top 10 College Admissions Mistakes,’ (https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/5ozuc7/top_10_college_admissions_mistakes/) caught my attention with mistake number 1: ‘Sending in Poor Quality Essays and Applications.’
Hidden Application Prompts
Just like any good marathoner, when you’re writing your college essays, always be prepared for that hill right before the finish line. It’s rare that the first review of admissions requirements will discover all the essays required, so keep an energy reserve, and, of course, start the application process as early as possible.
Alternatives to the Common Application
Undoubtedly the Common Application is a useful tool allowing an applicant to apply to numerous colleges with one main application, and usually a supplement. Through the Common App, recommendations can be sent electronically, and its cloud-based Slideshow application enables applicants to upload portfolios and musical performances to be shared among the colleges. Moreover, the Common App has over 500 college members. It’s a convenient tool when it works.
One alternative to the Common Application is the Universal College Application (UCA).
The Poorly Understood SAT Subject Tests
Dealing with Stress
Stress is in all our lives. It’s designed for those threatening occasions when one is jolted out of a deep sleep in the wee hours of the night and must roll out of bed and investigate. Initially the stress hormones norepinephrine and epinephrine burst into the system, followed by the release of cortisol.
Carnegie Mellon University-Engineers and Artists
Discounting Carnegie Mellon has proven unwise. On 28 November 1926, Knute Rockne decided not to join his nationally ranked Notre Dame football team that was playing against the tiny Carnegie Institute of Technology; instead, he headed to Chicago to scout the Army Navy Game. Carnegie Institute went on to one of the major upsets of the 20th Century by shutting out Notre Dame 19-0.