Mistakes in College Applications

Mistakes in College Applications November 20, 2013 Do proofread your essays. Dont have Mommy and Daddy call admissions officers. And dont be trite in your essays. Our Founder, Bev Taylor, was recently featured in an article in AM New York about tips for avoiding mistakes in college applications. In the article on college applications, the writer, Lambeth Hochwald, tells high school seniors to let the admissions committee get to know you. Its very true. Your application and your college admissions essays should shed insight into who you are and what youre all about. Hochwald also recommends that high school seniors tailor each of their applications. Do you know how many students essentially submit the same essay to various colleges? You really dont think an admissions office is astute enough to recognize that when you write Duke has a beautiful campus, you likely used that same exact line for Northwestern? And Middlebury, Dartmouth, Cornell, and Harvard. Of course youve got to tailor each part of the application for the individual college. Hochwald also recommends that students dont write essays that are full of trite statement after trite statement. Its amazing how many college admissions essays are utterly trite when you break them down by the numbers. Wed venture to say that upwards of 90% of them are trite. And that would be on the low end. Its probably more like 99%. High school seniors just dont seem to understand that which is trite. Its something we teach them during our process. And your college admissions essays shouldnt be a downer either. Says Bev in the piece, Also, you dont want the admission person to feel down by reading your essay. Your essay can be the tipping point to getting into a college, so say who you are and make the most of it. Hochwald also offers the tips of dont forget to proofread. No kidding. Submitting college admissions essays filled with grammatical errors and typos is a very bad idea. And Hochwald implores students not to have their parents contact admissions officers on your behalf. Mommy and Daddy should not be reaching out to admissions officers! Oy vey. Avoid these mistakes in college applications at all cost.