woo, fun fun

[Ava]

i've got to get this finished up tomorrow.. the college application process is freaking me out more and more... applications to UCLA and Berkeley are due at the end of this month. x( -

Respond to both prompts, using a maximum of 1,000 words total.

You may allocate the word count as you wish. If you choose to respond to one prompt at greater length, we suggest your shorter answer be no less than 250 words.

Stay within the word limit as closely as you can. A little over — 1,012 words, for example — is fine.

Prompt #1 (freshman applicants)
Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

Prompt #2 (all applicants)
Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?

i'm scared :scared:

[DarkTirade]

1. You're a helluva lot more proficient with the written word than most people twice your age.

Not to mention all the crap you've done in your personal experience that a lot of people twice your age haven't done either. Don't worry too much 'bout it. :)

[Ava]

6. thanks

both schools are so competitive though.. they'll have lots of great writers applying.

[DarkTirade]

20. But none of them are Ava.

So you've got an advantage there. :)

[Ava]

23. lol

yeah, but there will be plenty of people applying to stellar academic profiles and good extracurriculars.

[elshiva]

2. Good luck, hon.

You are an intelligent woman.

:hug:

BTW: I love your sig line picture.

[Ava]

7. thanks

i photoshopped the "vote for pedro" pic of him and added obama's name, lol -
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=37417861425

:rofl:

[elshiva]

9. Great Photoshop!

[Ava]

11. lol, thanks

:hi:

[elshiva]

14. You are welcome.

:hug: :hi:

[KitchenWitch]

3. UCLA?

Cool!

I was just there taking a tour with my son in August. It is a BEAUTIFUL campus.

[Ava]

5. i'd love to be there

i want to major in film, so of course it's a top school!

my math score wasn't great on my sat though... i'm even though i had a really high verbal score i'm afraid that at a competitive school like UCLA my math score will hurt my chances

[KitchenWitch]

15. You have quite a bit of extracurricular stuff that can overcome a less than stellar math score

Apply, worst that could happen is to get denied. You can always transfer in!

[Ava]

24. hope so

i'm applying for sure.. guess we'll see!

[WildEyedLiberal]

4. Those are some of the better examples of college application essays

I refused to apply to Northwestern and UChicago because their essay prompts were so hideously stupid.

Good luck, that kind of crap is never fun, but you are more skilled with words than I guarantee 99% of your fellow applicants, so just be real and stay away from obvious BS (you know, the rote "I have leadership skills and unique talents" crap that everyone says), and you'll do fine.

[Ava]

8. thanks

i'm sure i'll have several drafts before i have a version i'm happy with.. hopefully it'll be good enough :hi:

[RushIsRot]

10. My best wishes, but I know you'll do well. You are a GENUINE

human being who takes notice of what's happening in the world.

Newton

[Ava]

12. thanks

:hug:

[vixengrl]

13. My college entrance exam asked me to list my personal hero

and I bullshitted out an essay about Theodore Roosevelt--in minutes. Don't be scared. They smell "fear" but are largely immune to the smell of b.s.

Hint the first: you have a story about a community you come from. You are here. What do you hope for the world you want to be in, and want to help make?

Hint the second: you are a smart person who posts amongst this unruly lot, so you have a facility with language. Who is the person you are: "here"? I've enjoyed your posts here, and your journal. You have beliefs and things to say.

I think you'll do okay.

[elshiva]

16. You can't go wrong with Teddy Roosevelt.

He was a Republican, but he was also a conservationalist, so most people like him. He was a decent guy.

[Ava]

25. well, i'm a pretty good bs'er

:rofl: ;)

thanks

[XemaSab]

17. I feel your pain

"I come from Alababama and that has totally shaped me. In addition, I like, made this website that's all antiwar and shit. Yeah."

Oh, wait, that's you.

"I come from Oakland and that has totally shaped me. In addition, I like, was in madrigals and model UN and on the school paper and shit. Yeah."

Okay, that's my response.

It's totally an invitation to bullshit.

(No, but really, you'll do well on this. But it's still a bullshit set of questions.)

[Ava]

26. i figure you're supposed to brag about yourself without sounding like you're bragging

:rofl:

[XemaSab]

29. Exactly

It's the only thing worse than writing a cover letter for a job.

"Tell us great things about yourself... but you have to sound like a team player, and you have to sound modest." :banghead:

[Ava]

30. lol, exactly!

and i hate writing/talking about myself

[jeff30997]

18. Go Ava !!!

Sending you good vibes although you don't need them to do a great job. :hi:

[Ava]

27. thanks jeff30997

:pals:

[curse of greyface]

19. Okay let me help you on this.

Prompt #1 (freshman applicants)
Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

Think the movie The Jerk.... "Huh? I am not a bum. I'm a jerk. I once had wealth, power, and the love of a beautiful woman. Now I only have two things: my friends and... uh... my thermos. Huh? My story? Okay. It was never easy for me. I was born a poor black child. I remember the days, sittin' on the porch with my family, singin' and dancin' down in Mississippi."

Remember pathos. It should read like Angela's Ashes meets The Color Purple. Oh and then explain how you overcame your past... I will never be a heroin addict like my mom or a abusive deaf cripple like my father. that kinda thing.




Prompt #2 (all applicants)
Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?

I will assume like most teenagers your not up for any Nobels yet.

Remember that time you talked those kids out of a group suicide? no? well get remembering. Then you got them help afterward. Oh and you drove your best friend Becky across two state lines to get an abortion after her father raped her. You remember doing that right? Remember the key words pathos,heroism and unverifiable.

Hope these slightly tongue in cheek tips help and remember spelling counts.

[Ava]

28. lol!

:rofl:

[curse of greyface]

34. I am so glad you got the joke. (And I hope you read between the lines for the serious,) nt

[Random_Australian]

21. Ha! That's pretty random. All I had to do to go to uni was list a couple of preferences

with the people who deal with the admissions, and they just told me which of my preferences I was allowed to go to. (All of them at all of the universities I had listed, as it happily turned out)

That would be confronting and scary, but take comfort in the fact that there are aspiring physicists who have to write about the same things, and lots of us don't do words good. x(

And people like me, whose aspirations were shaped by "wanting to get the away from where I grew up", who didn't have dreams or direction when we were growing up, must have to answer those questions as well. So you're probably racing against plenty of people who don't have legs.

No really, back then, if I were honest I'd have to tell them that I didn't dream or aspire, and I'm still not proud of any quality, talent, accomplishment et cetera.

But really, that kind of process will be damn hard for a lot of smart people simply because they do not think like that (ie. emotionally). This gives you a serious advantage.

So don't worry, be happy.

Oh, until society crumbles because you didn't have enough smart people that couldn't think like that. :) ;)


Ok, so that kinda turned into a bit of a rant against the system. Well, you know what? It's dumb. End of story.

How are you?

[Ava]

22. lol.. well my extra curriculars and essays probably will help my chances

at the absurdly competitive schools i'm applying to. going to be hard as hell though. i'll probably get a few rejections letters.

i'm doing good. had my 18th birthday at the end of last month and i got to vote for Obama. of course mccain won alabama, but i still got to vote for obama. ;)

it's been forever since i've seen you around! how the hell have you been? :pals:

[Random_Australian]

35. I have exams right now, so I've been procrastinating a lot. ;)

Well, taking breaks as needed.

But yeah, I'm going well. Group of close friends now and all that. (IRL)

And the science-stuff be going great. I'll be putting in my application for honours tomorrow - incredibly efficient solar cells here I come! :)

Hah, it really has been a while.

[Ava]

38. awesome.. sounds like things are going great!

how far are you from graduating? :hi:

[Random_Australian]

43. I will have completed the requirements for graduating in 10 days time, actually.

When we actually graduate is something I can't remember, though. :)


So, what degree are you aiming for?

[Ava]

44. awesome! early congrats then

i'm hoping to double major.. film & political science

[Random_Australian]

47. Hmmmm, is it true you have to do some science or maths or something in first year?

I heard that about america, but making undergrads do something like that seems weird to me. Then again, how you split up your courses seems weird to me as well. It's almost as if you were in a different country. ;)

[Ava]

48. you have to take a little bit of everything

however, the science and math courses i would take would be very very little and easy compared tot he science and math courses someone majoring in a science or math degree would take. ;)

[MilesColtrane]

31. I recommend a short essay, like...

"Let me in or Democratic Underground will kick your ass."

[Ava]

32. or more specifically

Skittles will :rofl:

[MilesColtrane]

33. ...and the ivory towers they rode in on.

[Kutjara]

36. Dear God, do they still make you write that crap?

It's been 28 years since I was sitting in your shoes and, even then, the whole college application process seemed like something from another era. Who are the poor, tormented souls who have to read the thousands of pages of narcolepsy-inducing dreck, anyway? I can't imagine anyone involved comes away from the process with their souls measurably enriched.

Sadly, I fear my essay was very much along the lines of "As a dynamic, motivated, future leader of the free world, I look forward to tomorrow with a hunger that can only be described as feral" or some such drivel, so I'd be no help at all.

[Ava]

39. i just wonder who wants to read about my life

it really isn't all that interesting :rofl:

[mnhtnbb]

37. Ava, my son went through this last year and is now a freshman

at his school of choice: UNC Chapel Hill.

You can do it. These essays are the chance to show who you are. Don't be afraid to let your unique
voice show through. A sense of humor helps.

You can do it!

:hug:

[Ava]

40. i've looked at UNC Chapel Hill

extremely competitive school! congrats to your son on getting in.. it's a great school!

and thanks :hug:

[mnhtnbb]

45. UNC Chapel Hill is very tough to get into if you're out of state. Limits

out of state enrollment to 18% of total.

We live in Chapel Hill--which I've heard they limit kids from the CH high schools--but
he's an excellent student.

It's not particularly known for film though, so I think you'd be better off at UCLA.

I have both my BS and Master's from UCLA; hubby was undergrad at UC Berkeley and med school at UCLA.

If you get into either or both--GO!

[billyskank]

41. You'll have a thousand words knocked up in no time.

It's only like 1 page of 10pt text. You'll do fine, and good luck! :hi:

[Ava]

42. the length isn't what has me worried

it's the text :rofl:


this whole college application process just has me stressed out.

[trof]

46. So...you're not pledging Tri-Delt at the U. of A.?

:rofl:
Go girl!
:hi:

[Ava]

49. lol

i'm actually still applying to alabama too.. but tuscaloosa isn't exactly known for a film community ;)