The “Why University X” supplemental essay is NOT a “Why University X is great” essay. Instead, it’s a “Why University X and I are perfect for each other” essay. A very common mistake applicants make is explaining only the things they love about a school while ignoring the value they can add to a campus through their background, personal characteristics, or perspective. So here’s what you can do to make connections between the things you love about a university and yourself: Grab a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. Label the left-hand column “Me” and the right-hand column “University X”. Then add 8 to 12 bullet points why you and the school are a perfect match. Be specific. For example, if you want to learn photography in your spare time, write it in the left-hand column. In the right-hand column, write down any photography classes or clubs University X offers. If you love that University X has a double major in Environmental Science and Russian, put it in the right-hand column. In the left, explain why that’s important to you. This exercise not only shows you exactly how you and the college fit together, but your points can be quickly chunked into categories (e.g. academics, experiential learning opportunities, extracurriculars, location, etc.) and turned into an outline for the “Why University X” essay. This exercise also turns common, boring writing into strong, specific writing. Here’s an example from a recent client: Draft 1 The University of Michigan is a world famous university with strong pedagogical resources. The school provides a learning-friendly and supportive environment for high-quality teaching and research, and academic staffs are actively engaged in cutting-edge research. The programme of Electrical Engineering will enable me to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems through learning to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice. This draft doesn’t say anything the school doesn’t already know about itself, and it doesn’t say anything unique to the University of Michigan. In other words, this paragraph could apply to NYU or Stanford just as easily as it applies to U of M. Additionally, this paragraph doesn’t connect to the applicant whatsoever; the reader knows nothing about the applicant’s interests or talents. Draft 2 Beyond attending the elite Electrical Engineering and Computer Science program, the University of Michigan will provide me with a wealth of opportunities to pursue my long-term goal of generating clean power for my home communities (and hopefully the world at large). I have carefully reviewed the Electrical Engineering Program Guide and am excited to take classes such as Introduction to Circuits, Signals and Systems, and Power System Design and Operation. If admitted, I also plan to join BlueLab’s Living Building Challenge team to apply my knowledge to developing eco-friendly communities. And, if possible, I would love the opportunity to work under Professor Ian A Hiskens. I find his research on renewable resources and their potential to improve the behavior of the grid intriguing. This paragraph cites specific classes and an experiential learning opportunity that will benefit the applicant. This paragraph also shows the motivation behind the applicant’s choice of major, giving the reader insight into the applicant’s interests and his potential to add to Michigan’s campus. That’s it! Find out how your interests and talents connect to the school you are applying to, then provide the reader with concrete examples of how you and the school are a perfect match. If we can help you with your “Why University X” essays - whether that be brainstorming, editing, or proofreading - please don’t hesitate to reach out. That’s what we're here for. Good luck, applicants!

Mistake #1 - Starting the essay by introducing oneself rather than the story Many students have the perception they must introduce themselves immediately. After all, it’s a personal statement, right? Well, by starting with something like, “I have always wanted to be a computer scientist…” or “I am a Chinese high school student with big goals…” you not only fail to grab the reader’s attention with something interesting or surprising, but you start too broad. Instead use an individual story (an anecdote) to represent something larger about yourself. This is what is meant by the ever-common advice to “show don’t tell”. Mistake #2 - Failing to add a proper thesis statement (or paragraph) In the writing world, this is called a billboard statement (or paragraph), and it tells the reader what the piece is about. This statement is an important transition from the attention-grabbing introduction to the theme(s) you will address in the rest of the essay. If you are struggling to find your thesis statement, look for your first declarative sentence, then flush it out. Mistake #3 - Forgetting to demonstrate a personal value or lesson (or making it unclear) Tasked with assembling classes of students who are likely to succeed yet unique in every other way, admissions officers look for distinctive demonstrations of character. By infusing a personal value (or two or four) and/or an important lesson learned into your essay, you exhibit being the type of student they want on their campuses. Include this in your outline to ensure it is included in your personal statement. If you read through your essay and find your personal value or lesson missing, go back to the outlining stage of writing. Mistake #4 - Missing topic sentences When writing a personal statement - which is radically different from academic writing - it’s easy to let the point get lost in the details. Start each paragraph with a topic sentence to make your writing cohesive and to guide the reader through your writing. Because Chinese students are taught a different writing style in school, I find missing topic sentences to be an extremely common mistake. To avoid this blunder, write a reverse outline. Mistake #5 - Sounding too formal or too casual You don’t want to sound like a thesaurus, and you don’t want to sound like you’re texting your friends. Instead, write as you would to an older relative - polished but conversational. Are you looking for help with your personal statement or other application materials? World Awaits is here to help. We’ll make sure your application is polished, school-specific, and strong. You can submit with confidence. Contact us to set up FREE advisory session, and let's get started!

Applying to a PhD program? Read this. If you’re planning to apply to a PhD program, you’ve probably received tons of advice from professors, family, and fellow students. You’re also probably uncertain whether the information and suggestions you’ve received are accurate or not. It’s hard to know which advice will help you in your future endeavors and which ones should be ignored. As a study abroad consultant, I regularly work with PhD applicants from all fields, and there are some important factors for you to consider as you embark down the path of a PhD. It is my hope that this article will help you avoid unnecessary challenges and guide you to make strong decisions as you prepare for your advanced degree. This article is specifically for students intending to apply for a PhD program - not other graduate programs. Application expectations are very different for PhD applicants and other graduate program applicants. Why? Because master’s, business, law, and medical school applicants pay to advance their studies and, as such, need to show they have the ability to be a strong learner and specialist in their respective fields. PhD applicants, on the other hand, are applying for a paid research position - a position that also happens to include graduate courses. This is an important distinction that shapes how applicants should prepare themselves and their materials. Further, the advice presented in this article is likely best for students who have time to develop their applicant profiles (freshmen, sophomores, and juniors); however, if you are applying soon, this article will help you craft an application that emphasizes the traits admissions committees look for in candidates. So without further ado, here are my 3 most important pieces of advice: 1. A PhD application should be viewed as a job application. Again, unlike other graduate programs, PhD applicants are essentially applying for hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding and 4+ years of mentorship in exchange for producing publishable research. As such, PhD applications should be seen as job applications. Your job is to show admissions committees that you have what it takes to be a strong researcher and are thus worthy of the university’s investment. Because the best predictor of future success is past success, admissions committees and professors consider your previous research experience to be the primary factor in determining whether or not you are admitted into a PhD program. This is very important to understand. Contrary to what you may hear from other sources, your GPA, GRE, and extracurricular involvement are not anywhere near as important as your research experience. At the end of the day, universities are looking for research assistants, so showing that you have successfully conducted research in your chosen field or have the capability of doing so is of the utmost importance. For students who are in the process of applying to PhD programs (or will be very shortly), this means utilizing every application requirement to highlight the research you have conducted up to this point. Even if you don’t feel your research is not relevant to the program you are applying to, it’s still research and important to your application. I have worked with students in the past who have insisted they leave research off of their application because they: a) don’t feel it’s relevant to the program they’re applying to, or b) don’t feel their research was successful (i.e. didn’t culminate in publication). This is a big mistake. Remember, you need to show admissions officers and professors that you have either completed successful research or have the capability of doing so. By completing research in a different field, you show that you have the ability to conduct research and, most likely, have skills that will transfer into your new area of interest. Further, it is understood that undergraduate students usually end up doing undesirable “grunt-work” rather than advanced research, so don’t worry if you are not given the chance to publish. Of course undergraduate publications are great, but it’s okay if you don’t have them. If you have a year or more before you submit PhD applications, you need to focus on developing your applicant profile by contributing to research projects - even if they aren’t in the field you end up applying for. Ideally, you will work on projects during the school year as well as the summer to show commitment to your research. This will also help you move up the ladder from menial tasks to contributing in more impactful ways (possibly leading to publication). For these same reasons, if you are only able to work during the summer, try to work on the same project for two or more summers. 2. The strongest applications are research-heavy. All of your application materials should focus on your research experience - from your CV and letters of recommendation to your statement of purpose. When done correctly, each of these documents will highlight your experience from different angles. Curriculum Vitae Concisely emphasize research by detailing project-specific responsibilities, results, and impact. Include any funding secured in your name, relevant publications (including poster presentations, undergraduate research journal submissions, and papers awaiting review), and associated patents owned by your university or employer. Letters of Recommendation (LORs) It is best to secure recommendations from your research advisors or supervisors, as they will corroborate your research results and speak to your skills and qualities as a researcher. If you cannot find at least three LORs from people you have researched under, you can turn to professors who know you well, but these letters won’t be as impactful. Undergraduate freshmen, sophomores, and juniors can mitigate this by seeking out research opportunities for final class projects, as these experiences establish similar skills required for PhD research. Students who have some time before application submission can also take graduate-level courses. LORs from these professors indicate an ability to handle the academic rigor of graduate school. Statement of Purpose (SOP) While many graduate programs favor application essays that are in narrative form, professors screening applicants for PhD programs expect you to focus your writing on your research experience and your reasons for pursuing a PhD. Avoid being creative or writing about your personal life. Instead, explain your research experience, using examples to support your claims. You must show (rather than tell) the reader that you have what it takes to be a successful researcher and PhD candidate. As you explain your research experience, include your motivation for each project. I often read first drafts that list off research experiences without including the WHY behind them. If a professor wanted to know only about your responsibilities or achievements, they would read your CV. Your statement of purpose, on the other hand, is meant to illuminate your reasons for pursuing a PhD through the lens of your past research. You accomplish this by explaining your reasons for taking on past research projects and how, through those projects, your reasons for seeking a PhD developed and matured. Even if your actual research contributions were minimal (again, professors know undergraduate students get little opportunity to meaningfully assist in research), you can add strength to your experience by describing the overall impact you had on the project. Don’t over-exaggerate (professors know their stuff and can easily spot bullshit) but also don’t sell yourself short by only focusing on a list of your responsibilities. Finally, use your statement of purpose to demonstrate interest for the program. List professors you would like to work with or projects you would like to work on. Don’t forget to explain your motivations behind these goals, and please, please don’t suck up. I see it all the time: “I want to work with Professor X because s/he is the best in the world.” It’s cringe-worthy and will cause those reading your SOP to take your writing less-seriously. (Do you want to know how to get in touch with professors before submitting applications? Check out this article: Contacting Professors - For Graduate Applicants) 3. Do not focus exclusively on your GPA or test scores At this point in the article, you’re probably sensing my insistence that research is the most important part of a PhD application. But you might be thinking to yourself, sure, I get it, but my GPA or standardized test scores are terrible and I need to improve those first. Here’s the thing: unless your GPA or test scores are egregiously bad, admissions committees don’t really care. They are much more interested in your ability to contribute as a research assistant; so long as you demonstrate a history of successful research experience and describe your future research goals, you will be fine. A great GPA or amazing test scores will not get you into a PhD program alone, but research experience very well might. That’s it! I hope this article is of help to you. If you are lost in your PhD journey and would like some assistance, let me know. You might not know exactly what you want to study in the future, or how to find undergraduate research projects, or how to apply for research projects, or how to strategize your research experience, or how to wow a professor with your background. Let me help.

It's always best to start your personal statement with an attention-grabbing intro. There are a lot of ways to do this - and I encourage you to explore other short stories or novels to see how the author has started them - but today I will share with you my top 8 hook-the-reader techniques. 1) Describe an image in a particular moment without giving too much away; use the senses to make the reader feel like they're there: Instinctively, I hold my breath. The pungent fragrance of roasted coffee beans and the shrill sound of steam whistles from the espresso machines force my senses into overload. Before me are mounds of freshly-baked goodies and colossal stacks of books piled on bookshelves as high as the ceiling. Then add a sentence that explains what is happening: Pressing my nose against the glass cover, I don’t budge until the ginormous chocolate-chip cookie is within my possession. 2) Drop the reader into a scene: I could tell from my mom's tight, white grip it was bad news. She'd just picked up her phone to check a text, and as she read it, her body tensed. "Your dad won't be coming." 3) Surprise the reader by stating something they totally don't expect: In the United States, legal adulthood comes at 18, but it is my understanding that adulthood comes through responsibility, tears, laughter, and most of all: parenthood. It is effortless to watch other people’s children grow and flourish, but having my own was a terrifying new world for which I was ill-prepared. I was not ready for my first, Stanley, but now I cannot envision a world without him. Today, I am the proud parent of not one, but seven beautiful, boisterous, carnivorous plants. 4) Make a surprising confession - something you might be judged for: I’ve recently come to the realization that community service just isn’t for me. Now before you start making assumptions, keep reading. 5) State a random personal fact: I was born with an extra hand - kind of. 6) State a fact that might be unknown to the reader: Tens of thousands of rubber ducks were lost at sea in 1992 and are still being discovered today. 7) Use a simile or metaphor - make a comparison to help explain a complicated topic: When it comes to scary teeth, piranhas’ bite is among the most fearsome. Their razor-sharp teeth strip prey’s flesh with the ease of a butcher’s knife. 8) Start with a question that connects to a personal story: Can a fish be depressed? This question has been floating around my head ever since I spent a night in a hotel across from an excruciatingly sad-looking Siamese fighting fish. Whether you’ve already started your personal statement or not, these techniques will surely add pizzazz to your introduction. I suggest you play around with each of them until you find one that works for you and your story. And if you’ve already started drafting, read through what you’ve already written because you just might find your opening lines in the middle of your essay. 💗💗💗 If you want assistance with your personal statement, or applying in general, please reach out. We help students successfully attend their dream schools year-after-year and can do the same for you. Reach out today to set up a free consultation.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) MBA programs are increasing in popularity - and with good reason. International students are able to take advantage of extended visa opportunities and remain in the United States for a total of 36 months rather than the standard 12. And, by combining tech and business skills, STEM MBA programs also meet the changing needs of organizations, thereby increasing employability for graduates of these programs. Here is a complete list of STEM-designated MBA programs at the top 20 business schools (as of November 2020) along with their median / average acceptance statistics. Harvard https://www.hbs.edu/mba/academic-experience/joint-degree-programs/school-of-engineering-and-applied-sciences/Pages/default.aspx GPA: 3.7 GMAT: 730 Work experience: 4.4 years Stanford https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/programs/mba GPA: 3.8 GMAT: 733 Work experience: 4.7 years University of Chicago https://www.chicagobooth.edu/mba/full-time GPA: 3.6 GMAT: 730 Work experience: 5 years University of Pennsylvania https://mba-inside.wharton.upenn.edu/majors/ GPA: 3.6 GMAT: 730 Work experience: 5 years MIT https://mitsloan.mit.edu/mba https://mitsloan.mit.edu/mba/admissions/mit-sloan-mba-early-admission GPA: 3.5 GMAT: 720 Work experience: 5 years Northwestern https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/programs/full-time-mba.aspx https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/programs/full-time-mba/mmm-program.aspx GPA: 3.6 GMAT 730 Work experience: 5 years Columbia https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/programs/mba/admissions/options-deadlines https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/programs/mba/admissions/options-deadlines/deferred-enrollment GPA: 3.6 GMAT: 726 Work experience: 5 years UC Berkeley https://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/ GPA: 3.6 GMAT: 727 Work experience: 5.3 years Dartmouth https://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/mba/academic-experience/management-science-and-quantitative-analysis GPA: 3.48 GMAT: 720 Work experience: 5.25 years Yale https://som.yale.edu/programs/mba GPA: 3.6 GMAT: 720 Work experience: 5 years NYU https://www.stern.nyu.edu/portal-partners/academic-affairs-advising/mba-programs/full-time-mba https://www.stern.nyu.edu/portal-partners/academic-affairs-advising/mba-programs/tech-mba GPA: 3.61 GMAT: 720 Work experience: 5.2 years Cornell https://www.johnson.cornell.edu/programs/full-time-mba/two-year-mba/ https://www.johnson.cornell.edu/programs/full-time-mba/one-year-mba/ https://www.johnson.cornell.edu/programs/full-time-mba/cornell-tech-mba/ GPA: 3.34 GMAT: 700 Work experience: 5 years Duke https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/programs/mms-foundations-business/mstem-track GPA: 3.5 GMAT: 702 Work experience: 5.6 years University of Michigan https://michiganross.umich.edu/graduate/full-time-mba/curriculum/specializations/STEM-Designated-Specialization-in-Management-Science GPA: 3.5 GMAT: 710 Work experience: 5.3 years UC Los Angeles https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/degrees/full-time-mba https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/degrees/fully-employed-mba GPA: 3.5 GMAT: 706 Work experience: 4.5 University of Virginia https://www.darden.virginia.edu/mba/academics/concentrations GPA: 3.5 GMAT: 713 Work experience: 4 years Carnegie Mellon https://www.cmu.edu/tepper/programs/mba/index.html GPA: 3.35 GMAT: 680 Work experience: 5.51 University of Southern California https://www.marshall.usc.edu/programs/mba-programs/full-time-mba/academics/stem-mba GPA: 3.55 GMAT: 707 Work experience: 5 years University of North Carolina https://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/programs/mba/full-time-mba/academics/concentrations-electives/business-analytics-and-management-science/ GPA: 3.4 GMAT: 694 Work experience: 4.5 years University of Washington https://foster.uw.edu/academics/degree-programs/technology-management-mba/ GPA: 3.37 GMAT: 692 Work experience: 6 years

(FREE WORKSHOP) This workshop is for high school students, parents, and undergraduate transfers. If you are planning to apply to graduate school, please watch my workshop for graduate students, as your application requirements are different.

Research experience is considered one of the most important factors for gaining admission into graduate school or securing desirable employment positions. For more information on the importance of research in graduate admissions, read: 3 things you must know before applying for the North American PhD program. However, finding such experience is largely dependent on one’s own initiative, which can be daunting. Read on to learn how to make the right connections and obtain beneficial research experience. Find professors whose work interests you - even if they are outside your department - and contact them during their office hours. Read some of their work ahead of time so you can speak intelligently on it. Ask if they have any research opportunities. Even if the professor doesn’t have any openings, they might be able to connect you with someone who does or provide you with valuable advice. You can email professors as well, but they are more likely to respond favorably to face-to-face meetings because they are busy. If the professor you would like to work with does not attend your institution and email is your best means of communication, be persistent if they don’t respond initially. Search professors’ websites to find postdocs, graduate students, lab techs, and other lower-level faculty the professor works with. They will be much easier to get a hold of via email; send them a message and ask about research opportunities. Take upper-division or graduate-level courses. Do well in them to show your academic abilities. At the end of the course, ask the professor if they have or know of any open research opportunities. Search for assistant professors whose work interests you. Being new, they might be looking to grow their labs and in more need of student help. Attend guest lectures by professors that interest you. At the conclusion of the talk, approach them and ask if they have or know of any open research opportunities. Have friends who are currently working as a researcher introduce you to professors, graduate students, or other research assistants. A good reference can really help undergraduates obtain research experien

Students who apply to the Ivy League and top-tier institutions are the best of the best. While the initial grade cut-off is low, most students are in the very top of their high schools and have perfect or nearly-perfect grades and standardized test scores. For example, to get into Harvard, you need AT LEAST a 3.8 GPA, a 33 ACT score, and/or a 1500 SAT score. However, many thousands of top-tier applicants, year-after-year, have perfect grades, making extracurricular involvement, personal statements / application essays, and letters of recommendation, and the interview incredibly important. To learn more, read how applications are reviewed by the top-tier. How Applications are Reviewed Grades and SAT/ACT scores are used as the first cutoff. They are a quick way for admissions counselors to ascertain whether a student has the academic background to support them in a rigorous college or university. If a student is not in the top half of their class and does not have at least 24 ACT or 1160 SAT (new), they will be cut. This may seem low, but admissions counselors try to be fair and consider a person’s financial and educational opportunities. Students who come from poor areas, for example, are afforded more leniency. This cutoff removes roughly 5% of the applicant pool. Applications are then read in full by a series of individuals. The first person to read an application is a regional counselor. They are tasked with being intimately familiar with the educational systems and schools (including grading practices, course offerings, and course rigor) of a particular region. They will read each application that comes in from their region and assign independent scores for a variety of markers. Those markers include academic standing (GPA, test scores, high school ranking), academic potential (letters of recommendation, displayed academic interests/curiosity), talents and abilities, extracurricular involvement, and writing ability. At this point, about 30% of the applications will be immediately moved to committee review, and the remainder will be read by a second counselor who will either reject the application or move it to committee review. These counselors will summarize and highlight important features to be discussed in the committees. In a committee review, counselors review each applicant and discuss whether or not to admit them. They talk about every minute detail, such as a poor grade or poor sentence in a personal statement. These discussions are highly critical. At the end, all committee members vote to reject, admit, or waitlist a student. Majority rules, and a tie vote results in being waitlisted. I have posted a short video clip of this process on my Weibo account. It’s really interesting, so please view it if you have the time. At the end, there are more students admitted than there are positions in the school, so the admit pool needs to be trimmed. Those who do not make the cut are added to the waitlist and are tagged as having been previously admitted. These are the applicants that will be removed from the waitlist first. Some important points: Although the initial cutoff points are low, the majority of applicants are in the top 10% of their schools, and top tier institutions prefer to admit those in the top 5%. The majority of applicants also have perfect or near perfect test scores. Because of this, having perfect grades/scores is not enough for admission. Letters of recommendation, extracurricular involvement, and application essays/personal statements have a huge impact on whether a student is admitted, rejected, or waitlisted. They are discussed heavily during committee review. Committees like to see academic curiosity, compassion, creativity, and initiative. If student A has higher scores than student B, and student B displays more desirable characteristics than student A, student B will be admitted before student A. Some applicants have what’s called a hook. A hook can be legacy (having family who have attended the institution), being an “influential” person (for example, a celebrity or the child of a politician), or donors. These applications are often reviewed by higher-ups in the institution, such as a dean, and have a higher chance of admission. Admissions boards must submit a diverse student body. Diversity can help you or hurt you, depending on your background and the applicants you’re up against. Because there are a lot of Chinese applicants, admission is typically more competitive than for, say, students from the Philippines. Different schools have different priorities. Some may want students who display certain characteristics, while others desire different characteristics. It depends on what these institutions want their campus to be like and the types of students already there. This is often why extremely qualified applicants are rejected from one top-tier school but not another. Interviews are important. Interviews from faculty and current students hold more weight than alumni interviews because campuses change over time. If an interviewer does not feel you are a good fit for the school, your chances of admission decrease substantially. So, as you can see, the admissions process is exhaustive. Great grades and test scores are only part of the equation. If this stresses you out, you’re not alone. The college admissions process is daunting and confusing. Having a team on your side will not only help you submit standout applications but skip the application anxiety. Reach out and say “hi”! We’ll arrange a free 20-minute advisory session to jumpstart your college journey.

Congratulations to the applicants of 2020! As we close off on another successful application season, I’d like to take a moment to congratulate all of my 2020 applicants! I am so proud of you all and wish you the very best! All students put a lot of hard work into their applications. Through multiple essay revisions, application proofreads, and admissions interviews, they focused on what counts in this process: demonstrating their fit for college. Their hard work definitely paid off! Admitted to Over 40 Colleges and Universities! This year, my students were admitted to a diverse group of 40 colleges and universities, including U.S. Ivy League, private, and public institutions, test-optional colleges, and universities in Canada and the U.K. Below is the full list. Boston College Brandeis University California Institute of the Arts Carnegie Mellon University Columbia University Emory University Florida State University Georgetown University Harvard University Imperial College London (UK) Johns Hopkins University Kansas State University Michigan State University New York University Northeastern University Northwestern University Parsons School of Design Penn State University Purdue University Rhode Island School of Design Stanford University Tufts University University of British Columbia (Canada) University of California, Berkeley University of California, Irvine University of California, Los Angeles University of California, San Diego University of California, Santa Barbara University of Chicago University of Colorado Boulder University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign University of Maryland, College Park University of Michigan University of Notre Dame University of Pennsylvania University of Rhode Island University of Rochester University of Southern California University of Toronto (Canada) University of Virginia University of Wisconsin, Madison University of Washington Washington University in St. Louis

Prospective college graduates are facing uncertain times as they search for employment in the time of Covid-19. If you are one of these students, you may want to consider graduate school. It could be a great opportunity for you to increase your career-related skills and earning opportunities while waiting out a struggling job market. Increase Competitiveness - Many professions prefer applicants with graduate degrees, which means adding this credential to your profile could move your resume to the top of the pile. Demonstrate Persistence - Show potential employers that you are serious about your career development by using your time wisely during the economic downturn. Although experience is normally considered more desirable by employers, everyone is facing a decline in experiential opportunities - research positions are being canceled and internships are disappearing due to unemployment. This is a great time to add an asset to your profile that others may not consider or pursue, making you more competitive when you’re ready to enter the job market. Pursue Your Passions - Employers love applicants who are passionate about their work. Graduate school is a great way to go deep in a field that you love. Students who are interested in graduate school should start reviewing their options right now. For students interested in starting school Fall 2020, medical and dental graduate school applications will be opening up by the end of the month. And although most other programs have closed their application windows, there are still some schools accepting applications for Fall. If you are interested in starting Fall 2021, you have lots of time to research options, take standardized tests, and prepare compelling applications. If you’re not sure where to start or how to make yourself competitive for graduate school, contact me at World Awaits Academic Consulting. Me and my team are always happy to answer questions, and we will serve as an advocate and partner during these unprecedented times to help you reach your fullest potential

Undoubtedly, Covid-19 has had an impact on students and families around the world - both in positive and negative ways. I have been receiving questions for the last couple months about whether or not students should address their pandemic-related experiences in their college application essays, and I have strong reservations about using precious application space on a topic everyone-and-their-brother will be writing about. Thankfully, the Common App has created a solution. On May 12, Common App announced that they will be including an optional 250-word essay addressing students’ experiences with Covid-19. This is the prompt applicants will receive: Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans, and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces.•Do you wish to share anything on this topic? Y/N•Please use this space to describe how these events have impacted you. You can read more about the prompt on the Common App website: Covid-19 Question on 2020-2021 Common App. I appreciate that Common App has created space for students to express themselves and relay any hardships they have encountered (and how they have handled them) without making it their main essay. But I think the big question now is - should you answer the prompt if it’s optional? Only respond to this prompt if you’ve experienced one of two things: 1) a significant disruption to your life as a result of Covid-19, or 2) have gone above -and-beyond to give back to your community or improve yourself. I have joined umpteen admissions meetings over the last few weeks; admissions officers are all stating they only want to read Covid-19 essays if they are different. For example, if you had to teach younger siblings, watched your parent(s) work through a difficult change in employment, had a family member get seriously ill, sewed 4,000 masks for hospital workers, or took 25 MOOC courses to develop skills in one of your passion areas, you might have a compelling essay. Do not use this space to complain about having to do schoolwork over the internet or missing out on time with your friends. If you are wondering whether your Covid-19 experience is/was unique or important enough to include in your Common App, reach out to me on WeChat at kvanderweert or via email at kvanderweert@gmail.com. Of course, my team and I can help you with any-and-all of your application requirements as well. I offer a number of different packages to fit applicants’ varying needs, so let me know if I can help. Good luck, applicants!

Because of the uncertainty surrounding university and college classes for the Class of 2024 - Will classes be held online or in person? Will campus or dorms be open? Will students be deprived of the education they are paying for? - many incoming Freshmen are deferring admission to matriculate Fall 2021. Will this be a problem for the Class of 2025? Like most things regarding education in the time of Covid-19, it’s too early to say for certain; however, there are signs on the horizon. Most colleges and universities - elite schools in particular - are offering students the option to defer. In a spring survey, 25% of incoming Freshmen said they planned to request a gap year, but so far the actual numbers are significantly lower. Though deferral rates are likely to increase as schools update their numbers, the most recently released data indicates only about 2% of students nation-wide are following through with such plans. Certainly, this will have an impact on 2020-2021 admissions, making acceptances less certain, however the impact does not seem to be as extreme as predicted in the spring. Colleges and universities are also anticipating fewer applications this fall, as students and families expect steeper competition, may prefer educational institutions that are closer to home, and might not be enticed to apply through online tours alone. As Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid of Dartmouth College Lee Coffin said in a recent interview: ...many high school juniors are nervous that should many members of the Class of 2024 take gap years, the acceptance rate for the Class of 2025 will be lower. He said that while this is a possibility, it is also possible that fewer students will apply amid remote recruitment. So, while admissions may be more challenging for the Class of 2025, there is a glimmer of hope that things will not be as difficult as people currently fear. If you want help optimizing your applications, please reach out. We have more than a decade helping students and families attend the universities of their dreams, and we will do the same for you.