1. Pick a topic you’re passionate about. Your writing will be both easier and more genuine if you write about what you want to write about, instead of writing about what you think colleges want to hear. The most successful essays describe a moment of personal growth, difficulty, strength, or confidence, all of which people experience in vastly different ways. [gate] ...

College is often one of the best times in a person’s life. It is a time to really pursue goals, dreams, learn, and make new friends. It is also a time to learn valuable financial lessons. Most people are familiar with the image of the broke college student struggling to afford necessities, and schlepping home tons of dirty laundry on the ...

Those of us on quarters have already survived the first finals week of the year. As a student of a school that’s still on quarters, I figured I could pass on some of my newly acquired finals week wisdom to those of you who have yet to take them. [gate] Tip #1 College finals are NOT the same as high school ...

College: it’s a word that has a different meaning to everybody. To some, it could mean further pursuing your dream career, for others it could be the long awaited escape from the prison that high school and your house can be, and for some it could be that dreaded thing your family is forcing you to go to. However, no matter ...

The first day of a new class always starts with a mixture of anticipation, nervousness, and excitement. If you take enough classes in college you are sure to run into the dreaded “bad professor” who seems to ruin your hopes of having a great semester. Every instructor has his or her own style. Sometimes the way a teacher teaches isn't conducive ...

Ah, senior year. It has finally arrived! Prom, senior banquet, commencement, graduation, senior portraits, the sheer excitement! With the laurels we seniors are resting on. The actual bulk of senior year--is dull in comparison. After all, we've been sitting in these very classrooms for the past four years, not counting intermediate school, elementary school, pre-school. A lot of school. Nearly 13 ...

Students are one of the most exhausted populations in the United States. This makes sense, of course—between schoolwork, social lives, organizations, sports, volunteering, and part-time jobs, it’s a wonder we find time to eat, let alone get a solid seven or eight hours of shuteye a night. All too often, though, it’s impossible to sleep as much as we should. While ...

In my short year-and-a-quarter of college so far, I have had to grow up. A lot. It has been terrifying and empowering and everything in between, and I have swung from bitter frustration to unbelievable gratefulness for the opportunities and challenges that have forced me to become more adult, despite my commitment to staying young at heart. With the new freshmen ...

“She sells sea- She sells- She sells seashells by the seashore.” It was a problem- a minor one in North America, but big elsewhere. In Mandarin Chinese, there are five consonant sounds I still struggle with, especially when presented in rapid succession, and two of them appear in that line. Generally, I avoid saying certain phrases in English (“we were where”), ...

The fading sounds of applause echo across the huge hall, dying down into nothing as we begin our final set. Our first song of the night is a showstopper, the second a laid back interlude. Our last song, however, is much darker, striking a melancholy theme that will haunt the audience throughout the final moments of our performance. The hall is ...

When you first start college, you are gung ho about following your passions. How fun will it be to get to study a subject you love in-depth, have great classroom debates about ancient philosophers, works of art and literature, or to analyze Sigmund Freud’s theories? Hindsight is often said to be 20/20. Some college students graduate excited to enter the workforce ...

Most students graduate high school ready to take on the world. Perhaps they are accepted into their first choice college, or even if it is a second choice school at least the freedom of living away from home is something to look forward to. The financial aid award letter arrives in the mail and mixed in with the grants and work-study ...

In 2011, just about every college in the nation offers college courses and even full degrees that can be earned completely online. Gone are the days when online education was something to be scoffed at as inferior to classroom education. Now schools are competing to cut their costs, and win more students by offering online degree options. With all of these ...

I am completely obsessed with my family. I wouldn’t have what anyone would call a normal family, but then again, who does? In high school, I found that the more I got to know a friend’s family, the a) more funny they became, and b) the less eccentric my own family seemed. With that in mind however, there are still many ...

Like she has for years, my mom recently surprised me by telling me something I had never heard before. Like mothers and daughters do, we were sitting on the couch, watching TV and discussing my feelings for people at school. These are the people who seem to have it all: the straight A’s, the college scholarships, the popularity. All without really ...

To survive college, it’s crucial to learn two things quickly: the first is to stop procrastinating. Putting off your work will only ever make your life more difficult and more stressful when it comes down to crunch time. It’s a lot easier to do a little bit at a time than it is to fit it in all at once. That ...

Welcome to 2013, everyone! It's looking bright and cheery from my standpoint and – Hey! Wait! It's January, isn't it? Well, then it's about time for that FAFSA form. Now to me, that word incites a bit of fear because it just sounds so official, so important, and so future-ruining. But there's no need to worry! Because you are now entering ...

The hashtag #collegeproblems is probably one of the most popular on Twitter, and it is definitely common among my classmates. Anything from professors with nearly incomprehensible accents to complaints about community bathrooms is fair game for tweeting, but I am always surprised by how many “problems” can be better categorized as inconveniences with very doable solutions. [gate] Even more surprising is ...

One of the most intimidating aspects of college is the increased difficulty in academic coursework. Unlike high school, you can’t squeeze by with cramming for a big test the night before, and you can’t just take your chances with your midterms because they can be a huge part of your final grade. My history class, for example, has only three assignments: ...

When you first begin the long process of applying to college, it’s easy to feel like you’ll never stand out amongst the thousands of applicants. It doesn’t feel like enough to send in an application that shows off your amazing credentials and talents – you want the school of your dreams to see how serious you are about attending. Fortunately, there ...