Achieve your Dreams
Consider your audience…the college admissions reader. The average college admissions reader may not have attended the particular college to which you are applying. They may love their job but don’t earn a ton of money. There are dos and don’ts when writing your college application essay so that you persuade rather than offend. We can assist you with the ins and outs. 
Forget everything you thought you knew about writing . We can help you with a more creative approach… Creativity is key when writing your college application essay. Skillfully weaving the personal with a unique voice and unusual approach has been proven to make admissions take a second look. Diction, style and winning content really do make or break this crucial part of your college application. Let us show you how to write the optimal main college essay.
College Essay Help! Finding Your Authentic Voice When Writing Your College Admission Essay There’s a common myth about the main essay that we at College Match US would like to dispel: that you should try to sell yourself in the Common App’s personal statement. Nothing could be further from the truth. What often results when students try to sell themselves is that it often results in a college admission essay that sounds like it is trying too hard. You improve your chance of catching the eye of an admissions officer by finding your authentic voice in your main essay. How does a college admission essay sound authentic? A creative approach is key here. A main essay that stands out employs a strong story. Signature style in a strong college essay factors in as well. Most students writing their main college essays make the mistake of writing too generally. At College Match, we ensure you avoid this hurdle when writing your college admission essay.
The first thing any interested student-athlete should know, is that you can reach both your athletic and academic goals at a top tier school, with help and support. Just look at these statistics below:
Forty-eight current or former Ivy League athletes have punched their tickets to London for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The athletes hail from all eight Ivy League schools and will represent 11 countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, Croatia, Dominica, Egypt, Great Britain, Haiti, Nigeria, Serbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Princeton leads the way with 15 participants, followed by Harvard (nine), Columbia (seven), Yale (six), Dartmouth (four), Cornell (three), Brown (two) and Penn (two). The League also boasts four alternates from Columbia, Princeton and Yale who may be pressed into competition should the situation arises.
Moreover, four Ivy League coaches will be performing the same duty in London, including Columbia fencing head coach Michael Aufrichtig, Cornell men’s track and field head coach Nathan Taylor, Harvard men’s swimming and diving head coach Tim Murphy and Princeton assistant field hockey coach Nate Franks . On top of that, Columbia field hockey assistant coach Caroline Nichols is a member of the US field hockey team, former Penn wrestler Brandon Slay is an assistant with the US wrestling squad, former Cornell rower Dan Fonhofer is a member of the US men’s rowing coaching staff and the U.S. Judo squad will be coached by Jimmy Pedro (Brown ’94). Former Columbia wrestler David Barry is the Team Leader for the US greco-roman wrestling squad.
Ivy athletes have enjoyed great success in the most recent Games with 42 athletes bringing home 14 medals (five gold, seven silver and two bronze) from the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing and 19 athletes securing 10 medals (six gold, three silver and one bronze) from the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada.
Since the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, Ivy League student-athletes and alums have combined to win 356 medals at the Summer Games, including 147 gold, 116 silver and 93 bronze. This count of 356 medals earned at the Summer Games would rank 13th in the all-time standings for individual countries!
Now that is inspiring!
Thank you to Ivy League Sports for this content
Cocktail Party Prestige
Ever-powerful social prestige can be hard to combat. Rankings such as US News and Reports consistently use a similar grouping of private national universities in the top 50. Clearly, there are reasons the small class sizes, low acceptance rates, and impressive faculties of the Ivies and top schools like Duke and Berkeley draw a strong applicant pool. The caliber of education received at these schools should not be discredited, but it is important to understand a certain social conscience does not mean another smaller school cannot create equally impressive results.
A study ranking universities by general public opinion gave 75% credit to student opinion polls, professor opinion, and references to the school in the media (in a non-athletic context)[1]. The rankings produce a list so similar to major polls, clearly social ideas of a school play into its reputation. Since 2008, there has been a 10%
decline in starting salaries for new students, without considering inflation.[2] Of course, this is only considering the students that actually got a job. Of the members of the class of 2010, only 56% secured a job by graduation, a huge shift from the 90% in 2007. About half of these graduates stated their first job did not require a college degree.[3] As unemployment rates trickle down, the less academic prestige you have the worse off you are.
Grad School Admission Prestige
Suddenly, a school’s value may be defined more by its ability to create graduate students, or helping to pick a major that acquires a stable job. Assessing a study on colleges producing the highest percentage of doctoral students, institutions such as Harvey Mudd College and Carleton College are in the top 10; above every Ivy League school. Others in the top fifty include Kalamazoo, St. John’s, Occidental, and Mt. Holyoke Colleges.[4] Another study on feeder schools presents Morehouse College and New College of Florida in the top 50, above top military academies and many private universities. An honors school in the Florida state school system, New College’s small school setting allows for very personalized evaluations, which helps students do the type of research as undergrads that attracts the attention of prestigious graduate schools.
Smaller and more locally focused, there can be resources and options available to top students at these regional schools. Additionally, these institutions are often a way to save money while preparing to
move on to higher degrees. Saving money is important, given a 10% pay-cut. Current undergraduate student loan debt has a median of $20,000. Many will only take on more, with 60% of students in the last five graduating classes stating they will need additional formal education to be successful.[5]
Find prestige by searching for a school that has a specialty within your interests. Whether that is environmental studies, journalism, or teaching often the best schools for these passions are not simply one of the top known schools. First, consider a major that ends in a job. Currently the top ten highest paying majors are in the engineering, marketing, and finance world. Some of the best marketing research schools include Michigan State, the University of Georgia, and the University of Wisconsin.[6] If you are considering business, the University of Texas and Indiana University rank in the top ten.
Employer Prestige
A third type of prestige is employer prestige. At the end of the day, which schools are handing out the best graduate pay checks? Often, this may have much more to do with networking or strong alumni
connections, not just social conscious. According to the website, Pay Scale, and its annual rankings showing what recent graduates make, Manhattan College, SUNY Maritime, Colorado School of Mines, Babson College, and Santa Clara University all rank in the top 25 given both starting median salary and mid-career median salary of graduates.[7] Knowing you want to live in a certain city or region long-term may be crucial in choosing a school. Finding an alumni network nearby and a specified job industry can mean high dividends later.
Overall, the way other people view a school when you state where you attend college has nothing to do with how that institution sets you up for the future. “Cocktail party” prestige is not enough to ensure a good paying job after college and certainly not a high rate of admission to top flight graduate programs.
My advice: work hard to find an area of focus that may lead you down a unique path, searching for graduate school placement, a job, or social prestige. In the end, if you find a path that is more specific to your needs it may prove to be the best cocktail party story of all!
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[1] http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/880855-universities-ranked-prestige.html
[2] http://www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/content/Work_Trends_May_2011.pdf
[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/business/economy/19grads.html?_r=2
[4] http://web.centre.edu/ir/student/OverallBaccOrigins.pdf
[5] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/business/economy/19grads.html?_r=2
[6] http://education-portal.com/articles/Top_Schools_for_Marketing_Research.html
[7] http://www.payscale.com/best-colleges/top-us-colleges-graduate-salary-statistics.asp
