The DBQ: 11 Steps to Success

Posted by Michael

Here are 11 tips that I used to ace the document-based question (DBQ) essay part of the AP US History exam.

1. Use the reading period to its full extent.
And, if you’re not done planning, spend an extra five minutes or so doing so. Planning helps to write a better (maybe shorter) essay as opposed to a longer and badly written one. Readers only have such little time to read each essay, and after reading thousands each day, they’ll look for the most clearly and well thought out to grade higher, and will frown down upon super long, unorganized essays.

2. (ⁿ/₂) + 1.
This is the golden rule in terms of how many documents to use (n = number of docs). It is not important to use all the documents, just use half of them given, plus

An exclusive Q&A with Zinch.com’s Mick Hagen

Posted by Doreen

A new site, Zinch.com, founded by Princeton student Mick Hagen, is live and, might I say, pretty cool! Here’s an exclusive Q&A with Mick. If you have questions for him, leave a comment. He’s a really nice guy (see photo) and I’m sure he’s up for answering any queries you may have!

Doreen: So, Mick, Zinch.com was launched just this week. How does it feel?

Mick: Doreen, my oh my. It feels so good. No. I take that back. It feels great! After months and months of brainstorming, research, broken pencils, programming, headaches, late nights, sack lunches, and prayers… we’re finally live. Now we just gotta preach the good news of Zinch, and let the students know about it.

Doreen: So, what is Zinch? Tell us about what it does for students, and how it works on the admission officer’s side as well.

Mick: Zinch.com is a tool to level the playing field in college admissions by giving every high school student in America the opportunity to showcase themselves, communicating those talents and accomplishments that make them unique. This information is then sent to the specified college or university the student wishes

Soon to be AP registration: season 2007

Posted by Dee

Well, AP registration is around the corner (early March for most of you), and there’s always many, many discussions, controversies, stress, etc. related to these annual AP exams.

And this year, the lovely and revered CollegeBoard has sprung upon all AP test-takers some new talking points!

1. Testing via computer?!?!

Oh yes, this year, the CollegeBoard has introduced two AP tests that you take on a computer — that is, what they’ve dubbed Internet-based tests (iBT). The AP Chinese Language and Culture exam and the AP Japanese Language and Culture are offered for the first time this year, and through the iBT method, where each

Those ‘potential to contribute’ essays

Posted by Dee

The UC application always has a “Potential to Contribute” essay as do many other colleges, and it’s often difficult to come up with ideas of what to write about; after all, you’re going to school to learn, not to teach.

But, that said, every college or university looks at its students not only as people coming to class to learn, but as investments who will one day, in some way, give back to the university. So, here are some ways I’ve thought of that you can “contribute.” Not all of these will be applicable to everyone; feel free to use these as inspiration for your own essays and be sure that when you write your essay is not generic, but rather it shows who you are.

– Diversity. Plenty of schools are interested in upping their diversity-factor. Maybe this is how you could contribute to the university, by increasing their community’s diversity. Keep in mind that this need not be racial or gender or ethnic diversity, but that diversity can come in many forms; maybe you’re an art-lover in a school that has few or a recreational athlete in a community that is not too sports-enthusiastic. And then the whole purpose of your essay can show how you will “contribute” by

Li’s playing the world’s smallest violin

Posted by Dee

Yes, I know the title is cliché, but I couldn’t think of any other way to express my reactions towards this Jian Li character I’ve been reading so much about lately.

I’ve been following with piqued interest for several days now about this whole Princeton vs. Li upcoming lawsuit ordeal. Fellow blogger, Sam Jackson, provides a great, slightly-lengthy recap of the issue at hand in his post titled, “WSJ asks: ‘Is Admissions Bar Higher for Asians At Elite Schools?’ [part 1]” which I will not rewrite again here; I do recommend reading through it to familiarize yourself with the debate and points of contention.

Here’s my take:

I’m a fan of merit. I do support the idea that if you’re more qualified than another candidate, you should get admitted. But, that said, this is not what college admissions is about. In the InsideHigherEd.com article from October 10 titled, “Too Asian?,” (which is also a read I recommend) they report that, with regards to Asian applicants being held to higher standards than Whites, “intensity of concern has grown, as has mistrust of the system.”

Honestly, this is laughable! What system? Since when has college admissions

Recommended, but not required?

Posted by Dee

What exactly does “recommended, but not required” mean?

You see this phrase every now and again in college application guidelines regarding interviews or additional essays or supplementary recommendations, etc. But when an AdComm writes this, do they honestly mean that they don’t care if you submit it or not, or is it a test where they say it’s not required but they actually do expect you to complete it?

My conclusion is if they say a part of the application is “recommended, but not required,” do it! I don’t think it’s a test so much as if they recommend it, and you’re serious about going to a school, there’s probably good reason they recommend completing something.

But, it may depend on which part of the application it is. I’ll give examples on three of the most common areas of the application where this phrase is applied.

Essays — if they say an additional essay is “recommended, but not required,” then definitely include another essay unless you’ll just be restating everything you said in the first ones. Use the supplementary essay as an opportunity to present new information or stories.

Interviews — if they say an interview is “recommended, but not required,” then definitely, DO an interview. Unless it’s just physically not possible for you to arrange a time and place for your interview, maybe because interviews aren’t offered in your area for example, then you can forego the interview.

Recommendations — if they say an additional recommendation is “recommended, but not required,” then also, definitely submit an extra recommendation. Why wouldn’t you want the AdComm to read about another person saying good things about you? So that brings me to my point; if you know the additional recommendation would present good things about you then definitely submit it, but if you’re scrounging to find another teacher or coach to write a recommendation just because it’s “recommended” and you’re worried they may not have the best things to say, then just don’t submit the extra rec.

A “duh” tip #2

Posted by Dee

Following the October 21 blog post titled, “A ‘duh’ tip #1,” let me remind you of another “duh” tip.

Someone recently reached AdmitSpit by searching for “can we go over 1000 words for personal statements?”

No! If the application says you get 1000 words for your essays, you only get 1000 words. I presume by the way that the Web surfer here was referring to the UC application, but regardless of what school you are applying to, do not exceed the limits they set! If however the application says “about 1000 words,” well then, I guess they’re allowing you some space to add on a bit.

Just make sure you’re aware of what the application directions are!

The six colleges of UCSD

Posted by Teja

The University of California, San Diego may be known for its sunny beaches and super hot surfers but don’t be fooled into underestimating its academic rigor. As a large campus with over 20,000 undergraduates, there is no lack of academic and recreational activities.If you choose to go to a big university, such as UCSD, it is very important to be independent. Unlike in high school and smaller colleges, there is no “spoon-feeding.” You are completely responsible for yourself: signing up for classes, asking for help, getting advice, etc. Consequently, studies at UCSD are as hard or as easy as you make them. There are many opportunities to get involved in leadership, research, and social activities but they do not come to you, you must go look for them. With that said, I’ll tell you a little bit about UCSD…

The academic year is based on the quarter system, which allows you to take a vast number of classes in various subjects. There are four quarters to a year. Fall quarter from September to December, winter quarter from January to March, spring quarter from March to June, and summer quarter during the summer (optional). Each quarter lasts about 10 weeks, so if you really dislike a class it will pass by with the blink of an eye. On the negative side, this system demands a constant output of work; I have only been here for 2 months but have already gone through midterms, and the quarter is almost over.

UCSD is the only UC that is split up into 6 different sub-colleges. The beauty of this

Ooh, Dee lied… don’t assume they know

Posted by Doreen

In yesterday’s post titled, “Extracurricular descriptions for dummies,” Dee wrote as one part of the advice in Step 7 to “determine if the activity is a nationally-known entity. For example, FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) is an activity most, if not all, AdComm’s know about, so it’s not necessary to say that it’s a ‘national business non-profit organization for high school students.'”

Well, after my first class of the morning today, I happened to be strolling around Sproul Plaza at Berkeley and I decided to stop by the admissions office. Well, turns out, after talking with one of the admissions officers here that their recommendation is never, NEVER assume that an AdComm knows about an organization or activity, no matter how popular it may be at your school or region, or even nationwide. So, it seems that despite word or character limits you are going to have to spell out that “FBLA” is “Future Business Leaders of America,” although you could probably leave out that it’s non-profit and that it’s for high school students… that info is indeed a bit extraneous!

Extracurricular descriptions for dummies

Posted by Dee

In sort of a Big Brother-esque fashion, here at AdmitSpit, we can indeed see what people are searching for through Yahoo! or Google or other search engines to get to our Web site!

A day or two ago, someone searched for “describing extracurriculars.” I was immediately reminded of my own frustration during the application filing period with trying to “describe” my activities with a limited amount of words or characters. Just as techniques can be applied for dealing with word or character limits (see the post titled, “Techniques for dealing with character limits“), I’ll outline below guidelines for describing your extracurricular activities in your application when you are given very limited space.

As an applicant, you want to highlight the best about yourself, right? This guiding philosophy should permeate every aspect of your application; just because you have a small amount of space for describing your extracurriculars doesn’t mean