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Tag: Tips

  • Still Writing Your Common App Essay? 5 Tips to Help You

    Still Writing Your Common App Essay? 5 Tips to Help You

    With the submission deadline for applying in the early round of US college applications rapidly approaching, you will hopefully be well on the way to finishing your personal essay. However, if you are struggling, this article will hopefully help as I share five tips from college admission professionals that can help you create a winning essay.

    For many students, writing a solid personal essay is the most challenging part of the application; its test comes because what is required is significantly different from the types of essays most students have been writing during their schooling. While it may be challenging, you must spend the time to create as powerful an essay as possible; this is the one opportunity you have to help the admissions teams get to ‘meet you’ and understand something about the individual behind the grades and scores.

    1. First impressions count

    Any student attending college should expect to do a great deal of writing, irrespective of their major. So, the first thing somebody reading your supplemental college essay will ask is, ‘Can this person write?’

    When you read your essay, is it well put together? A strong essay will nearly always have a strong theme or story that runs through it from beginning to end, with clear transitions from one paragraph to the next. Write using an active voice rather than the passive one generally expected for an academic essay; try to engage your reader from the very start so that you can be seen through your words. You should always ask people who know you well to read your essay; if they say that they can hear your voice as they read it, then you are probably a winner!

    Finally, grammar and spelling count; make sure you go through what you have written and check it with a good spelling and grammar checker. Again, make sure you are using American spellings.

    2. You are the story

    The college admissions team is reading your essay because they want to find out about you, so make sure that what you are writing about is you. It seems an obvious thing to say, but you would be surprised how often students write essays where they talk about their parents, grandparents, or teachers who have helped shape them into the person they are now. Unfortunately, this sort of supplemental essay rarely comes across well as you will inevitably spend much of your limited word count talking about what makes that person special rather than what makes you special, how you live your life as an individual, in the spirit of the person.

    To create a strong impression on the admissions officer, you want them to feel that they know what makes you who you are, your motivations, and your passions.

    3. Reflections

    Creating the strong impression I just mentioned requires you to reflect on who you are and how you became that person. This is something that many students find difficult, but without sharing that knowledge in your essay, you risk it will come across as shallow or, worse still, clichéd! On the other hand, sharing your reflections can add depth and character, making even an everyday experience, such as waiting for the school bus, into a profoundly revealing portrait of you and your life.

    4. Add value

    When talking about their work, top college and university admissions officers will speak about ‘crafting a community.’ What they mean by this is that they are not just trying to fill the number of places available; instead, they are looking for people who will contribute to the campus experience. So in your personal essay, try to focus on your genuine strengths, using anecdotes that will best portray them.

    5. Be consistent

    Be clear about what impression you want to create in the minds of the people who will read your application. Having done that, ensure your application, including your essay, aligns with that picture. For example, suppose you want your essay to portray you as a passionate biology researcher. In that case, you don’t want your activities to reflect a person who loves to spend their time deep into self-published online stories. If your essay does not resonate with the rest of your application, you need to take a step back and consider how you can make the whole application reflect who you are. Ivy Central always here to help you.

    Good luck!

  • Tips for Successful Online Study

    Tips for Successful Online Study

    Tips for Successful Online Learning | Strategies for Virtual Learning

    Students all over the world are having to get used to learning in a new way. Many Ivy Central students have had to adjust to online lessons so here are a few lessons to pass on to anybody who is wondering how they can make online learning work for them.

    Be Positive

    There is surviving and thriving, often the difference between the two is to have a positive attitude. Having to learn online might not be your choice but it is the reality that you face. A positive attitude about online learning is the best present you can give yourself. Everything you learn, whether it’s your most favourite or least favourite subject, will help you grow as a person and prepare you for your future studies.

    Create your study space

    Find somewhere that is your study space, somewhere that everybody knows is where you locate yourself when studying. Ideally this would be in your bedroom or a place where you can work undistracted by other people, but that might not be possible for everybody. If you don’t have your own space try to negotiate to have set times when you need it. If that is not possible then you might need to resort to using headphones to block out distractions as much as possible.

    Having identified your space, make sure you have what you need. You will want a table and comfortable chair, despite what it might be called, don’t try balancing a laptop on your lap, if nothing else you will get terrible back and neck pain. Make sure there is good connectivity to the WIFI so that you have a reliable connection.

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    Organise your time

    Your ability to control your time is going to be limited by the demands of your teachers, if they are conducting a lesson at a particular time, you need to be there. There are however some principles that you should try to adhere to.

    ·         Make sure you know when your online classes are taking place, make sure you have everything you need and join on time.

    ·         Your studies won’t just be when there are online classes so divide up your day and week into learning, homework and extra-curricular activities.

    ·         Take short breaks whenever you can. ‘Zoom Fatigue’ is a problem many students are experiencing as a result of too much time spent on computers. Try to take 5 minutes away from screens between online sessions.

    You are not alone –  get help when you need it.

    Many students have come to the shocking realisation that they miss school, of course they miss spending time with friend’s but it is the lack of direct two way interaction with teachers and perhaps their fellow students that is more significant. This lack of interaction can result in students falling behind in their work, if you don’t understand something that you are being taught it can affect your understanding of the whole study topic.

    If you are in this position the first thing should be to reach out to your teachers directly, email them and let them know that you need some extra help to understand the topic. Other approaches you might want to try is to use the resources of the internet to help you, Youtube video’s, Khan Academy or BBC Bitesize can often help explain things in a different way. Another approach might be to set up a virtual learning group of your peers where you review the work you have done with your teachers and support each other with any gaps in understanding.

    Stay on track

    One of the challenges of online learning is to remain focused on our work and resisting the temptations all around us. Distractions come in multiple forms and can eat away at time, schools go to great lengths to help students remain focused but at home it is down to you.

    One of the biggest distractions are mobile phones, the way they ping or buzz to notify you or a new message or post is designed to distract you, they are meant to be difficult to ignore. The best way to avoid picking up your phone to check it every few minutes is to either turn it off or better still, put it away from you in another room.

    Another aspect of staying on track is not falling behind with your work. Keep a log of what work you need to complete, and by when. Give each piece of work a deadline, don’t drag your feet, work to make yourself stick to the deadline. Do things on time and you will be better off in the long run.

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    Jump around

    OK you don’t have to jump, but do make sure that you get some exercise. Online learning, unsurprisingly, means lots of time online, completing lessons, doing homework, reaching out to teachers and peers. So, scheduling physical fitness into your day is also important. Physical exercise can boost your mood, energy, and brainpower.

    Embark on a transformative higher education journey and elevate your path to academic success with the expert guidance and personalized support of an Ivy Central college counselor.