Fun Fact about Aleena: She dressed just like Edgar Allan Poe on the last day of 10th grade and made a morbid "graduation speech"
The Application Frenzy
October 17, 2005
It's already close to October, and my parents have thrown something new at me: I don't have to apply just to colleges in DC and Maryland. That's a "whoa!" right there. And I've taken advantage of it.
Georgetown University is my dream school because it has everything that I need: a central location (for a major like Government and Politics), a good reputation, great academics, and dorms that I can live in (which means I won't be stuck with my parents on weekdays). And I even went to their summer program and asked a summer counselor to write a recommendation just in case! That's why I am applying early action to that school. But since my parents have asked me to apply elsewhere just in case, I thought that it wouldn't be a bad idea to apply to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. That school is a very nice one and is close to where my great uncle and aunt live (so I would have some family to lean on nearby).
If I don't get into Georgetown or Chapel Hill, it means that I have to have two backup plans. The first part is that I have to apply to my local university (University of Maryland College Park). It's a very good school, but the only issue is that it is more into research and science than government, though it has great depth in everything. The second part is that I will use the now life-saving Common Application (specifically designed for people who want to save their sanity and time) to apply to a bunch of seemingly interesting schools at once. I have already sent in completed applications to George Washington University and American University so that I could feel like I made some progress.
I really am glad that I am getting all my college applications done early; if I take the time now, I won't have to stress when I have some major research paper to write during Winter Break (just as most college application deadlines are closing in).
But it's not as if I am just cranking out my applications and not looking at them carefully. I gave all my college essays to my AP English Literature teacher a few days ago, and he really had some great analysis of my essays. He was the kind of person who looked for structure and content, which I definitely needed help on. It turns out that he believes that I have a" very unique writing style" which sounds "confident" and brings out my "sarcastic humor" at the same time. He thankfully said that if I sent in most of my essays as they were, they would all be a 9 on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best. But he told me straight out that one of my essays was not something I should send in, and I appreciated his honesty. I actually did not like that essay (which was about my extracurricular activities) that much, and it might have hurt my chances of getting into the school. Thank goodness for English teachers.
It's amazing what can happen in a month. I would have never believed it possible to find everything coming together so well for my application. It's especially nice when you can save some time by recycling an essay for another application. Now all I have left to worry about is my grades and my social life... hopefully.