Between final exams and submitting college applications, December of senior year goes by in the blink of an eye. Finding the right words to express yourself and your interests to a college within a given word count can be hard, though having a clear idea of what you want to include and talk about can help. To help those of you finishing your applications I thought I would share some of the resources that I used to write my applications last year.
Club Listings
- I thought that it was really helpful to look through the student organizations available on campus to get an idea of what groups I thought that I might get involved with on campus.
- (https://johnshopkins.campuslabs.com/engage/organizations for Hopkins)
Research Listings
- Similar to clubs, research is a very popular way for students to fill their time at Hopkins. Accessibility to research is one of the largest benefits of going to Hopkins in my opinion, so I would suggest looking into some of the research going on at Hopkins (or another school) and mention what interests you.
Course Listings/Class Reviews
- Classes are a very important part of college, so I would suggest looking at the catalogue and seeing if there are any classes, either within your intended major or outside of it, that make you really excited. Academic exploration and interdisciplinary study are very big at Hopkins so any way you can express how you might want to take advantage of that might be a good addition to your application. For Hopkins, semester.ly makes it really easy to see both courses offered each semester, but also course reviews to help get an idea of student experiences in those classes..
Special Opportunities
- Every university has its own unique programs and experiences, I suggest looking into them and maybe mentioning one or two if they spark your interest.
Personal Experiences
- If you’ve had the opportunity to visit campus, either through a formal campus visit or another time, and some aspect of campus stood out to you, feel free to mention it within your essay.
Of course, these are just a handful of the many resources out there that can help you in writing your essays, anything you can do to make your essays more personal is probably a good idea. Good luck to all seniors on finals and applications!
