Common Application essay on Air miles/ flight bookings!
Aug 3, 2018, 10:53 am
#16
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,120
Just to be clear, intellectual curiosity is in regards to what you do outside of the classroom. For example- in your volunteer work have you delved into the history of the cause you are involved with, learned about the social forces, past laws, controversies, etc? Have you compared that with the services provided in any of the countries you have traveled to? Have you brought any of this to a multidisciplinary course at your school?
At the liberal arts colleges that I am familiar with, your application will be looked at by 2-3 people. If you are clearly not qualified, you will receive just a skim. Other than that you will receive the same consideration as other applicants.
As an international applicant, you biggest barrier will be how much financial aid you are applying for. There are very few colleges and universities that will not take this into consideration.
At the liberal arts colleges that I am familiar with, your application will be looked at by 2-3 people. If you are clearly not qualified, you will receive just a skim. Other than that you will receive the same consideration as other applicants.
As an international applicant, you biggest barrier will be how much financial aid you are applying for. There are very few colleges and universities that will not take this into consideration.
Aug 3, 2018, 11:41 pm
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2018
Location: London/ Oxford
Programs: BAEC Bronze; LoungeKey
Posts: 53
Just to be clear, intellectual curiosity is in regards to what you do outside of the classroom. For example- in your volunteer work have you delved into the history of the cause you are involved with, learned about the social forces, past laws, controversies, etc? Have you compared that with the services provided in any of the countries you have traveled to? Have you brought any of this to a multidisciplinary course at your school?
At the liberal arts colleges that I am familiar with, your application will be looked at by 2-3 people. If you are clearly not qualified, you will receive just a skim. Other than that you will receive the same consideration as other applicants.
As an international applicant, you biggest barrier will be how much financial aid you are applying for. There are very few colleges and universities that will not take this into consideration.
At the liberal arts colleges that I am familiar with, your application will be looked at by 2-3 people. If you are clearly not qualified, you will receive just a skim. Other than that you will receive the same consideration as other applicants.
As an international applicant, you biggest barrier will be how much financial aid you are applying for. There are very few colleges and universities that will not take this into consideration.
Yes I am aware of the financial aid element- my parents are encouraging me to stay in the (far cheaper) UK! They are definitely not very willing to pay the high fees, but possibly could be viewed as able to (if no consideration is put into things such as Brother’s international school fees, cost of renting abroad and away from ‘home’, etc etc)- so it is difficult.
Can I ask, however, is your application affected by how much Fin Aid you require or just whether you ticked the box? So would ticking the ‘I require aid’ box already put you at a considerable disadvantage, or would the disadvantage depend on how much it is that you require?
Thanks.
Aug 4, 2018, 8:47 am
#18
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,120
Yes, in general it is better to need $10,000 than $45,000. For a lot of money they want to get bang for their buck - under represented country, very high test scores, someone who will be very active in the school activities (orchestras, student government, sports etc.)
Travel can be a good topic. For two of the college specific short essays my daughter worked in a story about her large research project for a world history course. It was on a contentious event in a particular country's history. We ended up visiting the country that summer. Our tour guide at an important site had been very open and friendly. She asked him about that time in history and found out what the general population had been taught about it and how passionately he felt the government had done the right thing. It has been a few years so I remember the particulars but she worked the essay around the study of history and the need for multiple viewpoints and how she loved digging deeply into issues.
This was from a student who always put down biology for a major.
edited to add: Since you are looking for Financial Aid, you need to ask yourself some questions. Will you attend a British university if you do not get into a high name recognition college/university here? Is the goal an American education? Are you willing to look at lesser known institutions where you may be at the higher end of the test scores in order to help your chances? The US has over 3,000 colleges and universities. You could get a great education at some that don't have the international fame.
Travel can be a good topic. For two of the college specific short essays my daughter worked in a story about her large research project for a world history course. It was on a contentious event in a particular country's history. We ended up visiting the country that summer. Our tour guide at an important site had been very open and friendly. She asked him about that time in history and found out what the general population had been taught about it and how passionately he felt the government had done the right thing. It has been a few years so I remember the particulars but she worked the essay around the study of history and the need for multiple viewpoints and how she loved digging deeply into issues.
This was from a student who always put down biology for a major.
edited to add: Since you are looking for Financial Aid, you need to ask yourself some questions. Will you attend a British university if you do not get into a high name recognition college/university here? Is the goal an American education? Are you willing to look at lesser known institutions where you may be at the higher end of the test scores in order to help your chances? The US has over 3,000 colleges and universities. You could get a great education at some that don't have the international fame.
Last edited by mules; Aug 4, 2018 at 8:53 am
Aug 4, 2018, 10:15 am
#19
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: NYC
Posts: 9,122
And a much better financial aid package as the lesser known ones sometimes struggle to attract international students.
Sep 22, 2019, 4:43 pm
#20
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 10
follow up?
HI there - I found your post while researching, because my daughter is doing her common app essay on points, miles, credit card spending, and how it has afforded us the opportunity to travel. Some humor, some deep emotional stuff about her journey as an orphan from Haiti to be able to see the world. And, how the skills it takes to hunt down the best deals, portals, coupons, etc can translate into other parts of life. I was curious if you did end up deciding to use this topic, and where you ended up getting into college. Hope it all worked out!
Sep 23, 2019, 3:45 am
#21
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2018
Location: London/ Oxford
Programs: BAEC Bronze; LoungeKey
Posts: 53
Hi,
Thanks for your message. I've PMed you (hope that's okay!).
Regards,
Thanks for your message. I've PMed you (hope that's okay!).
Regards,