I’m not even an inch in, but the pungent smell of it already fills my nostrils like a waterfall, acting upon my body as if it were a substance more potent than the hardest drug. I can already feel myself immersing into an alternate reality, with my awareness starting to slip. Pushing the white door wide open, I enter my mother’s closet. I am constantly amazed by the effect this place has on me. I have been here...

My heart is racing. My head is pounding. My palms are sweating. This cannot be happening to me. Rewind to a typical day in the life of [my name], and my primary concern would be to ace my exams for that day. Little did I know that those worries could never compare to the hurt and confusion I felt on December 2, 2010. In the morning of a seemingly normal day, four police officers presented themselves to my family and in six...

A pencil and a piece of paper matter to me. These two overused and under-appreciated supplies are the basis for my favorite characteristic- creativity. From poetry to paper airplanes, love letters to tic-tac-toe, and scratch work to sketching, a pencil and a piece of paper allow an individual to temporarily become an artist. Not an artist in art itself, but an artist in ideas. The endless possibilities of thoughts and doodles can transform into a brilliant epiphany. Einstein probably jotted...

My essays were very personal, and you do not need a "sob-story" similar to mine to wow the admissions committee. You can literally talk about the time you failed your swim competition, or the time you visited an Art Museum. That was how my first essay was, it was about a simple time that I entered my Mom's closet, and then I related those emotions to my future.

No, it wasn't necessary as long as you were organized and set goals...

I interviewed to about 10 schools, most from the Ivy League. In all honesty, interviews are given to students if...

The big scholarships online are, in my opinion, a waste of time. It is...

My mindset was, if I apply to a bunch of schools, I'm bound to get into a couple of really good ones. I...

I don't recommend doing this to every college, but maybe in March send your...

I definitely recommend a few summer activities because I know some colleges asked for how you spent your summer, and you don't want to...

You don't want to choose a teacher that is clearly bad at writing, but you also don't want to just...

I am hoping to work for a few years...

Cornell University is located in Ithaca, New York. It is absolutely beautiful and the campus was prettier than any other campus I visited, including Harvard and Princeton (sorry). It looks like Hogwarts, and has tall buildings that are incorporated with Gothic culture. I like how, while Cornell maintains its ivy league status, it is a humble school...

When applying to the ivy league, the typical application holds a 2200 on their SAT. That wasn't the case with me. My SAT and ACT scores were not that high when compared to my peers. For the UC's, I got in early to CAL, UCLA, UCSB, and UCD as a regents...

Hmm...the "Why Us" essay topics were always the hardest for me. I just wanted to scream out ...