I would have applied to more Ivy League schools such as...

Face to Face: Georgetown (1 hour), Brown (30 mins), Cornell (1 hour), Middlebury (1 hour) Over the Phone: Dartmouth (30 mins) Skype: UPenn (30 mins) Even though I had so many interviews, I still got nervous right before each one. I definitely recommend preparing for them by making a list of what you like about the school, what makes it unique (!!), your extracurriculars in and out of school to talk briefly about, clubs you plan to join at the school, personal qualities and hobbies, and plans after college (they don't have to be definite, just make yourself sound ambitious). Absolutely DO NOT forget to come up...

In my personal opinion, I believe that what set me apart was not my test scores or extracurricular activities list (obviously), but the consistency I showed throughout my application. I emphasized a love for the French language in my essays, had my French teacher write me a recommendation letter, traveled to France, took French all four years of high school and got an A, took the the French SAT Subject Test and...

In the end, Penn was where I could see myself thriving in college. I loved how Penn was located in Philadelphia, so I could have...

What I mostly focused on was the strength of a school's foreign language program, study abroad opportunities, academic reputation, and opportunities for my majors. Distance wasn't a huge...

Interdisciplinary...

If you have good relationships with your teachers, then asking for a recommendation letter won't be very difficult. They've most likely written letters in the past and expect college-bound students to ask for them each fall. Offer to send them your resume if they don't request it. Give...

I applied to many scholarships, including the Gates Millennium Scholarship. This required me to write 8 essays, and submit two recommendation letters. I ending up being part of the 1,000 scholars...