I subscribe to what the New York Times dubs “the most welcomed piece of daily e-mail in cyberspace.” Cat pictures? Kardashian updates? Nope: A Word A Day. Out of the collection of diverse words I received, one word stuck out to me in particular.  Entoptic: relating to images that originate within the eye (as opposed to from light entering the eye). Examples of entoptic phenomena: floaters, thread-like fragments that appear to float in front of the eye but are caused...

Briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (150 word limit) “The word is YES, say it a million times…it always leads to something good.” Jim Carrey, Yes Man But there are dangers to being a Yes Man. Accepting opportunities and information without questioning can lead to sticky situations and embarrassing moments. Fortunately, my participation in policy debate has taught me to be anything but a yes man. Sifting through databases of information to research both sides...

Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development. (250 word limit) What’s more probable: dying from a shark attack, or dying from falling airplane parts? Surprisingly, the answer is falling airplane parts. But why does our intuition point us towards shark attacks? The answer lies in the availability heuristic, or the WYSIATI (“what you see is all there is”) rule, which describes how our minds evaluate decisions based...

Although you may not yet know what you want to major in, which department or program at MIT appeals to you and why? (100 words or fewer) I am drawn to both the Brain and Cognitive Sciences and the Linguistics and Philosophy programs at MIT. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated with computers, starting with trying to hack the online game Club Penguin when I was five to make my penguin waddle faster. Throughout high school,...

Tell us about the most significant challenge you’ve faced or something important that didn’t go according to plan. How did you manage the situation? (200-250 words) There is something indescribably cathartic about staring at the stripe at the bottom of the pool, lungs burning, fighting to touch the wall first. That’s not to mention the exhilarating feeling of pure camaraderie after a tough workout—high-fives and smiles all around. Hopping in the pool is one of my...

Truly, write your heart out. I spent months trying to craft essays based on what I thought admissions officers "wanted to see". Once I decided to write about a topic that...

All my recommenders had not only had me in class but also known me through extracurriculars. Be sure to pick the teachers that you are closest...

Do something that you really want to do - *curate* your own summers, rather than doing things you think you need to be doing. While my friends all attended high-level research camps,...

During high school summers, I highly recommend getting a head start on classes you will be taking the following year. This is especially true of the summer of your junior year (when you are a rising senior) -- the more you get ahead on your...

Starting my applications in June definitely was the best decision I made throughout the entire process, but there are also a few things I would change. Specifically, many of my essay breakthroughs took place not when I was staring at the computer...

Apply for as many scholarships as possible! It gives you a lot of good practice for not only interviews but also writing supplements....

Out of the schools I applied to, I think that my experience with competition mathematics and science helped me the most for MIT. I would highly recommend participating in such exams as the American Mathematics...

Out of the schools I applied to, I believe that Harvard and Stanford place the most focus on intellectual vitality. Yes, the word has been tossed around so much in admissions talk that it has become somewhat of a cliche, but to me the phrase can be roughly defined as "love for learning...

I applied to the new Management, Entrepreneurship, and Technology (M.E.T.) program at UC Berkeley. I think that the interview (if you are offered one) was heavily important. Specifically, communicating the intellectual...

For Harvard and other top/prestigious liberal arts schools, I highly recommend writing an essay through a sophisticated writing device/structure such as using a metaphor to frame the essay....

This advice will also serve as advice for the "five adjectives" short answer prompt. Definitely try to go outside of the "Top 50" adjectives...