Give a girl a pencil, and she will draw. She will draw horses and buildings and people and oceans. She will ask for a box of 64 crayons, the one with the sharpener in the back, and she will draw you. She will draw her sister, grandpa, babysitter, dog—anyone who will sit still for five minutes. She will draw and draw and draw until every sheet of computer paper in the house is covered. Fourteen years later, she will still...

"Describe an academic experience meaningful to you"

I had always been a squeamish child; I outright passed out when my fourth grade teacher explained appendicitis to the class (though it was later attributed to the absence of air conditioning and water after gym). Understandably, when it came time for dissections in AP Bio, I was wracked with apprehension, a metallic, sour taste in my throat and the floating sensation I’d get after roller coasters. Baby pigs—the claim fetal was a lie, our forensic analysis later...

I would definitely do a pre-college program--I did one at Brown and absolutely loved...

Find someone who can show growth, who has known you for all four years. I...