In a place hidden from the rush of Kansas City, a nestled suburbia lays and the road dwindles away to a neighborhood that stretches for miles. Houses line the streets, each a pale replica of the next. Children laugh with their mothers who smile from the doorways and the breeze rustles perfectly manicured bushes. My school sits on the border, where lazy acres turn to highway and the organic shops give way to hardy gas stations. Students chatter through the...

To be quite honest, applying to universities is about creating a profile of yourself and then advertising. Your profile thus must be exciting, original, and most importantly, intriguing enough that an admissions officer can pick you out of every other application. It is not about being perfect, about having the perfect SAT/ACT score,...

I was accepted to Yale, Reed College, Amherst, and a few other schools (though not as flashy as those). However as you have noticed, I am attending the University of Kansas. What it ultimately came down to...