An Ongoing Conversation The moments that define us aren’t magnificent, once in a lifetime occurrences. They happen everyday, right under our noses; we just usually don’t notice. My defining moment occurs at 7pm every night, when my dad calls out, “Boys!” That’s our cue. My brother and I rush down the stairs to set the table. Once the table’s set, my family and I convene to eat dinner together. But dinner is far more than just...

This essay is the required Penn supplemental essay.

As a South African, “born free” during the presidency of Nelson Mandela, I have been greatly influenced by his philosophy that: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” So, when, at the age of 15, I began researching colleges the first words I typed into Google were “Ivy League” – a term synonymous with an unparalleled educational institution. That was when I discovered the University of Pennsylvania, saw images of Penn students strolling down Locust...

When choosing who to ask for a recommendation from, there are several things to consider. Perhaps the most important is what that person can say about you. Far more important than choosing a teacher who likes you, who taught a class you got a good grade in or who has a great reputation, is choosing a teacher who truly knows about you as a person and can advocate on your behalf. Other things to consider include: the class the teacher taught (having a teacher in your intended major is always a plus), if the teacher likes you (even if you...

When choosing schools to apply to, I made sure to have a good range of schools - safeties, targets, and reaches. It's extremely important to have all three types of schools, since college admissions are a crap shoot. You have to accept the fact that you could end up at any school on your list, even your safety school. When deciding what's a target, safety or reach, look at each schools average SAT, ACT and GPA's and use other aids, like naviance and your schools previous admissions decisions as a guide. That being said, I recommend having no more than 2...

Smart, Hardworking,...

I would get started much much sooner. College admissions take time - a long, long time. I started in mid September, but didn't really start with my essays until late September...

A "why us" essay is exactly that - why do you want to go to this school over the thousands of other schools in the country. Superficial reasons don't apply, such as: it's an ivy (so what? there's 7 more), my parents/teacher/friend told me I should (they're not the one applying), it's a good school (waaaay to vague), the parties...