Another Clichéd Essay There is a growing obsession with being unique because being yourself just isn’t enough anymore; someone has probably already done that. Trying to avoid being cliché has become a cliché in and of itself. All the world’s a stage? I object. All the world’s a cliché, and all the men and women repeat offenders; they have their mimics and their forgeries. I’m drowning in ideas that have been dismissed by advice websites...

The first thing that stood out to me about Johns Hopkins, particularly Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, was the enormous number of undergraduates performing research—70 percent! I’ve noticed disparities that I want to investigate. For instance, among the eight English teachers at my school, their opinions on the use of the semicolon (e.g. resulting tone from use, necessity, amount used in own writing) vary widely. One teacher claimed, “The semicolon makes people seem like they may be...

My chest tightens; I feel a blanket of weight, and it’s uncomfortable. A tingling sensation enters my cheeks. They flush slightly. I’m hit with indignation, fear, and rage all at once. Just as quickly, they evaporate, along with the text. The chapter has ended. Though I’ve never watched a friend get assaulted like Amir (the narrator of Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner) did, the words on the pages simulate the distress, at least as much...

It can be said that I grew up at the ice rink, for I started skating when I was seven. Back then, the simplest hop and leap was astonishing. Now I’ve grown to understand the nuances of a glide: the way pressure can carve a blade into the ice, or a lean can curl into a spin. Even so, thousands of hours haven’t been enough to uncover all the variations of this movement. With more details to discover,...

Growing up, I read the On Wisconsin magazines that were mailed to my parents, both of whom attended University of Wisconsin-Madison and started a family there—I was born in St. Mary’s hospital. Among the more recent articles, “Humanities for the Real World” resonated with me. It addressed the growing concern for humanities majors, particularly in regards to recent talk of the majors’ “impracticality” and “relevancy.” I see English, my area of interest, as a study of perspectives. With...

Hopkins prides itself in being America's first research university. About 70% of undergraduates perform some kind of research, so it's a big part of the academic environment. Part of my "Why Hopkins?" supplement talked about having questions that I wanted to find answers to. I think Hopkins looks for students with this kind of inquisitive nature because they are...

I didn't realize that "priority consideration for scholarships" at University of Maryland-College Park meant that only people who applied early got scholarship money, acceptance to honors college/scholars program, etc. The school takes almost all of its students from early action, so if you want to apply there,...

Hopkins offers very few merit scholarships: if you get one, that's great, but don't bank on getting on. Hopkins also offers need-based scholarships: the Bloomberg Scholarship replaces any loans that would be in your financial aid package and the Hodson-Gilliam Success Scholarship reduces the amount of loans in your aid package. You do not have to apply separately for any of these scholarships, as every student is taken into consideration for scholarships as part of the application process. I received the Hodson-Gilliam Success Scholarship, so I didn't have to take out any loans freshman year, though I take out a...

Hopkins students have an extremely wide variety of interests, so there is a great breadth to choose from. Plus it's really easy to apply to start a new club. There are a lot of dance and a capella groups (a few of which compete at ICCA competitions), and there's quite a few theater groups too (the improv comedy group competes). On the community service...

I interviewed with Harvard, Brown, and University of Pennsylvania. They were all alumni interviews. The latter 2 were in law offices so I dressed more formally for them and the former was at a B&N Starbucks so I dressed casually....

Because skating was such a big part of my life in high school, I wanted to keep up with it in college, so I joined the skating club. It's casual, not too serious. Everyone in it just wants to keep skating for fun. We contract ice in the morning once a week and sometimes go to other sessions in the afternoon and evening at the local rink. We also usually skate in the winter...

All of the upperclassmen I have talked to have been very helpful and happy to talk to me about classes and other advice. I've gotten lots of information on people's experiences with professors and their recommendations, which has been helpful in selecting classes. Also, being in relatively small majors, I haven't had problems getting...

1. Passionate. Hopkins students have all sorts of interests, in a wide variety of niches and subjects, and they are very into them. 2. Ambitious. People here like to do a lot of things, and they want to do them all well, which means everyone tends to be busy. 3. Hard-working. Because people want to do so many things well, they tend to put in a lot of effort...

I didn't use a private counselor. I sleuthed around on the internet around when I applied. I believe that everything that happens, happens for a reason, so I trusted that I would get into...

Do the people writing your recommendation a favor and give them all of your information (basically what you wrote in the activities section of your application) and deadlines the letters need to be written by in one place. They'll be a lot happier writing your recommendation when they can easily find the information...

The biggest factor in choosing Hopkins was that the school offered me a research fellowship, which was a special opportunity and one that was certainly not common in the humanities. I also got the best financial aid package from Hopkins, so it was the most affordable school. I wanted to be in a...