Paperwork consumes the room. Some essays are stacked to the ceiling while others are crumbled in the trash. Despite their placement, their screams are the same: “I’m smart! I’m different! Pick me!” For an admissions officer, this scene is too familiar and resembles their surroundings as they skim essays to answer the question: “why is this applicant different?” For an applicant like me, this scene evokes terror and causes the applicant to spend days dedicated to finding the...

I’ll never forget logging onto the Questbridge website as a non-match finalist, clicking on the Swarthmore overview, and completing the virtual tour; immediately, I fell in love. It wasn’t just the existence of the Swarthmore Honors Program or the First Year Tutorials that sparked my admiration for Swarthmore. After spending hours on the Swarthmore website exploring the quirky traditions and the remarkable tri-college consortium program, I discovered the sustainability program and forwarded my application to Swarthmore almost immediately. ...

While one should never obsess over standardized test...