I am not a lip gloss kind of girl. I haven’t been for a long time. In my unfortunate years of junior high, when school was ruled by five foot divas in Hollister tank tops and Abercrombie jeans, I loved lip gloss. I thought it helped me fit in. On weekends, I would walk through the chilly, fluorescent aisles of our local CVS to the expansive cosmetics section in the back of the store, brimming with 99 cent nail polish...

Question: What would you title your memoir? I am a driven person. I set goals for myself, and I achieve them through diligence and perseverance. I am also a high school student, and although I pursue interests outside of school, I often feel as though my entire life is taken up by school-related assignments and issues. If I were to write a memoir about my life thus far, it would be called “You Can Sleep When You’re Dead: A...

Question: What book has been most influential in your life? Sad books are good books. They are also depressing, gritty, and typically, just not fun. Up until the tenth grade, most of the books I read were either about dysfunctional families, (think Ordinary People level dysfunctional) or memoirs of some anorexic-schizophrenic-manic-depressive hybrid. Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar was what forced me to call it quits. I don’t quite know if it was the attempted suicide in the basement...

Question: Describe a personal idiosyncrasy. 1. I need to buy a bottle of conditioner. 2. My Tale of Two Cities essay is due Monday. My draft should be done by Saturday so I have time to get it critiqued. 3. I owe Julia $4.26 for coffee at Starbucks. Chai lattes don’t come cheap in this day and age. 4. I have to read 23 pages of “Pride and Prejudice” to stay on target for the week. I don’t want to be stuck with 100 pages...

The college application process is very overwhelming. You feel an immense amount of pressure during your junior and senior years to make important, life changing decisions and to make them quickly. Although I am happy...

I interviewed at Skidmore College, the University of Rochester, and Hobart and William Smith. One thing I can say with confidence is that the interviews got progressively easier; you gain confidence each time you have the experience. At the University of Rochester, I had an uncomfortable interview. It was my first interview, and the admissions representative was somewhat intimidating. She asked me odd questions, including asking where my sister attended school, and then asking me why I wasn't applying there. My next interview at Skidmore went well -- the interviewer...

Emerson wants to know that you are dedicated and passionate about your craft. It is a highly...

I ultimately chose Emerson because it seemed like the best place to pursue my interest in film and television. While Occidental might be considered more prestigious, and Hobart William Smith offered a great financial package, when it came down to...

When looking at schools, I put schools into two categories. The first was schools that offered intensive, pre-professional programs in film and television, such as Emerson, Ithaca, and BU. The second was liberal arts colleges that did not offer the same intensive programs, but were schools that I would love to attend if I decided I wanted to pursue a less focused, more general path, such as Occidental and Skidmore. I found schools by talking to my parents, meeting with my guidance counselor at school, and using websites like CollegeBoard and Naviance, my school's college application website. The CollegeBoard website...