When I applied to Princeton, I opted for the "influential person" topic for the supplemental essay. I bypassed some of the more obvious choices, like an admirable grandparent or famous intellectual, and instead focused on a friend and neighbor my own age. Despite both being adolescent girls, we couldn't have been more different--I was painfully shy and buttoned-up, while she was the hard-rocking wild child. We were both a little too extreme (in opposite directions), but we became fast friends...

For the Common App's activities section mini essay I again did something a little unconventional: instead of talking about how awesome I thought I was at Science Olympiad, I wrote about an activity in which I had absolutely zero distinction--track. I'm a terrible athlete. I can't throw, catch, run or jump. But I've always really, really wanted to. So I wrote about my experience on the track team and poked fun at my own shortcomings. I think this essay worked...

I couldn't afford a private advisor, or tutor, or coach, or anything. I think the biggest selling point of a coach or advisor is that they try to package you in an appealing way, but you can do the same for yourself much more cheaply. I think...

You know those really expensive "volunteering" trips that some parents pay many thousands of dollars for? Don't do them. Best case scenario, they prove to the school that you have some money--but they could've figured that out from the demographics section. Worst case scenario, they make you seem shallow and uninformed about the world. Travel is great. ...

I think being a girl interested in a pretty male-dominated field (astrophysics) helped me out a lot. I had a pretty convincing track...