Essentially, I picked "Topic of Your Choice" option for the common application personal statement section. I wrote about when I battled with poor body image and disordered eating when I was sixteen and how it changed the way I view myself and life. It sounds like a dreary topic, but I livened it up by writing it in my own personal voice, and not really feeling sorry for myself. It was almost like a memoir/journal entry.

Honestly, I admit that I was somewhat aimless when I chose schools to apply to. Sometimes I added schools to my list because they waived my application fee and I thought, "why not?" My advice would be to really research your schools and have three ranks of schools: safeties, targets, and reaches. Safeties are schools you know you will definitely...

The hardest part for me when it came to applying to college was actually writing my personal statement. I think the mistake I made was have so many people read it and give me their input. Each time someone read it, they'd give me criticism completely opposite...

I had three teachers and my guidance counselor each write me a letter of recommendation. I chose teachers who I had taken several classes with throughout high school and who...