Why Do You Choose Ohio State University Essay!: Fill & Download for Free

I am a writer. I write and publish poems, essays, my books, and Quora answers.If a reviewer publishes a review of one of my books or poems, I often get sent a copy or a clipping or a link by someone, and I read it and think about it and put it in a file and eventually, I will send it to Ohio State University to be with my other literary papers. But I feel no urge at all to “respond” to it. Why would I? You, the reviewer or commenter, have reacted to my writing. That’s fine. You have every right to do that. But I am not interested in debating or defending my piece of writing.My job is to write it, make it as good as I can, and then I’m done. Very occasionally I will join in some kind of comment exchange, maybe one time out of 100. But I would much rather put my energy into writing more answers than into comments. Also, very few people read the comments. If your goal is to have an impact, you are much better off writing thoughtful and extended answers than in exchanging comments. Life it too short for comments.

I applied to 13 schools, most of them reaches as my state school is a fantastic safety to fall back on. I got accepted to 5, waitlisted from 3, and rejected from 5. I’ve always appreciated these college-related answers with more detail so be prepared for a loooong answer with loooots of detail. I know that there are a lot of similar looking questions out there for college-related stuff but for the sake of comprehension, here are all of my stats/background information of my application, although not essential to answering this question, as well:GPA: 4.59/5 W, 4.0/4 UW.ACT: 35 highest composite (36 R, 36 E, 34 S, 32 M), 35 super score (36 R, 36 E, 35 S, 32 M), 10/12 on writing.SAT: 1520 highest composite (750 EBRW, 770 Math), 1560 super score (790 EBRW, 770 Math); 22/24 on essay.SATII: 800 Math II, 760 U.S. History.AP Scores: World History (5), U.S. History (5), Biology (4), Computer Science Principles (5), English Language and Composition (5), Chemistry (4), U.S. Government and Politics (5), Physics C: Mechanics (5), Calculus BC (5).Senior Year Courses: AP Comparative Government and Politics, AP Computer Science, AP Seminar, Orchestra, dual-enrollment class at Case Western Reserve University (HSTY107: History of the Ancient Near East and Egypt, final grade: 96.9%; HSTY157: Women’s Histories in South Asia).Class Rank: not available but was chosen as part of senior class “top fifteen” of which GPA is taken into account.ECs: Future Problem Solving (8 years), qualifier to the International Conference (3x) by placing top at states. Speech and Debate (4 years), state qualifier (3x), Octafinalist at states (1x), Quarterfinalist at states (1x). Mock Trial (4 years), regional qualifier (2x). Model UN (3 years if you stretch it), many smaller conference awards, gavel award (1x). National Honor Society (1.5 years), started end of junior year. Tutor (2 years), language and general support to a Korean student who recently immigrated at the time. Also, some other smaller things and smaller summer activities.Awards: Achievement Award/Certificate of Superior Writing from the National Council of Teachers of English, National Merit Finalist, National AP Scholar, Yale Book Award, Honor Roll (4x).Leadership: FPS Officer (senior year), Speech and Debate Event Captain (senior year), Mock Trial President (senior year), Mock Trial Team Captain (freshmen-senior year), Orchestra Vice-President (senior year).Essays: wrote my Common App essay on the way my dad living/working overseas affected the way I grew up and viewed my role in my family. I reworked it a dozen times and finally wrestled it into something I actually liked after several months, rate 9/10. I generally regard myself as a fairly decent writer so the rest of the supplementals I wrote for specific colleges were probably pretty good, I would rate them 8/10.Letters of Recommendation(s): one from my AP Chem teacher who has evolved into a personal friend (we talk often outside of class, mess around with each other) and the other from my AP Lang teacher who is awesome and I think keeps me in high regards. Both have written recs to students who have gotten into Ivies in the past and I would rate both of the letters a solid 10/10.School: Competitive public high school in Ohio. Regularly sends 15+ students to Ivies and other T20’s every year.Major: Applied mostly for political science with some philosophy, international relations, and history sprinkled in.Now that you know pretty much everything an admissions officer saw of me, here are my actual college results!SAFETIES:Fordham University (EA): Accepted with the Cunniffe Presidential Scholarship (full ride + $5,000/year for “academic enrichment purposes”). Applied because they sent me a fee waiver. I also got into their Honors program at Rose Hill, which actually looked pretty cool. They initially gave me the Fordham Semifinalist Scholarship (full-tuition) when I got accepted back in December but that was upgraded to a full ride in mid-March (apparently awarded to the top 23 students in their applicant pool?). Got the upgrade the day after WashU though (spoilers!) so it definitely numbed my reaction. Never visited.The Ohio State University (EA): Accepted with the Nike Foundation Scholarship ($11,518/year) + Maximus Scholarship ($3,000/year) + grants = full ride. It was the first college that I heard back from and I was very happy that I got accepted. The reason why I applied to so many reach schools is because OSU is such a solid safety that I didn’t bother with many others. Also, given that it’s such a large state school, I didn’t expect the greatest FA, yet was blown away when OSU gave me my FA package meeting my full financial need. The cost made it really competitive when picking between my acceptances, especially given how close it is to home.TARGETS:University of Virginia (EA): Rejected. Applied because of their proximity to Washington D.C. and decent poli sci program but I probably got rejected because I’m out of state and I showed zero interest. I did take a walk around the campus once and liked it but it wasn’t an official tour so it definitely didn’t matter in hindsight.REACHES:Georgetown University (EA): Deferred then waitlisted. Applied because of the Walsh School of Foreign Service and the fact that the location is unbeatable. This was my first interview (September!), and even though I was deathly nervous, I think it went pretty well. However, I did look at georgetown.hotmess on Instagram (yikes.) and their financial aid is completely loans based, which my family cannot afford. I did take a walk around campus once and liked it just fine but never did an official tour. Did accept my spot on waitlist but not planning on submitting any additional information. Shouldn’t have accepted the spot in hindsight.Vanderbilt University (RD): Accepted with VU need-based Scholarship ($54,434/year) + grants = almost all direct costs. Thrilled with the acceptance but I don’t really have any connection to Vanderbilt, I pretty much applied for the prestige as I’m not even sure if it’s ranked for poli sci. I do have a friend who loves it there after getting in EDI as part of ‘19, but other than that I have no personal stake in the school. Did not receive an interview and was rejected for the Cornelius Vanderbilt scholarship. Never visited.Northwestern University (RD): Accepted with the Northwestern Scholarship ($55,634/year) + some grants + some loans = almost all direct costs. I wasn’t expecting to get in at all because Northwestern supposedly “blacklisted” my school but was pleasantly surprised that I got accepted. I visited as part of Northwestern’s high school MUN invitational my sophomore year but never did an official tour. Their student culture is very attractive with high rated academics and D1 sports. The interview went well, turns out that he was the dad of a friend’s friend; what a small world. Quarter system is meh, seems stressful.Washington University in St. Louis (RD): Accepted with the Washington University Scholarship ($69,150/year) + grants → even ended up including nearly all indirect costs = net cost: $40. Look at my FA package. Look. At. It. A friend, an alumna from WashU, freaked out when I told her about it because WashU giving that much need-based aid is apparently extremely rare. Holy cow. In other news, I knew that WashU valued demonstrated interest so I drove down (10 hours!) last spring and did an official campus tour, interviewed with an admissions officer and sat in on a class (it was about Game of Thrones and it was fun for the 10 minutes I was there for). Beautiful campus, food is great, Tempur Pedic mattresses, and it’s decently ranked for poli sci. Did not receive an interview. I actually ended up getting a likely call (?) from the admissions office → guidance counselor → me in early March, which was really really cool. But damn. Look at those monies.Brown University (RD): Rejected. Expected as no one from my school has gotten accepted in YEARS. I have mixed feelings about the fluidity of the Open Curriculum, neither a turn on or turn off. Interview went great though, we had a pleasant conversation about life and life at Brown. Never visited.Columbia University (RD): Rejected. I did a string of unofficial college campus walk-arounds back in sixth grade and this was one of the places I visited. The campus was really nice (very…regal? idk if that’s the right word) and I like NYC. The Core Curriculum is a turn off though (writing the supplement for it was a page of lies) and I also didn’t receive an interview.University of Pennsylvania (RD): Rejected. The interview was a little odd: the interviewer would ask a question and then furiously scribble down my response in a wide-ruled notebook clearly filled with other similar interview experiences. Did not expect anything as I had added UPenn in on my college list super last minute and my school already had two ED acceptances and a RD likely. Never visited.Yale University (RD): Waitlisted. Included in my Great Sixth Grade College Odyssey. I don’t remember anything that stands out about my visit except that New Haven looked boring. Also, it was probably the interview that I was most underprepared for but it went decently well. Accepted my spot on the waitlist but not holding out on a miracle.Harvard University (RD): Waitlisted. The acceptance rate is 2%, but why not? Included in my Great Sixth Grade College Odyssey but no recollection on what the campus looked like. The interview went fine, perfectly average as nothing particularly stands out to me when recounting it now. My supplement for Harvard was highkey a hot mess as I scrambled it together the day before the deadline. Accepted my spot on the waitlist but not holding out on a miracle.Princeton University (RD): Rejected. This one hurt, not going to lie. I’m not the type to lay out my dreams for others to comment on, but if I had to choose a dream school it would’ve been Princeton. Something about the beautiful campus and the focus on undergraduates was just really attractive to me. Included in my Great Sixth Grade College Odyssey. I worked really hard on the supplements and my graded paper that I had to turn in was a semi-creative writing assignment from AP Lang of my junior year. The interview (hi Anna!) also went fantastic; we really connected and we ended up having a great 1.5 hour conversation. Definitely the decision I was most hopeful for, but it didn’t pan out the way I thought.I haven’t made a final decision yet but leaning heavily towards WashU. Will update this post if there is anything to update!EDIT: Committed to WashU!! Go Bears💚❤️

As a student applying to universities, it is often hard to place yourself in the shoes of the admissions counselor. It’s easy to get wrapped up in your own “lens” of your life: the childhood growing up in Maine, your family moving to Ohio, losing your grandfather in 5th grade, joining debate team to overcome your tendency towards shyness. But to successfully navigate the college admissions cycle, it is a smart idea to consider the perspective of the person on the other end of your admissions essay.When I was an admissions counselor, I always gave the advice to “see your essay through the eyes of the reader.” This doesn’t mean your English teacher who is helping edit your essay, but the admissions counselor, or Honors committee at your chosen colleges. I find that once students have a peek behind the admissions curtain, they have a new perspective on their essay.Depending on the college, admissions officials can wear many different hats. Their job is not all centered around reading applications, otherwise they would have nothing to do from May through October. The structure of admissions counselor’s day often includes a quota of applications to review, but also attending a recruitment event, joining multiple meetings each day, sitting on a department committee of some kind, and answering 30+ emails from students in their assigned region.The admissions counselor reading your essay is not bored, they are tired and looking for something original. “Seeing your essay through the eyes of the reader” means reading your essay through this lens: This is the last essay you have to read today before you go home, you’ve read 20 bland essays and received an irate call from a parent about why their child was rejected. Now, I ask you, Does your opening line still pop?Admissions counselors are rarely bored, but they do keep an internal count of how many essays fall into their “cliche categories.” Responsible for reading so many essays, it is no wonder that patterns begin to emerge. To avoid falling into this trap of having the admissions counselor merely skim your essay, I always tell my students to avoid the following cliche essay topics:Death of a grandparent or someone else in your family. Grandparents are the most common. Tragedy is hard to quantify, and rarely allows for an uplifting ending, leaving admissions counselors with a depressing read.Overcoming an injury. Unless this inspired you to publish a children’s book about Physical Therapy or found an app that helps track injury recovery time, this topic is just too common to stand out.Winning the big game. Imagine reading this essay: “I escaped a war-torn country and started a non-profit to help other survivors!” and then, “My team worked very hard, and we won the state tennis tournament.” Unfortunately, your essay will most likely fall short, only because of the comparison to weightier topics.Learning you were more creative than you thought during English class. Once again, this essay will fall short when compared to deeper essays. I would suggest leaving anything about “what you learned in class” out of your essay altogether. You can find a deeper topic.Why you chose that school or that major. Unless there was a sudden life-changing moment to describe, like witnessing someone almost dying before paramedics arrived, prompting you to pursue medicine, these essays tend to ramble. “First I wanted to be a nurse, but then I found out I’m queasy around blood, so then I chose Engineering but then I realized I hate math, so now I’m choosing Architecture” is less than a thrilling read. If the school truly cares about this, they will ask for a Why Major or Why Us essay. The admissions essay is the time to share how creative you are, and tell a story about a time that built character.