Manhattan Review Blog - Test Prep, Admissions Consulting and Career Training

Applying for college is a crucial step in a person’s personal and professional developments. As an applicant, what do you hope to get out of your college years and what expectations do you want to send along with your applications? Be sure to think seriously about the environment that will be most likely to bring the best out of you:

• Know Yourself and Set Your Goals Clearly

If you haven’t decided on a college major, start taking inventory of your academic successes and interests – which were your best classes?  Favorite classes?  Also think about your favorite extra-curricular activities, sports, music, and even your favorite weather.

• Student Body Characteristics

Do you want to be surrounded with type-A go-getters, or coffee-shop philosophers?  A highly competitive student body isn’t to everyone’s taste, and neither is a laid-back one.

• Class Size and Dynamics

What type of relationship do professors and students have with one another at your favorite schools?  Large classes may mean little contact with your professors, which can be unappealing for students who want a personal relationship with their favorite academics.  However, just because your favorite school is a large one, that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to slip through anonymously! 

• Advisory System

Will you have an advisor at your favorite school?  How much do advisors guide the students’ choice of classes?  Think about how much help you’ll really need – or want!

• Social Groups

How are social groups organized at your favorite school?  Does Greek life dominate, or do athletics, clubs, classes, dorms, or local hangouts determine who your best college friends will be?  If the social structure is different from your high school, do you think you’ll easily adjust?

• Feedback from Current Students.

What do current students really appreciate about this school?  What is their biggest complaint?  Are these issues you can handle?

The best way to answer all of these questions is to visit your favorite schools in advance, and keep a checklist of the most important issues for your education.  If you can’t afford to visit, or the school is too far away, try to speak with as many people as you can by phone or email about the school.

A quick way of learning about university statistics is by checking out ranking websites, such as the National Association of College Admissions Counseling (www.nacacnet.org) or College Navigator (http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/).  These sites can help you sort schools by tuition, scholarship/financial aid opportunities, available majors, student body demographics, sports, even the quality of campus security.  Also check out books like the Fiske Guide to Colleges, which have even more information about schools, quizzes, and student testimonials.

Related posts:

• Scholarships 101: Making College an Affordable Choice
• Tips on College Scholarship Essays
• Interview Preparation
• Beyond the Scores – What do Colleges Want?
• Younger MBA Applicants (II)

With the high price of college tuition in today’s uncertain economic climate, most students who apply for university admission will attempt to secure some financial aid.  The most common form of financial aid is based on need, and is determined by the FAFSA form submitted by the student along with his or her application.

FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) determines a student’s eligibility for federal loans and other aid packages; much like submitting the application itself, sending in your FAFSA early increases your chances of receiving aid from this limited amount of funding.  If you are applying for college entry shortly after high school graduation, your parents’ finances will be examined in addition to your own.

Many colleges and universities offer Merit-Based Scholarships.  These are sometimes offered to students on the basis of their academic achievement in high school, or for exceptional SAT scores.  Frequently, lower-ranked colleges will offer merit-based scholarships to encourage good students to attend, which improves the quality of the student body, and often makes college affordable for good students with less money.  Do inquire about school-specific scholarships through your guidance counselor at school, or through the university’s financial aid office – you may need to do more than just keep earning good grades!

This brings us to Non-Institution-Based Scholarships and Grants – the least-understood source of funding for college applicants.  These scholarships and grants vary widely and can be researched in many different ways.  Did you know that you might qualify for a scholarship because…

• You plan to pursue a specific major?
• You belong to a specific ethnic or religious group?
• You have a specific career goal?
• You or your family has worked at a specific company?
• You have participated in specific volunteer work?
• You have a disability?
• You can speak a particular foreign language?
• You are an athlete?
• You or a family member is a veteran?
• You and/or your family have experienced a particular hardship (Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, etc.)?

You, as an individual, may qualify for many different scholarships, many with quickly approaching deadlines, so it is important to stay on top of things.  Check out some scholarship books, like the College Board’s Scholarship Handbook, or Peterson’s Scholarships, Grants and Prizes.  Register yourself on scholarships.com, fastweb.com, finaid.com, or any of the many scholarship websites right away; they may notify you when a new scholarship that fits your profile appears, so don’t forget to keep your profile up-to-date with all of your latest successes!  Scholarships listed on these websites are frequently nationwide or international, and receive many applications, so don’t forget to research Local Scholarships as well, such as grants from:

• Alumni of your high school
• Local businesses and corporations
• Community groups, like the Elks, the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, or Masons
• Your local Department of Education

The best way to learn about Local Scholarships to ask your school or the organizations directly in a respectful and mature way – don’t have a parent write or telephone on your behalf!

Related posts:

• Your College Experience – What do You Want?
• Tips on College Scholarship Essays
• Beyond the Scores – What do Colleges Want?
• Interview Preparation
• Getting Into Your Dream School

What do both National and Local Scholarships frequently require?  ESSAYS!

Scholarship Essays must not only be interesting and well-written, but must address the specific nature of the scholarship itself, and answer in a clear, decisive way any question that may be asked in the scholarship application.  Sometimes these questions are very explicit: “Why do you deserve this scholarship?”  To be quite frank, even less direct questions, like “What does being a Polish-American mean to you?” or “What is the most important lesson you have learned as a high school student?” or “How do you think your education has prepared you to enter the field of engineering?” all require you to answer: “Why do you deserve this scholarship?”  Persuasion is the goal of scholarship essays.  Remember: even though there may be fewer applicants for a specific scholarship than for your favorite college, frequently there is only ONE winner.

Some tips to make that ONE winner YOU:

• Use very specific examples from your life experience (this may help you with your SAT writing section as well!)
• Adhere to the length requirements of the essay – your 500-word essay might be great, but will lose out when the word requirement is 1000 – or 250!
• Learn about the organization that sponsors the scholarship, and not just the basics.  You want to appeal specifically to the attitude of the organization.  Read the website, get in touch with employees, or, even better, last year’s winner.
• Make sure your style of writing matches the style of the essay question.  Some organizations ask light, informal, or even humorous questions, and others are deeply earnest and serious.  Don’t mix them up!
• Even if you write one hundred scholarship essays, don’t send out a single one without proofreading and asking a teacher or mentor to read it first.
• Don’t expect to do double-duty with your scholarship essays and win over the deciding committee; they’ll know if you just swapped a sentence or two from your college personal statement!
• Don’t lose out because you didn’t submit a neat, organized, attractive application!

Writing scholarship essays may seem like a daunting task, especially with the busy lives of most students, but remember this: the more essays you write, the easier it becomes.  Practice will not only improve your writing, but improve your chances at winning the scholarship you need to afford college.

Related posts:

• Scholarships 101: Making College an Affordable Choice
• Your College Experience – What do You Want?
• Putting together a Superb Application (Part II)
• PowerPoint vs. Essay: Which Best Conveys Today’s MBA Applicant?
• Interview Preparation

Making a Compelling Application

When your application arrives at your favorite college, the officers are not deciding whether to accept or reject you, but rather your application. Therefore, you need to make your application reflect your abilities, personality, background, interests, and past performance.

Don’t Hesitate – Starting Early Pays Off

Don’t wait until senior year to download the applications you need.  Ideally, you will begin familiarizing yourself with your college applications and their requirements during the spring of your junior year.  You will need time to carefully gather the necessary information and compile lists of activities and honors.  If you can begin writing your essays over the summer, you will save plenty of time; just make sure to ask the admissions offices whether or not they plan on changing the essays in the fall.  

Submitting your application as early as possible is always beneficial.  Close to the deadline date, admissions officers must read close to 100 applications a day, but early in the season, they read only a handful a day.  If the admissions officer has more time to consider your application in a thoughtful way, your chances are greatly improved.  Also, an early submission suggests that you are quite serious about your interest in the school, even when you do not select Early Action or another similar option.

Extracurricular Activities and Your Application

You cannot fool college admissions officers by presenting an extremely long list of extracurricular activities in your application.  While it is true that colleges want to make sure that you are doing something worthwhile in your spare time, it is not necessary to be a member of 20 different clubs, sports, or organizations.  However, if you spend 20 hours a week at one particular activity, and you have become the mainstay of that organization, that’s impressive. 

Extracurricular activity lists should demonstrate:

1. Dedication and Loyalty
2. Well-Roundedness
3. Social Awareness and Sophistication
4. Leadership Capacity

First Jobs and Student Resumes

As a high school student, it is not expected that you will have a lengthy resume.  However, having a job in high school can impress admissions officers.  It is a good idea include the number of hours per week you normally work at your job, and any leadership positions that you’ve held.  Your job doesn’t need to be unusual, but your dedication is what matters.  Some schools permit additional recommendation letters from job supervisors, and a glowing report of your maturity, work ethic, and problem-solving skills can be a real boon.

Look after your applications! If you apply online, always save a copy of your essays on your hard drive, and also a backup copy on CD or other removable drive.  Take your time, and do your best to present yourself in the best light possible.

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• Interview Preparation
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Manhattan Review is proud to announce an industry-first ground-breaking MBA Application Boot Camp. The goal of the boot camp is to help students prepare for every aspect of the MBA Application process. It will also give them the right guidance they need in polishing up their MBA Applications.

The entire admissions process can be overwhelming, especially for young business professionals with full schedules. But with customized guidance, they can navigate successfully from writing their application essays to deciding what school to finally attend.

Manhattan Review will host boot camps on a monthly or bi-monthly basis in New York, London, and Real-Time Online. Students can register for a 2-day weekend Crash Boot Camp or a week-long Intensive Boot Camp. Participants will learn all the strategies, go through practice interviews and start essay drafting after the weekend crash boot camp. Students will complete the essential parts of all applications for three schools of their top choice after the week-long intensive boot camp.

MBA Application Boot Camp will feature programs led by top admissions experts who will share with prospective MBA students their over 12 years of admissions experience. The boot camp will address several topics including Career Goal-setting, Career Planning, Application Strategy Formulation, Preparation for Great Interviews, Crafting of Persuasive Essays, and Solicitation of Effective Recommendation Letters. The boot camp will also provide additional application guidance, such as advice on scholarship or loan applications and strategies on dealing with waitlist, deferral, re-application and dual-degree programs.

MBA Application Boot Camps – Details

-Crash Courses (Selected Cities & Online; 8-Hour One 2-day Weekend)

Cost: Regular – USD500; Promotional – USD450; MR Students – USD400

All attendees receive 20% off Admissions Consulting (AC) services subsequently; 25% off AC and GMAT at the same time subsequently.

-Intensive Courses (Selected Cities; 28-Hour One Week; 3-School Elite Pack Included after the course for complete end-to-end guidance)

Cost: Regular – USD5000; Promotional – USD4500; MR Students – USD4000

More details and registration can be found at our MBA Admissions section.

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• From Seeking an MBA to Seeking Success (Part II)
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