Community service is a great way to help others and improve your local community. It can be an avenue to build on or develop new skills, feel great about your contributions, and develop interests and passions into tangible results. From a college-admissions perspective, admissions officers want to see that you take deep dives into your interests (that relevantly have a community service aspect) and are able to create an impact in your community and even beyond. Today, we’ll talk about how you should go about thinking about your community service.

In most top colleges’ supplemental essay portion, the first prompt is usually the “why us?” question. Although it sounds like a question that colleges use to flatter themselves, what are college admissions committees actually trying to know about students through this question?

My journey to MIT began at age 16 while in high school in Jamaica, where I was born and raised. Through random circumstances, I had discovered MIT online and the school immediately captivated me. At that moment I decided “I’m going to get into MIT.”

After spending countless hours planning, writing, and editing your applications, you finally hit the submit button and you wait. However, an aspect many students forget in the college application process is the interview process. (Don’t fret if you don’t get an interview, as it largely depends on how many available alumni have volunteered to interview students in your area as well as how many students have requested an interview.) However, if you are given a chance to interview, take the opportunity.

It’s that time of the year again. For many, summer is a time to relax being off from school for several months; for others, it’s a time to get even more work done in preparation for college admissions looming ahead. How should you spend your summer vacation as a high school student aspiring to attend an elite college?

The value from a lab comes from understanding what you are doing on the day to day. By understand I mean you should be able to explain to anyone in simple terms the background of your research, how your research is new, and how your experiments work. There is no point in joining a lab just to shadow someone as a passive observer. This will not yield a memorable essay because your passivity will be reflected in the quality of your writing about the experience. To really get something out of a lab experience, you need to be active. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and always be asking if you can help with anything.

What if I could tell you there was one thing that would help you boost your grade, strengthen your letters of recommendation, and help you figure out your future? There is! Office hours.

In the United States the university system is a business. Butts in seats mean tuition in the bank, means bigger buildings, nicer facilities, better professors, and more butts in more seats. Getting students to enroll requires offering a peak college experience - the best educators, the most interesting classes, and the most beautiful campuses. But what makes college a true peak experience for the best of the best? What sets one stunning campus green apart from another?