Long Beach Cal SOAPCollege Prep Summer Camp

WEDNESDAY

Who should I ask?What should be in the letter?Who should I ask?

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

Most colleges will specify Teacher Community Member School Counselor

WHO SHOULD I ASK?

See MIT Handout

WHAT SHOULD BE IN THE LETTER

If you have a choice choose the person who will be able to provide the BEST LETTER This may not be your favorite teacher!

Items to give to person when asking Due Date Submission Instructions (online or by mail) Resume or Brag Sheet

WHO SHOULD I ASK?HOW DO I ASK THEM?

Include Academic Profi le Include all of the things listed on your “Activities”

section of college application Extra-Curriculars Volunteer work Leadership positions Employment Honors or Awards

RESUME OR BRAG SHEET

Personal StatementsShort AnswerEssays

ESSAYS

UC Application

Must Answer BOTH Describe the world you come from

— for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?

Common Application

Choose ONE Some s tuden ts have a backg round o r s to ry

tha t i s so cen t ra l t o the i r i den t i t y tha t they be l i eve the i r app l i ca t i on wou ld be incomp le te w i thou t i t . I f t h i s sounds l i ke you , then p lease share your s to ry.

Recount an inc iden t o r t ime when you exper ienced fa i l u re . How d id i t aff ect you , and what l essons d id you l ea rn?

Refl ect on a t ime when you cha l l enged a be l i e f o r i dea . What p rompted you to ac t ? Wou ld you make the same dec i s i on aga in?

Descr ibe a p lace o r env i ronment where you a re per fec t l y con ten t . What do you do o r exper ience the re , and why i s i t mean ing fu l t o you?

Discuss an accomp l i shment o r even t , fo rma l o r i n fo rma l , tha t marked you r t rans i t i on f rom ch i ldhood to adu l thood w i th in you r cu l tu re , commun i ty , o r fami l y.

SAMPLE PROMPTS

Opportunity to provide information that supports and augments other parts of the application

Places the academic record in the context of the student’s opportunities and obstacles

Adds clarity, depth and meaning to information collected in other parts of the application

Provide evidence of achievement that can’t be adequately explored in other parts of the application.

PURPOSE OF ESSAYS

You’ve just written a 300-page autobiography. Send us page 217. (University of Pennsylvania)

Write you own essay question and answer it. (Kalamazoo College)

Attach a small photograph of something important to you and explain its signifi cance. (Stanford)

If you could go back and change one day in your life, what would you change and why? (Santa Clara University)

If you were to develop a Mt. Rushmore representing the 20th century, whose faces would you select and why? (William and Mary) 

What is your favorite quotation and why? (Princeton) Write a haiku, limerick, or short poem that best represents

you. (NYU)

OTHERS / SUPPLEMENTS

How do you feel about Wednesday? Have you ever walked through the aisles of a warehouse store

l ike Costco or Sam’s Club and wondered who would buy a jar of mustard a foot and a half tall? We’ve bought it, but it didn’t stop us from wondering about other things, l ike absurd eating contests, impulse buys, excess, unimagined uses for mustard, storage, preservatives, notions of bigness…and dozens of other ideas both sil ly and serious. Write an essay somehow inspired by super-huge mustard.

So where is Waldo, really? UChicago professor W. J. T. Mitchell entitled his 2005 book What

Do Pictures Want?  Describe a picture, and explore what it wants. How are apples and oranges supposed to be compared? Possible

answers involve, but are not l imited to, statistics, chemistry, physics, l inguistics, and philosophy.

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO