Kaplan's College Edge
Kaplan: Test Prep and Admissions
In this issue:
Admissions Tip
SAT/ACT* Tips
Feature Article
Campus Visit
Flash Card
Upcoming Test Dates
What's New at Kaptest.com
The College Edge
Sponsored by kaptest.com/college.
Selecting Your Target Colleges: Where to Start?
One of the most crucial elements to a satisfying college experience is making the right school selection—which means conducting a thorough search for all your college options. With over 2,500 institutions of higher learning in the United States, it's best to begin narrowing down the list by keeping in mind what you do and don't want in a college.
Grab a piece of paper and a pen to take our quick brainstorming quiz—it'll help you identify what characteristics would describe your ideal college. Then you can use our College Search to find out which colleges match up with your priorities.
SAT/ACT Tips
Decipher SAT Word Meanings
Simply knowing that you're dealing with a positive or negative word can earn you points on the SAT. For example, look at the word cantankerous. Say it to yourself. Can you guess whether it's positive or negative? Often words that sound harsh have a negative meaning, while smooth-sounding words tend to have positive meanings. If cantankerous sounded negative to you, you were right.
You can also use prefixes and roots to help determine a word's charge. Mal, de, dis, un, in, im, a, and mis often indicate a negative, while pro, ben, and magn- are often positives.
Not all SAT words sound positive or negative; some sound neutral. But if you can define the charge, you can begin to define the word, and you can probably eliminate some answer choices on that basis alone.
Back to Top
Feature Article
The College Essay: To Write and How to Write, That is the Question
by Kathleen Martin, Kaplan Senior Pre-College Admissions Consultant
College application essays give you the opportunity to offer the admissions committee insight into your strengths, potential, and personality, and may determine if you're a good fit for the college. Colleges want to get to know you as a person and to understand what strengths and talents you can bring to their campus.
What do college admissions officers look for in an application essay? First and foremost, they want to confirm that you can write at the college level, using proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. They expect that you'll begin with a strong thesis sentence, develop three supportive paragraphs, and support your initial statements with a strong conclusion.
It can also be an intimidating process to sum up your life in 500 words or less, so follow these Top 20 Tips for Writing a College Essay to make the process a bit easier.
Top 20 Tips for writing a College Essay:
1. Focus on creating an interesting "hook" or beginning to your essay. Sleep-deprived, over-caffeinated college admissions officers will be much more likely to continue reading your essay if the thesis statement catches their imagination.
2. Always use your best writing style, incorporating vivid language, proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
3. Review each college's essay requirements and figure out how many essays are required by each school. Some colleges may request a 500-word essay as well as some short-answer essays.
4. Proofread! A parent, guidance counselor, or English teacher can be a valuable proofreader. An essay filled with sloppy, careless errors is guaranteed to send a student's file to the rejection pile. Be sure to utilize the spellcheck feature on your computer!
5. Tell a story. Colleges want to learn about who you are and what factors have shaped who you have become.
6. Focus on yourself. Unless you are specifically asked to write about a favorite teacher or inspirational character, colleges want to learn about you! Discuss your unique qualities.
7. Avoid clichés. Nothing rattles an admissions officer's cage more than hearing the same old phrases repeated ad infinitum. It's a sure thing that admissions officers do not want to read another essay that references "I took the road less traveled."
8. Speak in your own voice. Most admissions people have read thousands of essays, and can quickly identify an essay that has been overworked, or, worse yet, written by a parent or teacher. Admissions committees want to hear your thoughts. You don't have to be overly formal. Your writing style should reflect who you are.
9. Avoid flowery, artificial language. "I charted my course, and my ship of individuality sailed on through raging storms taking on the unexpected like a stalwart sailor" is sure to make a reader groan. If you're trying too hard to be a dramatic writer, it will decrease the effectiveness of your story.
10. Don't procrastinate. Begin your essay process as soon as possible and plan to finish your essays in October of your senior year.
11. Follow the directions. As simple as it may sound, it is extremely important that you answer the question that colleges ask and stay within their word count limit.
12. Don't whine. There is almost nothing that is less appealing to a college than a student who uses the essay to complain about all of the injustices that have occurred in their life.
13. Save a copy of your essay. You don't want to have to recreate your whole essay if something goes wrong. A printed copy and another one on your computer's hard drive and/or disk are absolutely essential.
14. Know your audience. Admissions committees are comprised of a cross-section of people of different ages, backgrounds, biases, and insights. Since you can't please all of the people all of the time, your best bet is to be true to yourself.
15. Don't plagiarize. Admissions people have visited the same college essay websites that you, perused the college essay books, and have read many essays. Attempts to borrow someone else's work are usually identified immediately, and the repercussions are dire.
16. Don't restate your resume. Since you should have submitted an overview of your activities with your application, do not bore admissions officers by restating the obvious. You should focus on providing interesting insights into your life and dreams.
17. Be memorable. Ideally, admissions officers should respond, "Oh, that's the student who wrote that great essay about their volunteer experience!" when your file is reviewed by the selection committee.
18. Use vivid imagery. If the admissions officer feels that he/she has joined you throughout your adventures in Spain, or personally met your inspirational great-grandmother, you have written an effective essay.
19. Plan to write each essay several times. Frequently, it is necessary to write several drafts of your essay. Patience and perseverance will result in a polished essay!
20. Don't be repetitive. Don't hit the reader over the head with your point. Communicate it once, well.
Kathleen serves on the Kaplan Pre-College Admissions Consulting team, which advises families on school selection, essay topics, and the general college application process. Learn more.
Back to Top
Campus Visit
Haverford College
Location: Haverford, PA
Website: haverford.edu
Number of Undergraduates: 1,168
U.S. News Ranking: Liberal Arts Colleges, 9
Application Deadline: January 15
Application Fee: $60
2005-2006 Expenses
Tuition and Fees: $33,710
Room and Board: $10,390
"Do you mean Harvard?" is how people often respond when they first hear of this excellent, but less famous, college. Haverford College may not have the big name cachet of that other educational icon, but it's nevertheless one of the best liberal arts schools in the country. Haverford offers a strong, general liberal arts program. The core curriculum includes three courses each in humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, as well as requirements in such fields as foreign language, writing, phys ed, social justice, and quantitative reasoning.
In addition to the academic rigor, the school's character is dominated by its honor code, which is student-run and covers not only academics, but social interaction as well. Students have the option of taking courses at Bryn Mawr College, Swarthmore, and the University of Pennsylvania, so despite Haverford's small size, there's not much you can't find if you really look and make an effort. The park-like 216-acre suburban campus includes a nature walk, a duck pond, and 400 species of trees and shrubs. The dorms are in good condition, and most are in suite arrangements. The housing policy is a prime example of how Haverford treats its students like adults: Men and women can share a suite (and for upperclassmen, a bedroom) in some apartments.
The school tends to be rather quiet during the week—and on weekends. With no Greek organizations, most of the social life involves casual hanging out in dormitory common rooms. Haverford isn't known for its athletic teams, but over 40 percent of students here play one of the 21 varsity sports offered. Nearly everyone finds time to volunteer for local organizations.
Back to Top
Flash Cards
evanescent (adj.) quickly fading; short-lived, especially an image
Because her grandmother died when Jane was just 2, Jane has only evanescent memories of her granny's face.
Back to Top
Upcoming Test Dates
PSAT
* October 18, 2006
* October 21, 2006
SAT
Exam Date Registration Deadline Late Registration Period
Oct. 14, 2006 Sep. 12, 2006 Sep. 13-20, 2006
Nov. 4, 2006 Sep. 29, 2006 Sep. 30-Oct. 11, 2006
Dec. 2, 2006 Nov. 1, 2006 Nov. 2-9, 2006
Jan. 27, 2007 Dec. 20, 2006 Dec. 21-Jan. 4, 2007
ACT
Exam Date Registration Deadline Late Registration Period
Oct. 28, 2006 Sep. 22, 2006 Sep. 23-Oct. 6, 2006
Dec. 9, 2006 Nov. 3, 2006 Nov. 4-16, 2006
Feb. 10, 2007^ Jan. 5, 2007 Jan. 6-19, 2007
^This test date not available in the state of New York.
Back to Top
What's New at Kaptest.com
Save $75 on PSAT, SAT, and ACT prep in September!
Enroll in a PSAT, SAT, or ACT Classroom Course or Private Tutoring program between September 1 and October 2, 2006, and save 75!†
Don't miss your chance to score higher!
Learn more about our programs and find a course in your area:
PSAT: PSAT/SAT Complete Prep Course | Private Tutoring
SAT: Classroom Course | Private Tutoring
ACT: ACT Classroom Course | Private Tutoring
Get the high score you need to get into the college of your dreams. We guarantee a higher score—or your money back.**
Back to Top
Making Subscription Changes:
You are receiving this email newsletter from Kaplan because you are currently a subscriber. To modify or cancel your subscription to the Kaplan Edge, go to http://www.kaptest.com/subscription.jhtml
If you need additional help, please visit kaptest.com/contactus.
*PSAT/NMSQT is a trademark jointly owned by the College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation which were not involved in the production of, and do not endorse, this product. SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product. ACT is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc.
**Conditions and restrictions apply. For complete guarantee eligibility requirements, visit kaptest.com/hsg. The Higher Score Guarantee applies only to Kaplan courses taken and completed within the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and France.
†This offer only applies to the following Kaplan courses: PSAT/SAT Complete Prep, SAT, and ACT Classroom Courses and full course Kaplan Private Tutoring Programs. Cannot be combined with any other offer, discount, or promotion. To be eligible, students must enroll between September 1 and October 2, 2006.
Copyright © 2006 by Kaplan, Inc., 1440 Broadway, New York, NY 10018
All Rights Reserved. Kaplan is a registered trademark of Kaplan, Inc.
In this issue:
Admissions Tip
SAT/ACT* Tips
Feature Article
Campus Visit
Flash Card
Upcoming Test Dates
What's New at Kaptest.com
The College Edge
Sponsored by kaptest.com/college.
Selecting Your Target Colleges: Where to Start?
One of the most crucial elements to a satisfying college experience is making the right school selection—which means conducting a thorough search for all your college options. With over 2,500 institutions of higher learning in the United States, it's best to begin narrowing down the list by keeping in mind what you do and don't want in a college.
Grab a piece of paper and a pen to take our quick brainstorming quiz—it'll help you identify what characteristics would describe your ideal college. Then you can use our College Search to find out which colleges match up with your priorities.
SAT/ACT Tips
Decipher SAT Word Meanings
Simply knowing that you're dealing with a positive or negative word can earn you points on the SAT. For example, look at the word cantankerous. Say it to yourself. Can you guess whether it's positive or negative? Often words that sound harsh have a negative meaning, while smooth-sounding words tend to have positive meanings. If cantankerous sounded negative to you, you were right.
You can also use prefixes and roots to help determine a word's charge. Mal, de, dis, un, in, im, a, and mis often indicate a negative, while pro, ben, and magn- are often positives.
Not all SAT words sound positive or negative; some sound neutral. But if you can define the charge, you can begin to define the word, and you can probably eliminate some answer choices on that basis alone.
Back to Top
Feature Article
The College Essay: To Write and How to Write, That is the Question
by Kathleen Martin, Kaplan Senior Pre-College Admissions Consultant
College application essays give you the opportunity to offer the admissions committee insight into your strengths, potential, and personality, and may determine if you're a good fit for the college. Colleges want to get to know you as a person and to understand what strengths and talents you can bring to their campus.
What do college admissions officers look for in an application essay? First and foremost, they want to confirm that you can write at the college level, using proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. They expect that you'll begin with a strong thesis sentence, develop three supportive paragraphs, and support your initial statements with a strong conclusion.
It can also be an intimidating process to sum up your life in 500 words or less, so follow these Top 20 Tips for Writing a College Essay to make the process a bit easier.
Top 20 Tips for writing a College Essay:
1. Focus on creating an interesting "hook" or beginning to your essay. Sleep-deprived, over-caffeinated college admissions officers will be much more likely to continue reading your essay if the thesis statement catches their imagination.
2. Always use your best writing style, incorporating vivid language, proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
3. Review each college's essay requirements and figure out how many essays are required by each school. Some colleges may request a 500-word essay as well as some short-answer essays.
4. Proofread! A parent, guidance counselor, or English teacher can be a valuable proofreader. An essay filled with sloppy, careless errors is guaranteed to send a student's file to the rejection pile. Be sure to utilize the spellcheck feature on your computer!
5. Tell a story. Colleges want to learn about who you are and what factors have shaped who you have become.
6. Focus on yourself. Unless you are specifically asked to write about a favorite teacher or inspirational character, colleges want to learn about you! Discuss your unique qualities.
7. Avoid clichés. Nothing rattles an admissions officer's cage more than hearing the same old phrases repeated ad infinitum. It's a sure thing that admissions officers do not want to read another essay that references "I took the road less traveled."
8. Speak in your own voice. Most admissions people have read thousands of essays, and can quickly identify an essay that has been overworked, or, worse yet, written by a parent or teacher. Admissions committees want to hear your thoughts. You don't have to be overly formal. Your writing style should reflect who you are.
9. Avoid flowery, artificial language. "I charted my course, and my ship of individuality sailed on through raging storms taking on the unexpected like a stalwart sailor" is sure to make a reader groan. If you're trying too hard to be a dramatic writer, it will decrease the effectiveness of your story.
10. Don't procrastinate. Begin your essay process as soon as possible and plan to finish your essays in October of your senior year.
11. Follow the directions. As simple as it may sound, it is extremely important that you answer the question that colleges ask and stay within their word count limit.
12. Don't whine. There is almost nothing that is less appealing to a college than a student who uses the essay to complain about all of the injustices that have occurred in their life.
13. Save a copy of your essay. You don't want to have to recreate your whole essay if something goes wrong. A printed copy and another one on your computer's hard drive and/or disk are absolutely essential.
14. Know your audience. Admissions committees are comprised of a cross-section of people of different ages, backgrounds, biases, and insights. Since you can't please all of the people all of the time, your best bet is to be true to yourself.
15. Don't plagiarize. Admissions people have visited the same college essay websites that you, perused the college essay books, and have read many essays. Attempts to borrow someone else's work are usually identified immediately, and the repercussions are dire.
16. Don't restate your resume. Since you should have submitted an overview of your activities with your application, do not bore admissions officers by restating the obvious. You should focus on providing interesting insights into your life and dreams.
17. Be memorable. Ideally, admissions officers should respond, "Oh, that's the student who wrote that great essay about their volunteer experience!" when your file is reviewed by the selection committee.
18. Use vivid imagery. If the admissions officer feels that he/she has joined you throughout your adventures in Spain, or personally met your inspirational great-grandmother, you have written an effective essay.
19. Plan to write each essay several times. Frequently, it is necessary to write several drafts of your essay. Patience and perseverance will result in a polished essay!
20. Don't be repetitive. Don't hit the reader over the head with your point. Communicate it once, well.
Kathleen serves on the Kaplan Pre-College Admissions Consulting team, which advises families on school selection, essay topics, and the general college application process. Learn more.
Back to Top
Campus Visit
Haverford College
Location: Haverford, PA
Website: haverford.edu
Number of Undergraduates: 1,168
U.S. News Ranking: Liberal Arts Colleges, 9
Application Deadline: January 15
Application Fee: $60
2005-2006 Expenses
Tuition and Fees: $33,710
Room and Board: $10,390
"Do you mean Harvard?" is how people often respond when they first hear of this excellent, but less famous, college. Haverford College may not have the big name cachet of that other educational icon, but it's nevertheless one of the best liberal arts schools in the country. Haverford offers a strong, general liberal arts program. The core curriculum includes three courses each in humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, as well as requirements in such fields as foreign language, writing, phys ed, social justice, and quantitative reasoning.
In addition to the academic rigor, the school's character is dominated by its honor code, which is student-run and covers not only academics, but social interaction as well. Students have the option of taking courses at Bryn Mawr College, Swarthmore, and the University of Pennsylvania, so despite Haverford's small size, there's not much you can't find if you really look and make an effort. The park-like 216-acre suburban campus includes a nature walk, a duck pond, and 400 species of trees and shrubs. The dorms are in good condition, and most are in suite arrangements. The housing policy is a prime example of how Haverford treats its students like adults: Men and women can share a suite (and for upperclassmen, a bedroom) in some apartments.
The school tends to be rather quiet during the week—and on weekends. With no Greek organizations, most of the social life involves casual hanging out in dormitory common rooms. Haverford isn't known for its athletic teams, but over 40 percent of students here play one of the 21 varsity sports offered. Nearly everyone finds time to volunteer for local organizations.
Back to Top
Flash Cards
evanescent (adj.) quickly fading; short-lived, especially an image
Because her grandmother died when Jane was just 2, Jane has only evanescent memories of her granny's face.
Back to Top
Upcoming Test Dates
PSAT
* October 18, 2006
* October 21, 2006
SAT
Exam Date Registration Deadline Late Registration Period
Oct. 14, 2006 Sep. 12, 2006 Sep. 13-20, 2006
Nov. 4, 2006 Sep. 29, 2006 Sep. 30-Oct. 11, 2006
Dec. 2, 2006 Nov. 1, 2006 Nov. 2-9, 2006
Jan. 27, 2007 Dec. 20, 2006 Dec. 21-Jan. 4, 2007
ACT
Exam Date Registration Deadline Late Registration Period
Oct. 28, 2006 Sep. 22, 2006 Sep. 23-Oct. 6, 2006
Dec. 9, 2006 Nov. 3, 2006 Nov. 4-16, 2006
Feb. 10, 2007^ Jan. 5, 2007 Jan. 6-19, 2007
^This test date not available in the state of New York.
Back to Top
What's New at Kaptest.com
Save $75 on PSAT, SAT, and ACT prep in September!
Enroll in a PSAT, SAT, or ACT Classroom Course or Private Tutoring program between September 1 and October 2, 2006, and save 75!†
Don't miss your chance to score higher!
Learn more about our programs and find a course in your area:
PSAT: PSAT/SAT Complete Prep Course | Private Tutoring
SAT: Classroom Course | Private Tutoring
ACT: ACT Classroom Course | Private Tutoring
Get the high score you need to get into the college of your dreams. We guarantee a higher score—or your money back.**
Back to Top
Making Subscription Changes:
You are receiving this email newsletter from Kaplan because you are currently a subscriber. To modify or cancel your subscription to the Kaplan Edge, go to http://www.kaptest.com/subscription.jhtml
If you need additional help, please visit kaptest.com/contactus.
*PSAT/NMSQT is a trademark jointly owned by the College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation which were not involved in the production of, and do not endorse, this product. SAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product. ACT is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc.
**Conditions and restrictions apply. For complete guarantee eligibility requirements, visit kaptest.com/hsg. The Higher Score Guarantee applies only to Kaplan courses taken and completed within the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and France.
†This offer only applies to the following Kaplan courses: PSAT/SAT Complete Prep, SAT, and ACT Classroom Courses and full course Kaplan Private Tutoring Programs. Cannot be combined with any other offer, discount, or promotion. To be eligible, students must enroll between September 1 and October 2, 2006.
Copyright © 2006 by Kaplan, Inc., 1440 Broadway, New York, NY 10018
All Rights Reserved. Kaplan is a registered trademark of Kaplan, Inc.
posted by yjc.gooogle at
9/09/2006 06:23:00 AM
|
1 comments
