UU'S 2010 ACCEPTANCES
12 Years of UU Acceptances
How to create your UU
Now that you know the ins and outs of writing your core essay, you may think that all that's left to do is fill in the blanks of your online app and click 'submit.'
Well, think again. The key to maximizing the perfect college essay is to view your entire application as a narrative, filled with complementary expressions of what makes you uniquely you. That's where the two most misunderstood and undervalued sections of your application come in: the activity grid and the short answer elaborating upon one of those activities.
First let's ponder the Common App's activity grid:
Even though the Common App now provides double the amount of space as previous years, you're still confined to listing a mere seven prioritized activities. Beneath that are another three spaces for any paying jobs you've had.
If you're artsy or athletic, you can somewhat increase the space allotted to you by clicking on the Supplements bar on your Common Application and downloading the two specially designated forms some schools post for that purpose.
If you feel that stingy amount of space does you justice, then by all means fill in the blanks and click submit. Most applicants do. We say, consider your vastly stronger alternative.
See the invitation under the Core Essay upload section of The Common Application which invites you to include any additional information? First of all, unless you have next to nothing to add, ignore the "cut and paste" space. Far better to custom design and upload your own stand-alone activity sheet that has no space constrictions and says everything YOU need to say.
Why bother? Well, here's one parent's take:
"I love the activity sheet that my son submitted to colleges....I thought Uniquely U.'s contribution there was at least of equal importance to the essay. Without that, his accomplishments wouldn't have made the same impact--and, in fact, there wouldn't have been room for them all!"
Here is the activity sheet about which she's referring:
Page 1 & 2 of Concise Applicant Activity SheetOther UUers take a more informal, even chatty approach:
For other examples of what's possible, ponder UU's new Activity Sheet Gallery. (COMING SOON)
For tips on how to create your own activity sheet, press Next.
