claire scott

the hl english exam consists of two papers: a blind commentary and a compare/contrast essay of two works previously studied. the foundation of these two essays will always go back to the thesis, essentially the focus of your papers. in developing a thesis statement, there are 5 basic elements to include that will help you fashion the most effective thesis statement that is central to your exam papers. 

step 1: write down the title of the work

underline the title if it is a novel (which it will most likely be) or put it in quotations if the piece is a short story/poem

step 2: add the author’s name

you would be surprised by how many people forget this seemingly obvious step. make sure to spell the author’s name correctly. at this point, your thesis could look something like this:

in The Road by Cormac McCarthy

step 3: concisely describe what is literally occurring

use a short phrase to summarize the plot, straightforwardly describe what is happening to the characters. the following is an example:

a man and his son struggle to survive in post-apocalyptic United States

step 4: suggest an underlying meaning

in this step, you are looking to incorporate what the author is trying to convey to the reader in their work. it could be a political commentary, an allusion to societal problems, or perhaps a statement on the influence of religion. often, this is the hardest part of crafting the perfect thesis statement. it is the part of the thesis that you will continually refer back to throughout your essay, as you argue how the author imparts this message through the novel. in The Road, it could be any of these: 

importance of family in the face of disaster 

youth as a symbol of hope for the future

loss of compassion and morality

role reversal of father and son/passing of torch to next generation

step 5: include an overarching literary device

to support the presence of the underlying meaning you chose from step 4, you need to determine what literary device enables the author to subtly address said topic. it should be a feature that permeates the entire novel. it might be an obvious aspect, such as the author’s use of juxtaposition but it could also be a device that’s not so easily observed, such as the use of time or incorporation of flower imagery. examples from The Road include:

archetypal journey

symbolism

imagery

diction 

finally: put it all together

arrange all the 5 pieces together to form a coherent sentence. this will serve as a basis for your essay, from which you will stem your main points

In The Road by Cormac McCarthy, symbolism is used to illustrate the passing of the torch to the younger generation through the journey of a man and his son struggling to survive in post-apocalyptic United States.

In The Road, author Cormac McCarthy utilized diction to emphasize youth as a symbol of hope for the future in his description of a man and his son struggling to survive in post-apocalyptic United States.

additional examples:

In “Antaeus” by Seamus Heaney, the paradox of one’s elevation being one’s downfall is highlighted by direct references to the Greek myth of Antaeus and Hercules, which carry political undertones relating to Irish nationalism in the face of British imperialism. 

In “A Hazel Stick for Catherine Ann” by Seamus Heaney, autobiographical references to Heaney’s daughter emphasize the passing of the torch to the next generation through the description of the speaker trimming a hazel stick for a child.

Origins:

Wartime Conferences:

I. Gray:

The change in British & American representatives ‘at Potsdam gave dramatic confirmation of Stalin’s worst fears and suspicions’ of increasing western anti-Soviet sentiment.

D. Copeland:

At Potsdam 'it was the successful atomic tests which gave Truman confidence seeing in it potential to “keep the Russians straight”.’

US Policies In Europe:

W. Williams:

The onset of the Cold War was due to 'dollar diplomacy’ - the pursual of an 'open door’ policy abroad for the benefit of the US economy and the consolidation of US power internationally.

A. Schlesinger:

The USA had to act defensively in their policy in Europe such as the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan and the establishment of NATO.

Soviet Policies in Europe:

D. Macdonald:

The Soviets did not have 'day-to-day, monolithic control of all actions taken by bloc members’.

A. Fontaine:

The aggressive foreign policy of the USSR began in 1917 with the Bolshevik Revolution.

Berlin Blockade:

J. Watson:

'neither side gained anything from the [Berlin Blockade] confrontation’.

J. Gaddis:

The Berlin Blockade was a Western propaganda success which 'significantly boosted President Truman’s re-election prospects’.

Berlin Wall:

P. de Quenoy:

With the construction of the Berlin Wall 'the stability crisis in East Germany was shored up, the battle lines of the cold war were solidified, and the Berlin crisis was over.’

C. Craig:

'The wall put an end to the struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union over the status of Berlin’.

Development:

Korean War:

B. Commings:

The Korean War was a local war which the US policy of Containment escalated into a Cold War conflict.

C. MacDonald:

'The new evidence demonstrates conclusively that North Korea was a satellite of the Soviet Union’ in which not only 'Stalin personally informed Kim Il Sung’ of the invasion, but supplied 'a total of 70,000 Soviet pilots, gunners and technicians’.

W. Sewell:

Impact - 'The arms race took new turns with both sides moving to the development of thermonuclear weapons and accelerating work on ballistic missiles.’

J. Isaacs:

Impact - 'terrible civilian losses’ in Korea and 'the economic growth of the whole region’, particularly Japan.

Cuban Missile Crisis:

R. Neutstadt:

The missiles in Cuba did threaten the nuclear balance.

I. Stone:

The missiles in Cuba didn’t threaten the nuclear balance.

I. Stone:

'it would be well to think it over carefully before canonising Kennedy as an apostle of peace’.

J. Gaddis:

'Far from neglecting the dangers of nuclear war, he [Kennedy] had a keen sense of what they were.’

Orthodox View - R. Kennedy:

Kennedy successfully used nuclear brinkmanship to preserve World Peace.

- Correct response in a firm and forceful way

- Kennedy remained calm and in control of situation

- Results of crisis helped preserve world peace

Vietnam War:

J. Kolko:

US intervention in Vietnam was a predictable consequence of America’s determination to exert control over the world for its economic self-interest.

M. Moyar:

In the 1960s & 70s more anti-war Americans entered academia and 'as a result, most … accounts … depicted Vietnam as a bad war that the United States should not have fought.’

A. Schleisinger:

Quagmire theory - once the USA became involved in Vietnam they became enmeshed in it and couldn’t escape.

L. Gelb & R. Betts:

IB HISTORY STUDY GUIDE 2013 20TH CENTURY WORLD HISTORY

PAPER 1 (1 HOUR)

1. Peacemaking, peacekeeping – internal relations 1918 – 1936

Aims of the participants and peacemakers: Wilson and the Fourteen Points

Terms of the Paris Peace Treaties 1919-1920: Versailles, St.Germain, Trianon, Neuilly, Sevres/Lausanne 1923

The geopolitical and economic impact of the treaties on Europe; the establishment and impact of the mandate system

Enforcement of the provisions of the treaties: US isolationism – the retreat of the Anglo-American Guarantee; disarmament – Washington, London, Geneva conferences

The League of Nations: Effects of the absence of major powers; the principle of collective security and early attempts at peacemaking 1920 – 1925

The Ruhr Crisis 1923; Locarno and the Locarno Spring 1925

Depression and threats to international peace and collective security: Manchuria 1931 – 1933 and Abysnia 1935 – 1936

PAPER 2 (1 HOUR 30 MINUTES)

2. Causes, Practices and Effects of War

Different types and nature of 20th century warfare

Civil

Guerrilla

Limited War, total war

Origins and causes of wars

Long-term, short-term and immediate causes

Economic, ideological, political, religious causes

Nature of 20th century wars

Technological developments, tactics and strategies, air, land and sea

Home front: economic and social impact (including changes in the role of women)

Resistance and revolutionary movements

Effects and results of wars

Peace settlements and wars ending without treaties

Attempts at collective security pre- and post-Second World War

Political repercussions and territorial changes

Post-war economic problems

3. Origins and Development of Authoritarian and Single-Party States

Origins and nature of authoritarian and single-party states

Conditions that produced authoritarian and single-party states

Crisis state, rise to power

Emergence of leaders: aims, ideology, support

Totalitarianism: the aim and the extent to which it was achieved

Establishment of authoritarian and single-party states

Methods of force, legal

Form of government, (left-and right-wing) ideology

Nature, extent and treatment of opposition

Domestic policies and impact

Structure and organization of government and administration

Political, economic, social and religious policies

Role of education, the arts, the media, propaganda

Status of women, treatment of religious groups and minorities

4. The Cold War

Origins of the Cold War

Ideological differences

Mutual suspicion and fear

From wartime allies to post-war enemies

Nature of the Cold War

Ideological opposition

Superpowers and spheres of influence

Alliances and diplomacy in the Cold War

Development and Impact of the Cold War

Global spread of the Cold War from its European origins

Cold War policies of containment, brinkmanship, peaceful coexistence, détente

Role of the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement

Role and significance of leaders

Arms race, proliferation and limitation

Social, cultural and economic impact

End of the Cold War

Break-up of Soviet Union

Internal problems and external pressures

Breakdown of soviet control over Central and Eastern Europe

  PAPER 3 (2 HOURS 30 MINUTES)

5. Independence Movements

Independence movements in the Americas: political, economic, social, intellectual and religious causes; the role of foreign intervention; conflicts and issues leading to war

 Political and intellectual contributions of leaders to the process of independence: Washington (suitable choices could be Adam and Jefferson)

 United States Declaration of Independence; processes leading to the declaration; influence of ideas; nature of the declaration; military campaigns and their impact on the outcome (suitable example: Yorktown)

 Reasons for the emergence of the Monroe Doctrine

Impact of independence on the economies and societies of America: economic and social issues; new perspectives on economic development; impact on different social groups: Native Americans, African Americans, Creoles

6. Nation-Building and Challenges

This section focuses on the new challenges and problems that came with independence. It explores the ways in which, and the reasons why, the countries of the region attempted to build their nations. Independent and new nations emerged; the colonial empires, with few exceptions, were gone; new world links were forged yet the colonial legacy remained. Two of the problems that confronted the new nations were how to challenge it or how to build on it. The task of building new nations opened the doors to novel ways of political, social and economic thinking and to the redefining of concepts such as nation and state.

United States: Articles of Confederation; the Constitution of 1787: philosophical underpinnings; major compromises and changes in the US political system

War of 1812: causes and impact on British North America and the United States

Mexican–American War 1846-8: causes and effects on the region

Canada: causes and effects of 1837 rebellions; the Durham Report and its implications; challenges to the Confederation; the British North America Act of 1867: compromises, unresolved issues, regionalism, effects

Changes in the conditions of social groups such as Native Americans, mestizos, immigrants in the new nations

7. United States Civil War: Causes, Course and Effects 1840-77

This section focuses on the United States Civil War between the North and the South (1861-5), which is  often perceived as the great watershed in the history of the United States. It transformed the country forever: slavery disappeared following Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the Northern success marked a victory for the proponents of strong central power over the supporters of states’ rights. It marked the beginnings of further westward expansion and transformed United States’ society by accelerating industrialization and modernization in the North and largely destroying the plantation system in the South. The war left the country with a new set of problems: how would the South rebuild its society and economy and what would be the place in that society of 4 million freed African Americans? These changes were fundamental, leading some historians to see the war (and its results) as a “second American Revolution”.

Cotton economy and slavery; conditions of enslavement; adaptation and resistance such as the Underground Railroad

Origins of the Civil War: political issues, states’ rights, modernization, sectionalism, the nullification crisis, economic differences between North and South

Abolitionist debate: ideologies and arguments for and against slavery and their impact

Reasons for, and effects of, westward expansion and the sectional debates; the crisis of the 1850s; the Kansas–Nebraska problem; the Ostend Manifesto; the Lincoln–Douglas debates; the impact of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation; Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy

Union versus Confederate: strengths and weaknesses; economic resources; significance of leaders during the US Civil War (suitable examples could be Grant and Lee, Sherman and Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson)

Major battles of the Civil War and their impact on the conflict: Antietam and Gettysburg; the role of foreign powers

Reconstruction: economic, social and political successes and failures; economic expansion

African Americans in the Civil War and in the New South: legal issues; the Black Codes; Jim Crow Laws

8. The Development of Modern Nations 1865-1929

This section, covering the period between the late 19th century and the early 20th century, saw forces that transformed the countries of the region. These forces are generally seen as part of “modernization”, a process that involved the progressive transformation of the economic, political and social structures of the countries of the region. With respect to the first four bullets, a case study approach should be adopted, using two countries from the region as examples. The chosen countries should be identified in the introduction to the examination answers.

Causes and consequences of railroad construction; industrial growth and economic modernization; the development of international and inter-American trade; neocolonialism and dependency

Causes and consequences of immigration; emigration and internal migration, including the impact upon, and experience of, indigenous peoples

Development and impact of ideological currents including Progressivism, Manifest Destiny, liberalism, nationalism, positivism, Social Darwinism, “indigenismo” and nativism

Social and cultural changes: the arts; the role of women

Influence of leaders in the transition to the modern era: political and economic aims; assessment of the successes and failures of Theodore Roosevelt, and Wilfrid Laurier

Social, economic and legal conditions of African Americans between 1865 and 1929; the Great igration and the Harlem Renaissance; the search for civil rights and the ideas, aims and tactics of  Booker T Washington, WEB Dubois and Marcus Garvey

9. Emergence of the Americas in Global Affairs 1880-1929

This section focuses on modernization in the region, and its impact on foreign policy. It explores the involvement of the nations in the First World War. Modernization shaped the new nations and its effects created the basis for a major shift in the foreign policies of the region. By the end of the century, for example, the United States played a more active role in world affairs, and in the affairs of Latin America in particular, thus transforming inter-American relations. When the First World War broke out in Europe, several American countries were involved in the conflict. When the war ended, its impact was felt in the economic, social and foreign policies of the participating countries.

United States’ expansionist foreign policies: political, economic, social and ideological reasons

Spanish–American War: causes and effects(1898)

United States’ foreign policies: the Big Stick; Dollar Diplomacy; Moral Diplomacy; applications and impact on the region

United States and the First World War: from neutrality to involvement; reasons for US entry into the First World War; Wilson’s peace ideals and the struggle for ratification of the Versailles Treaty in the United States; significance of the war for the United States’ hemispheric status

Involvement and participation of either Canada or one Latin American country in the First World War: reasons for and/or against participation; nature of participation

Impact of the First World War on two countries of the Americas: economic, political, social, and foreign policies

10. The Great Depression and the Americas 1929-39

This section focuses on the nature of the Depression as well as the different solutions adopted by governments in the region and the impact on these societies. The Great Depression produced the most serious economic collapse in the history of the Americas. It affected every country in the region and brought about the need to rethink economic and political systems. The alternatives that were offered and the adaptations that took place marked a watershed in political and economic development in many countries in the region. With respect to the last two bullets, a case study approach should be adopted, using one country from the region as an example. The chosen country should be identified in the introduction to the examination answers.

The Great Depression: political and economic causes in the Americas

Nature and efficacy of solutions in the United States: Hoover; Franklin D Roosevelt and the New Deal; critics of the New Deal

Canada: Mackenzie King and RB Bennett

Impact of the Great Depression on society: African Americans, women, minorities

The Great Depression and the arts: photography, the movie industry, the radio, literary currents

11. The Second World War and the Americas 1933-45

As the world order deteriorated in the late 1930s, resulting in the outbreak of war in Europe, the countries of the region reacted in different ways to the challenges presented. This section focuses on the changing policies of the countries in the region as a result of growing political and diplomatic tensions preceding and during the Second World War. It also examines the impact of the war upon the Americas. Hemispheric reactions to the events in Europe: inter-American diplomacy; cooperation and neutrality; Franklin D Roosevelt’s Good Neighbour policy, its application and effects

The diplomatic and/or military role of two countries in the Second World War

Social impact of the Second World War on: African Americans, Native Americans, women and

minorities; conscription

Treatment of Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians

Reaction to the Holocaust in the Americas

Impact of technological developments and the beginning of the atomic age

Economic and diplomatic effects of the Second World War in one country of the Americas

12. Political dDevelopments in the Americas after the Second World War 1945-79

This section focuses on domestic concerns and political developments after 1945. The majority of states in the Americas experienced social, economic and political changes and challenges. Political responses to these forces varied from country to country: from the continuation of democracy to multi-class “populist” alliances to outright conflict, revolution and the establishment of authoritarian regimes in the 1960s and 1970s. Areas of study include: conditions for the rise to power of new leaders; economic and social policies; treatment of minorities.

United States: domestic policies of Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy

Johnson and “the Great Society”; Nixon’s domestic reforms

Canada: domestic policies from Diefenbaker to Chrétien

Causes and effects of the Silent (or Quiet) Revolution

The Cuban Revolution: political, social, economic causes; impact on the region

Rule of Fidel Castro: political, economic, social and cultural policies; treatment of minorities; successes and failures

13. The Cold War and the Americas 1945-1981

This section focuses on the development and impact of the Cold War on the region. Most of the second half of the 20th century was dominated by the global conflict of the Cold War. Within the Americas, some countries were closely allied to the United States and some took sides reluctantly. Many remained neutral or sought to avoid involvement in Cold War struggles. A few, influenced by the Cuban Revolution, instituted socialist governments. No nation, however, escaped the pressures of the Cold War, which had a significant impact on the domestic and foreign policies of the countries of the region.

Truman: containment and its implications for the Americas; the rise of McCarthyism and its effects on domestic and foreign policies of the United States; the Cold War and its impact on society and culture

Korean War and the United States and the Americas: reasons for participation; military developments; diplomatic and political outcomes

Eisenhower and Dulles: New Look and its application; characteristics and reasons for the policy; repercussions for the region

United States’ involvement in Vietnam: the reasons for, and nature of, the involvement at different stages; domestic effects and the end of the war

United States’ foreign policies from Kennedy to Carter: the characteristics of, and reasons for, policies; implications for the region: Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress; Nixon’s covert operations and Chile; Carter’s quest for human rights and the Panama Canal Treaty

Cold War in Canada: reasons for foreign and domestic policies and their implementation

14. Civil Rights and Social Movements in the Americas

This section focuses on the origins, nature, challenges and achievements of civil rights movements after 1945. Movements represented the attempts to achieve equality for groups that were not recognized or accepted as full members of society. The groups challenged established authority and entrenched attitudes.

Native Americans and civil rights: United States and Canada

African Americans and the Civil Rights Movement: origins, tactics and organizations; the US Supreme court and legal challenges to segregation in education; ending of the segregation in the South (1955-65)

Role of Dr. Martin Luther King in the Civil Rights Movement; the rise of radical African American activism; (1965-8): Black Panthers; Black Muslims; Black Power and Malcolm X

Role of governments in civil rights movements in the Americas Youth culture and protests of the 1960s and 1970s: characteristics and manifestation of a counterculture

Feminist movements in the Americas

15. Into the 21st Century—From the 1980s to 2000

This section focuses on changing trends in foreign and domestic policies in the Americas during the transition to the 21st century. The latter decades of the 20th century also witnessed significant political, social, cultural, economic and technological changes in the region. With respect to the last four bullets points, a case study approach should be adopted, using one country of the region. The chosen country should be identified in the introduction to the examination answers.

The United States, from bipolar to unilateral power: domestic and foreign policies of presidents such as Reagan, Bush, Clinton; challenges; effects on the United States; impact upon the hemisphere

Globalization and its effects: social, political and economic

Revolution in technology: social, political and economic impact such as the role of the media and the Internet

Popular culture: new manifestations and trends in literature, films, music and entertainment

Swears in French

swear level 1: Mom uses these (shoot, darn ect.)

zut- Interjection

Zut ! J’ai oublie mes clés ! / Shoot! I forgot my keys!

sacré- adjective (literally means holy) (old fasioned, quaint)

Ce sacré moustique ! / This darn mosquito!

Sacrebleu- literally no one says this

Mon dieu-  used like ‘oh my god’ in English

Nom de dieu- used like ‘oh my god’ in English

mince- when used as an adjective it means thin, when used as an interjection in means something like ‘man’ or ‘geez’. 

Oh mince, il pleut. / Aw man, it’s raining.

La vache- lit. the cow, used as an interjection kinda like fudge in english

Swear level 2: Can be said in front of mom (damn, shit)

Merde: shit, can be a noun or an interjection

Con- stupid, asshole (can be a noun or an adjective)

Chier: to shit, a verb

Un merdier: a situation that is shit, a mess, a cluster fuck

l’élection de 2016 était un merdier / the 2016 election was a mess

Bon sang: lit. ‘Good blood’. used like holy shit.

Fumier- manure, used like jerk or dick

un fumier un jour, un fumier toujours. / Once a jerk, always a jerk.

Firme ta gueule/ta gueule- Shut up, lit. close your snout.

gueule- used kinda like ‘your ass’ in american english. literally it means mouth, but its usually used for animals so it becomes insulting when applied towards humans.

Je vais casser la gueule ! / I’m gonna kick your ass!

Dégueulasse/dégueu- the vulgar form of gross

j'en ai marre- i’m sick of/fed up with it

Swear level 3: Maybe if you have a cool mom (fuck, ass)

emerdeur/deuse- shit-stirrer 

baiser- used to mean to kiss, now means to fuck or to kiss depending on context

Merdasse- more vulgar form of shit

chiant(e)- so annoying lit. a thing that is shitty  

faire des conneries- to fuck up, to do stupid shit

Dégueulasse/dégueu- gross

Bordel- mess, lit. a brothel

Connard/connase- bastard, jerk, asshole

Cul-  ass (as in the body part)

ça me fait chier- This is boring me to death lit. this makes me shit myself

Abruti(e)- dumb ass

Salaud- (male) jack ass

Salope- dirty woman, whore

Saloper- verb meaning to screw someone over

Saloperie- fuckery, fucked up shit

Putain- Used as often and in about as many ways as we use fuck. Means whore in medieval french.

Putain ! Je me suis cogné le putain d’orteil ! / Fuck! I stubbed my fucking toe!

Pute- the ho’ to putain’s whore, still used like whore/ho

Fils d’un pute- Son of a whore (an insult)

Pétasse- slut

Chienne- bitch (like in english lit female dog)

Garce- bitch (reclaimed by gay guys)

Enfoiré(e)- dumbass lit. having to do with diarrhea

Enflure- douchebag, asshole. lit. swelling

Chatte- Pussy (the body part)

bite- dick (the body part)

Branler- to jerk off

Branleur- wanker

Se Casser- to go fuck off lit. to break yourself

Niquer- to fuck

Nique ta mère-  go fuck your mom 

Enculer-  to fuck up the ass

Combos

[Putain de] + [insult swear]

Putain de salope ! / fucking bitch!

Dégueulasse/dégueu- gross

[bordel de] + [anything you want]

assez avec ce bordel de merde / enough with this fucking shit

For more fun you can stack putain and bordel onto the same word

What to learn first when learning a new language

How to stay motivated when learning languages

How to learn a language with a different script

How to learn kanji

Vocabulary list topics

How to make vocabulary lists

How to expand your vocabulary

How to learn vocabulary and verb endings

How to improve your listening skills

How to practice speaking your target language

How to go from intermediate to advanced in your target language

How to learn two (or more) languages at once

How to learn all the languages you want

How to avoid mixing up languages

How to study languages with depression

How to practice speaking when you have social anxiety

How to study with a language exchange partner and what to talk about with them

How to study with Duolingo

How to make a language notebook

How to divide your language notebook/what to write in your language notebook

How to use bullet journal in language learning

How to find native speakers to practice with

How to know what level you are in your languages

A guide by Eintsein

College application season is just around the corner. As a survivor of the grueling task of completing the application process, I know exactly how daunting, overwhelming, and downright stressful it can be. I hope that by giving you a little ‘tour’ of the college application process, you’ll have a much easier time navigating it. and hopefully you’ll be able to craft a successful application.

Before I get right into it, I’d first like to tell you a bit about myself in the context of college applications. I just graduated high school (in 2018) and I’m going to attend Cornell University in the fall. I plan to major in Computer Science and Economics, but I remain open to other courses of study that I may find interesting as I progress through my college career. I applied to a total of 17 schools: I was accepted by 8 of them and waitlisted by 1.

Disclaimer: I am not a college admissions officer and thus I am not certain that everything I write in this post will work. This is just what I experienced with my college applications. Also, I will only be talking about college applications in the US, since that’s where I applied to, but perhaps some of the tips are adaptable to other countries’ college application processes.

Stage 1: Pre-application

Drafting a college list

(before summer break - start of senior year)

Doing college research

Before starting your application, it seems pretty obvious that you should have an idea of which schools to apply to. And in order for you to do that, you should do a little research to make sure that you’re applying to colleges that you actually want to attend.

One of the first things you should do is list different factors that you think will affect your decision. Do you want to go to a college in the city or in a small town? A large college or a small one? A chill school or an academically rigorous one?

You should also consider the major/area of study you’re interested in–it doesn’t even have to be super specific. Your potential major can then be used to choose your colleges. For example, if I wanted to study CS and Econ, I would choose colleges that are strong in both areas.

On a side note, I don’t think you should choose an area of study just because you’re good at a certain subject, e.g. just because you’re good at English, doesn’t necessarily mean you should study English or Literature. Instead, choose a potential major based on what you enjoy doing.

When doing your research about these different colleges, reading all of the information on their websites can be tedious and boring. As an alternative, I’d recommend watching youtube videos or talking to alumni instead. When I was applying, the most effective way for me to get to know a school is through those “A Day in the Life of…” videos as well as Q&A videos because you not only end up knowing more about the school but also about the student body and the student culture at that university.

What colleges?

I recommend that you apply to a good mix of safety schools, match schools, and dream schools.

Safety schools: you exceed their requirements and you’ll definitely get in.

Match schools: admits have similar academic credentials to yours. You have a good chance of admission, but there’s also a (relatively small) probability that you won’t.

Dream schools: your scores or credentials fall in the lower end of the school’s average range for the previous batch of admitted students.You’d be lucky to get in.

All the colleges you apply to should be colleges that you’d be happy to attend.

How many colleges?

You should start with 6 schools: 2 safety, 2 match, and 2 reach. Then you can adjust the numbers as you wish. If you’re applying to more schools, I’d say the optimum reach:match:safety ratio is around 3:5:2, so if you’re planning to apply to 10 colleges, that would be 3 reach, 5 match, and 2 safety.

How to classify colleges 

Generally, people categorize their colleges based on statistics, so things like test scores, GPA, and rank. Perhaps the easiest method is comparing standardized test scores. A good way to do this is to look at the 25th to 75th percentile range, which shows you the scores obtained by 50% of last year’s entering class. If your scores fall between the 25th and 75th percentile, you may have just found yourself a match school! But hold up, the lower percentiles may be reserved for special admits like athletes or donors, so in reality, a match school would be one where your scores lie closer to the 75th percentile.

Aside from standardized test scores, it might also help to figure out what kind of student the college is looking for–such as by reading accepted supplemental essays–and seeing whether or not you seem like the right fit.

Resources

Once you’ve compiled your list of colleges, it would help to have a table with information about them. This might include information like deadlines, median scores, availability of scholarships, interviews, etc. Here’s a link to (the blank version of) the spreadsheet I used for my college application. Feel free to modify it according to your needs, but make sure to make a copy before changing things!

Recommendation Letters

What are recommendation letters?

Recommendations letters are letters written by your mentors to provide insight into what you’re like as a student, e.g. your behavior, positive qualities, interests, achievements etc.

Whom should you ask for a recommendation letter? 

It’s good to ask teachers who know you very well, either someone who has taught you for a long time or someone who has a multifaceted view of you, such as a teacher who has also advised you in an extracurricular.

Some people would also suggest that you get recommendations from teachers of different subjects to show that you’re a well-rounded student. I think it’s better to ask teachers who can write about your different positive qualities, i.e. one teacher could highlight a part of your character that the other teacher would not be able to.

You might also want to ask teachers who can write well. In my experience, letters from teachers in the humanities and social science departments tend to be more convincing and well-written than those in the science and math departments (I know not all teachers are like this; this is just a generalization). But again, it’s definitely better to ask teachers who know you well and can write about your qualities.

The first recommendation letter I used was from my Economics teacher, who was also my MUN (Model United Nations) advisor - an extracurricular in which I was very active. My classmates and I also had a pretty good relationship with this teacher, especially since our class was only 3 students.

My second recommendation letter came from my Math teacher, who taught me for 6 years. Math is also my strongest subject, so that’s definitely a plus point (get it? :p).

Another letter that might be useful to submit is the additional recommendation. This is a recommendation from anyone other than your teacher, it could be your coach, another mentor, or even a friend. I think you should only consider submitting an additional recommendation if it highlights qualities that haven’t been covered in your other ones.

What do I have to do as an applicant? 

Be prepared to answer questions your teachers may have about you so that they can write a more valuable recommendation letter. Compiling a resume or list of achievements and activities might help, or you could simply sit down for a conversation.

When should I ask for these recommendation letters? 

Preferably before your senior year starts so your teachers have enough time to put some thought into what they’re going to write.

Standardized Testing

Do I really need to take standardized tests?

A lot of colleges recommend (read: require) you to take the SAT or ACT (and TOEFL if you’re an international student like myself), but remember that they are not your entire application. Just do your best in the standardized tests you take.

When should I take them? 

I say whenever you’re ready, but no later than the deadline specified by the college (usually October of your senior year would be the latest to take the general SAT). I did my SATs in October during my junior year, my younger sister took it at the end of her sophomore year, and a lot of my friends took in October during our senior year, so again, it really depends on when you feel you’re ready.

How many times should I take them?

I don’t think you should do each test more than once unless you’re sure your scores will improve. Your application won’t look very good if you sat for the SAT 3 times and your scores decreased each time, assuming the college looks at all your scores.

Which scores do I send colleges? 

Different colleges have different requirements for the submission of these test scores. Some only require the highest scores, while others would like to see all of your scores. On the CollegeBoard website, when you enter colleges to which you’ll send your scores, the site will also inform you of the requirements for those colleges.

How will colleges receive my standardized testing scores?

You’ll have to fill a form in the Common/Coalition App. In addition, some schools require you to send official score reports from the testing agency. I suggest that you send in your scores as soon as you know what colleges you’re applying to, just so that you don’t have to pay an extra amount to ‘rush’ your score sends (i.e. have it sent to colleges in 2-4 days as opposed to the regular 1-2 weeks).

The Rest of Senior Year

Take challenging classes and do well in them

Colleges look at the classes you take in high school and how well you did in them. You should consider taking classes that are both challenging and in the area of study you might want to pursue. Taking challenging courses allows college admissions officers to see that you’re taking initiative to further your education.

What if I catch senioritis? 

If you’re a senior, you’ll definitely go through a phase where you don’t care about anything and just feel like having coffee and talking to your friends in class. I know I did. Senioritis is totally normal, but you should still try to put effort into your studies. Colleges can rescind your admission if they see a drastic fall in your grades, so keep your grades up and don’t overwhelm yourself with too many unnecessary activities.

Join extracurriculars 

Extracurriculars show college admissions officers that you can manage your time well and that you have other interests aside from school. It also shows them that you are an active, contributing member of your community, and that you’re proactive in developing your passions and interests.

What type of activity counts as an extracurricular? 

Well, it can be anything you do in your free time. It could be a school club, a club outside of school, an online activity, etc. Maybe you programmed an app in your spare time. Maybe you had a part time job. Or maybe you ran a blog that helps students navigate their academic lives. You just have to find something that matters to you and is significant and meaningful. It would be even better if the activities in which you participate can demonstrate leadership and commitment.

If you’re having a hard time picturing what that could be, I’ll give you a couple of examples. One of my friends expanded his love of reading by starting a hip hop literature club that has branches in Japan and in multiple states in the US. A junior of mine established a website that brings together people from all around the world, who are experienced in the MUN community, to give newer members advice and guidance so that they may thrive in the MUN world.

Stage 2: Completing the Application

The Application Form

Different Application Platforms

The first thing you should do after you’ve compiled a college list is to find out where you should complete your application.

1. The Common App

The most common application platform is the Common App, which is used by more than 700 colleges in the US. It’s super convenient if you’re applying to a lot of colleges, but the site does limit you to 20 colleges.

2. The Coalition App

Another common platform is the Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success, which is a fairly new platform that has 132 members. It does have a cool feature I like, though: it allows you to compile a kind of portfolio by uploading documents and files to your “locker” on the website. Furthermore, the Coalition App is specifically aimed to help lower-resourced and underrepresented students, so the colleges listed there have substantial financial aid and scholarship opportunities.

3. Other Applications

Some colleges also have their own applications, such as the UCs and MIT.

Parts of the Application

You’ll have to fill in your

Personal information (This is probably the easiest part of the application, so even if you don’t have anything else ready yet, I recommend you fill this out just to get it over with.)

Extracurricular activities

Essays (the Common/Coalition App essay and supplementary essays)

Honors and awards

Disciplinary information

Standardized test scores

Your counselor will submit

Your high school transcript

Your mid-year and final transcript

The school report

The counselor recommendation

Your teachers will submit

Their recommendation letters

Now, even though you aren’t submitting every single thing on the form, you are the person responsible for the punctuality of these documents. Your teachers are busy and they might forget, so it’s your job to remind them.

For real though, one of my teachers forgot to upload his recommendation onto one of the external application websites. Fortunately, the university gave me and others in my position an extra 22 days to send in any missing documents.

The Essay (and other essays)

Ah, yes. The much dreaded Essay™. Probably the most challenging part of the application, and the one that sucks the life outta ya. There’s a reason for that, though. The essay is an important part of the application because it humanizes the applicant instead of merely showing them as a collection of statistics and facts. You should aim to showcase something about yourself that can’t be found in other parts of the application.

Planning

When should I start?

Ideally, you should start thinking about potential essay ideas over the summer, maybe come up with a rough draft if you can. But it’s really no rush, though. Sometimes the best ideas come later. I wrote my first common app essay over the summer. Completely scrapped it. Wrote a second one in like September-ish and used that for Early Action. Scrapped it again. The final essay I sent in was first written on December 17th. Sometimes life works that way.

How do I start?

One method that helped me is making a mind map about myself (my counselor recommended this to me). You’d start by writing down the things that define you: your personality, qualities, and values. Then, you’d think of activities, events, or other things in your life where you exhibited those traits or exercised those values. Since all college essays pretty much boil down to “What good qualities do you have?”, mind mapping your good qualities will help you answer all sorts of essays.

One important thing you should know is that your essay topic doesn’t have to be super deep or anything, just that it says a lot about you. And just because your essay is really personal, you shouldn’t divert your focus away from writing it well. You also shouldn’t write about something everybody experiences unless you can find a way to make it unique.

What next?

As soon as you have several topics for your essay, you can create outlines for each of them, and see which one would give a greater contribution to your application. If you’re not the outline type of person, start writing away, and see which one turns out to be more effective.

Writing

Start writing as soon as you have an idea. You don’t have to perfect it yet, just see where and how far the idea goes. You can always edit it or scrap it later. Or, if you prefer a more structured approach, make outlines for all the ideas you have.

How should I structure my essay?

When writing your essay, I would recommend using a narrative structure since people generally respond better to stories. However, if you think your essay would read better without the narrative structure, then use a different one.

What writing techniques are important?

Imagery is your best friend. You want your readers (the admissions officers) to be able to picture what you’re telling them so that they could understand more clearly and comprehensively whatever it is about yourself that you’re trying to convey.

Using an extended metaphor is also an excellent way to compose a memorable essay. Be aware that they’re fairly difficult to pull off, but if you have an idea, you should try and write it out first and see how that works out.

What are some common mistakes applicants make?

Some applicants make the mistake of sounding too preachy, you know, something like “We should make the world a better place!!” You might think, “but aren’t these types of essays supposed to be like that?” That’s what I thought, too, when I first wrote my essay. The admissions officers, however, are only there to get to know you, not to be preached upon. Instead, you should tie in the message you want to convey with your personal experience.

Lastly, you shouldn’t summarize at the end of your essay. It really isn’t as useful as you might think. In other words, you should write your essay so that it doesn’t need to be summarized in order for the readers to understand what you’re trying to tell them.

Revising

You should be prepared to write and rewrite and, like I said before, completely scrap essays. Don’t let yourself get attached to a particular sentence or phrase or even essay topic. Rewrite as needed. Write something else if you must.

After you’ve written your first draft, leave your essay for a couple days before coming back to it to edit. This is because right after you’ve written your essay, the ideal image of the essay is still the one you have written down, so you likely won’t make any meaningful changes.

What if I exceed the word limit?

If your word count is waaay past it, I’d suggest you write it from scratch without referring to the original draft. This helps eliminate the less important details since you yourself don’t remember them.

If you think you can simply cut down on a few phrases, there are several things you can do: delete redundancies, shorten your introduction/conclusion, simplify phrases, rearrange sentences, and use contractions, for example.

Should I ask other people to read my essay?

Somewhere along the road, you’ll also want to ask other people to read over your essay. I wouldn’t recommend asking a friend to do this for you since they might give a biased opinion. Plus, they know you too well. Instead, ask a teacher, your counselor, or even an acquaintance with whom you’re comfortable letting them read your essay.

Supplemental Essays

Honestly just refer to your mind map if you made one, or make outlines for each of your supplemental essays. Don’t be afraid to reuse essays, just make sure to change the name of the college if mentioned.

Some colleges also require you to write about an extracurricular. A guide to the extracurricular essay will be covered in the Extracurriculars section of this post.

Helpful links

College Essay Masterpost by @genericappblrurl​

Prolly the most comprehensive guide to college essays bless u

Covers nearly all essay types

College Essay Masterpost (links) by @sootudying​, includes

General essay advice

Each of the common app essay prompts

“Why college X?” essay guides

Extracurricular essay guides

Contribution essay guides

Influence in life essay guides

“Why major X?” essay guides

College Essay Masterpost (links) by @sequoia-studies​, includes

General essay advice (articles + videos)

Ivy league essays

UC essays

Common app essays

Essay examples

How to Write a Bomb Ass Essay for College Applications by @education-tips​

Extracurriculars

Colleges love applicants who are contributing members of their communities as well as those who are actively developing their passions and skills. The extracurricular section of the college application allows the college to see just that. As I’ve said before, an extracurricular activity can be anything you do in your free time, but one in which you hold a leadership position will pique the interests of the admissions officers.

How many activities should I list? 

The Common App gives you 10 slots for extracurricular activities (the Coalition gives you 8). However, it’s completely fine if you don’t have 10 activities. For the most part, colleges prefer to see quality over quantity, so having a few activities you’re passionate about and to which you made significant contributions would be better than filling all 10 slots with activities that you don’t care about all that much. The best combination of activities would be 1 - 3 significant activities with a large number of hours and several others with a lower number of hours.

What if I have too many activities? 

Choose the activities that you invested the most time in and gained the most experience from. You can also combine multiple activities into one slot. For example, I organized quite a few events and fundraisers when I was in the Student Council, so instead of writing “Organized and volunteered for sports cup”, “Designed and produced school merchandise”, and “Organized a charity festival”, I wrote them all under “Student Council”.

Note: Extracurricular activities aren’t the same as Honors and Awards.

What activities should I include?

As I’ve stated previously, colleges prefer quality over quantity. However, you can aim to be either “pointy” or “well rounded”. Some students have activities that are only in one area of study (”pointy”). This shows colleges that you’re focused and have an intense desire to pursue a single passion.

Despite this, being more “well-rounded” and having a diverse range of activities can also be beneficial since it shows that you’ve gained a lot of experience, and that you aren’t afraid to try different things.

Your activities don’t even have to be conventional extracurricular activities either. Two of the extracurricular activities I listed were 1) this studyblr; and 2) my instagram poetry page. I mean, I am a Gen X kid; I’m bound to spend large amounts of time on social media. Fortunately, it turns out I made a pretty significant contribution, I would say, and also learned a lot from the experience, so they definitely count as extracurricular activities.

Describing the extracurricular activities

This blog post from College Vine is super comprehensive and helped me a lot when I was writing about my extracurriculars. I’ll sum up some key points below:

Select extracurriculars that will present the best image of yourself

Use action oriented verbs (e.g. “facilitated”, “managed”, “maintained”)

Quantify your accomplishments as much as possible

Certain activities will look better if you emphasize the valuable skills you learned instead of what you did

Be specific

Some colleges will require you to write an essay in which you reflect upon a particular activity you did: what you learned and how you grew. This post from College Essay Guy covers pretty much everything I have to say about the extracurricular essay. Main points:

Use active verbs

Write a good clear sentence about what the activity meant to you

Show a little, but not too much

Start with a problem to be solved

Focus on specific impact

Write it long first, then cut it

But which extracurricular activity should you write the essay about? Here’s a helpful link that tells you just that.

Honors and Awards

The honors and awards section is another component of the application that can help you stand out from other applicants. These are basically any achievement, award, or recognition you’ve received in high school.

The common app limits you to 5 honors/awards, and I would recommend that you choose your most impressive honors, e.g. an international competition would be more impressive than one within your school.

Sometimes awards are directly tied to an activity, such as winning Best Delegate in an MUN conference. In this case, you should mention your award in the activities section. Awards that aren’t tied to an activity should be listed in the Honors and Awards section. These might include scholarships, academic awards, etc.

If you have too many honors to fit into the form (lucky you!), you might want to consider sending in a resume. Some colleges provide this option, while some merely have a section for extra information.

Interviews

Interviews are another way the college can see you as a whole person. Some colleges might provide you with an option to take the interview or decline it, but if given the chance, go for it!

What is the interview, exactly?

For me, this was probably the most nerve-wracking part since you’re practically telling things about yourself to a stranger (can you tell I’m not into socializing?) and it’s like you’re being evaluated and you don’t really know what to expect.

But honestly they’re basically regular conversations where you talk about yourself and the things you love. They’ll ask about your school, your family, your aspirations, your hobbies, but the conversation can lead anywhere–food, human rights, pop culture.

It’ll probably start with an open ended question like tell me about yourself and then branch off from there.

There might also be another type of interview where it’s more like a Q&A about the school and you get to know the college through an alumni (Cornell’s “interview” was like this).

A bad interview really won’t hurt your application, unless of course you fail to answer why you want to go to that university.

It really just gives you an extra boost and another factor to consider when the university decides whether or not to admit you.

Plus, you get to elaborate on things that you didn’t on your application.

Interviews can be anywhere from 15 minutes to 1.5 hours, so don’t worry if you think it was too short or too long.

General Tips

Arrive early. It helps to take a few seconds to breathe and take in your location and surroundings before you start your interview.

Wear something comfortable. I wore a plaid shirt and trousers to most of my interviews. In my experience, Western people tend to be more lenient with clothing, so if you wear a t-shirt, it’s fine. Indonesians (and some other Asians) kinda want you to dress at least semi-formally, maybe a button up and formal pants or a skirt.

If your interviewer asks if you want to order anything, go ahead, they won’t mind, and you’ll get free food or a free beverage. I would usually order coffee or tea.

What should I prepare?

How to answer the question tell me about yourself.

How to answer the question why do you want to go to this school?

How to answer other common questions. Don’t script your answers though. Just think about them so you know what the focus of your answer will revolve around.

Your resume, in case they ask for one.

Research the college and prepare some questions to ask the interviewer.

Research the interviewer, e.g. what they studied, what their job is, anything you think would be important to bring up, like one of their research projects or theses.

After the Interview

Send the interviewer a thank you note/email

Thank them for interviewing you

Recall something memorable from the interview

Relax. Then relax some more.

Helpful links

15 Questions to Know for College Interviews by @solustudies​ 

The 14 College Interview Questions You Must Prepare For by PrepScholar

Other General Tips

Check and recheck! Everything! Like actually tho, I typed in my friend’s TOEFL score instead of my own on one application, and on one essay, I wrote the wrong name of the university. I fixed them, though. But yeah check, recheck, and have someone else check it for you too, if possible.

If you’re strong in the arts, send in an arts supplement! I sent in some poetry samples (although I don’t actually know if they’re good haha) to demonstrate my extracurricular interests.

Just be your honest self in all parts of the application. Don’t try to mold yourself to fit the university you’re applying to. I’m sure the admissions officers will be able to tell if you aren’t being genuine.

And some links…

A Masterpost for Applying to College by @science-is-golden​

College Application Timeline by @applicantmusings​

A College Student’s Masterpost by @eruditekid​

Uni Application Masterpost by @study-early​

Stage 3: Post-Application

Relax! You deserve it.

Enjoy your senior year, but again, keep up those grades. Don’t be consumed by senioritis.

Spend more time with your friends since it’s probably gonna be your last year together. Actually spend more time with everyone around you and join activities you normally wouldn’t. But again, don’t overwhelm yourself.

Even though you’re having fun, remember to check your email regularly. Colleges will update you about things, e.g. if you’re missing a component from your application.

Prepare to view your admission results.

Final Notes

College applications are tough, and you’re amazing for being able to put up with such a daunting task. It’s meant to be hard, so applaud yourself!

Also remember not to wear yourself out! Take breaks and revitalize because you’re going to craft a much better application if you have a clear mind and a healthy body.

And when announcement day arrives, be prepared for whatever result you’ll get. Congratulations if you get into your dream school! And if you don’t, that’s alright; maybe the school wasn’t a good fit for you after all.

Aug 14, 2016 | Biology - Cells (Chapter 2)

Aug 14, 2016 | Biology - Cells (Chapter 2)

A guide by Eintsein

College application season is just around the corner. As a survivor of the grueling task of completing the application process, I know exactly how daunting, overwhelming, and downright stressful it can be. I hope that by giving you a little ‘tour’ of the college application process, you’ll have a much easier time navigating it. and hopefully you’ll be able to craft a successful application.

Before I get right into it, I’d first like to tell you a bit about myself in the context of college applications. I just graduated high school (in 2018) and I’m going to attend Cornell University in the fall. I plan to major in Computer Science and Economics, but I remain open to other courses of study that I may find interesting as I progress through my college career. I applied to a total of 17 schools: I was accepted by 8 of them and waitlisted by 1.

Disclaimer: I am not a college admissions officer and thus I am not certain that everything I write in this post will work. This is just what I experienced with my college applications. Also, I will only be talking about college applications in the US, since that’s where I applied to, but perhaps some of the tips are adaptable to other countries’ college application processes.

Stage 1: Pre-application

Drafting a college list

(before summer break - start of senior year)

Doing college research

Before starting your application, it seems pretty obvious that you should have an idea of which schools to apply to. And in order for you to do that, you should do a little research to make sure that you’re applying to colleges that you actually want to attend.

One of the first things you should do is list different factors that you think will affect your decision. Do you want to go to a college in the city or in a small town? A large college or a small one? A chill school or an academically rigorous one?

You should also consider the major/area of study you’re interested in–it doesn’t even have to be super specific. Your potential major can then be used to choose your colleges. For example, if I wanted to study CS and Econ, I would choose colleges that are strong in both areas.

On a side note, I don’t think you should choose an area of study just because you’re good at a certain subject, e.g. just because you’re good at English, doesn’t necessarily mean you should study English or Literature. Instead, choose a potential major based on what you enjoy doing.

When doing your research about these different colleges, reading all of the information on their websites can be tedious and boring. As an alternative, I’d recommend watching youtube videos or talking to alumni instead. When I was applying, the most effective way for me to get to know a school is through those “A Day in the Life of…” videos as well as Q&A videos because you not only end up knowing more about the school but also about the student body and the student culture at that university.

What colleges?

I recommend that you apply to a good mix of safety schools, match schools, and dream schools.

Safety schools: you exceed their requirements and you’ll definitely get in.

Match schools: admits have similar academic credentials to yours. You have a good chance of admission, but there’s also a (relatively small) probability that you won’t.

Dream schools: your scores or credentials fall in the lower end of the school’s average range for the previous batch of admitted students.You’d be lucky to get in.

All the colleges you apply to should be colleges that you’d be happy to attend.

How many colleges?

You should start with 6 schools: 2 safety, 2 match, and 2 reach. Then you can adjust the numbers as you wish. If you’re applying to more schools, I’d say the optimum reach:match:safety ratio is around 3:5:2, so if you’re planning to apply to 10 colleges, that would be 3 reach, 5 match, and 2 safety.

How to classify colleges 

Generally, people categorize their colleges based on statistics, so things like test scores, GPA, and rank. Perhaps the easiest method is comparing standardized test scores. A good way to do this is to look at the 25th to 75th percentile range, which shows you the scores obtained by 50% of last year’s entering class. If your scores fall between the 25th and 75th percentile, you may have just found yourself a match school! But hold up, the lower percentiles may be reserved for special admits like athletes or donors, so in reality, a match school would be one where your scores lie closer to the 75th percentile.

Aside from standardized test scores, it might also help to figure out what kind of student the college is looking for–such as by reading accepted supplemental essays–and seeing whether or not you seem like the right fit.

Resources

Once you’ve compiled your list of colleges, it would help to have a table with information about them. This might include information like deadlines, median scores, availability of scholarships, interviews, etc. Here’s a link to (the blank version of) the spreadsheet I used for my college application. Feel free to modify it according to your needs, but make sure to make a copy before changing things!

Recommendation Letters

What are recommendation letters?

Recommendations letters are letters written by your mentors to provide insight into what you’re like as a student, e.g. your behavior, positive qualities, interests, achievements etc.

Whom should you ask for a recommendation letter? 

It’s good to ask teachers who know you very well, either someone who has taught you for a long time or someone who has a multifaceted view of you, such as a teacher who has also advised you in an extracurricular.

Some people would also suggest that you get recommendations from teachers of different subjects to show that you’re a well-rounded student. I think it’s better to ask teachers who can write about your different positive qualities, i.e. one teacher could highlight a part of your character that the other teacher would not be able to.

You might also want to ask teachers who can write well. In my experience, letters from teachers in the humanities and social science departments tend to be more convincing and well-written than those in the science and math departments (I know not all teachers are like this; this is just a generalization). But again, it’s definitely better to ask teachers who know you well and can write about your qualities.

The first recommendation letter I used was from my Economics teacher, who was also my MUN (Model United Nations) advisor - an extracurricular in which I was very active. My classmates and I also had a pretty good relationship with this teacher, especially since our class was only 3 students.

My second recommendation letter came from my Math teacher, who taught me for 6 years. Math is also my strongest subject, so that’s definitely a plus point (get it? :p).

Another letter that might be useful to submit is the additional recommendation. This is a recommendation from anyone other than your teacher, it could be your coach, another mentor, or even a friend. I think you should only consider submitting an additional recommendation if it highlights qualities that haven’t been covered in your other ones.

What do I have to do as an applicant? 

Be prepared to answer questions your teachers may have about you so that they can write a more valuable recommendation letter. Compiling a resume or list of achievements and activities might help, or you could simply sit down for a conversation.

When should I ask for these recommendation letters? 

Preferably before your senior year starts so your teachers have enough time to put some thought into what they’re going to write.

Standardized Testing

Do I really need to take standardized tests?

A lot of colleges recommend (read: require) you to take the SAT or ACT (and TOEFL if you’re an international student like myself), but remember that they are not your entire application. Just do your best in the standardized tests you take.

When should I take them? 

I say whenever you’re ready, but no later than the deadline specified by the college (usually October of your senior year would be the latest to take the general SAT). I did my SATs in October during my junior year, my younger sister took it at the end of her sophomore year, and a lot of my friends took in October during our senior year, so again, it really depends on when you feel you’re ready.

How many times should I take them?

I don’t think you should do each test more than once unless you’re sure your scores will improve. Your application won’t look very good if you sat for the SAT 3 times and your scores decreased each time, assuming the college looks at all your scores.

Which scores do I send colleges? 

Different colleges have different requirements for the submission of these test scores. Some only require the highest scores, while others would like to see all of your scores. On the CollegeBoard website, when you enter colleges to which you’ll send your scores, the site will also inform you of the requirements for those colleges.

How will colleges receive my standardized testing scores?

You’ll have to fill a form in the Common/Coalition App. In addition, some schools require you to send official score reports from the testing agency. I suggest that you send in your scores as soon as you know what colleges you’re applying to, just so that you don’t have to pay an extra amount to ‘rush’ your score sends (i.e. have it sent to colleges in 2-4 days as opposed to the regular 1-2 weeks).

The Rest of Senior Year

Take challenging classes and do well in them

Colleges look at the classes you take in high school and how well you did in them. You should consider taking classes that are both challenging and in the area of study you might want to pursue. Taking challenging courses allows college admissions officers to see that you’re taking initiative to further your education.

What if I catch senioritis? 

If you’re a senior, you’ll definitely go through a phase where you don’t care about anything and just feel like having coffee and talking to your friends in class. I know I did. Senioritis is totally normal, but you should still try to put effort into your studies. Colleges can rescind your admission if they see a drastic fall in your grades, so keep your grades up and don’t overwhelm yourself with too many unnecessary activities.

Join extracurriculars 

Extracurriculars show college admissions officers that you can manage your time well and that you have other interests aside from school. It also shows them that you are an active, contributing member of your community, and that you’re proactive in developing your passions and interests.

What type of activity counts as an extracurricular? 

Well, it can be anything you do in your free time. It could be a school club, a club outside of school, an online activity, etc. Maybe you programmed an app in your spare time. Maybe you had a part time job. Or maybe you ran a blog that helps students navigate their academic lives. You just have to find something that matters to you and is significant and meaningful. It would be even better if the activities in which you participate can demonstrate leadership and commitment.

If you’re having a hard time picturing what that could be, I’ll give you a couple of examples. One of my friends expanded his love of reading by starting a hip hop literature club that has branches in Japan and in multiple states in the US. A junior of mine established a website that brings together people from all around the world, who are experienced in the MUN community, to give newer members advice and guidance so that they may thrive in the MUN world.

Stage 2: Completing the Application

The Application Form

Different Application Platforms

The first thing you should do after you’ve compiled a college list is to find out where you should complete your application.

1. The Common App

The most common application platform is the Common App, which is used by more than 700 colleges in the US. It’s super convenient if you’re applying to a lot of colleges, but the site does limit you to 20 colleges.

2. The Coalition App

Another common platform is the Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success, which is a fairly new platform that has 132 members. It does have a cool feature I like, though: it allows you to compile a kind of portfolio by uploading documents and files to your “locker” on the website. Furthermore, the Coalition App is specifically aimed to help lower-resourced and underrepresented students, so the colleges listed there have substantial financial aid and scholarship opportunities.

3. Other Applications

Some colleges also have their own applications, such as the UCs and MIT.

Parts of the Application

You’ll have to fill in your

Personal information (This is probably the easiest part of the application, so even if you don’t have anything else ready yet, I recommend you fill this out just to get it over with.)

Extracurricular activities

Essays (the Common/Coalition App essay and supplementary essays)

Honors and awards

Disciplinary information

Standardized test scores

Your counselor will submit

Your high school transcript

Your mid-year and final transcript

The school report

The counselor recommendation

Your teachers will submit

Their recommendation letters

Now, even though you aren’t submitting every single thing on the form, you are the person responsible for the punctuality of these documents. Your teachers are busy and they might forget, so it’s your job to remind them.

For real though, one of my teachers forgot to upload his recommendation onto one of the external application websites. Fortunately, the university gave me and others in my position an extra 22 days to send in any missing documents.

The Essay (and other essays)

Ah, yes. The much dreaded Essay™. Probably the most challenging part of the application, and the one that sucks the life outta ya. There’s a reason for that, though. The essay is an important part of the application because it humanizes the applicant instead of merely showing them as a collection of statistics and facts. You should aim to showcase something about yourself that can’t be found in other parts of the application.

Planning

When should I start?

Ideally, you should start thinking about potential essay ideas over the summer, maybe come up with a rough draft if you can. But it’s really no rush, though. Sometimes the best ideas come later. I wrote my first common app essay over the summer. Completely scrapped it. Wrote a second one in like September-ish and used that for Early Action. Scrapped it again. The final essay I sent in was first written on December 17th. Sometimes life works that way.

How do I start?

One method that helped me is making a mind map about myself (my counselor recommended this to me). You’d start by writing down the things that define you: your personality, qualities, and values. Then, you’d think of activities, events, or other things in your life where you exhibited those traits or exercised those values. Since all college essays pretty much boil down to “What good qualities do you have?”, mind mapping your good qualities will help you answer all sorts of essays.

One important thing you should know is that your essay topic doesn’t have to be super deep or anything, just that it says a lot about you. And just because your essay is really personal, you shouldn’t divert your focus away from writing it well. You also shouldn’t write about something everybody experiences unless you can find a way to make it unique.

What next?

As soon as you have several topics for your essay, you can create outlines for each of them, and see which one would give a greater contribution to your application. If you’re not the outline type of person, start writing away, and see which one turns out to be more effective.

Writing

Start writing as soon as you have an idea. You don’t have to perfect it yet, just see where and how far the idea goes. You can always edit it or scrap it later. Or, if you prefer a more structured approach, make outlines for all the ideas you have.

How should I structure my essay?

When writing your essay, I would recommend using a narrative structure since people generally respond better to stories. However, if you think your essay would read better without the narrative structure, then use a different one.

What writing techniques are important?

Imagery is your best friend. You want your readers (the admissions officers) to be able to picture what you’re telling them so that they could understand more clearly and comprehensively whatever it is about yourself that you’re trying to convey.

Using an extended metaphor is also an excellent way to compose a memorable essay. Be aware that they’re fairly difficult to pull off, but if you have an idea, you should try and write it out first and see how that works out.

What are some common mistakes applicants make?

Some applicants make the mistake of sounding too preachy, you know, something like “We should make the world a better place!!” You might think, “but aren’t these types of essays supposed to be like that?” That’s what I thought, too, when I first wrote my essay. The admissions officers, however, are only there to get to know you, not to be preached upon. Instead, you should tie in the message you want to convey with your personal experience.

Lastly, you shouldn’t summarize at the end of your essay. It really isn’t as useful as you might think. In other words, you should write your essay so that it doesn’t need to be summarized in order for the readers to understand what you’re trying to tell them.

Revising

You should be prepared to write and rewrite and, like I said before, completely scrap essays. Don’t let yourself get attached to a particular sentence or phrase or even essay topic. Rewrite as needed. Write something else if you must.

After you’ve written your first draft, leave your essay for a couple days before coming back to it to edit. This is because right after you’ve written your essay, the ideal image of the essay is still the one you have written down, so you likely won’t make any meaningful changes.

What if I exceed the word limit?

If your word count is waaay past it, I’d suggest you write it from scratch without referring to the original draft. This helps eliminate the less important details since you yourself don’t remember them.

If you think you can simply cut down on a few phrases, there are several things you can do: delete redundancies, shorten your introduction/conclusion, simplify phrases, rearrange sentences, and use contractions, for example.

Should I ask other people to read my essay?

Somewhere along the road, you’ll also want to ask other people to read over your essay. I wouldn’t recommend asking a friend to do this for you since they might give a biased opinion. Plus, they know you too well. Instead, ask a teacher, your counselor, or even an acquaintance with whom you’re comfortable letting them read your essay.

Supplemental Essays

Honestly just refer to your mind map if you made one, or make outlines for each of your supplemental essays. Don’t be afraid to reuse essays, just make sure to change the name of the college if mentioned.

Some colleges also require you to write about an extracurricular. A guide to the extracurricular essay will be covered in the Extracurriculars section of this post.

Helpful links

College Essay Masterpost by @genericappblrurl​

Prolly the most comprehensive guide to college essays bless u

Covers nearly all essay types

College Essay Masterpost (links) by @sootudying​, includes

General essay advice

Each of the common app essay prompts

“Why college X?” essay guides

Extracurricular essay guides

Contribution essay guides

Influence in life essay guides

“Why major X?” essay guides

College Essay Masterpost (links) by @sequoia-studies​, includes

General essay advice (articles + videos)

Ivy league essays

UC essays

Common app essays

Essay examples

How to Write a Bomb Ass Essay for College Applications by @education-tips​

Extracurriculars

Colleges love applicants who are contributing members of their communities as well as those who are actively developing their passions and skills. The extracurricular section of the college application allows the college to see just that. As I’ve said before, an extracurricular activity can be anything you do in your free time, but one in which you hold a leadership position will pique the interests of the admissions officers.

How many activities should I list? 

The Common App gives you 10 slots for extracurricular activities (the Coalition gives you 8). However, it’s completely fine if you don’t have 10 activities. For the most part, colleges prefer to see quality over quantity, so having a few activities you’re passionate about and to which you made significant contributions would be better than filling all 10 slots with activities that you don’t care about all that much. The best combination of activities would be 1 - 3 significant activities with a large number of hours and several others with a lower number of hours.

What if I have too many activities? 

Choose the activities that you invested the most time in and gained the most experience from. You can also combine multiple activities into one slot. For example, I organized quite a few events and fundraisers when I was in the Student Council, so instead of writing “Organized and volunteered for sports cup”, “Designed and produced school merchandise”, and “Organized a charity festival”, I wrote them all under “Student Council”.

Note: Extracurricular activities aren’t the same as Honors and Awards.

What activities should I include?

As I’ve stated previously, colleges prefer quality over quantity. However, you can aim to be either “pointy” or “well rounded”. Some students have activities that are only in one area of study (”pointy”). This shows colleges that you’re focused and have an intense desire to pursue a single passion.

Despite this, being more “well-rounded” and having a diverse range of activities can also be beneficial since it shows that you’ve gained a lot of experience, and that you aren’t afraid to try different things.

Your activities don’t even have to be conventional extracurricular activities either. Two of the extracurricular activities I listed were 1) this studyblr; and 2) my instagram poetry page. I mean, I am a Gen X kid; I’m bound to spend large amounts of time on social media. Fortunately, it turns out I made a pretty significant contribution, I would say, and also learned a lot from the experience, so they definitely count as extracurricular activities.

Describing the extracurricular activities

This blog post from College Vine is super comprehensive and helped me a lot when I was writing about my extracurriculars. I’ll sum up some key points below:

Select extracurriculars that will present the best image of yourself

Use action oriented verbs (e.g. “facilitated”, “managed”, “maintained”)

Quantify your accomplishments as much as possible

Certain activities will look better if you emphasize the valuable skills you learned instead of what you did

Be specific

Some colleges will require you to write an essay in which you reflect upon a particular activity you did: what you learned and how you grew. This post from College Essay Guy covers pretty much everything I have to say about the extracurricular essay. Main points:

Use active verbs

Write a good clear sentence about what the activity meant to you

Show a little, but not too much

Start with a problem to be solved

Focus on specific impact

Write it long first, then cut it

But which extracurricular activity should you write the essay about? Here’s a helpful link that tells you just that.

Honors and Awards

The honors and awards section is another component of the application that can help you stand out from other applicants. These are basically any achievement, award, or recognition you’ve received in high school.

The common app limits you to 5 honors/awards, and I would recommend that you choose your most impressive honors, e.g. an international competition would be more impressive than one within your school.

Sometimes awards are directly tied to an activity, such as winning Best Delegate in an MUN conference. In this case, you should mention your award in the activities section. Awards that aren’t tied to an activity should be listed in the Honors and Awards section. These might include scholarships, academic awards, etc.

If you have too many honors to fit into the form (lucky you!), you might want to consider sending in a resume. Some colleges provide this option, while some merely have a section for extra information.

Interviews

Interviews are another way the college can see you as a whole person. Some colleges might provide you with an option to take the interview or decline it, but if given the chance, go for it!

What is the interview, exactly?

For me, this was probably the most nerve-wracking part since you’re practically telling things about yourself to a stranger (can you tell I’m not into socializing?) and it’s like you’re being evaluated and you don’t really know what to expect.

But honestly they’re basically regular conversations where you talk about yourself and the things you love. They’ll ask about your school, your family, your aspirations, your hobbies, but the conversation can lead anywhere–food, human rights, pop culture.

It’ll probably start with an open ended question like tell me about yourself and then branch off from there.

There might also be another type of interview where it’s more like a Q&A about the school and you get to know the college through an alumni (Cornell’s “interview” was like this).

A bad interview really won’t hurt your application, unless of course you fail to answer why you want to go to that university.

It really just gives you an extra boost and another factor to consider when the university decides whether or not to admit you.

Plus, you get to elaborate on things that you didn’t on your application.

Interviews can be anywhere from 15 minutes to 1.5 hours, so don’t worry if you think it was too short or too long.

General Tips

Arrive early. It helps to take a few seconds to breathe and take in your location and surroundings before you start your interview.

Wear something comfortable. I wore a plaid shirt and trousers to most of my interviews. In my experience, Western people tend to be more lenient with clothing, so if you wear a t-shirt, it’s fine. Indonesians (and some other Asians) kinda want you to dress at least semi-formally, maybe a button up and formal pants or a skirt.

If your interviewer asks if you want to order anything, go ahead, they won’t mind, and you’ll get free food or a free beverage. I would usually order coffee or tea.

What should I prepare?

How to answer the question tell me about yourself.

How to answer the question why do you want to go to this school?

How to answer other common questions. Don’t script your answers though. Just think about them so you know what the focus of your answer will revolve around.

Your resume, in case they ask for one.

Research the college and prepare some questions to ask the interviewer.

Research the interviewer, e.g. what they studied, what their job is, anything you think would be important to bring up, like one of their research projects or theses.

After the Interview

Send the interviewer a thank you note/email

Thank them for interviewing you

Recall something memorable from the interview

Relax. Then relax some more.

Helpful links

15 Questions to Know for College Interviews by @solustudies​ 

The 14 College Interview Questions You Must Prepare For by PrepScholar

Other General Tips

Check and recheck! Everything! Like actually tho, I typed in my friend’s TOEFL score instead of my own on one application, and on one essay, I wrote the wrong name of the university. I fixed them, though. But yeah check, recheck, and have someone else check it for you too, if possible.

If you’re strong in the arts, send in an arts supplement! I sent in some poetry samples (although I don’t actually know if they’re good haha) to demonstrate my extracurricular interests.

Just be your honest self in all parts of the application. Don’t try to mold yourself to fit the university you’re applying to. I’m sure the admissions officers will be able to tell if you aren’t being genuine.

And some links…

A Masterpost for Applying to College by @science-is-golden​

College Application Timeline by @applicantmusings​

A College Student’s Masterpost by @eruditekid​

Uni Application Masterpost by @study-early​

Stage 3: Post-Application

Relax! You deserve it.

Enjoy your senior year, but again, keep up those grades. Don’t be consumed by senioritis.

Spend more time with your friends since it’s probably gonna be your last year together. Actually spend more time with everyone around you and join activities you normally wouldn’t. But again, don’t overwhelm yourself.

Even though you’re having fun, remember to check your email regularly. Colleges will update you about things, e.g. if you’re missing a component from your application.

Prepare to view your admission results.

Final Notes

College applications are tough, and you’re amazing for being able to put up with such a daunting task. It’s meant to be hard, so applaud yourself!

Also remember not to wear yourself out! Take breaks and revitalize because you’re going to craft a much better application if you have a clear mind and a healthy body.

And when announcement day arrives, be prepared for whatever result you’ll get. Congratulations if you get into your dream school! And if you don’t, that’s alright; maybe the school wasn’t a good fit for you after all.

What to learn first when learning a new language

How to stay motivated when learning languages

How to learn a language with a different script

How to learn kanji

Vocabulary list topics

How to make vocabulary lists

How to expand your vocabulary

How to learn vocabulary and verb endings

How to improve your listening skills

How to practice speaking your target language

How to go from intermediate to advanced in your target language

How to learn two (or more) languages at once

How to learn all the languages you want

How to avoid mixing up languages

How to study languages with depression

How to practice speaking when you have social anxiety

How to study with a language exchange partner and what to talk about with them

How to study with Duolingo

How to make a language notebook

How to divide your language notebook/what to write in your language notebook

How to use bullet journal in language learning

How to find native speakers to practice with

How to know what level you are in your languages

(I finished my freshman year this spring with a 4.0 GPA, an off-campus research internship, and three professors contacting me suggesting that I apply for a fulbright scholarship.  These tips aren’t coming out of my ass.) 

1. LISTEN TO ME WHEN I SAY THIS: YOU DO NOT NEED TO “GET INVOLVED” IN STUPID CLUBS IF YOU DON’T ENJOY THEM.  Hear “get involved! :)” for the 1000th time and just barf in your mouth a little and move on.  If you work hard and get good grades, and socialize with people on campus when you have free time (it comes more naturally than you think) YOU WILL.  BE.  FINE.  Actually better than fine.  You’ll have time to get a real job/internship, which by the way, is what the real world wants to see you prioritizing.  Moral of the story: Only join clubs if they help your personality thrive and feel healthy.  Don’t do them because you feel pressured.  

2. DON’T TAKE SHIT FROM A N Y O N E. I know you’re trying to fit in and take the stance of trying to make everyone happy to make sure you’ll have plenty of friends.  But you have to realize that you literally just met these people, and they just met you.  If they create an uncomfortable environment for you that makes college harder to cope with, get them the fuck out of your life. Ain’t nobody got time for people’s high school-ass drama.  

3. SKIP YOUR CLASSES SOMETIMES.  If you really have your shit together, it won’t matter.  Your school will say the amount of skips you can get away with before it harms your grade.  Use. Them.

4. BECOME THE MASTER OF WRITING ESSAYS IN ONE NIGHT.  You will have to.  I’m telling you right the fuck now.  And you can get an A, if you work your lil ass off. I’ve done it many times.  

5. DON’T CARE FOR EVEN 1 SECOND WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF YOU.  If you wanna wear sweats and no makeup, do it.  If you want to dress up and take time to put on makeup, do it.  If you want to stay away from partying, do it.  If you want to party, have a good ass time.  If anyone has enough time to judge you, they need to be studying harder or getting a hobby.  Make yourself comfortable and happy as fuck and enjoy your time in college worry-free. 

6. BE THE ASSHOLE WITH A TABLET OR LAPTOP IN LECTURE.  You won’t have time to copy it all down.  You’ll be miserable.  Just trust me.  I know studies say its more effective to write stuff down for memory, but, write them out later or something.  Learned that one the hard way.

7. DON’T REWRITE YOUR NOTES IF IT DOESN’T HELP YOU STUDY.  If you know doing that doesn’t help you memorize, don’t do it, period.  Or, if you have a collossal asston of notes (like I did) it isn’t even worth rewriting them all in the first place. I’ve fallen down that hole and lost motivation and time.  Just reread them or make flashcards or whatever.  Study for effectiveness, not aesthetic.

8. BE PREPARED FOR LAB TO GO THE “WHOLE TIME.”  Yah, you’re gonna see 3 hours on that brand-shiny-new schedule of yours and be like there’s no way it’ll go that long, right? LOL about that.  Just mentally brace yourself.  Eat and drink beforehand for the love of god we don’t need hangry people handling chemicals.  

9. COMMUTING DOESN’T MAKE YOU A LONER.  Just.  No. If you live close to campus, are comfortable with commuting, and know you’ll save yourself MAJOR debt by doing it, do it and don’t feel a fucking ounce of guilt about it.  It’ll be some early mornings, but your fresh out of college broke ass will thank you, and you’ll use your time more effectively.  (Plus you get a non grimy shower like??)

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INTERESTING AND FUN ZODIAC FACTS FOR EACH SIGN BELOW:

Aries  | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer | Leo | Virgo | Libra  

Press Ctrl+F or ⌘F to do a quick search!

bookboon // for accounting, business, economics & finance, engineering, IT & programming, languages, marketing & law, natural sciences, statistics & mathematics (+ career & study advice, strategy & management)

booksee // for arts & photography, biographies & memoirs, business & investing, computers & internet, cooking, entertainment, health, history, home, law, literature & fiction, medicine, references, religion, science, sports, travel, and other categories

bookstacks // for popular classics

boundless // for accounting, algebra, art history, biology, business, calculus, chemistry, communications, computer science, economics, education, finance, management, marketing, microbiology, music, physics, physiology, political science, psychology, sociology, statistics, U.S. history, world history, writing

california learning resource network // for mathematics, science, history

ck-12 // for elementary math, arithmetic, measurement, algebra, geometry, probability, statistics, trigonometry, analysis, calculus, earth science, life science, physical science, biology, chemistry, physics, sat exam prep, engineering, technology, astronomy, english, history

college open textbook // for anthropology & archeology, art, biology & genetics, business, chemistry, computer science, economics, engineering & electronics, english & composition, health & nursing, history, languages & communication, law, literature, math, music, philosophy, physics, political science, psychology, science, sociology, statistics & probability

dailies

make your bed. (no, really.)

set your top 3 to-dos for the day.

do your top 3 to-dos for the day. (heh)

stretch.

unpack your bag when you get home.

prepare your things for the next day before sleeping.

skincare. (your basic cleanse and moisturize)

sweep the floor of your bedroom.

talk to your plants. (if you have plants)

update your financial report/expense tracker.

take a good photo.

meditate.

hug at least three people. (seriously.)

weeklies

polish your school shoes.

mop your bedroom floor.

dare i say, laundry. (don’t put it off!)

exfoliate.

take a leisure walk.

review your past week and plan your next week accordingly. (a part of your routine may not be working–try something new)

make a piece of art. (a sketch, a collage, a quote in pretty lettering, a god-awful poem..)

sanitize your gadgets. (whip out the wet tissue and wipe away at your phone, your laptop, your mouse, your earphones–just don’t forget to IMMEDIATELY follow that up with a dry cloth to prevent fogging and short circuits)

watch a TED Talk.

make a new playlist.

monthlies

wash your bag.

wash your shoes.

change the sheets of your bed and your pillows.

clip your nails. (honestly)

wax/shave. (if you want. i just really like how fresh my skin feels after i torture it with razors and wax strips)

wipe your shelves/the tops of your furniture clean. (try to avoid dusting. it just scatters the dirt everywhere. use a damp cloth instead)

see if there’s anything in your storage that you don’t need/want anymore and give stuff away or sell them.

review your month and plan the next one accordingly. (just like your weeks. remember to refer to your Life Goal/Year’s Goals page)

finish reading at least one book. (and review it!)

discover new songs.

It doesn’t matter if you’re sitting in a college classroom or a coffee shop. We don’t learn anything we don’t want to learn.

Those people who take the time and initiative to pursue knowledge on their own are the only ones who earn a real education in this world.  Take a look at any widely acclaimed scholar, entrepreneur or historical figure you can think of.

Formal education or not, you’ll find that he or she is a product of continuous self-education.

If you’re interested in learning something new, this article is for you.  Broken down by subject and/or category, here are several top-notch self-education resources I have bookmarked online over the past few years.

Note that some of the sources overlap between various subjects of education.  Therefore, each has been placed under a specific subject based on the majority focus of the source’s content.

Jacques Lacan

Translation: “To love is to give what one does not have to another who does not desire it.”