#mbaqs

Hi! I’m glad you’re looking into this so early and I’ll try to offer you advice pertaining to your question. 

My top 6 advice points:

Think of what makes you stand apart from others. I know this is cliche, but it’s true. Then, try to back it up with a relevant example. I’ll give an example that my med school applicant friends have: the generic gist that most people give for the reason they want to become a doctor is because they want to help others, right? But the BEST med school essays I’ve read are when they not only talk about how they first got interested in medicine but how they made ACTUAL steps towards their interest/ actively contributed towards their interest. It’s one thing to just be like “oh yeah I like helping people and science and medicine so I want to be a doctor” but another thing to be like “I created an organization, I volunteered xx hours, I wrote this paper, etc” and I think that’s where lots of essays sort of fail.  So basically, what I’m trying to say is: make sure you back up your interest with ACTION that you’ve done in your personal statement.

QUANTIFY YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN YOUR STATEMENTS!!! Instead of saying “I built 8 robots”, saying something like “I integrated 8 robots during my three months at the company, saving the company over $500,000 in costs” sounds much better. If your resume isn’t up to date with everything (specifically, try to quantify everything you can), definitely work on this. This helps in personal statements!

Let a handful of people of varying closeness review your essay. For me, tbh I am prideful, but I have to learn to let this GO. Because these people genuinely want to help you! If your essay sucks, it’s better you know from these people vs the admissions staff! The reason I say handful of people of varying closeness is because sometimes your close friends aren’t really great in writing, so you want more than one source. Better yet, ask a professor or a manager - basically someone who isn’t your friend. All of the people who reviewed my personal statements definitely helped me (even if I didn’t take in all of their suggestions!)

Try to tailor each personal statement to the college, if you can. For me personally, I tailored each personal statement slightly to the college I applied to. For UC Berkeley, I’d say something like “I would be honored to be admitted to UC Berkeley and can truly imagine myself walking through Sproul Plaza. The world-class staff is amazing for the field and blah blah and I’m confident I will become a better xxx from the program” (well, word it better; I’m free-balling here). Basically, explain *briefly* why you want this particular school and how you can see yourself FITTING in. Don’t overdo it though, obviously - it would look tacky.

Really pay attention to the specific prompt that each college states. Some mention to explain your interest, while others ask to explain why you want to attend this school, etc. Pay attention to the prompt and make sure you answer each component! Don’t just send out the same personal statement to each school!!!!!

Give yourself TIME to write. I’m not sure your process but for me, I give myself plenty of time. And I’ll just literally “ugly-write” (sorta free-balling writing, a very draft form of my essay). Then I’ll continually fine-tune it. Honestly, sometimes I’ll write and look back two weeks later and I’m like “ew that sounds weird” and reword it. Time helps give you some distance and able to see things in a different light. 

Also, I’m not sure about publications for computer science but I’m thinking they definitely wouldn’t hurt! I think it falls under #1 & #2 above of standing apart & quantifying your accomplishments (I wrote xx publications that discussed xx and xx). You didn’t specify PhD or if this is a master’s program but from my understanding of phD programs (I’m in a master’s program), it’s research-heavy and a publication would definitely show you are interested in research so it’s like a necessity. For master programs, I think it wouldn’t hurt to have but my personal experience is that master programs aren’t as competitive so publications aren’t **necessary** but obviously they give you a super edge against other applicants!

Hello!

I lived in the dorms my freshman and sophomore years. (During sophomore year, I lived in a building reserved for sophomores, so basically I was with my age group both years!)

I think it’s easy to fall into a false security during the dorms and keep your doors open and leave, even if you’re going down to the floor’s lounge but I would caution against that. If you and your roommates are not going to be in the room physically (even if you are just down the hall, or will be back in 5 minutes), ALWAYS lock the door and have the key with you!

My freshmen year, there was an incident where my floormates’ laptops and items were stolen because they left their doors open and weren’t paying attention. Our floor had maybe 25ish people and it wasn’t any of the floormates who stole the items but rather strangers who so happened to be on the floor and noticed the opportunity to steal items. #opportunists

Long story short, yes your floor is supposed to be a “safe” area and you have friends on the floor, etc but better safe than sorry and 1) don’t leave your room open when its unattended 2) have common sense and don’t leave your items unattended. 

The rumors of people stealing items are true, so don’t leave your items unattended and you won’t have this problem! 

Decorating Dorm:

- I’d recommend having a physical calendar so you can write down events and stuff

- Have a weekly schedule of what your academic schedule is like (what your classes are, etc) so that it’s easy to be like “Oh yeah, Mondays at 11am I can’t do lunch because I have Spanish class then.” Also, it helps your roommates know when to expect you.

- A handful of cool photos with family and friends. Don’t print like 100 or anything but pictures are a nice touch to personalize a room.

- I like to have a bulletin board where I can pin cool mementos that I get here and there and along my college journey, like movie tickets, or fliers, or stick pins I’ve gotten, etc.

Nice!! 

I think if you read a lot of my previous posts (which can be seen through my archive here), you’ll get a great feel for what my experience in college was!

But essentially, entering as a freshman, I felt very awkward and anxious and with no defined friend group. Slowly over the semesters, I’ve gotten to this point where I am now–a pretty confident senior who more or less knows what I’m doing and who has a lot of good friends. But you only get to this stage with trial and error, experience, and living college.

Friends: Starting as a freshman, I really didn’t know what my “friend” group was. And I think I tried too hard to define and label it. Honestly, looking over the friends I hang out with the most now, it’s been a very natural, organic process of finding who my “real” friends were (no drama, just as time went passed, you see who sticks around). They were either people I met through my clubs, people who were the same major/ taking the same classes as me, or people who lived in the same building as me.  Maybe in the first semester or two, you may think “Gah, are these my real friends? Is this my friend group?” I would suggest not to think in such labeling/ black& white terms. And frankly, the people you are friends with freshman year are probably not going to be your good friends senior year. You’ll more likely than not be acquaintances or something. But yeah, I know I’m biased, but I gotta say I have some pretty amazing friends and I am grateful. :)

Family: Hm I don’t know. I felt like I was ready to leave the house when I was for college but I do admit that I missed them a lot my freshman year. I guess you never know how it’s like to move away until it actually happens! But once I got used to living independently from them, it was pretty easy to adjust. And every year after freshman year, moving back to college for the new year has been easier and easier! Sometimes I don’t even want to go home for breaks but then my mom threatens to not pay the tuition or something LOL 

Classes: Classes were hard, are hard. There’s no getting around this. You have to put in effort to get the grade you want. Get study buddies! It took me a little to adjust because in high school, it’s basically “memorize and ace it and forget it” but in college, you gotta learn to INTERPRET and UNDERSTAND the material. Even as a senior, I struggle with this sometimes LOL. 

Campus: I love my college campus (surrounding area, maybe not so much). I would suggest a day to just freely explore campus before school starts (this is a great way to see where your classes are too!). My campus has so many clubs and organizations, it’s hard to NOT find a club that resonates with you.

Hi!

Hm… I know this is really generic and cliche, but just be genuine. I remember I used to scour the internet for good tips to make my application stand out to the admissions officers. But here are some tips I can think of right now:

1. Quantify your accomplishments. Don’t just say “I volunteered at the hospital for 2 years.” Say this instead: “I volunteered at the hospital for two years, accumulating over 100+ hours.” Doesn’t that sound so much better?

2. Use your words carefully. Choice of words can make a difference (okay, maybe not a “accept or reject” difference but still). For example: “As club president, I made events for club members to go to and raised funds” versus “As club president, I spearheaded fundraising efforts to reach our goal and planned regular events for our club members” or something.

3. Have different people look over your college application. They may miss something you didn’t even notice. I think it’d be helpful to have someone who is not particularly familiar with your school (so wouldn’t know what clubs particularly do what, etc), clubs because they’d come in with fresh eyes, like the admissions officers!

Definitely harder than getting an A in high school.

You have to put in a lot of work to get an A. It’s not easy at all. You can’t plug and chug like in high school. I don’t know what else to say but that. It’s hard. You’ll have to put in a lot of effort and time to get that A. You don’t just “get” A’s. You earn them! I say this as a STEM/ Bio major but I think it more or less applies to every department.

hahaha I wish I was more of a fashionista to help you– I mainly just wear a pair of jeans + a normal top, and if I’m feeling particularly festive, I’ll maybe wear a casual dress but that’s it– but here is my personal list for college wardrobe essentials for UC Berkeley. This is mainly based off what I wear:

Jeans. 1 pair blue jeans, 1 pair black jeans at least… I’ve been on the lookout for some ripped jeans but #collegebudget. I’ve implemented a freeze on shopping for clothes.)

Cardigans. I have a white cardigan, tan cardigan.

Camisoles. I wear this when I just want to layer up because it can get cold.

Scarves. Ok, I don't own any myself but I envy those who wear them so flawlessly. I never understood how to wear scarves LOL.

Northface. Everyone at Cal seemingly has a windbreaker.

Some University spirit wear. I have a Cal hoodie, a couple Cal shirts, etc.

Business/ Interview Clothing

Shoes. Casual & formal! Like Rainbow flip flops, flats, etc. Nike free runners are popular here but any athletic-y shoe will work. Personally, I switch off between my Rainbows & my Adidas shoes.

Okay, this isn’t an essential but lately I’ve been really into the off-the-shoulder tops faze… I have a handful of tops that are off-the-shoulder and I love them!!!

Long-Sleeves. I only have two, I think but they really do help you keep warm under hoodies and stuff.

Anything floral. Right now, I’m also digging anything floral! Nothing that is too overwhelmingly floral but yeah.

Casual Dresses!!! I wanted to have a goal of wearing a dress a week but lately it’s been so cold that it’s not feasible. But hey, its the thought that counts!

Looking at my closet right now, most of my clothes are blue, green, white, black, or grey. Oh! And maroon/ burgundy/ dusty pink/ mauve. I’ve been really getting into those colors lately.

But honestly, I think the college essentials are the same for what you would likely wear in high school (assuming the climate in both are the same). Aka jeans, cardigans, jackets and outerwear, etc. Maybe the main difference is that now you need to actively bring sleepwear to college.

I’ll keep it real. You’re going to have to go outside of your comfort bubble a little bit, at least for the first few weeks, of school. This is generally when people are the most receptive to making new friends, because hello, it’s the start of a new school year so you should definitely try to take advantage of this. Go to club meetings, maybe introduce yourself to your classmates sitting around you in class, etc. 

Common things people ask (and I used to get annoyed but then I realized, these questions make sense to ask): Intended major (maybe they’ll have similar classes with you!), hometown (maybe they’re around the same area as you!), and what year you are. These are good icebreaker questions.

You could also ask what they did over summer break.