Hey everyone!
Ahhh school has been so crazy recently. Everyone is working on their college essay and starting their applications. Unlike me, some of my friends are applying early to schools, which really presses them for time. What I’ve learned: the biggest thing you need to have is time management! Whatever you do, don't leave everything to the last minute, or you will be in biiig trouble. If you do a little bit each night, you will be fine…promise!

It's been really interesting lately, because tons of reps from colleges come to our school pretty much everyday. We sit down with them in small groups for about an hour while they talk about their school. We can ask them questions on anything (I've been asking if they have club hockey!) The rep from Fordham was really cool, he gave us tons of tips on what to write in our essay.

Main Tip From the Fordham Rep: Don’t be really cliché. He’s heard enough "My grandfather is my hero because.." essays. He said the best essay he’s ever read (P.S.-- he's read over 2,000!) was about how a girl loved to sit and drink orange juice while reading the paper. Weird, but it worked! The college essay is the one chance you have to prove that there is more to you than mere numbers and grades, so be creative!

I've been working really hard on my essay -- I've forced my poor parents to read it about 10 times, haha. My Essay Tip #1: Bring it to your English teacher. They’re usually more than happy to help out, and they have really great advice. My Essay Tip #2: Don't rely on spell check from your computer. It doesn't pick up on grammar mistakes such as to, too, two. One of the reps was telling us how in one girl's essay she was trying to use the word 'striping,' but it came out 'stripping.' Yikes!

Last weekend, I took the SATII, which are the Subject Tests. Quick SATII TIP: If the school you are applying to requires them, I suggest taking the test on the subject you know best. The classes that I do the best in are U.S. History and math, so I took those SATII's. They weren’t super hard, and they are only about an hour long -- not too bad.

Alright, I gotta run, but remember, this is your senior year, so don't get so caught up in college stuff and forget to have fun! Get your whole grade together and do something silly, like a Powderpuff game! We played a crazy football game of senior vs. junior girl, and the seniors dominated! I even scored a touchdown. (Check out my pics!!) ;)

Talk to you next week!! xoxo

*devin*