sample admission essay

One of the Ivy League universities offering a sense of tradition and excellence on a golden collegiate plate is Princeton University . Formerly known as the College of New Jersey, the university was renamed Princeton University in 1896 following its move to the town where it stood since 1756. Co-ed, private, and catering to scions of old-rich families, Princeton University retains its old-world charm while being one of the leading research facilities in the world today. Although a pair of lions used to guard the entrance to Nassau Hall, the oldest building in the university, the tiger has been adapted as Princeton University’s official mascot, owing to its orange and black stripes that are the university’s official colors.

With assets of over a billion dollars largely due to its funding by large private industries for their own R&D, Princeton University is among the wealthiest universities in the world. Princeton University offers a whole gamut of fields of specialization, arming the undergraduate with the proper knowledge, excellent tutelage from faculty who are each respected professionals in their fields of study, and hands-on experience with the various private institutions that they have partnered with. Such profitable alliances have made it possible for Princeton to transform the Firestone Library into a veritable storehouse of knowledge. The Princeton University Library system was even able to digitally scan great literary pieces for usage on the web.

Course offerings differ for BA and BSE students. BA students in Princeton University get to choose their majors at the end of their sophomore year, while BSE students get to choose at the end of their first year.

Student life is peachy in Princeton University. Housing is guaranteed for all students in their four years of stay though they have the option to live off campus once they reach junior status. Greek-letter associations are not recognized by Princeton University, so it is common for students to find friends and food among a number of exclusive eating clubs on campus that almost work the same way as fraternities. Despite years of squabble over the elitist nature of such clubs, things are being resolved as students can dine in neutral common halls.

How to get into Princeton University

If you are one of the moths attracted to the orange and black flame that is Princeton University, here are a few things that Princeton University requires from its applicants:

Applicants are expected to have studied four years of English, Mathematics and of a single foreign language, while two years are required for laboratory science and history. Two admissions essays are required by Princeton University Admissions Officers for review. These essays would be the perfect venue for you to introduce yourself and air out why you would be deserving of a Princeton education. As with other collegiate entrance exams, Princeton University requires the submission of the results of the ACT and three other SAT exams.

Because Princeton University also offers courses on music and the arts, portfolios and other relative materials can be submitted.  For foreign students , an International Secondary School Report form should be used in submitting your scholastic records to Princeton University.

Applications for admission to Princeton University can be sent via mail or online .

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The California Institute of Technology can direct you to the right path if you’re looking for a road paved for greatness in the fields of science, technology, and engineering.  Founded in 1891 by local businessman Amos Throop, Caltech had a variety of names such as Throop University, Throop Polytechnic Institute, and Throop College of Technology before it finally settled for its present name in 1921. This school, though largely underpopulated as compared to its direct rival MIT, is considered as one of the best universities in the world as it has many Nobel Prize winners among other distinctions. Caltech also boasts of alumni who have made milestones in science - from the discovery of anti-matter to space and aeronautical laboratories that NASA has employed for the monitoring of their robotic satellites.

Student life in Caltech isn’t that hectic and crowded as there are only approximately over two thousand students enrolled for the current academic year. This can be a good thing as equipment and facilities ratio at Caltech isk ept at a tolerable balance, enabling each student to fully utilize these facilities for his or her own means. Housing is well-provided for, with 8 major houses within Caltech catering to only a couple of thousand of students. These houses are not only for the board and lodging of Caltech students during their stay in college but are also their venues for developing social interactions and ties that grow stronger throughout the years and even beyond Caltech. The school’s location in Pasadena, California provides its students a chance for an occasional break from academics and to pursue other interests.

Although the size of the student body in Caltech may seem suitable for individual assignments, "techers," as Caltech students are fondly called, never work alone. They are encouraged and trained to do group work in almost every assignment or research project that they undertake at Caltech, building up the team spirit that has been an invaluable component in many breakthroughs in science and technology throughout the years.

Frosh techers, the term applied to freshmen, can only choose their options for majors at the end of their first year. Caltech offers courses grouped into six main classes: (1) Division of Biology, (2) Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, (3) Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences, (4) Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, (5) Division of Humanity and Social Sciences, and (6) Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy. A special category named Independent Studies may help some techers who want to sample different fields from the various course offerings.

The typical brainy guy from senior high may be the best candidate for a slot in Caltech, but it’s much more than the grades that Caltech admissions people and undergraduate techers who are part of the selection committee look at. Caltech requires that applicants have at least four years of schooling in math and calculus, three years in English, and one year each in history, chemistry, and physics. Caltech admissions look for your math and other analytical problem-solving scores in the ACT and SAT tests that you have submitted. Extra-curricular activities of applicants also show how they can display the same amount of zeal and effort as they do for their academic activities. Lastly, recommendations made by your high school teachers are also required measures for eligibility. If you do require a scholarship to help support your education, Caltech also offers financial assistance for deserving applicants.

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Getting into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Counting Cards and Much Much More

A movie focusing on card-counting student geniuses from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has put a spotlight on one of the revered academic institutions in the US. This wasn’t just based on fiction, as MIT really did have a blackjack team that were high-rollers not only in the academe, but in Vegas as well, proof that MIT isn’t just for robotics or other geeky stuff.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology houses five schools grouped under Architecture and Planning, Engineering, Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Engineering and Management and one collegiate institution for Health Sciences and Technology , a joint project with one of its partner schools in medicine Harvard Medical School . MIT is a private, co-educational, and research-generating university established under William Barton Rogers in 1865 with the aim to amalgamate research with application in order to answer the needs of a country that was then rapidly becoming more industrialized. MIT lives up to its mission of enriching through research that even the courses geared toward more creative pursuits are tackled with analytical approaches.

Currently, MIT  has 10,220 students enrolled , 4,172 of which are freshmen. MIT also has quite an international community of students from foreign countries, and the larger percentage of this group are taking their post-graduate degrees. Student housing is offered to students as single freshmen are required to live within campus in MIT’s residence halls or in any of the Greek-letter houses after their fist year. Extracurricular activities in the arts and athletics also abound in MIT, proving that students can be well-rounded even in a place as concentrated on technological advancements as MIT is. The infamous MIT Hacks are proof that pulling pranks are also one of the "majors" in this university, albeit for comic purposes only. Imagine being able to demonstrate your prowess in physics and engineering while pulling off the most spectacular prank of the year in front of a stadium full of people.

Getting into MIT requires the usual smarts in which its admission committee measures your abilities to see if you truly deserve to get in. The following are just a few pointers to give a heads up on the requirements.

Early Action applicants must submit biological information and all the required paperwork before November 1 or not later than January 1 for Regular Action applicants.

Along with the preferred field of study, a 500-word essay is also required by MIT.  Key tip: sustain the attention of the admissions people reading your essay is to keep it light and interesting
Personal interviews can be gone through. Though not required, it can up your chances a bit if you get to please the admissions people once they find what they’re looking for in a candidate.
Standard exams given to all applicants are also used to gauge their capacity to get into MIT.
Evaluations or recommendation from two secondary school teachers are also required.
Musical and artistic portfolios are also encouraged, and these could be additional factors for your evaluation.

MIT has been in the forefront of producing various breakthroughs in scientific and industrial circles, as well as harmless but memorable shenanigans. If you think you have what it takes and if you can be more than what is expected, then MIT is opening its doors for you.

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Scholarly journals are a valuable source of information for school papers and projects. But not all of them are free—some require expensive subscriptions, while others are exclusive to society members. If you’re a student, here are ten sites that give you free access to academic journals.

Penn Library Electronic Journals

Hosted by the University of Pennsylvania , this service combines free electronic scholarly journals with subscription-based ones. Some of the journals are exclusive to Penn students, but it’s a good way to see which titles you can freely access elsewhere. The listings can be a bit erratic, though—some subscription-based materials have been listed as free and vice versa.

Florida Atlantic University Libraries

The FAU library lists over 80 journal titles across several fields of study. The journals are free for all, including non-students, and classified according to subject. The list can be accessed on and off campus. Students and faculty can access additional subscription-based titles, but the free titles offer a broad enough scope for students.

University of Iowa Library

The main advantage of this source is its search function, which lets you look up journals or individual articles. The titles are classified several ways, so you can search by article title, journal name, subject matter, or even date of publication. Searching by subject also draws up a list of subcategories, which can come in handy when you’re not looking for a specific title.

University of California, Santa Barbara Library

Here you’ll find a list of websites and universities that offer free access to scholarly journals, as well as the school’s own collection. It’s actually part of an academic project rather than an official directory, so resources are limited; topics covered include engineering, biological sciences, mathematics, medicine, and physical science.

Stanford University HighWire Press

Stanford hosts the world’s largest database of free science articles. HighWire Press offers free full-text versions of journal articles, which can be searched in any number of ways: by author, date, subject, page number, volume, and even in-text quotes. There’s also a comprehensive list of journal titles and links to free sites.

University of Nevada, Reno Libraries

This one offers a long, detailed list of free electronic journals on just about any subject, with literally hundreds of titles. It’s not searchable, but you can jump to subject lists so it’s not that tedious. The titles come with publication dates and publisher names, and are linked to the journal’s official site or volume archive.

Fetch Database of Free E-journals

This is a search-based listing of electronic titles hosted by the Manhattan College Libraries . Over 11,000 journals are on the database, although some only offer some parts free. They don’t include journals that offer exclusive full-text content to subscribers, and most of the non-English journals have been translated with the AltaVista Babelfish service.

Seton Hall University Libraries

The Seton Hall Libraries boast a massive collection of academic journals across several fields of study. You can search full-text electronic materials from the database, or if you have access to the library itself, look up titles in paper, microform, and other formats. The list is fully searchable and includes links to the journal site when applicable.

Education Resources Information Center

A project of the U.S. Department of Education , ERIC provides free full-text materials and citations of education literature. It is by far the largest collection, with over records exceeding 1.2 million. They are currently in the process of digitizing around 340,000 microfiche documents, so expect the database to grow in the coming years.

AERA SIG Communication of Research

This project is provided by the Arizona State University in support of the Budapest Open Access Initiative. The list is not very extensive, but it’s very selective: they’ve excluded all sites that charge even a minimum for any content, and include only peer-reviewed, refereed and full-text titles. American journals make up majority of the list, but there are also titles from Australia, Europe and Asia.

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HOW TO BECOME AN EFFECTIVE DISCUSSION LEADER IN YOUR COLLEGE CLASSES

The break finally comes to an end, and the semester opens to a fresh period of learning. Whether you are the teacher or the student, you understand the value of  first impressions and expectation setting. In the academe, open communication lines and dynamic information exchange are the main ingredients in a successful learning experience. So, the greatest challenge you face on the first day is how to start the ball rolling–and keeping it that way! This article provides you some simple yet creative tips that will assure you of many productive discussion sessions ahead.

Get creative!

Experts on adult learning cite the importance of remembering names on the first day. Perhaps, the mere thought of doing so makes you groan right now, as we know that most adult learners dislike having to memorize. But then again, the childlike and competitive among us always like games, don’t we? Why don’t you use ice-breaking activities, such as having students or classmates introduce themselves by using adjectives that begin with the letter of their first names (i.e., Resilient Rachelle)? Or why not try having them answer questions like “If you were a movie, what movie would you be?” That’s just to get people to warm up a bit. It is the first day of school, after all.

Be motivating

Just as writers need to be inspired in order to write at their best, students also need a stimulating classroom environment to help them perform well in discussions. If a member of the class feels as if he or she is being put on the Hot Seat everytime you ask him or her a question, then that will make other members of the class very reluctant to speak out. Be an encourager; foster an environment that allows the class to think and speak freely without fear of retaliation.

Establish a relationship with the class. Like in any organization, the success of the class comes from knowing that the element of trust is present. Trust may be manifested at 3 different levels: trust in their character, trust in their competencies, and trust in communication.

Exchange roles and practice empathy

Perhaps, the only aspect of the organizational structure from which the classroom is unique is the flexibility of roles and the freedom to exchange these roles. In an office,  you cannot go to work one day and say, “I think I’m going to be the boss today.” (Although I’m quite sure that some of us would want to have our bosses take instructions from us from time to time). In contrast, the classroom allows the teacher and the student to switch places whenever it is appropriate. In fact, this role play is not only allowed but encouraged for many good reasons: to facilitate the exchange of ideas, to limit the monopoly of talk-time, and sometimes, to allow the teacher  some rest and relaxation.

Put these tips to use, and you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to keep the ball rolling after all. You and your class will not be disappointed.