Three types of Responses

I have 3 types of responses for your essays - Dead, Drafts, Cold Shelf.

Dead: Never work on it again
Draft: Go for further draft
Cold Shelf: The essay remains dormant for some time. [In real terms it is a kind of Dead essay]

Appointments on Monday

I want to sit with the following students at the appointed times. Please confirm through e-mails.

Morning time - 

08.00 - Anik, Adit, Saad

10.00 - Akash, Sajid

Evening - 

04.00 - Tahsin, Samira, Maisha, Humaira, Utsho

5.00 - Itrat

Former Anglophiles Student in Barkleys Capital - High offices of Capitalism

Here is a video clip of Safwan Shabab, former Anglophiles Application Process participant -

http://offices.colgate.edu/SeniorProfiles/Feature_profile.asp?StudentID=90675829

We will have individual meetings on Monday

This is to inform that I will have meeting with you in person starting from Monday morning. I will mail you / call you over the phone for confirming the time. Please do mail me if you have any question regarding timing. I am desperately working on some Urgent application documents. Those whom I have already assigned Books and Topics for research papers - are hereby requested to send me your preliminary response on the items - this would greatly enhance my planning.

For ECA - please send me suggestions - if you have not done it already.

Additionally, Tanzim and Aayman should call me immediately in the morning between 9 and 10.

I am waiting for the App Studs to Arrive by 9.30 AM Today

I am in my den.

I was thinking that this year you people will be applying to the following universities/colleges. I do have in mind that the SAT-II scores are not that flashy this year - but notwithstanding.

Oberlin
Macalaster
Connecticut
Sewanee [Does NOT offer Need-Based Aid - but has a very unique Intl Grant system that covers all expenses.]
Trinity College (Connecticut)
Washington Univ at St. Louis [Has a strong Merit-based Scholarship Policy]

And of course the all time Greats -

Harvard, Yale, MIT, Cornell, Princeton, CalTech, Stanford, UPenn, JHU.

Emergency Meeting Today Monday at 4.00 pm

Very important meeting - all MUST be present.

My GOD!

"An eel always dreams to become a whale when it grows up." - A German Proverb.

I am really surprised to see that almost all of you want to apply to ALL of the TOP National Universities. You must understand that it is an almost impossible task to apply all these in one given season. There are so many essays to be written!

Well, first - you must visit the relevant websites and join the mailing list. YOU MUST open account with the COMMONAPP and keep in touch with the Supplement Essay page and DEADLINES.

I will be there in my room - and day after tomorrow - on Tuesday - we shall have a MOCK. Be prepared.

Registering on the Common App Website

Everyone is advised to register FREE on the CommonApp website. You will be asked for school Address. For the Mastermind the address is following: 


Mastermind, House-5, Road-12 (new), 31(old), Dhanmondi Residential Area, Dhaka-1209.
The Counselor's name should be spelled as Syed Fakhruddin Ahmed.
You are also requested to respond to the immediate past mail.

Very Important Notice

As you will know by this time - I have asked you to apply to most of the TOP universities (with maybe - Harvard as an EXCEPTION).

Now MIT is already assigning students with the interview dates. Those who want to apply to MIT should check the MIT website and start working immediately. Also NOTE that Cornell, Princeton, Yale and CalTech is also HIGH on my shopping list.

Those who wish to apply to these - Harvard, Yale, MIT, Cornell, Princeton, CalTech, Stanford, UPenn, JHU - should immediately send me mails to check your compatibility for the particular institution.


You MUST understand that all these are National Universities and require very good academic performance along with FINEST quality application essays.

You can also send me SMS to my cell - just in case you don't have internet. I MUST fix the who case by today.

Some Queries Answered

Raisa,

I hope everything is going fine. I know you are tensed - but every year I see that my young students are tensed and worried. So, I am not really too worried - except for one thing when this WORRY starts to hamper their working speed [not the Quality].

So, here are answers to your questions. 

1. For research papers I prefer to use recently published books on either Literature/History/Philosophy. You have one advantage here. You can use any of your literature/economics/extended essay/TOK assignments as the research paper for the colleges which ask for either a "Graded Paper", or "any other supplementary material". 

2. You MUST start writing why essays and look for the guidelines in the Application Blog. I have already been sent a few Y essays by others and I see that this year the essays are good.

3. Although you should send me the 150 essays ASAP, dont take it for granted that I will approve. So, dont spend too much time in perfecting it. Rather send me a few ideas from which I can choose the best writing item for 150 essay. Remember that 150 essay was NEVER 150 - it had always been much longer.

4. For common app Main Essay - go for anything - take cue from the BLOG for how to GATHER ideas for essay - Writing comes later.

5. Hope to see fast response.

6. I am also posting this mail in the App Processing BLOG for others to see.

Why Essay - Common App Essay Ideas - Fin Aid Papers

WHY Essays

1.       Why essays are the most important essays.

2.       Do not make things up while writing your Why essays; be honest.

3.       You have to show to the admissions committee that you know their colleges/universities more than they do.

4.       Why essays have to be well researched.

5.       Before writing the Why essay of a particular college/university, you must consult their online websites and examine their-

·         Programs

·         Faculties

·         Research Papers

·         Student Blogs (You must access the quality blogs, blogs that are well maintained. You cannot  waste your precious time reading poor blogs, blogs that lack passion, academics and trashed with too much personal stuff)

6.       You have to choose your Why essay topic by not looking at the length. The quality of the topic must be your first priority.

7.       While writing the Why essays, you have to show them that you have a clear knowledge about their academic programs.

8.      You have to mention your involvement in the areas of your activities.

9.      Mention student names (if possible).

10.   Mention the names of their academic programs and tell them how unique it is for your academic policy.

11.   You must use technical and academic language in your Why essays.

12.   Your Why essays must have a literally presence.

13.   As starters, your first entry point should be the MIT and Cambridge website.

14.   Why essays should be pretentiously academic in tome and content.                   

15.   Common 'Dirty Elements' in Why essays-

·         When you start talking about your childhood fascination about a discipline, it all becomes bland and mundane.

·         Talking about ones’ O and A level grades.

·         Praising a particular discipline in general makes the entire Why essay clichéd.

Common App Essays

1.       Where do you get your essay ideas from?

-          From your own reading items (Except for Cummings Study Guide)

2.       Few important websites are-

·         Granta

·         Red room

·         ***Guardian Unlimited. Access their Leisure, Culture and Life and Style tabs.

3.       Pick up phrases from the essays as you read through and try to amalgamate them with your own sense of perception and generate essay topics.

4.       Use good words while writing your essays. Don’t thesaurise.
5.       “Magic Realism,” get used to terms like these.
6.        Write a State of Mind Essay - no narration.
7.       Experiment with Sentences and Punctuation marks.
8.       Make a Helix model of your essay.
9.       Length is no barrier.

ECA

1.       Send a list of activities that you have done, thought of doing, planning to do and currently doing.

Others

1.       Ask your parents about the Tax Papers (2008 2009). PS: These are the latest.

2.       Consult two universities, Pomona College and Berea. Make a note of their deadlines and requirements.

3.       Works that have to be done before 20^th Nov-

·         Write 5 different Why essays (each can be up to 3 pages maximum)

·         Write at least three 150 word essays (Provided in the ECA section of the Common Apps )

·         Send a list of activities that you have done, thought of doing, planning to do and currently doing.

·         You must choose a book or a concept for your research paper (choose any book that is published AFTER 2005)

·         Don’t buy the book before I ask you to do so; tell me the name first

·         Books can be bought from the following markets-

-          Prothoma, Aziz Super Market, Shahbagh

-          Friends Book Store, Nilkheth (Above Midnight Sun Chinese Restaurant).

For our class tomorrow

1.       Send me a Why Essay of any college or university of your liking.

2.       Make a printout of the Certification of Finance (2 pg) along with the 4 pg financial aid paper.

3.       Print out all your selected colleges and universities supplement.

4.       Keep a notebook with you to jot down ideas and plans.

5.       Carry all the above listed items in a clear bag. If you are unable to do so, don’t enter the class.

6.       Send me a Why Essay of any college or university.

Essay Writing Tips

These are the 2 important links for checking the essay writing tips. It's not necessarily that I will follow all these guidelines - but YOU will. I will make necessary changes when required.

http://www.acm.edu/uploads/cms/documents/acm-college-guide-writing-essay.pdf
http://www.edcc.edu/lsc/Handouts/documents/Personal_Statement--Overview_and_Online_Resources.pdf

I have just one advice - "When you are Writing, don't be your Editor; when it's time to edit, be Merciless."

Start Writing Essays

Everyone is requested to work on the essays that the colleges and universities require. Remember, that your first draft is simply a way of telling me how you would approach the subject.

There is a statistics here - in the last 5 years there had been at best total of 8 to 10 essays that were based on the ideas of students themselves. All the rest of the essays - about 1200 of them - were planned and written by the students themselves but with borrowed ideas.

So, do NOT try to perfect your essays and WASTE time in the process - Be Prolific - send me as many essays as possible.

Do not send me separate mails - rather in a single mail try to accommodate as many essay as attachments.

I am waiting for your responses.

Those who have started to send me essays - they will be given responses tomorrow in person.

Things You Should be Doing

Dear AP Students,

I have so far received a few PS - so, some of you have not sent me yours. I have most of the Grids. The choices of the colleges look quite 'defensive' at the first look. I want to see the list a little more ambitious this year - there is ample time, the US economy is strong and I feel that the pre-app SAT classes went the way I wanted.

Those who gave the exam today - have been given specific instructions regarding the next steps.

Some instructions -

1. Don't be apologetic for your late submissions.
2. Send me all your essays in word attachments.
3. The qualities of the essays should be one of the finest specimens that you have read as part of your SAT reading items.
4. Be prolific.
5. Send me mails whenever you need to send one - BUT please write something in the Subject Box of your mail.
6. The time has already started ticking - don't sit around.

Demand for PS

Those of you did not send me the PS are REQUESTED [I am howling] to send me TONIGHT. Please try to figure what kind of additional things you wish to send to the universities.

I plan to send at least 5 applications each to Stanford and MIT. The 2 universities I have always eyed with suspicion are - Yale and Harvard. But somebody might be audacious enough.

This blog has been created exclusively for the App Processing studs. DO NOT let others know of this blog.

Most of you have failed to understand the CONTENT element of the PS. It is an Autobiographical Essay - it's everything about you. Talk of your life, your academics, your family, your friends, the ideas that attract you, ideas that repel, things you plan to do, you do not want to see any more - - the books that shaped you, the cinemas that influenced you, your views of life, and cosmos --- in one word --- the PS will tell me everything about YOU. Don't follow any Recipe for the PS --- write anything and I will accept it. One rule - nothing less than 10 pages with Times New Roman 12 font. [By this standard Anik's essay has fallen short!]

Send it quick.

Start Application Process

Keep sending me updates.