Application to U.S. Universities

Yes, the season is ending. 2007 is almost over, and yes, recently I have been saddled by tons of application essays, from many fellow Malaysians, who are giving their best shot, to earn themselves a ticket to study at their dream universities, be it the ivy-coated institutions or any other top notch institutions in U.S.

I have been reading thousands of application essays over the past 7 years or so, and that has definitely given me a peek into the life of many Malaysians. Many of them have gone through tons of experience and they are just 17,18,19 or 20 years old. I really don't imagine myself having those abilities during those days. It is good to see many of them have a heart for community, have a heart for the unpriviledged ones, have a heart for the environment etc. At least, they state so in their essays and I hope they would keep their words.

Reading those essays, I would say that I have definitely noticed a significant improvement in the quality of essays over the years. Gone were the days, when the essay is more plain, and merely follow a story line. If I were to have a copy of my own application essay, I would say that mine would be no where near many of those which I have read.

Among those students who have approached me to read through their essays, I would say that generally most of them are appreciative of what is a volunteer work on my part, in the middle of night, be it I am healthy, sick, busy or free. It is the joy when many of them got their admission offer and share the news with me, that have kept me going.

I would share their joy, as well as sadness. It is my pleasure to do so. Thanks for allowing me to be empathy with many of you. I wish I have tons more of time to do this, as this is definitely my passion, but I have to say that with so many essays up for me to read through, typically my feedback would be just a paragraph or so of comments for each essay. This is quite a bit of stuff already, since most people give me quite a few essays, and I have read through many drafts of their essays.

Would like to really comment on those who really put in efforts to improve their essays. I know that quite a number of them are upset over their SAT score. I can understand your scenario. Do try your best to improve it in January SAT. I know it is past deadline, but if you never take it, you would not improve it. If you take it and do well, there is chance that you still have time to send it to the universities and bring upon their attention.

All these are subjective ones, so your significant efforts would be reflected in your applications. Your hard work of applying, with your dedication to make your applications complete would be worth it. Even if you do not manage to get into your dream university, I would say that the process of application is a lesson by itself. You struggle through many of the late nights trying to think through on how to improve your essay. It is not easy.

And getting into university is just the first step. I often like to tell those who shared me the good news, that getting in is the first step. What is crucial is how they make full use of the opportunities. Irrespective of the universities one gets in, one would still have tons of opportunities out there, as a lot of those opportunities do not care where one studies.

Good Luck to everyone~! Hope to see more good news this year~!

And for those whose essays have been read through by me, and I gave you my comments, I hope that you would take it positively. It is just a feedback from a fellow Malaysian who has gone through the process. Nothing more than that. Do seek others' feedback too. And I am a very direct person, so if you have been getting negative comments on your essay, I am sincerely doing that, hoping that you could improve and enhance your chance.