hello there virtual little sibling I'm

Kevin Zen Yale 2020 grad and co-founder

of the elevated school if you're looking

for writing or college application help

visit our website shoot us a message I

promise we respond to every single

request we're also looking for more High

achieving low-income students so if you

identify as part of that group let us

know so that we can hook you up with a

scholarship today I will be sharing

three golden rules to instantly Elevate

the quality of your college essays or

really any application essay the three

ideas that I'll be discussing today are

all extensions of RV spice secret rubric

so if you haven't had a chance to watch

that video I highly recommend checking

it out rule number one the first golden

rule is that your essay must be

something that only you could have

written you would be absolutely shocked

at how many times I have read an essay

and I feel like it could have been

written by any other student to help you

avoid this trap I have two suggestions

the first tip is to jot down a dozen or

so specific details or fun facts that

are absolutely unique to you trust me

these will be particularly helpful when

response supplemental essay questions

especially these for USC and these for

Stanford particularly and most notably

the Stanford roommate essay question to

give you an idea let me share a few

must-know facts about shaboy Kev one fun

fact about me is that my sister and I

are actually 13 years apart she's the

one who first taught me about abstract

art and Lord of the Rings another fun

fact about me would be that it took an

entire year for me to learn this

breakdance move called the air chair a

third fun fact would be that I once got

stranded on a mountain in Denali

National Park in Alaska and they nearly

had to send a helicopter to rescue me

again the more unusual specific

interesting and funky these details are

the better now my second suggestion is

to consider which of these fun facts is

actually the most impressive which of

these conveys something about yourself

that just isn't expressed anywhere else

in your application of the four fun

facts that I just shared I would say

that the most notable impressive one

would be the air chair this is because

braking as an art form as well as

implicitly conveys my determination and

perseverance since after all this move

did take me one year to learn so when

generating interesting details about

yourself you've got to consider what is

this show about my personality and what

character traits am I trying to

highlight now to really Hammer this

point home let me offer you another

example instead of just writing a fact

like I am the oldest sibling replace

that with as the oldest sibling it's my

job to cook dinner every Thursday night

and my go-to dish is seafood linguine

this conveys both leadership and selfish

business and plus who doesn't like

linguine I almost forgot something super

duper important if you guys are enjoying

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one applies specifically to the Common

App this rule says to have a standout

essay combine vulnerability with

proactivity

now the next natural question of course

is how do I do that well one way you can

do this is by revealing something in

your essay that you feel like you might

be slightly judged for there's a few

different approaches that we like to

advise students to utilize one you could

talk about hanging on to a childhood

Memento like a Spider-Man action figure

then share how it represents who you are

and what you stand for or two you could

share a quirky detail about yourself

like the fact that you always listen to

disco music whenever you brush your

teeth

or three you could simply admit mistakes

that you've made over the last couple of

years believe it or not a college

admissions officer would much rather

read an essay about your failures as

opposed to your successes after all

that's kind of what your activities list

and honors section is for another common

way to Showcase vulnerability is by

family that might be slightly

stigmatized you don't want to over share

but sharing struggles related to your

family or personal life especially ones

that affected your health or your

academics then explaining how you

overcame them

well that's never a bad essay topic in

fact this is the very same approach that

I took in my own Common App essay which

got me into yo and Princeton long story

short the essay is about me frying rice

and my parents Chinese restaurant and

just wanting to quit after a summer

articulating that fear and doubt and

then explaining how I came to the

realization that if I wasn't frying rice

then my injured dad would be the one

replacing me that communicated a lot of

maturity and vulnerability now imagine

if I had just said yeah I was frying

rice and it sucks but I just stuck

through it then you know the story just

wouldn't have that same emotional impact

and carry the same weight it wouldn't

have sounded as authentic you guys know

what I mean for more on that essay you

guys can check it out here or here

one word of advice here make sure you

about your problems you don't want to

woe is me my life is so hard kind of

essay to avoid that all you have to do

is remember that you are the protagonist

you are the main character the

overwhelming majority of your essays

should be about you making things happen

not things happening to you alrighty

that brings us to the third and final

Golden Rule which is that your

application must showcase your curiosity

beyond the classroom I love this one

because it really is something that any

student irregardless of your background

can do you absolutely have to watch this

video where I talk about the rabbit hole

technique after you learn what that is

you can then apply this second follow-up

tip which I have nicknamed the Optics

trick

here's how the Optics trick works simply

pick an academic or intellectual concept

that fascinates you and talk about how

you see the world through that lens

check out this example where I use

philosophy as my academic or

philosophical lens when my dog Jojo and

I go on a walk together she sniffs

this is because she chose the sniff

there or because her DNA predestined her

programming when I swim lap after lap of

breaststroke I find myself pondering the

dichotomy of flow how one can be

completely alone in the search of

self-improvement and yet surrounded by a

flurry of kicking feet and splashing

water I just made that one up on the

spot but hopefully you guys get the idea

that's it for today folks I don't want

to overload you with too much

information but if you have watched

until the end and you want to continue

this adventure I've compiled a playlist

with tips and tricks to help you get

into whatever dream school you're aiming

for check it out take it easy friends I

hope you enjoyed today's video and I'll

catch you at the next one papa papa

peace

foreign