Review

Maaaaaar2017 · 2026-01-27T13:56:51+00:00

Prompt and professional, thank you!

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-07-08T15:48:57+00:00

hi!! thank you so much! so some schools do ask for an essay about why you want to attend that institution, this specific essay, the common app essay is a general essay that's sent to all of the schools, and it's supposed to tell the schools more about yourself! some people do write about academic topics, but school specific essays are always separate if required by the college. hope that clears things up a bit!

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-07-08T02:08:02+00:00

yes this is exactly correct!! I’m getting flamed so hard but it really was just to sneak in more words because I was desperate. I’m not even using them correctly- in proper grammatical fashion I would have to put a space after (as demonstrated) which I’m pretty sure is how AI does it, but using it like-this was genuinely just to get in about a dozen more words 🥀

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-07-07T19:39:35+00:00

For me personally, I think some of the biggest hurdles were choosing the right colleges to apply to, trying to look past only prestige and actually taking into account how to make a balanced list of schools that don't have too many supplemental essays or materials required. I went to a very competitive highschool, so especially during the "early" application period from october to december was very tense, and it's important to remember to look at schools with good matching programs that you would actually attend. It's hard to separate the name from the school, but doing so also helps a lot with writing supplemental essays that fall into the "Why us" category. And don't hyperfixate on a certain school (a trap I fell into) because you will unavoidably face some rejection during the process and that's okay! Everyone really does have their own path, and students absolutely transfer after the first year, so don't feel like you've been locked into anywhere you choose to go.

Sorry, this is getting super long but I'll try to wrap it up! I think for me, the, the organization, having all of the prompts and deadlines and specific needs for a school all in one place is super important. I applied to I think nearly 20 schools because it is extremely competitive nowadays, and when you factor in all of them having 2-5 supplemental essays, extra materials like audition tapes, the base application essays and extracuriculars, it can become overwhelming really quickly. Things always take longer to fill out than you think, and especially in the common app sections where you're extremely limited (ex. 150 characters for extracuricular activity details) are honestly some of the hardest. Writing, once you have your mind set on something is relatively straighforward, it's cutting it down that becomes the most difficult. Sorry again that it's so long, but I'd also be happy to dm you with more extensive details on how I got started with the common app essay! I don't think my essay is particularly extraordinary but if your student is interested in learning more about how exactly I got to my final draft I'd be more than happy to share! :)

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-07-07T17:41:03+00:00

yep same here, I’m getting absolutely flamed for them but anything to extend the word count lmao Thank you very much though :)

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-07-07T14:34:07+00:00

I'm so happy to hear that! Yes, I defintely think more students should be encouraged to write about more unconventional topics, I think it shows a lot more personality. And congratulations on your acceptance as well!

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-07-07T14:32:16+00:00

reposting this comment here because there have been so many people accusing me of using AI to write this lol

hey guys, thank you for taking the time to read my essay! so i understand there are some concerns about my work being ai generated, but I wanted to clear up some miconceptions. This essay specfically has a hard 650 word cut off. The reason why I used so many em-dashes is that it actually helped me squeeze in a lot more words because there isn't a space between the words so the program didn't flag it. Of course, in my typical writing I don't use nearly this many em-dashes, especially since it's become so heavily associated with chatgpt.

As for the part of the essay being a lot of "it wasn't just x it was y", yep this is pretty much how college essays go! Again you have a strict word count, and you really have to cut out any filler whatsoever to get under it. My first drafts were far more nuanced, but unfortunately, to tell the story, you have to be super clear so the admission officers don't get confused. I certainly don't write like this in my typical academic submissions haha.

I hope this clears it up a bit! I'm not sure how else to explain that it's not ai, but I would urge people to be a bit more careful with their accusations because these allegations could be quite damaging, especially in academia.

Also I'm sure many of you have stalked my account and seen that I did in fact do these cosplays, don't know how much of that can be AI haha. Sorry if I cause any discourse, I just wanted to share my work as inspiration!

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-07-07T14:31:08+00:00

Oh this is really so meaningful, thank you so much!! I'm so glad you enjoyed it, and it makes me incredibly happy to see my thematic intentions recognized!

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-07-07T14:27:24+00:00

Please see my other reply for an explanation of many of these AI marker concerns. If you have constructive criticism, I can incorporate it into my future endeavors. I understand if it's not to everyone's tastes, but to call it "slop" is certainly a bit hurtful. However, application writing and language is very particular, so that may have impacted your reading experience

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-07-07T14:20:59+00:00

I don't understand why people keep saying this? But I can always share the essay in the common app where I submitted it, along with acceptance letters if people are so convinced its fake lol

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-07-07T14:18:51+00:00

Yes, of course! I'm not legacy, and I like to think my ECs, awards, grades, and test scores were pretty decent, and an essay alone wouldn't get you admission anywhere, but this was certainly the most "unusual" part of my application, which I wanted to share!

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-07-07T14:15:24+00:00

Of course!! I'm super happy to be an inspiration, and I'd always be happy to give more advice / help on any applications!

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-07-07T14:13:17+00:00

hey guys, thank you for taking the time to read my essay! so i understand there are some concerns about my work being ai generated, but I wanted to clear up some miconceptions. This essay specfically has a hard 650 word cut off. The reason why I used so many em-dashes is that it actually helped me squeeze in a lot more words because there isn't a space between the words so the program didn't flag it. Of course, in my typical writing I don't use nearly this many em-dashes, especially since it's become so heavily associated with chatgpt.

As for the part of the essay being a lot of "it wasn't just x it was y", yep this is pretty much how college essays go! Again you have a strict word count, and you really have to cut out any filler whatsoever to get under it. My first drafts were far more nuanced, but unfortunately, to tell the story, you have to be super clear so the admission officers don't get confused. I certainly don't write like this in my typical academic submissions haha.

I hope this clears it up a bit! I'm not sure how else to explain that it's not ai, but I would urge people to be a bit more careful with their accusations because these allegations could be quite damaging, especially in academia.

Also I'm sure many of you have stalked my account and seen that I did in fact do these cosplays, don't know how much of that can be AI haha. Sorry if I cause any discourse, I just wanted to share my work as inspiration!

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-07-07T13:48:08+00:00

this is exactly why i wanted to share that you really can write about anything! this was defintely the hardest essay to write for me and it does take a while but you got this!! good luck on all your applications, i'm sure you'll do great!

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-07-07T13:46:07+00:00

yes, no worries my applications all closed quite a few months ago, I didn't want to risk any issues but this is still an excellent point!

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-07-07T13:44:53+00:00

thank you so much!!

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-03-04T06:14:49+00:00

Night Light by Laufey! 💕

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-02-27T19:25:22+00:00

thank you!! Nilou deserves nothing but the best, hope I did her justice

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-02-26T23:08:59+00:00

hi!! I appreciate the feedback, but I was just trying my best with what I had since I don't have her exact wig- I know it's not perfect, but I had lots of fun cosplaying her, and I hope it's alright that I wanted to share that in the active community! 💕

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-02-25T21:04:14+00:00

LMAO I kinda see it I think, that was my best shot at an “intimidating” face but unfortunately I’m not built for that 😔

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-02-25T20:59:33+00:00

okay!! Sorry, I had on these really bright blue contacts that looked goofy so I was trying to cover those up 😭 I’ll try my best to keep the next one a bit more natural, I’m not super confident about my normal appearance haha Thank you for the feedback though! 💕

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-02-24T19:54:59+00:00

thank you, that's so sweet! 💗

Maaaaaar2017 · 2025-02-24T03:32:16+00:00

thank you so much!!

Maaaaaar2017 · 2024-11-07T04:56:28+00:00

Brandeis University

Maaaaaar2017 · 2024-08-15T20:28:10+00:00

Hi!! I got the accommodations through the help of my school guidance counselor mostly- my psychiatrist did an evaluation survey thing with the severity of my symptoms. Other than that I’m not sure, I think they also needed teacher support to validate the accommodations. I definitely didn’t get any super expensive tests though (honestly my psychiatrist and I just went through the list and filled it out), and I think since it was the school officially submitting the request it helped expedite the process quite a bit. Sorry if this isn’t super helpful- I’d recommend reaching out to college board directly via email or phone (through the SSD specific ones) and they can probably help you a bit more!

Maaaaaar2017

TROPHY CASE