Adam Epstein '05

By now I’m sure you have heard the news: the notable groundhogs of the world saw their shadow this morning. Yes, folks, sight of a shadow is said to bring with it six more weeks of winter. Personally, I am ecstatic about this news. Winter is my favorite season, and I’ll gladly take another twelve—let alone six—weeks. But not everyone feels the same way I do. To make up for it, here are some exciting things that will happen in the next six weeks for WPI students:

• Valentine’s Day: February 14, strong positive and negative associations depending on the situation.
• Academic Advising Day: February 18, no classes.
• Last day of C-Term: March 5, self explanatory!
• Spring break: March 6–13, self explanatory.
• First day of D-Term: March 15, last term of the year & exactly two months before Commencement.
• Robert Goddard Day: March 16, celebrating the first liquid fueled rocket launch by WPI alumnus Robert Goddard.

Let’s hope for some snow mixed in with what remains of winter. I know I will be.

One of the really great things about college is that there are literally hundreds of events each year held on campus that are open for you (and often, faculty and staff) to attend. You’ll find concerts, discussions, movies, dances, festivals, lectures, networking, leadership seminars, and even the occasional political event. One such event happened a few weeks ago at WPI.

You are probably familiar with the recent especial US Senate election in Massachusetts. This election on January 19, 2010 was surely one of the most if not the most publicized and contested in my time living in Massachusetts. Even with the hype surrounding the election, I was very surprised when I learned that the Democratic candidate, Martha Coakley, selected WPI as the location she wanted to hold a rally just days before the polling. Normally I’d have thought that having such an event on campus would simply add a little buzz on a Friday evening, but this event was to include former President Bill Clinton!

The inclusion of Bill Clinton was really something special—a former president coming to WPI and speaking in a building I can see from my office! Politics aside, I had to go to this event! The Great Hall of Alden Memorial was nearly at capacity on Friday evening, January 15, and I went armed with a camera. You can see some of the photos I took below including some very close-up shots to President Clinton. Unfortunately I was just a few feet too far back in the crowd when he was shaking hands at the conclusion of the event.

Seeing (just some) of the logistics of this event was my favorite part. Security was, of course, especially tight. WPI, Worcester, and State Police were visible all afternoon in addition to Secret Service. What is usually a building that’s free to roam through, Alden Memorial was on lock down. In my opinion, a minor inconvenience for such a rare event!

I know that there were many students in attendance at the event, and since it was open to the public, some of them were right up front and had the chance to meet the former president. When you get to college, make sure you study and keep up with academics. But don’t fall victim of not taking advantage of all of the wonderful opportunities outside of your classes—you never know what type of event will be happening or who will speak on your doorstep!

Please note that WPI did not endorse a candidate in the election, and Martha Coakley’s campaign independently reserved the space on campus and paid for all associated costs. I am writing about it as an example of an intriguing event on campus that WPI students, faculty, and staff had the opportunity to attend.

The final application deadline for fall 2010 admission is just days away: February 1 to be precise. To apply for regular decision, be sure that you submit your application online by 11:59pm on Tuesday night or that your paper application is in the mail and postmarked no later than Tuesday. Of course, I don’t recommend waiting until Tuesday at 11:30pm to start your application, but if you plan to apply to WPI and haven’t yet, you better get moving!

We want you to make us work! Our office processes and thoroughly reviews every application we receive, so the more we get, the more work we have to do. Your applications will keep us busy for the next several months, and that is just what we want!! Serious. :)

Apply now!

Photo courtesy of bionicteaching on Flickr.

This morning I looked at xkcd as I do every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. I almost always get a kick out of xkcd, and today was no exception (after all, I work at WPI and I graduated from here so xkcd is right up my alley!) Today, however, the the comic resonated with me in a different way than usual: the topic is about FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), something in which I have not been involved but something with which I have come to be quite familiar. Many WPI applicants, students, and alumni have been members of FIRST (read more about FIRST and the annual championships).

Anyway, today’s comic relates to the newly announced Breakaway game. To FIRST participants: good luck, and we hope to see you at the inaugural WPI Regional or the Championship!

By the way, if you are looking to grab my attention and impress me in your application, mention xkcd. :)

Image posted under Creative Commons license from xkcd.

Well, it’s been a while—in fact an entire term at WPI—since I last posted. This time of year is my busiest with respect to travel, and the past six weeks have been no exception. As I write this, I’m at the airport in Phoenix, AZ waiting to board a plane back to the east coast. I’ll sleep in my own bed on Tuesday night for only the third time this month!

I really enjoy my travel schedule for a few reasons not the least of which is the actual areas to which I have the privilege of going! This month I’ve been to Denver, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tucson, Phoenix, and many smaller cities and towns among them. Add in the end of September, and the grand total is fifteen states, ten flights, over two dozen hotels, nearly 80 high schools, about 40 interviews, thousands of miles driven, and one set of keys locked in a rental car! Talk about a whirlwind!

It’s great to visit so many places and meet so many wonderful students, but the downside and challenge is covering all of that area in such a short amount of time. I could easily double the amount of time to visit more high schools and interview more students, but it just isn’t feasible!

If we didn’t have the chance to meet on the road, I’m sorry! If you’re from any of the states for which I am responsible (see above) and you’d like to connect for an interview, I will be happy to schedule a time for us to speak on the phone. Please get in touch.

My next few days will be spent traveling locally in Massachusetts, and then my schedule is complete on Friday just in time for Halloween which happens to also be Homecoming at WPI. The next week will be a transition period as a catch up and chance to unwind from travel and gear up to begin reviewing applications. I’m eager to see yours!

And, interpret as you will, the following from Robert Frost:
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

This morning over 900 young women and men are arriving at WPI and officially becoming the newest members of the WPI Community as part of the Class of 2013! Many members of the student body, faculty, and staff got to know these students over the past months and years as they navigated the college visit, application, and decision making processes. We are all proud of their past accomplishments, and we are excited they are joining our community. Yet again we have broken records: the largest class ever at WPI, the most well qualified academically, and the most diverse geographically and ethnically. The class also has some great accomplishments already, and I’m sure they’ll continue to achieve greatly at WPI.

To the members of the Class of 2013: Welcome—officially! I hope you will seize the opportunities at WPI and make the most of them. If or when you need help, don’t be afraid to ask. Above all, I wish you each the best of luck and extend a warm welcome to the WPI community:

Babadee, Jeffrey, Wilmann, Nouran, Jeremy, Christopher, Nicholas, Ting Ting, Jeffrey, Shuimiao, Philip, Jose, Jacob, Qiying, Autumn, Lindsey, Victoria, Ryan, Jennifer, Nathaniel, Alan, Nicholas, Aaron, Ryan, Benjamin, Derek, Donal, Madeleine, Benjamin, Vincent, Tanya, Sean, Caitlin, Laura, Timothy, Anthony, Sarah, Nikole, Lindsey, Joseph, Drew, Dennis, Zachary, Nicole, Nikole, Christopher, Klevis, Caroline, Emmanuel, Angel, Patrick, Runzi, Brian, Hui, Wyatt, Ryan, Chang, Linjun, Karin, Joshua, Rachele, Xiao, Daniel, John, Richard, Michael, Jameel, Nhi, Scott, Michael, Drew, Matthew, Christopher, Corey, Dustin, Joseph, Paul, Jennifer, James, Patrick, Junbo, Conrad, Ricardo, Claudia, Tyler, Alfredo, Daniel, Gregory, Maksim, James, Jack, Wesley, Lauren, Sidney, Devin, Jenny, Kathryn, Ryan, Deborah, Wenxuan, Ennio, Kandace, Daniel, Robyn, Silvia, Bryan, Alexandra, Amanda, Mathew, Timothy, Stephen, Lucien, Alex, Samantha, Yanxin, Benjamin, Erik, Shane, Johan, Joshua, Corey, Shawna, Rohit, William, William, Matthew, Daniel, Carlie, Ryan, Alexander, Blair, Nicholas, Joseph, Christopher, Christine, Kassondra, Tudor, Michelangela, Brandy, Kimberly, Emily, James, Alexander, Ian, Matthew, Kevin, Kai, Matthew, Kelly, Brian, Courtney, Michael, Richard, Hosung, Zachary, Earl, Zephyr, Abdulla, Tuhina, Samantha, Kassandra, Sebastian, Giles, Max, Alexander, Joaquin, Maria, Sean, Jeremy, Meredith, Ivy, Michelle, Jonathan, Maureen, James, Gabriel, Elyssa, Daniel, David, Srinivas, Roxanne, Linhai, Matthew, Anders, Cara, Justin, Adam, Adam, Raymond, Nathanael, Brendan, Max, Stephan, Bryan, Timothy, Jeffrey, Anthony, Chelsea, Cynthia, Nicholas, Katherine, Sarah, Marissa, Thomas, Steven, Ben, Cody, Rebecca, Michael, John, Katrina, Emily, Daniel, Claire, Philip, Andrew, Paul, Yimin, Adam, Prashant, Lauren, Michael, Nikole, Michelle, Kasif, Maria, Anthony, Jonathan, Alex, Kevin, Frank, Christopher, Michael, Jessica, Carl, Michael, Phuoc, Stephany, James, Gregory, Elizabeth, Kevin, Jeffrey, Thomas, Julian, Alexander, Robert, Raymond, Michael, Angela, Daniel, Adam, David, Daniel, Jonathan, Danielle, Timothy, Andrew, Thomas, Mark, Nathan, Nataniel, Thomas, Justin, Jaime, Brittany, Ryan, Daniel, Marco, Victoria, James, Thomas, Josephine, Justin, Drew, Patchara, Dylan, Gregory, Adam, Andrew, Derrick, Cassandra, Neil, David, Georgi, Sarah, Robert, Shawn, Ngoc, Gallagher, Stephen, Ji-Hun, Xavier, Thomas, Chris, Hillary, Richard, Ignacio, Ryan, Jonathan, Chenchen, Samuel, Evan, Nancy, Sarah, Dale, Xu, Christopher, Geoffrey, Taylor, Serena, Eric, William, Noor, Cory, Christopher, Arten, Alexander, Kristen, Shaine, Amber, Nicholas, Stasia, Kristina, Sydney, Shashank, Scott, Julie, Joseph, Frederick, Sabrina, Zhen, Samuel, Anthony, Katherine, Mario, Brian, Caitlin, Theresa, Francisco, David, Christopher, Christa, John, Daniela, Darius, Jessica, Kelsey, Aaron, Andrea, Chelsea, Meagan, Xianjing, Bangyan, Joshua, Kevin, William, Randal, Patrick-Joseph, Katherine, Jeffrey, David, Kellie, Caleb, Yusuf, Patrick, Katharine, Ajay, Joshua, Geordie, Nuri, Daniel, Benjamin, Joseph, Glen, Michelle, Jennifer, Sasha, Jeremy, Justin, Emily, Jocelyn, Bailey, Andrew, Adam, Joseph, Bradley, Joshua, AlJohn, James, Ryan, Matthew, Emilee, Corey, Meghan, Jonathan, Courtney, Robert, Igor, Nicole, Jonathan, Nesa-Maria, Lauren, Jonathan, Bereket, Griffin, Christopher, Sofia, Anthony, Jacob, Joseph, Ijeoma, Ross, Guanyu, Erin, Jillian, Brandon, Jay, Michael, Jacqueline, Alexander, John, Matthew, Zaki, Cesar, Christopher, Katherine, Rinaldo, Nisha, Erin, Jeffrey, Lazaro, Lukas, Brian, Felipe, Alexander, Joseph, Spencer, Niroshni, Raymond, Stephen, Jason, Emily, David, Joshua, Andrew, Chelsea, Michael, Patrick, Aviv, Jonas, Sandesh, Jake, James, Jessica, Edward, Erin, John, Cody, Macauley, Janneth, Evan, Renee, Jennifer, Sean, Mathew, Jian, James, Zehao, Richard, Daniel, Daniel, Zachary, David, Cassiopia, Andrew, Shubham, Ashley, Sean, Samuel, Laura, Nathan, Christopher, Gregory, Paolo, Pattipong, Daniel, Mason, Adam, Robert, Peter, Elante, Ryan, Abigail, Eric, Thomas, Devin, Brandon, James, Cian, Korapat, Nediva, Max, Nicolas, Lauren, Petra, Claude-Reynald, Nicholas, Xuanya, Sarah, Adrianna, Jesse, Brian, JungMi, Pak, Brendan, Alex, David, Jonathan, Frank, Chuqiao, Marinela, Peter, Zijian, Patrick, Matthew, Eric, Khanh-Nhan, Shaun, Simon, Nicholas, Christopher, Kevin, Brandon, Andelle, Andrew, Jessica, Jared, Stephen, Sergey, Brian, Codi, Eric, Hussein, Dunia, Jared, Hayley, Heather, Shannon, Devon, Melanie, Dean, Nathaniel, Katherine, Susan, Kyle, Benjamin, Michael, Paul, Fred, Nicholas, David, Naveed, Ye, Roni, Wilfredo, Patrick, Nathaniel, Bryan, Jennifer, Autumn, Christopher, Valerie, Peter, Seth, Virginia, Breanna, Cassandra, Amy, Jessica, Michael, Xueyang, Cody, Charles, Elliott, Christian, Gabriela, Brent, William, Danielle, Adam, John, Sonya, Michael, Daniel, Cullen, Howard, Colin, Tyler, Blake, Arben, Erin, Thomas, Kevin, Lauren, Kevin, Lucas, Jerone, Tory, Jonathan, Ethan, Jeremy, Noelle, Daniel, Eric, Bryan, Congyi, Samantha, Bianca, Julie, Derek, Fabrice, Aaron, Nicholas, Emily, Anthony, Caitlin, Miye, Evangelos, Cordell, Fangjie, Connor, David, Cing, Joseph, Christopher, Gregory, Mingnan, Gregory, Victoria, Catherine, Stephen, Matthew, Aileen, Robert, Jessica, Jennifer, Heather, Ryan, Nicholas, Yidi, Brittany, Andrew, Thomas, Yunwen, Nicholas, Jacob, Hailey, Keegan, Robert, Joseph, Daria, Daniel, Kerrin, Melinda, Alicia, Edward, Michael, Andrew, Erika, Neel, Shelby, Daniel, Farrah, Bobbie Jo, Cindy, Eben, Thomas, Marc, Jighjigh, Elizabeth, Lee Joan, Alex, Steven, Joseph, David, Christa, Tyler, Richard, You, Seth, Stephen, Paul, Andrew, Jesse, Madison, Jessica, Nathan, Joshua, Craig, Meng, Justin, Ricky, James, Jibin, Kun, Ethan, Praphapan, Justin, Evren, James, Drew, Jared, Christian, Caroline, Michael, Seth, Jonathan, Kevin, James, Lukasz, Neil, Rebecca, Aren, Evan, Richard, Duje, Catherine, James, Ian, Julian, Adrian, Andrew, Steven, Shane, Richard, Richard, Alexander, John, Kyla, Anthony, Shelbye, Mikhail, Alexander, Mohammad, Bryce, William, Anthony, Brenna, Alyssa, Jeffrey, Santiago, Ingrid, Stephanie, Leah, Jeffrey, Elisa, Steven, Ryan, Brennan, Hao, Daniel, Barbara, Jenni, William, Emily, Francis, Elise, Evan, Myo, Justin, Stephan, Jacquelyn, Christopher, Erik, Brooke, Maciej, Brittany, Matthew, Sheila, Alyssa, Jason, Matthew, Jeffrey, Rebecca, Alexandra, John, Gabriel, Richard, Christopher, Derek, Chris, Jeremy, Dong-Uk, Ryan, Brian, Elizabeth, Paul, Xiaojing, Kiara, Caitlin, Michael, Catherine, Grant, Joseph, Kaung Myat, William, Ian, Olivia, Jason, Jonathan, Julie, Martha, Rachel, Mark, Jocelyn, Katie, Jeffrey, Andre, Tyler, Ying, Jonathan, Bradford, Benjamin, Devon, Marcela, Somyi, Yunxin, Andrew, Saviniano, Burak, Emma, Lauren, Gabriel, Anthony, Noah, Conor, James, Owen, John, Ryan, Neal, Nathaniel, Megan, Kimberly, Ana, Shane, Syed, Salik, Emily, Nikolaos, Elizabeth, Michal, Bethany, Daniel, Keith, Ryan, Long, Loribel, Robert, David, Brian, Jaimes, Anthony, Edward, Max, Ilea, Jenine, Katelyn, Christopher, Xiao, Emily, Matthew, Brett, Patrick, Michael, Jennifer, Belinda, Kaleigh, Gabriel, Mackenzie, Troy, Jacob, Alessandro, Beth, Joseph, Hairan, Nicholas, Kerrie, Alexandra, Laura, Matthew, Woo Chan, James, Joseph, Shuang, Hannah, Kali, Jacob, Gregory, Chloe, Aaron, James, James, Melanie, Markus, Rebecca, Victoria, James, Justin, Kathryn, Shane, Shaun, Jay, Malessa, Ryan, Emily, Peter, Alyssa, Wan, Matthew, Matthew, Jared, Warren, Joshua, Brett, Kyle Patrick, Heather, Peter, David, Gregory, Margaret, William, Timothy, Timothy, Marissa, Nicholas, Leinal, Brianna, Livia, Bruno, Michael, Joan, Michael, Megan, Elizabeth, Lauren, Amy, Lindsey, Bethany, Jackson, Christian, Amanda, Hanxiong, Todd, Stephen, Jean Paul, Mariah, Tania, Alexander, Julian, Alec, Alberto, Christopher, Yiling, Nathan, Mitchell, Roberto, Paul, Antonio, Daniel, Brian, Nathaniel, Gabriel, and Savan

With the members of the Class of 2013 only days away from their arrival on campus, most of the effort of the Admissions Office has turned toward the next application cycle for the Class of 2014. (Don’t worry 2013ers, you’re in good hands with the faculty and student life staff!)

For those of you about to begin your senior year of high school and considering or planning to apply to WPI, now’s your chance to join the official WPI Class of 2014 Facebook group. This group is a great place for you to meet other students considering attending WPI. You never know, you might even connect with your future roommate or best friend! The group is also a great way for you to ask questions of current WPI students, other prospective students, and the Admissions staff. I look forward to interacting with you there.

While you’re at it, why not become a fan of WPI and WPI Admissions?

Please keep in mind that our official Admissions pages and groups are in no way connected to your application review. With that said, please be respectful when posting in the groups and pages; inappropriate and disrespectful posts will be removed.

Although our first application deadline is over three months away, we’re already getting many questions and requests from students eager to apply now! I want to let you know of a few changes to our application process for the coming year.

First, we’ve modified our application deadlines slightly. We still have three rounds of application: two early action options and a regular decision option. The changes are to the early action rounds and are as follows:

• Early Action Round 1: Application deadline is November 10 with a decision notification of December 20
• Early Action Round 2: Application deadline is January 1 (no change) with a decision notification of February 10
• Regular Decision: Application deadline is February 1 (no change) with a decision notification of April 1 (no change)

All application options are non-binding meaning that you can apply whenever you want and, if admitted, have until May 1 to let us know whether or not you are enrolling. Learn more by reviewing our full Admissions Deadlines.

The other addition to our application this year is the inclusion of a supplemental form for students applying using the Common Application or Universal Application. In the past we have not required a supplement, but we have found ourselves making admissions decisions with varying amounts of information. Students applying with the WPI application are asked questions specific to WPI. On our application, we’re able to ask students for a specific intended major (if known), whether they are interested in one of our pre-professional programs (pre-med, pre-vet, pre-dental, pre-law), whether they have relatives employed at WPI, and if they have family members who attended WPI. We’ve been unable to capture this information fully on the Common and Universal Applications, and now the supplement will allow for it.

If you apply with the Common or Universal Application online, you’ll be able to complete the supplemental form with your application. If you submit a paper version of the Common or Universal Application, you’ll be able to download a copy of the form from the Admissions Web site. If you use the WPI application, the questions asked on the supplemental form are built in, so you won’t need to complete the form (unless you choose to not submit your SAT or ACT scores by using our Flex Path option; in that case, you’ll need to submit our Flex Path form).

Some publications and Web sites outside of WPI may have outdated information regarding the above deadlines and forms. In this first year, we will be slightly flexible with the application deadlines, but the supplementalal form for the Common and Universal Applications will be required. Please refer to the Applying to WPI section of the Admissions Web site for the most up to date and accurate information.

If you are ready to apply now, you are welcome to submit a Common or Universal Application. The WPI application and supplement mentioned above will be available in August. You’re certainly welcome to wait since our first deadline is not until November, but in the meantime you may consider spending your remaining summer weeks thinking about your essay.

We look forward to reviewing your applications soon!

With the world’s premier cycling race (the Tour de France) well underway this month, many students and families are embarking on a tour of their own: the summer college visit tour. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen a marked increase in visitors to WPI, and we consistently have numerous families each day from all over the country and world. Just yesterday I was speaking with one family from the San Francisco bay area of California when they realized the family next to them lives just miles away.

If you are among the thousands of families making one or more college trips this summer—even if only to a handful of schools—you should be sure to make the most of your visits. Not only is someone spending money to travel to these locations, finding the college for you is important and should be taken seriously. You’re not too cool to visit colleges, you shouldn’t feel like you are being dragged by your parents, and you shouldn’t just sit back and take everything at face value.

So, how should you make the most of your visits? Here are a few of my suggestions:

1. Take notes. I’m not suggesting you write down every piece of information you hear (in fact, many of the statistics and details will be provided in print) but rather make note of what makes each institution unique. What do the student tour guides spend most of their time discussing? What’s the most important piece of the admissions presentation? Is the campus well maintained? Are people on campus outside of the Admissions Office friendly and helpful?
2. Imagine yourself here. Don’t forget, you are going to be living at the college you choose for the next four years. You want to find the right fit. The right fit should take into account all aspects of college life: academics, social life, surrounding area, activities on- and off-campus,
3. Ask thoughtful questions. College is a big decision and a big investment. You want to get as much information as possible, and you want to be sure that all of your questions are answered. Whether your parents are paying none, some, most, or all of the bills, they’re probably going to want to get answers to questions—some the same, some different—too. For example, it’s easy to find the student-to-faculty ratio number. I’d suggest asking a more thoughtful question about that number to find out what it really means. That number is irrelevant if the faculty do research in their labs or offices all day and your classes are taught by graduate students. Perhaps, to a student, “Tell me about how you interact with faculty members on a daily basis,” or “What opportunities have you had to get involved with faculty research?”

I could go on. In short, make the most of the time you spend visiting college campuses. Most people wouldn’t buy a car without test driving it. Most people wouldn’t buy a house without going in it. Most people would ask questions when buying those big ticket items. You should too when it comes to your college search process.

Earlier this week I was reading The Choice, a blog from The New York Times about college admissions and financial aid (if you don’t already read it, I’d recommend doing so). The post that caught my eye was An Admissions Dean Offers Advice on Writing a College Essay written by the Martha Merrill, dean of admission and financial aid at Connecticut College.

Quite often I am asked questions by students and families about the personal statement or essay that is required as part of an application to WPI. This submission is one area where you have full license to send us whatever you’d like. We don’t have a carefully scripted question for which we want a carefully scripted answer; your personal statement is just that: personal.

I suggest that you read Ms. Merrill’s advice, but I’ll quote two of her ten suggestions in particular:

Don’t repeat what is already in your application. If you go to a performing arts school and all of your extracurricular activities and awards relate to dance, don’t write about how much you love dancing. Tell me something I couldn’t know just from reading the other parts of your application.

Be genuine. Don’t try to impress me, because I’ve heard it all. Just tell me what is important to you.

Okay, maybe I haven’t heard it all, but I’ve heard quite a bit. And if you are genuine and don’t repeat what’s already in your application, then you are getting somewhere. I read every essay—in good applications and bad—and the ones I remember most are the ones that are unique and display a passion about the topic.

Here are two additional tips of my own that hopefully have already crossed your mind: 1) spell check, and 2) proofread. Don’t do one without the other. You can click that “ABC” button as many times as you want, but its not going too find correctly spelled words in improper places (among other things). Let me rephrase: it’s not going to find correctly spelled words in improper places.

At WPI we know that our students’ strengths typically fall in math and science rather than English, grammar, and writing. But the essay is still a very important piece of your application—and one to take seriously. Write and proof it yourself, but also ask a friend, family member, teacher, or counselor to proofread it for you. As Ms. Miller says, “The truth is that while no essay will make an unqualified student acceptable, a good essay can help a qualified applicant stand out from the competition. A good essay just might be what turns a ‘maybe’ into a ‘yes.’”

So, it’s time to get to work! Spend some time this summer piecing together your essays, and when it comes time for you to submit your applications you’ll be ahead of the game. Good luck!