Section 04 — Applications
The application, demystified.
The process is confusing by design. Here's everything broken down — from the Common App to writing an essay that actually sounds like you and gets you in.
“I received a likely letter from Harvard and got into Yale, Berkeley MET — about 1% acceptance — and others. The formula was the same every time: tell your story, show your work, be specific.”— Tsadiku & Adiyah Obolu
What you're actually submitting
The "application" isn't one thing — it's a collection of pieces, each with its own strategy. The essay is different from the activities list, which is different from the supplement. Understanding what each piece is trying to communicate is the first step to doing it right.
The pieces
What goes in the application
Common App
KeyThe main application platform used by 900+ colleges. You fill it out once and submit to multiple schools. Most of your application lives here — treat it like a professional document, not a school assignment.
Personal Essay (650 words)
KeyYour main essay. Submitted through Common App. This is your only chance to speak directly to the admissions committee in your own voice. It's the most important piece of writing you'll do in high school.
Supplemental Essays
KeyAdditional essays required by specific schools. 'Why [school]?' essays, topic prompts, short answers. Research each school's specific prompts carefully — these matter a lot and generic answers get spotted immediately.
Activities List
Key150 characters per activity to describe what you did, your role, and impact. 10 slots. Treat each like a mini-resume bullet. Every word counts. Order from most to least impressive.
Letters of Recommendation
KeyUsually 2 teacher recommendations plus 1 counselor rec. Ask junior year, give teachers full context about your goals and what you want them to highlight. Follow up. A strong rec can change an admissions decision.
Transcript
Your grades, course rigor, and GPA. Sent by your school. Make sure your counselor has your correct information and knows which schools you're applying to.
Test Scores (SAT/ACT)
Many schools are test-optional. If your scores are strong, submit them. If they're not, check each school's policy carefully. Don't stress about tests more than essays — essays are in your control.
CSS Profile
A more detailed financial aid form required by 400+ colleges and scholarship programs. If your target schools require it, submit it immediately after Oct 1. Missing this form costs you real money.
The core insight
Your application is an argument.
You are trying to win it.
The students who get into elite schools don't just describe themselves — they make a case. The case is this: I am the only person like me who wants to solve this specific problem, and I'm already doing it.
There are thousands of applicants who want to be doctors, lawyers, engineers, or finance people. The ones who get in aren't just qualified — they're specific. They show admissions officers exactly how their background, their community, their story makes them the right person to do the work they're describing.
And critically: they're already doing it. Not “I hope to one day help my community.” Instead — “Here's what I'm already building with the limited resources I have. Now imagine what I can do with your university's resources behind me.”
What problem and why only you
What do you want to do in the world? And what in your specific life — your neighborhood, your family, your story — makes you the right person to do it? Not just motivated. Uniquely positioned.
What you're already doing now
With the resources you have today — which may be limited — you're already working on this. Show that. The degree doesn't create the work. It amplifies work that already exists.
How this school makes it bigger
Be specific about what this school gives you that you can't get anywhere else. Research labs, specific professors, programs, networks. Generic 'Why Us' essays get ignored. Specific ones don't.
Example breakdown
Prompt
“Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent so meaningful their application would be incomplete without it.”
Student + thesis
Maya — wants to be a public health doctor in South LA
“I am the only doctor who grew up watching my grandmother get dismissed at the free clinic, who started a health literacy program at my church because of it, and who already knows what it means to fight for care in a community that the system forgot.”
Start with the problem, not yourself
- Open on a specific scene — not 'I want to be a doctor.' Open on your grandmother sitting in a waiting room for 3 hours.
- The reader should feel the problem before they meet you.
- The narrower the scene, the stronger the hook.
Show what you're already doing about it
- Health literacy workshops at church → you organized them, built the curriculum, brought in speakers
- Volunteering at the free clinic → you see the gap from both sides now
- AP Biology + community college anatomy → not just credentials, proof you're serious
- These aren't résumé bullets — they're evidence that you don't wait for permission to start.
Make the connection explicit
- 'I'm not going to med school to become a doctor. I'm going to become better at something I'm already doing.'
- The degree is an amplifier — you show that the work exists whether or not you get in.
- This is the shift that separates strong essays from weak ones.
End on the future — but ground it in what's real
- Not: 'I hope to one day help communities like mine.'
- Instead: 'South LA already has a doctor fighting for it. I just need the training to do it at scale.'
- Ambition is more believable when it's attached to something you've already proven.
The pattern works for any field
The most important part
How to write an essay that works
Most students approach the essay wrong — they try to sound impressive instead of real. The essay that gets you in is the one that makes an admissions officer feel like they already know you and genuinely want you there.
Tell them your story — specifically
Tell them your story. Tell them what kind of work you're interested in. Tell them what you've already been doing. That's the formula. Tsadiku did projects connected to beats, to lyrics, to the things he personally loved. That brought him closer to the major he ended up choosing and the career he ended up in. Let one passion fuel the other.
Sound like yourself — not a student performing
If you wouldn't say it out loud to a friend, don't write it. The best essays sound like a real person talking. Read your draft out loud — if it sounds stiff, rewrite it. Admissions officers read thousands of essays. They can tell immediately when something is authentic versus when someone is trying to impress them.
Show, don't tell
Don't write 'I am a leader.' Show a specific moment where you led. Don't write 'I am resilient.' Show the moment you got back up. Details do the heavy lifting. The narrower the topic, the more powerful the essay.
You have to show them who you are before you can ask them to bet on who you'll become
Your experience growing up as a Black student in America — the challenges you've navigated, the ways your community shaped you, the things you figured out on your own — these are compelling. Don't water them down. You have to show them who you are before you can ask them to bet on who you'll become.
Start way earlier than you think
The best essays go through 8–10 drafts. Start brainstorming in junior year. Have a rough draft done by July of senior year. Give yourself space to let it breathe and come back to it. Waiting until October of senior year is the single most common mistake we see.
Get real feedback, not just praise
Ask people to tell you what's unclear, what feels generic, what doesn't sound like you. Praise feels good but it doesn't improve the essay. You want honest, specific notes from people who'll actually tell you the truth.
Common App Prompts (2024–25)
Avoid these
The most common application mistakes
- ✕Waiting until October of senior year to start essays
- ✕Writing essays that read like a resume, not a person
- ✕Using the same essay for every supplemental — they can tell
- ✕Not proofreading — typos and errors are jarring to admissions officers
- ✕Applying to only reach schools or only safety schools — build a real list
- ✕Missing deadlines — even by one day can disqualify you completely
- ✕Not confirming that recommenders actually submitted their letters
- ✕Forgetting to click 'submit' — a draft that isn't submitted is not an application