Undergraduate / 'I have dreamed about college' - Illinois State University application [6]

Hello everyone,

I'm applying to colleges this fall and I began writing essays recently. I appreciate any feedback!

Here's the prompt:

* State why you feel Illinois State University is a good fit for your educational goals.
* Identify and explain your academic strengths and weaknesses.
* Explain any circumstances which affected your high school academic performance, if applicable.

Here's what I have, am I ranting to much? :

College. I have dreamed about it since the fifth grade, and once I began high school, I learned so much about it. I went from thinking that I would get a 30+ on the ACT and that I would get accepted to Northwestern, to overhauling my entire college list once reality struck (which was my 25 on the ACT and Northwestern's price tag). Now I am looking for a school that is close to home while being far enough to establish independence, and one that is sized between a large, public university and a small private college. Illinois State University seems to be the perfect fit for me. I will admit, however, that I have not yet been to campus due to financial restraints and I hope to visit sometime soon. However, numerous pictures and online videos have reassured me of the campus beauty. Since I have been going on about why I am interested in attending ISU, allow me to tell you more about me. I love journalism. And if you had told me freshmen year that I would be a writer, I would have laughed. My English teacher told me to try my hand at the school newspaper and I figured, why not? In the last three years, I've worked my way up from reporter, to Managing Editor. I also found employment last year at a teen newspaper, The Mash, published by the Chicago Tribune. Having the opportunity to interview people like a financial expert and the Director of the Chicago Film Office, have only confirmed that I want to do this as a career. I have also won awards through my experience as a journalist, such as an honorable mention in Feature Writing through the 2012 NISPA awards, as well as winning third place and making it to state in Headline Writing in the 2012 IHSA Journalism sectionals and I hope to qualify again this year, but in the Copy Editing category, which has been elusive these past two years. So, can you guess what I want to major in? Yes, it's journalism!

I love to learn. I always have. And yes, there are certain academic areas that I don't perform well in such as science and honors classes, but I embrace new challenges. I am taking some difficult classes this year, including my first AP class. I love English, grammar especially, which can be seen through my love of Copy Editing. I just hope there are not any errors in this essay!

I believe that Illinois State University will provide me with an excellent education, many opportunities to have a great college experience, and the challenges I need to have a successful future. I hope that you were able to see who I am in this essay and why I would love to be a Redbird.

Scholarship / 'Seeking the Truth' - Ball State- Why I want to go into Journalism [3]

This is a short essay for a scholarship at Ball State University. It simply asks "Why do you want to go into journalism?"

With it being senior year, all of the seniors are uniting and asking questions such as "where are you going to school?" or "what are you majoring in?" Now for most of my friends those questions are hard to answer, but for me they're a no-brainer.

Hello, my name is Tom and I want to be a journalist.
To my family and friends, it seemed like an odd choice. Of course I had a good vocabulary, writing potential, and a knack for detecting grammar mistakes, but I was naturally shy. So what made me choose a career where talking to complete strangers is almost a daily task?

For one, I love words. I love long words, short words, and complicated words. And I love forming them and taking them apart in order to craft the perfect image of what I'm trying to portray. Some use their clothes, hair or attitude to do that. I use words. As a kid reading fiction books, I thought that should be my writing path. But I'm more interested in the truth. I believe that everyone has a story to be heard, and the truth is more juicer than fiction anyday.

Through my journalistic experiences, I've learned that it's necessary to open up and talk to many people in order to accomplish a journalist's main goal: to seek the truth. So that has helped with my shyness a bit, and I'm hoping my collegiate experience will overcome it altogether.

Finally, I attest in journalism in its truest form: to educate people. It's supposed to let them know what's going on, both near and far away from them. It's just the facts, allowing readers to create their own opinions.

Now I know my journey to becoming a well respected journalist will be a long, hard one. But I embrace that. As for now, I want to read every book imaginable, learn as much as I can and see all of the beautiful things this world has to offer with a pen and notebook in hand.