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Posts by lornam
Joined: Jan 1, 2013
Last Post: Jan 6, 2013
Threads: 3
Posts: 16  

Displayed posts: 19
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lornam   
Jan 1, 2013
Undergraduate / "A Sense of Challenge"; UT - SOP [6]

Pretty good writing, but your answer's kind of standard - there's nothing that really captured my attention.

Change your first sentence or even your first paragraph. By the time admissions reads your essay, they'll have read hundreds of essays that start very similarly.

This is a biggie - use an anecdote or something to show admissions that nursing means a lot to you - don't just say that it means a lot to you. Same with your thirst for knowledge. I think this will make your essay a lot more interesting and definitely a lot more personal.

I don't really like your analogy with the two paths - it's not really clear why the left pathway is so much brighter than the right pathway, and what was that furry animal for? You describe the forest to the right as being really shady and kind of sketchy, but then you go on to say that you thought you'd be happy at that university - it kind of undermines your point if you continue on with the analogy.

Don't say "I know this is cliche, but..." You know what's coming up is cliche, so change it. Elaborate on your desire to become a nurse.

And in the last sentence, change the comma to a semicolon.

I hope this helps. And sorry for being so blunt - I find that it's more helpful in the end.
lornam   
Jan 1, 2013
Undergraduate / My people; BARNARD/ Community & my perspective [2]

I live in a building. A building,(remove the comma) that is tattered with graffiti and peeling painting. A building, (remove comma) that doesn't look so pretty from the outside. But that doesn't matter. At least to me. It is, (delete comma) the inside that counts, right? The people that I have known for most of my life live here. These are the people that I can go to at the middle of the night and ask for a cup of sugar without being embarrassed. The people who are occasionally too noisy. The people who have sometimes made my life a living hell and other times a picnic. (This sentence needs to demonstrate parallelism; change "sometimes" to "at times") The people that that have shaped me as the human being I am today all live in this building. A place that I have grown up to call 'home'. A place that I identify as a little community of its own-a community that has shown me to be caring towards others (state this more concisely - say something like "care for others" instead) , to have patience, and most of all to accept and respect other people for who they are inside. This community of mine has shaped me for the better.

I like your essay overall, but I don't feel as though it's answered the prompt all the way. The prompt asks for how your community has changed your perspective. You definitely show what your perspective is, but you don't say how it's been affected by where you live. Maybe stress the disparity between the looks and the people inside more?

I hope this helps. Good luck!
lornam   
Jan 2, 2013
Scholarship / FLUTE; UT Dallas McDermott Scholarship essay - Why Dallas Museum of Art? [4]

Hey, I've got a scholarship application due pretty soon and would appreciate any help you guys could offer. Thanks for taking the time to critique my essays and feel free to critique all you want - I promise I won't get offended.

Prompt: McDermott Scholars receive a membership to the Dallas Museum of Art for their first year, and tickets to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Dallas Opera throughout their four years in the Program. Why?

Spit flies onto the floor. Finished practicing, I disassemble my flute and swab it like I have every day for the past six years. The swab comes out of the flute saturated with spit, but these days I barely wince. People often ask me why I continue to play flute; I don't plan on majoring in music, and there is little glory to be found in the daily routine of practicing. Like every other instrumentalist, I look forward to the chance to escape reality and the sense of accomplishment achieved upon mastering a piece. However, I find that I also benefit from a different mindset. When I'm playing, I don't think; I feel. Similarly, listening to music or looking at art challenges me to think differently. I pay greater attention to visual and auditory cues and think more abstractly than I normally do. This is an experience that nothing in the classroom can hope to imitate. You can learn about art and music, but until you experience it, you can't truly understand and benefit from it.

Characters: 987/1000
lornam   
Jan 2, 2013
Undergraduate / Brad's music/humor & pop/ creative approaches; Internship/What I'd bring and take [2]

What does (you're talking about two people - Brad Paisley and yourself, so you should use "do" instead) Brad Paisley and I have in common? Well, technically none (change to "nothing") . I was not born to a family of country music lovers. I have never gotten a chance to write music, not to mention my embarrassing guitar skills. (either connect the two previous sentences in some way or begin them differently - don't start two adjacent sentences similarly unless you have a purpose and your purpose is made clear) However, to much of my surprise, Brad and I share many similar personality traits.

One of my all-time favorite songs from him (change to "by him") is "A Letter to Me", which features the singer himself giving sound advices (no such word as advices, replaces with "advice) to his teen-aged self on dealing with youth issues. (this sentence is a tad bit awkward) . This song is truly inspirational, (get rid of comma - it's not necessary here) and it resonates with my reflective character. I am a person who constantly seeks ways to improve myself. (you can make this less wordy by simply stating, "I constantly seek ways to improve myself" - this is just a pet peeve of mine, though) I treat every single failure as a lesson, an opportunity to reflect rather than just an obstacle. Of course, often these failures may come at me unbearably, (that's kind of confusing - reword) but I tend to "bounce back" shortly after. Because I know I am proactive; (replace semicolon with comma - also, I would change this to "Because I am proactive) I prefer to make the right choices (add "rather" - also elaborate on making the right choices) than to complain about everything (add "that") happens in life. Instead of writing a letter, I have a habit of keeping a journal of what I learn, then later I would review them like study notes. (the first part of the sentence is too word - say "I keep a journal of what I learn" instead -- and when you "review them", what's them? Say something like "later I review my journal")

Brad determined to be a successful country music artist at a ripe age of thirteen. With ambition, he began to write songs, took intensive guitar lessons and started a band with his family friends. (this sentence lacks parallelism - if he began to write songs, then he also began to take guitar lessons and [b]start[b] a band - you need to keep your verb tenses constant throughout your essay) After getting a degree in music business and inducted into the prestigious Jamboree Hall of Fame (again, verb tenses) , Brad was immediately offered a song-writing contract. His road to fame was officially laid. Similar to Brad, I like to plan ahead (you've never demonstrate Brad's tendency to plan ahead) and take measurable steps to achieve my goals. I have been thinking about college since middle school, (elaborate on this) and I followed the "5 year plan" that I designed to get acceptances from desire (replace with "desired") colleges. You may call me "instrumental", but I believe the best way to predict the future is to plan it, to invent it. As my friend Chris says, "Early better than sorry!" (this quote doesn't really make much sense)

Brad's music is famous for the humor and pop culture reference. The way he cooperates (do you mean combines?) these elements into his songs is brilliant, proving that he is not only an excellent songwriter, but also a quite creative guy. An architecture and music fanatic, I am trained to think artistically and in unorthodox ways. Once I am given a topic or a project, I could (get rid of "could) easily think of thousands of ways to make it happen at a drop of a hat. (this sounds like you're bragging - I don't really like it, but others might not mind it) To me, being creative is more than just a skill; it is my second nature. In my application, I ranked policy as my first area of interest, (get rid of the comma) because I have done similar (but more simplified) competitions in high school. (you've done similar competitions? What? Are you applying for a place to compete in a competition or something?) It required intensive logical reasoning and creative approaches to tackle the issues presented. I enjoyed working as a team and contributed my effort into policy making.

Country music gives people an impression of sadness and dark, and that is one of the reasons why the genre is not as popular as pop or hip-hop. To break the norm, Brad has tried to employ a different tone when writing music in hopes of broadening the fan base. I applied to the internship to achieve the same thing: to break the norm. Politics has always been foreign to me. However, after taking a political science class in college, I have found interest in this field and would like to explore more in depth through the internship. Furthermore, my intended career path leans towards tax policies or tax law. Politics and tax has (have, not has) long been closely intertwined, and I believe my experience at the Governor's office would put me in gear for my future's career. Finally, the internship will provide me abundant of hands-on experience and will sharpen my communication skills. I am looking forward to it, and (add "am") ready for all the challenges ahead.

Just a few general comments - you need to work on your verb tenses. They're all over the place. Same with commas - you often put in commas where you don't need any. Also, your individual paragraphs are good, but they don't flow together. At all.

I hope this helped! Sorry if I was kind of really blunt - I find that being blunt helps more.
lornam   
Jan 3, 2013
Undergraduate / "Everything happens for a reason." Helping Others [13]

All they wanted from us was to play with them, nothing else, just thirty minutes of my attention.

replace with our - you previously talk about how the kids wanted "us" to play with them, so you have to continue the trend

not only did the children I interacted learned from me

interacted with learn

Being in a private school magnified the different life I had then my peers

do you mean "compared to"?

This trip also brought me closer to God, to thank him through prayer for giving me the life that I have.

the second part of the sentence doesn't really make sense - do you mean something like "and allowed me to thank"?

My drive for providing service to to others

to provide

ands as a result I decided to become even more involved

I strongly believe this trip influenced my drive for providing service to to others and as a result I decided to become even more involved in the community service programs at my school. (a transition word between these sentences, furthermore?)I will continue my involvement throughout and beyond my time at Pepperdine University.

You've already stated this in the previous sentence. There's no need to repeat it.

I really liked your story. Sorry for making so many blunt comments. I hope they help!

Also, for your titles - I'd go with the first one. The point of college essays is to let admissions get to know you a bit, and the second one says absolutely nothing about your personality.
lornam   
Jan 3, 2013
Undergraduate / I love marching band - meaningful contribution [4]

I promise I'll return the favor to anyone who comments. Thanks for the help!

Which of your contributions to your school, community or the larger world is most significant to you? Why?

A barren parking lot in the middle of the suburbs. A drop of sweat that quickly grows and multiplies, cascading down my face, my back, my arms and legs, rendering me a sight unsuitable for society. There is little glory to be found as a member of the marching band. Practices are long and tedious, with numerous hours spent learning how to walk in a stiff manner and refining an eight minute show. However, nothing is more rewarding. There's something magical about being able to mold a group of one hundred or more individuals, each with their own idiosyncrasies, into a unit that plays together, that moves together, that breathes together. The band becomes your extended family, and for the few minutes it takes to perform the show, everyone is united. It doesn't matter that I'm only one member, that I'm not an essential piece of the show. All of the time and effort exerted over the past few months becomes worth it.

Characters: 922/1000
lornam   
Jan 3, 2013
Undergraduate / UAV-Unmanned Aerial Vehicles; My project @ UNION [14]

Robots have been always a huge curiosity of mine

You could instead say something like "Robots have always interested me."

I do have had a lot of reading on them from the internet

"I have read a lot about them from the internet"

In midst of various categories

In the midst

In midst of various categories of robots what struck me and always have been amusing are UAV-Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

"UAV - Unmanned Aerial Vehicles - have always struck me as amusing."

You tend to write in a passive voice. By using an active voice throughout your essay, you'll be able to both cut down on words and keep your reader interested. So instead of having an action occur to the subject, the subject acts.

But then as I steadily learned about their use in different fields

I hope I was able to help!
lornam   
Jan 3, 2013
Undergraduate / I love marching band - meaningful contribution [4]

Thanks for the advice! Is this any better?

The band becomes your extended family, and for the few minutes it takes to perform the show, everyone is united. It doesn't matter that I'm only one member; when putting drill on the field, every person is a potential hole and, as thus, is equally important. And so all of the time and effort exerted over the past few months becomes worth it.
lornam   
Jan 3, 2013
Undergraduate / UAV-Unmanned Aerial Vehicles; My project @ UNION [14]

At first what used to amaze me were the shape and the design of the UAVs.

how the propellers work and how the wings are useful, I began

I began seeing a planeto see planes from a whollywhole different perspective

As a project at college I would like be immersed in one involving UAV.

This sentence is kind of awkward.

I have been planning a rhombus shaped design

Also kind of awkward and unnecessarily wordy.

I have been planning a rhombus shaped design, the benefit of which will be the UAV could just stop in mid air and go backwards, left or right without turning.

which would allow the UAV to just stop in mid-air

With these capabilities, a UAV will be successful

It won't have to take a long turn while it might get shootshot down and loose important data,or objects and most importantly the UVA will get destroyed

This sentence is also kind of awkward, especially the second half.

As far as I have searched I haven't found any design like this yet.

"As far as I have searched" and "yet" are kind of redundant - you could cut down on this sentence.

You could cut down on basically all of the sentences I found awkward. I really like the first half of your essay, but the second half doesn't flow quite as well starting from "as a project in college"
lornam   
Jan 4, 2013
Undergraduate / 'Getting back on feet' - U Colorado/ Enrich community [2]

First reaction - whoa, big block of text. I'd recommend breaking it up into several paragraphs so it's easier on the eyes. Cause right now, it's a bit daunting to look at.

Second reaction - I feel like you're just bragging about yourself, especially when you list all of the classes you're taking and Jonathan. Have a bit of humility. You can talk about them, but not in such a blatantly superior tone.
lornam   
Jan 5, 2013
Undergraduate / importance of first impressions - knowledge gained outside school [3]

Hey! Thanks for taking the time to look at my essay. Any and all help is immensely appreciated

Discuss any knowledge you have acquired in any field outside school.

They huddle outside the doors, congregating in the same groups they've maintained for three years now, seeking the familiar in anticipation of the unknown. Meanwhile, we huddle inside in a similar fashion, seeking instead to pass around last minute instructions and ensure everyone is well informed of their roles. Today's the first day of summer marching band, and as section leaders it's our job to welcome the freshmen outside and show them the kind of band we strive to be. Although the main focus for today is making sure they enjoy their first day and look forward to the subsequent season, it is also important to impress on them good rehearsal manners so the band can rehearse properly and efficiently in the future. The freshmen won't learn these by listening to lecture after lecture; they'll learn them by observing and mimicking older members during their first couple of days with the band. First impressions, then, are vital to both the success of the band and life in general.

Characters: 991/1000
lornam   
Jan 6, 2013
Student Talk / Hi everyone! Welcome at EssayForum thread. [414]

moon05: Haha, yeah. I had no idea what to write about, and then I was like oh! Marching band! It's kind of my go to topic. Whoops... And thanks!

chocolateshoppe: Thanks! I'll definitely keep what you said about contractions in mind.
lornam   
Jan 6, 2013
Scholarship / Trying new things/ Skating; Leadership based SCHOLARSHIP/ Experience [2]

"Will I look dumb trying this if I have never done so before?" goes the question that echoed in my mind

I suppose this affects everybody to some extent, (insert comma) but my revelation made me realize that I was not living life to its fullest extent.

You repeat "extent" twice in this sentence - I would recommend dropping the second one since it's both redundant and unnecessary.

This revelation changed my outlook on life. This all came about one very special day: December 27, 2010.

Might be just me, but one of my pet peeves is when two adjacent sentences start with the same word without serving an obvious purpose. You could combine the two sentences to avoid the redundancy or somehow change them so they don't start quite so similarly.

Cheeks red from the cold and smiling from ear to ear, I was skatingskated

Not looking embarrassed nor sheepish at all, I found her grinning up at me.

Your friend's the subject of the first part of the sentence, so the second part of the sentence should reflect that. Change it to something like "she grinned up at me." Also, I'm not entirely sure about this, but is "or" more appropriate for this sentence?

I made mistakes, I fell a lot, I got my clothes dirty, but I was enjoying life way too much to worry about these petty details

This sentence should demonstrate parallelism. You made mistakes, you fell, you got your clothes dirty. The part of enjoying your life should be similar grammatically, so replace "I was enjoying life" with "I enjoyed life"

It had gotten locked away inside me because of the stress of wanting to meet the high expectations of everyone around me; my family, my peers, my teachers.

This is unnecessarily wordy. Also, replace the semicolon with a colon - you use semicolons when you're putting two related sentences together and colons when you're listing stuff.

My friend gave me the encouragement to stay true to myself, to make mistakes and not be scared of the outcome.

Same - parallelism. Replace "and not be scared" with "and to not be scared"

because I realize, that by trying new things, I could be so much more.

or you could just reword that

because they can tell me a lot about myself and I can improve based on these mistakes.

kind of awkward

Hope that helps!
lornam   
Jan 6, 2013
Essays / What does it mean to be well-educated? Book smart vs. Street smart [5]

In modern day 21st century, being well-educated is certainly affiliated with the achievement of numerous degrees and certificates.

"certainly" kind of comes out of nowhere - it seems as though it should allude to something said earlier, but I feel that it's too far from the intro to allude to the information presented there without seeming awkward. Does that make sense? And this may or may not be significant, so feel free to ignore this if you disagree.

But otherwise, I really like it. It's a lot more colloquial than all the other essays I've read - not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it definitely stands out.
lornam   
Jan 6, 2013
Student Talk / Hi everyone! Welcome at EssayForum thread. [414]

moon05: Hey - no you're right, I'm chinese. But my parents moved over the USA about... 25 years ago? So I was born in the US. Thus all of the marching band.
lornam   
Jan 6, 2013
Student Talk / Hi everyone! Welcome at EssayForum thread. [414]

moon05: Yeah, my real name is Lorna Min. I go to LASA high school. And responding to what you wrote on that other essay thread - I know, that essay was so long. I took one look at it and was like -__-
lornam   
Jan 6, 2013
Student Talk / Hi everyone! Welcome at EssayForum thread. [414]

I saw on some other thread you have an account at College Confidential. I have an account there as well although I never use it.
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