Undergraduate / Pomona Essay- Scheduling Experience [5]

Hi everyone. I think that I'm done with this essay, but I'd really appreciate some feedback before I submit it. It's due tonight. Thanks in advance!

Prompt: What experience in high school has mattered most to you? How do you see this experience influencing your decision-making in college?

The classes you take in high school mean more than you think they do. They decide what you will study. They decide the classes that you can take later on in school. But they also mean more than what shows up on your transcript. They classify you. At a school like mine, course selection isn't always a personal decision about your likes and dislikes. In reality, the decision is about the requirements to graduate, to get an honors diploma, to get into higher level courses, to get into college, to expand your claustrophobically small social circle (...or not to), to have a certain teacher, to avoid another teacher, to balance your course load and even to sleep in for an extra hour... well, for half of your senior year.

Clearly course selection is a daunting task and there are many more considerations to be had than once thought. While some factors are fairly standard across all schools, others aren't so. With small class sizes (both in course and grade), you aren't likely to meet more than a couple hundred people in your [school name here] experience. So factoring the social aspect into class selection decisions may be important. "Will I have anyone to talk to in the class?" Mind you, this is a very complicated question as many people become engrossed in a social circle and rarely stray from it. Then again, there's also the teacher variable: Is there a teacher you'll die without? Or one you'll die with? More than likely, you know all the teachers, or their reputations. This shouldn't prove to be too much of a problem, though.

Realistically thinking, don't forget to factor in that there are only seven periods a day and only seventeen hours between school days. You wouldn't want to overload your schedule. After your junior year, you really understand the importance of getting more than a few hours of sleep - at least strive for one full REM cycle. Considering the overwhelming number of AP courses offered, try to be realistic with your expectations. The girl who took seven AP classes a few years ago was the exception, not the rule. Lastly, you really can't forget how much you would love to sleep for an extra hour in the mornings. Natural night-owls need a later start in the day.

The concerns raced through my head as I had to reconstruct my schedule for my senior year. It was summer and I had just received a voicemail from my guidance counselor: "Caroline, it's Ms. Smith; your schedule just isn't going to work. We're going to have to change some things." By the time I had a chance to think about what I would change, it was July and the school was closed for summer. I had to wait until August to create my new schedule.

Two weeks before school started, I was in Ms. Smith's office with master list printouts of all the classes being offered for the year. After several hours of working with the master lists, I had carefully crafted a working schedule for the year, although there were compromises: College Prep English instead of AP, AP Calculus BC instead of AB, and clearly there was no way that I could squeeze in Marketing III and a concurrent internship. Although I had some anxiety about switching to a lower English class, it was the only way that I'd be able to take the other classes I had wanted.

Using prioritization, my schedule slowly came together. The classes I couldn't live without were the foundation as I piecemealed the rest together. This scheduling experience has enabled me to clearly see how prioritization can help to come up with the best solutions. As I transition into college over the next year, there will be many more times when prioritizing will be necessary, both academically and socially. While there will be many more courses to choose from, I'll choose those that are best suited to my interests. Also, there will be many more ways for me to spend my time outside of class, be it with friends, various student organizations or studying. Prioritizing will help me to make the best decisions about how I spend my time so that I can both be successful and happy.

P.S. I'm still working on a title for it. Suggestions?

Undergraduate / Yale supp. essay- "'A woman's perfume tells more about her than her handwriting'" [10]

This is my Yale supplemental essay, in progress. Please help me out and I'll return the favor to you if you tell me which essay to look at! Thanks so much!

(Also, I'm having some trouble transitioning to the last paragraph, any suggestions?)

The prompt is: You have already told us about yourself in the Common Application, with its list of activities, Short Answer, and Personal Essay. In this required second essay, tell us something that you would like us to know about you that we might not get from the rest of your application - or something that you would like a chance to say more about. (~500 words)

When I was young, my mother would look through her jewelry collection and I'd go through her perfume samples. Creed's Silver Mountain Water called to me one day and though I tried to gently open the small bottle, I poured the fragrance all over my hands and wrists. Later that day we went to the synagogue to help with some baking and all of the older women complemented my mother on her perfume. "What are you wearing?" they asked, "It smells delightful." I blushed and giggled as I shied away behind my mom's legs. My fascination with the fragrance of each woman began, although I was told to wait several years before I could begin my own experimentation.

My search began in middle school, when wearing a fragrance became more common. I tried body sprays and scented lotions from Bath and Body Works. I always liked the sweetest scents: Coconut Lime Verbena, Sun Ripened Raspberry and Warm Vanilla Sugar. Soon, I bought my first real perfume, Hanae Mori Butterfly, a sugar sweet bright scent. Over the next few years, I limited myself to one perfume at a time as I soon became addicted to the beautiful scents. To satisfy my desire to smell and purchase perfumes, I started giving them as gifts, only to realize that buying perfume is a very personal purchase.

A scent reflects who you see yourself as and how you want to present yourself. Are you a Chanel Chance Eau Tendre? A spring flowery fragrance with bright hints of grapefruit and quince: "intoxicatingly innocent" as Sephora says. Or maybe you're a Viktor and Rolf Eau Mega? A warm sweet fruity perfume with hints of pear and basil: "glamorous, chic and sophisticated" says Nordstrom. Perhaps you're a Miss Dior Cherie, one of my favorite scents? A modern luxurious blend of mandarin, caramel popcorn, patchouli, and musk: "chic and youthful", Ulta describes.

I'm all of these... and many more. My collection lives within several rooms of my house: my bathroom, the kitchen bathroom and even the dining room. Perfume is my drug and when I feel drab, I need a spritz. As I've grown older, my perfume preferences have changed. I like less sugary sweet, and more depth and complexity. I go crazy over perfumes with many layers that change as the day wears on.

My perfume preferences show other aspects of me, too. When I was younger, I liked more clear, precise things -- especially those that were "sugary sweet" or happy. Now, I love complex ideas with many layers. Sometimes I'll sit and get lost in my thoughts for hours, using Wikipedia as an easy tool to further my understandings. I get lost in what I call, wikiloops, endless circles of clicking and following new links.

Each of my perfumes reflects me. Each in a different way. Sometimes I layer the scents, mixing two familiar perfumes into a new one, while other days I like to wear the pure perfume, uninterrupted. My fragrance is a part of me reflecting who I am and who I want to be seen as. I have serious scents and fun scents, intriguing scents and simpler scents. After all, Christian Dior once said, "A woman's perfume tells more about her than her handwriting," and I wholeheartedly agree.