INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Oil pastels, hard pastels, soft pastels, and pastel pencils all have different properties that you should explore through experimentation.  Run each type of pastel across a piece of paper. Notice how the lines they make are distinctive. Pick up a pastel pencil and notice that not only does it resemble a traditional graphite pencil, the stroke it creates is detailed like a traditional pencil. Handle a soft pastel pencil and feel its softer consistency. When pulling it across a piece of paper notice how much of it's pigments are transferred depending on the pressure you apply to it. Apply a hard pastel to a piece of paper. Play with how you draw it across the paper. Use it on its end and then on its side. Notice how the lines created differ. Press firmly then softly and see how these lines differ as well.

SUMMARY: Study the qualities of each of your materials.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: The structure outlined above probably won’t apply for most college entrance exams: though its simplicity makes it very handy for quick, inconspicuous bios, the whole point when applying to college is to stand out. The best way to do this is to make the structure your own by telling a story, not outlining key factoids. There are many possible structures to choose from, including:   Chronological: This structure starts at the beginning and ends at the end. It’s the most straightforward and works well if you’ve had an interesting life that has taken you from A to B to C in unusual or impressive ways (for example, truly beating the odds).  Circular: This structure start at an important or climactic moment (D), backtracks (A), and then explains all the events leading up to that moment (B, C), eventually bringing the reader full circle. This is good for building suspense, especially when Event D is so strange or unbelievable that the reader doesn’t mind being led around for a bit.  Zoomed In: This structure focuses on one critical event (for example, C) to symbolically tell a larger story. It might use a few small, surrounding details (a, d) to orient the reader, but otherwise, the moment is important enough to stand on its own. Colleges want to hear your life story so that they can figure out whether or not you’re a good fit for them. That said, showing how good a match you are for the school doesn’t mean getting sidetracked by trying to describe the school as well.   Incorrect: "UCSF has one of the top-ranked research-based med schools in the world, which would provide me with the foundation necessary to achieve my lifelong dream of becoming a doctor." The school you’re applying to already knows what its programs and facilities are like, so don’t waste the reader’s time. On top of that, praising the school at the expense of describing yourself makes you sound unworthy to attend.  Correct: "Watching a trauma surgeon save my brother’s life at the age of five is a moment I’ll never forget. Since that day, I’ve known without a doubt that I would dedicate my life to medicine. My brother was lucky that his surgeon studied at one of the best programs in the country. By doing the same, I hope to one day mean to another family what Dr. Heller does to mine."This description of the narrator is on-point, personal, and memorable. Though it still subtly praises the UCSF facilities, it doesn’t sound like it’s trying to score brownie points. Even if you manage to do it well, which is hard when you’re not inspired by truth, the best that will happen is that you will seem like hundreds or thousands of other students who used the same strategy. Instead, talk about what’s real and what matters to you. Don’t have the most amazing life? Embrace it – and whatever you do, don’t fight above your weight class. Trying to force a ho-hum story to be more dramatic will just make it look silly, especially compared to the truly epic tales some of your co-applicants will have.   Incorrect: "Reading The Great Gatsby was a pivotal moment in my life that made me completely rethink my own preconceptions about what it means to live in modern America. Thanks to that assignment, I now know I want to pursue American Studies."  Correct: "My family’s ties to this country aren’t particularly glamorous. We didn’t arrive on the Mayflower, or have our surname butchered at Ellis Island, or receive amnesty after fleeing a foreign dictatorship. What we did is settle in four states across the Midwest, where we’ve lived happily for over a hundred years. The magic of that simple act isn’t lost on me, which is why I’ve chosen to major in American Studies." That’s what your SATs were for. While you shouldn’t use slang or dumb your essay down, your content should speak for itself; going nutty with the vocabulary will just be a distraction. Plus, the admissions board slogs through you-don’t-even-want-to-know-how-many essays every year, and the last thing they want to hear is another person trying to wrestle a five-syllable word into a place where it has no earthly business.   Incorrect: "Having had a rather minimalistic upbringing, I find that I continue to assiduously value hard work and frugality above all else."Unless you’re a Dickensian countess or one of Jane Austen’s comic relief characters, this just doesn’t work. It sounds like you're trying too hard.  Correct: "Growing up very poor taught me that hard work and thrift are sometimes the only things a person can afford." Impactful and to-the-point – all with no words longer than two syllables. This is one of the most important things you can do to help your bio stand out. Many students will state things like "I learned a valuable lesson from this experience" or "I developed a new understanding of X." Showing through concrete detail is much more effective.   Incorrect: "I learned a lot from my experience as a camp counselor."This says nothing about what you actually learned, and is a sentence that will probably be in hundreds of college bios.  Correct: "I came out of my time as a camp counselor with a better understanding of empathy and connection than I had previously. Now, when I see my younger sister acting up, I understand better how to help her without sounding bossy or controlling." The "passive voice" occurs when you use forms of the verb to be, and it usually makes your sentences wordier and unclear. Using active, present-tense verbs makes your writing more alive and interesting. Consider the difference between the following sentences: "The window was broken by the zombie" and "The zombie broke the window." In the first, you have no idea whether the window by the zombie just happened to be broken. The second is very clear: the zombie broke the window, and you need to hit the road.

SUMMARY:
Tell a story. Keep the focus on yourself. Don’t say what you think the board wants to hear. Don’t try too hard to sound smart. Show, don't tell. Use active verbs.