Upcoming Workshops - Wednesday, February 15 in our Gr. 12 Post-Secondary Information Team
** SFU does not require Personal Profiles unless you are applying for the Beedie School of Business.
Students who complete the Admissions Scholarship Application for SFU are not required to submit a 2nd Beedie Supplemental Application
** SFU does not require Personal Profiles unless you are applying for the Beedie School of Business.
Students who complete the Admissions Scholarship Application for SFU are not required to submit a 2nd Beedie Supplemental Application
Some keys with all scholarships:
** Stand apart, be unique, but follow the general rules of academia **
It’s important for your submission to stand out in a refreshing way. Instead of talking aimlessly about yourself, focus on what you have done to enrich the lives of those around you.
Talk about how the things you did helped others and helped you to grow. Be grounded. If your contribution to an activity is strong, it will be evident that you were instrumental to that initiative. The goal is to highlight your strengths & contributions without sounding as if you’re bragging. There are literally thousands of students who have done as much as you have, if not more, with equivalent marks. Your dedication, passion, and energy in serving the school, your community, young people, your family etc… is what will distinguish your essay from the thousands of others that admissions staff will read.
Do some research about the school you are applying to. For example, Pre-med and pre-law are not majors at UBC. "If you say that you are pre-anything on a UBC application, it will become obvious that you don't know what you're talking about" (UBC Redditt Admissions page).
To correct this problem, read brochures, check out faculty websites, conduct a campus tour, meet with admissions staff, and talk to current students ... All of these things will help you understand what your school is seeking with respect to admission. Listen carefully to the language the institution uses in recruiting packages and advertising as this often telegraphs what the institution values with respect to selecting students for admission.
For instance, UBC seeks students who are resilient, independent, creative, caring, and thoughtful. They also value teamwork and leadership. Leadership is expressed through your actions & not your title.
Writing, as explained below, must be fairly formal. This is a chance to demonstrate that you’re capable of writing at a university level and have some academic training. Not using contractions, you statements, or a million transition words are three examples of this.
SHOW don't Tell - always use examples to provide evidence of achievement. Instead of saying you're a leader, provide specific examples of leadership and provide the names of students, teachers, community members who benefited from the work you did as a leader.
Emphasize the things that you’ve done individually and as part of team to demonstrate your ability to work with others and on your own.
Provide a variety of volunteer activities. All of your volunteer work should not be in athletics exclusively, for example.
Finally, utilize multiple drafts. Your initial thoughts are often never the best ones. Writing multiple drafts and having your writing checked by someone more competent than you is essential.
Choosing What to Write About
Try to write about experiences as opposed to language that describes you. Use things you have done to reveal your character. Examples:
Writing about a setback can be useful in terms of the lessons that the loss taught you
Writing 101
Example: "Juggling a busy schedule with grade 12 classes and being on a team really teaches you
the value of time-management."
A 'you’ statement is advice to the reader. The reader in this case has a Masters Degree or PhD. They are not seeking any advice from you. It is also considered far too informal for the style demanded by universities.
writers use transition words sparingly since their writing tends to be edited, concise,
and flow naturally.
A few more Writing Tips:
Starting in grade 10….
Organizing our school’s Relay for Life…
Rehearsing for performances was…
Use the full 200 – 300 words only if necessary. A well-written shorter response will score more points for style
Always focus on demonstrating the energy & passion that you bring to the things you’ve done.
Finally, understand your audience and provide context: to a university professor, the word kid means 'baby goat.' I understand that it means something else to you, but unfortunately you are not the one who is scoring essays.
This also goes for school programs: words such as Student Society, Spirit Club, Next 100 Years, Camp Next, Theatre Company, Surrey StepsUP. In the absence of explanation, these terms have absolutely no meaning for your readers. You need to explain terms as the reader likely will not understand, without guessing, that student society at Matheson is what is conventionally known as a student council.
Some more writing suggestions are linked in the booklet below entitled Writing 101 and this link: https://www.clatsopcc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/03-1-Dos-Donts-of-Essay-Writing.pdf
** Stand apart, be unique, but follow the general rules of academia **
It’s important for your submission to stand out in a refreshing way. Instead of talking aimlessly about yourself, focus on what you have done to enrich the lives of those around you.
Talk about how the things you did helped others and helped you to grow. Be grounded. If your contribution to an activity is strong, it will be evident that you were instrumental to that initiative. The goal is to highlight your strengths & contributions without sounding as if you’re bragging. There are literally thousands of students who have done as much as you have, if not more, with equivalent marks. Your dedication, passion, and energy in serving the school, your community, young people, your family etc… is what will distinguish your essay from the thousands of others that admissions staff will read.
Do some research about the school you are applying to. For example, Pre-med and pre-law are not majors at UBC. "If you say that you are pre-anything on a UBC application, it will become obvious that you don't know what you're talking about" (UBC Redditt Admissions page).
To correct this problem, read brochures, check out faculty websites, conduct a campus tour, meet with admissions staff, and talk to current students ... All of these things will help you understand what your school is seeking with respect to admission. Listen carefully to the language the institution uses in recruiting packages and advertising as this often telegraphs what the institution values with respect to selecting students for admission.
For instance, UBC seeks students who are resilient, independent, creative, caring, and thoughtful. They also value teamwork and leadership. Leadership is expressed through your actions & not your title.
Writing, as explained below, must be fairly formal. This is a chance to demonstrate that you’re capable of writing at a university level and have some academic training. Not using contractions, you statements, or a million transition words are three examples of this.
SHOW don't Tell - always use examples to provide evidence of achievement. Instead of saying you're a leader, provide specific examples of leadership and provide the names of students, teachers, community members who benefited from the work you did as a leader.
Emphasize the things that you’ve done individually and as part of team to demonstrate your ability to work with others and on your own.
Provide a variety of volunteer activities. All of your volunteer work should not be in athletics exclusively, for example.
Finally, utilize multiple drafts. Your initial thoughts are often never the best ones. Writing multiple drafts and having your writing checked by someone more competent than you is essential.
Choosing What to Write About
Try to write about experiences as opposed to language that describes you. Use things you have done to reveal your character. Examples:
- writing about culture-shock & how that experience helped you become adaptable in various situations – student immigrated, switched schools
- taking care of my father & coordinating his medical appointments after he fell off a roof and broke his back
- lessons learned from your part-time job
- losing at provincials in grade 11 and using it as motivation for our final year of high-school soccer
- supporting a mother who is unable to work because of her illness
- coordinating a school or community event – school play, Camp Next, summer camp
- working at your parent’s business
- translating and providing support for your parents who don’t speak English
Writing about a setback can be useful in terms of the lessons that the loss taught you
Writing 101
- Please avoid “you” statements. Even in informal essays, please use words such as “we,” “us,” and “our” to keep the writing semi-formal. Please avoid writing directly to the reader of the essay by using “you” statements, unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Example: "Juggling a busy schedule with grade 12 classes and being on a team really teaches you
the value of time-management."
A 'you’ statement is advice to the reader. The reader in this case has a Masters Degree or PhD. They are not seeking any advice from you. It is also considered far too informal for the style demanded by universities.
- Avoid the use of contractions: I’ve = I have We’d = We had
- Transition words
- For example,
- Furthermore,
- As we have seen,
- In conclusion
writers use transition words sparingly since their writing tends to be edited, concise,
and flow naturally.
A few more Writing Tips:
- Avoid beginning every sentence with I
- Vary your sentence structure to keep the reader interested
- Begin sentences with a verb:
Starting in grade 10….
Organizing our school’s Relay for Life…
Rehearsing for performances was…
- Focusing on things you have done will help minimize the “I”s
- Use Active Verbs - here’s a list put out by Harvard Law School:
Use the full 200 – 300 words only if necessary. A well-written shorter response will score more points for style
- Professors know that it takes more skill to write something strong with a fewer number of words. Write a full 300 words, then edit it down to the essentials
Always focus on demonstrating the energy & passion that you bring to the things you’ve done.
Finally, understand your audience and provide context: to a university professor, the word kid means 'baby goat.' I understand that it means something else to you, but unfortunately you are not the one who is scoring essays.
This also goes for school programs: words such as Student Society, Spirit Club, Next 100 Years, Camp Next, Theatre Company, Surrey StepsUP. In the absence of explanation, these terms have absolutely no meaning for your readers. You need to explain terms as the reader likely will not understand, without guessing, that student society at Matheson is what is conventionally known as a student council.
Some more writing suggestions are linked in the booklet below entitled Writing 101 and this link: https://www.clatsopcc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/03-1-Dos-Donts-of-Essay-Writing.pdf