Application Submitted

After several weeks of essay-writing and revising and getting very very neurotic over them, I finally submitted my application for Queen's before the first round deadline of November 29. They had been accepting applications since June, so I had planned on submitting way before the deadline, but trying to perfect the essays held me up.

In addition, rumour has it that people who submit really early are usually the most qualified and conscientious applicants who did all their homework and are way ahead of the game than us "normal" people. So, you want to submit early enough to ensure full consideration for both the application and possibly a scholarship, but not so early such that you're competing with all the best of applicants.

Unlike a lot of other schools, Queen's only asks for a resume, and has no detailed work experience or activities section on the application where you can elaborate up to 4000 characters per activity. Therefore, it goes without saying that it's extremely important to write a good resume. I thought it was actually good practice, because there was no pressure to write a lot, and you can choose the most important things to write for each job.

The students' advice of "really work on your essays" was very important as well. Instead of trying to impress the admissions committee, you should write with your own voice and present yourself as a whole person. I won't elaborate much here, there are many websites and articles that tells you how to write a good application.