First, we’ll go over the best brainstorming exercise to develop your personal statement topic. Then, we will work towards identifying your core values and aspirations that will provide you the perfect foundation to start writing your personal statement. For the second half of this livestream, we’ll move into an example essay review and a Q&A.
Spencer is an artist and entrepreneur from Los Angeles, CA. She recently graduated from Duke University with a degree in Literature/Global Cultural Studies, Philosophy, and Ethics and a publication in Moral Psychology. When Spencer isn’t helping students with college admission essays or writing for the CEG blog, you can find her salsa dancing, meditating, acting, doing a New York Times crossword puzzle, or creating a new healthy recipe for her wellness blog.
Undergrad College: Harvard University '17
Major: Music
Graduate College: University of Michigan, M.M.
Work Experience: Now in my fourth year at CollegeVine, I have helped dozens of students gain acceptance to their top-choice schools and have also advised and mentored thousands more through my livestreams. Apart from my work at CV, I am also a professional conductor and a multi-instrumentalist. I currently serve as the music director of the Apollo Ensemble of Boston, and I have led symphonic concerts and operatic productions throughout the United States.
My Admissions Story: Initially interested in pursuing a career as a performing cellist, I applied almost exclusively to music schools with dual and double degree options and ultimately enrolled in the Tufts University/New England Conservatory Dual Degree Program. Unhappy with the combined program and worried I'd never feel like I was fully a student at either school, I logged back into CommonApp.org in October of my freshman year. I can't say I went about the transfer process in the smartest way (I only applied to two schools!), but Harvard miraculously accepted me (or 'excepted me' as I wrote in a celebratory Facebook post that day - no one ever let me live that one down), and the rest was history.