04. Self Evaluation

Motivation ¶

Completing the college applications will require a lot of self-reflection. For example, Harvard asked these questions to its applicants for the class of 2027:

• Harvard has long recognized the importance of enrolling a diverse student body. How will the life experiences that shape who you are today enable you to contribute to Harvard? (max 200 words)
• Briefly describe an intellectual experience that was important to you. (max 200 words)
• Briefly describe any of your extracurricular activities, employment experience, travel, or family responsibilities that have shaped who you are. (max 200 words)
• How do you hope to use your Harvard education in the future? (max 200 words)
• Top 3 things your roommates might like to know about you. (max 200 words)

Exercise ¶

This section has been extracted from the EGF Guide .

Take several hours to think about yourself as an individual. Keep notes! Think comprehensively and write down several examples for each section.

Background ¶

Where did you grow up? Is it a rural area or an urban one?

How many siblings do you have? Are you the oldest, the youngest, or in the middle?

How do your parents/guardians earn a living? Are they small-scale farmers, have a shop, white collar workers?

Who were the important people and role models in your life when you were growing up?

Are there significant challenges in your life that you’ve overcome? A disability? Passing away of a parent/guardian? Growing up poor? Hailing from a village that is very isolated or with very few people who are educated?

Schooling ¶

Where did you go to school (at primary and secondary level)?

If you were allocated a place at national or provincial school were you able to take it up?

Which subjects have particularly stimulated you and have you performed particularly well in?

Which examples can you give of pursuing your interest in these fields, e.g., researched project on XYZ for National Physics Competition.

Have you mentored, tutored other students during your studies? For how long? What did this involve?

Extracurricular Activities and Responsibilities ¶

How have you spent your time alongside your studies? E.g., keeping chickens to pay for my studies; athletics (long distance runner), including competing at regional level; peer counseling, offering guidance to 40 fellow students in my year on issues such as homesickness, bullying, depression; Presidents Award, leading camping treks, eventually being selected as National Assessor.

Which positions of responsibility have you taken on? E.g. Laboratory Prefect, supporting the Chemistry teacher by preparing and clearing away all experiments.

Beyond your school, where else have you been active. In your place of worship? In your community? With local organizations? With your own business?

What work have you been doing in your workplace? What are your achievements there? What have you learnt, about the tasks, and about yourself?

Next Steps ¶

What subject would you like to study at university? What interests you about this? If you are weighing up a few subjects, which are they? What do you see as the similarities and differences between them?

What profession/job do you think you would like to go into after graduation? What do you know about this field? How have you found out more? Which skills that you have do you think will be key?

How do you think that studying in the US will help you reach this ambition, more than studying in Kenya? Are there courses that are not offered in Kenya?