Looking Back on My Essay

What is one thing you wished you told List College about in your applicationthat you didn’t?
                                                      

Alexandra Harvey
Joint Program ’16
San Diego, California

As I was applying to LIST, it was not always the process of writing the supplement essays that was difficult, but choosing what to share with the admissions committee.  I remember talking in depth about my trip to Israel two summers ago with JITLI (The Jacobs International Teen Leadership Institute), as well as my involvement with clubs on my high school campus, but what I wish I talked about more was my first trip to Israel with during the summer of 2010. 

I remember briefly touching on my Israel experience, but I would have liked to expand on how much this trip changed me; how I truly fell in love with Israel after landing with 40 of my closest friends, and how I finally understood what it meant to reconnect.  I would have liked to describe the emotions I felt in Poland while walking through the concentration camps, and how this experience paralleled with landing in Israel for the first time.  Perhaps because I knew that there were probably several others applying to LIST that would speak of their Israel experience, I hesitated to write about it because I wanted to stand out from everyone else.  But the reality is that although we may have gone on the same trip, the experiences we talked about in our essays would have never been the same.

My Campus Visit Was a Game Changer!

At what point in your own college search did you know List College was your top choice school? Was there a particular moment or experience you had on campus or off campus that help you come to this decision?

Hannah Domier
Joint Program ’16
Medway, Massachusetts

Originally I was interested in applying to Columbia University without the List College component, but when I heard about the Joint Program I fell in love with it. I wanted to live in New York City and attend Columbia University, but I had never had a formal Jewish education and wanted to experience that as well. List College offered all of this, and it became my top choice school early on during my college application process. When I was accepted to the program, I knew immediately that I wanted to enroll.

Attending Prospective Student Weekend and visiting campus, helped to answer nearly all of my questions and concerns. Seeing what it was like to live as a student and talking to current students made me excited about the possibility of attending List College. After visiting, I knew that List College was my top choice school. I strongly encourage anyone to apply to List College who is interested in Jewish and secular education, and who also wants to experience living in New York City. There are so many amazing opportunities at the Joint Program: a wonderful education at two great universities, diverse activities and people, and access to all the city has to offer.

Decision 2012: Prospective Student Weekend!

What made you decide to apply to List College? At what point in your own college search did you know List College was your top choice school? Was there a particular moment or experience you had on campus or off campus that help you come to this decision?

Rebecca Galin
Double Degree Program ‘16
Lexington, Massachusetts

When I was in tenth grade I spent my spring semester in Israel on NFTY-EIE.  I had gone to public school and had never had the opportunity to study Hebrew or Jewish history before. I fell in love. Every day I came to my Jewish history class early with a list of questions about Judaism. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know. When I began the college search I only looked at small schools that had Jewish studies majors.

I visited List College in the summer after my Junior year of high school. List College seemed like the perfect place for me because I could learn both Jewish studies and secular studies. In September of my senior year, I went to two prospective student weekends, at Oberlin College and at List College, to compare the schools and decide where to apply early decision. I knew that I had to be a Double Degree during my Prospie weekend at List. First, just like on EIE, I learned new things about Judaism and campus life. However, my real “aha” moment came at the end of that same day. There was a downpour during our tours of Barnard and JTS. There is nothing in the world that makes me more uncomfortable than having wet socks. I knew that List College was the right school for me because I was still smiling with squelchy toes.