A Lot Of People Don’t Have Their Own Personality Or Ideas. Just A Mix Of Whatever’s Trending, Whatever

I credit hypergamytumblr and studyblr for helping me get into Michigan, Cornell, Georgetown, Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Tulane, UCSB, and UMiami. The help I got making lists of deadlines, refining my essays, finding fee waivers to apply to schools for free, going on tours, and maximizing my opportunities and productivity changed my application process for the better, and the tips and tricks I picked up were incredibly helpful and remain relevant to this day.

I think it’s incredibly important to use what resources are around you and pour what you have into the things you want. I had no idea where to start, and I love Tumblr, so I used the resources I’d found to formulate a plan and leapt in. I didn’t go to community college after high school, and I also didn’t want to go back to my high school and ask for resources, so TikTok, Reddit, and Tumblr played vital roles in crafting each application, and I spent hours absorbing information.

I really love the emphasis on discipline on this side of Tumblr. I’m a rather disciplined person in general, but I had to ramp up the discipline and dedication I had to a whole new level in order to keep myself on track and motivated. I had to create entirely new routines, constantly check myself, be consistent with all of my efforts, keep to my timeline and budget, and dance with 20 different apps at the same time while scheduling interviews and meetings with alumni. It’s very difficult to stay on track during the admissions process if you’re not Type A, and being able and willing to pick up new habits is a must.

What I’m saying is this: advice from Tumblr helped me to get stable, taught me how to settle down, and helped me start writing; TikTok videos from admitted and prospective students helped me clear my path and figure out where I wanted to tour and visit; and Reddit was great for interview tips and for getting my SAT score up. If you’re looking to apply to schools and want to get yourself on track fast, you have to be willing to use unorthodox methods and take advantage of what (free) resources you do have at your fingertips.

I got into 9 of the 11 schools I applied to and thought I wouldn’t get into, kept my application process completely free, and ended the journey with planning skills that I will be using until the end of my days. I learned how to follow through, how to chase an opportunity, how to dress and what to wear, and how to write a compelling essay, along with so many other important skills. I had to be willing to use what was at my disposal, take advantage of what was available to me, and not be afraid of the unknown to end up with the results that I have, and I’m happy I did.

Focus on what you want. Disregard that which ought to remain in the past. Focus on your desires. Disregard the rest. Focus. Focus. Focus. Especially on what you want to grow. Multiply your most delicious desires. Fucking alchemize your present reality into your wildest fantasy.

I feel like my conception of It girls was deeply shaped by growing up in the 2000s…I simply don’t believe that anyone who is chronically online can ever be a true It girl. It girls aren’t supposed to take loads of photos of themselves, they’re supposed to be photographed by others stumbling out of nightclubs or in appear in best dressed magazine spreads …They’re supposed to seem a bit mysterious and unreachable and like they’re always busy having fun and being glamorous. For this and so many other reasons I just cannot understand how anyone could conceive of Dasha from Redscare or any of these dead-eyed Dimes Square adjacent people as an It girl. Those people are a charisma vacuum. They never look like they’re having any fun and they’re also obsessed with online culture wars (profoundly unchic behaviour). Also their personas are extremely effortfully contrived while the true It girl exude effortlessness and seems like she influences people and culture simply by existing.

Where do you get your hair inspo? Looking to dye my hair for the first time and want to take pics to my stylist

HairbyFlisan

Wu+Moberg

ByNikeFritz

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BlenchSundsvall

please don’t spend your life convincing yourself that love or joy is reserved for the idealized version of you that only exists in the future