University of Kyoto

Elbek joined the Orwell Community in mid-July. He wanted to learn how to write a personal statement — how to make it better, and how to make it actually work.

He will tell you himself he could not keep up with everything during the program. The tasks were heavy. What he did keep up with changed how he writes.

Timeline

Most of his peers had started Agora by late spring the year before. He was thinking about a gap year.

To improve his writing, he felt Agora's curriculum and materials would help him the most.

He graduated Agora in mid-September. From October through November he kept drafting essays and reflections and applied to universities in Asia, including CUHK, HKU, and the University of Kyoto.

From January, decisions arrived. He was admitted to all three. He chose Kyoto with full tuition.

What clicked

"The writing changed immediately after I understood the core of writing personal statements: Intellectual Vitality, Academic Points of Excellence, and Texture."

That understanding came with writing many reflections on the reading materials. He is candid about the pace: "To be honest, I couldn't keep up with doing homework at 100%, because it required focus, thinking, and long time for studying."

After Agora

"Agora should be a must-course for everyone no matter if they are applying to colleges or not. Every person needs to learn how to write, think, and reflect in life."

"Before Agora I underestimated the importance of deep thinking while crafting writing. Now, it helped me not only to build stronger essays that was one of the main factors in my acceptances, but also to consistently run a digital archive of my thoughts and experiences for myself in Obsidian and others on my Telegram blog."