So I am currently debating whether or not to use the 7sage one time editing package for an edit of my personal statement. My dilemma is coming from the questions on the Yale app regarding whether or not you've used an admissions service for help on anything. Dean Asha's post about this on her blog seems to indicate that using a service could negatively impact your application. Given that I'm a splitter for Yale (178, 3.67 cum GPA) and that Yale is such a blackbox anyways, I'm pretty conflicted on what to do. I was pretty set on it before I read that part of the application. On the one hand, I know I'm an extreme long shot at Yale to begin with. Everyone is no matter what their scores/gpa are, so the edit might not help there but it could on other applications. Making a decision about an integral part of my application because a concern about just Yale seems a little ridiculous. On the other hand, I'm worried that what chance I do have at Yale will be hurt by using such a service. And Yale is just the dream for so many reasons. Anyone have any advice on this? It's a needy question, so my apologies in advance.

Does anyone have any advice on how I go about putting research papers I presented at conferences on my resume? Do I just put them under my education section like so:

Conference Papers:

o “Scotland is Ours: The Impact of Youth Voters on the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum” (With Mathers, E). Great Plains Political Science Association Conference, Overland Park, KS Fall 2016. (Won Best Undergraduate Paper Award),

o “Flexible Politics: Mobilization strategies of youth activists in the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum” (With Clancy, K and Mathers, E.)

It just seems like it takes up a lot of space and makes my education section way too long. The papers were never published, so I can't put them under a publications section. Any advice would be appreciated.

On UVA's application there is a section titled Activities & Interests as I am sure many people know. I know what I want to put for my answers to each question in the section, but I'm confused as to how I should format my answer for the first box. I originally just made a bulleted list type format for all of my significant extra-curriculars, but when I reviewed my application it all just comes out as a cluttered blob of a paragraph. Does anyone have any idea how to properly format the answer in this section? Or should I just assume that UVA admissions knows that my list is going to come out as a cluttered blob?

Here's an example of my formatting vs how it comes out in the preview:

XX Student Affairs Senate, XX, XX

Elected Student Senator, Academic Affairs Committee, 5 hours/week 8/2015–12/2015

• Helped conduct student review of changes in university admission standards.

XX Model UN Team, XX, XX

Team Member, 3 hours/week 8/2015–12/2015

• Represented XX at the American Model United Nations Conference in Chicago, IL.

vs

XX Student Affairs Senate, Lincoln, XX Elected Student Senator, Academic Affairs Committee, 5 hours/week

8/2015-12/2015 Worked on student legislation, allocation of budgets, and coordination of campus events. Helped conduct student review of changes in university admission standards. XX Model UN Team, XX, XX Team Member, 3 hours/week 8/2015-12/2015 Represented XX at the American Model United Nations Conference in Chicago, IL.