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 o the colleges read the
essays you write on their applications? You bet your
diploma they do. Here is your chance to strut your stuff,
stand up, be counted, and stylize your way into the hearts
of the decision makers.
Write it, edit it, review
it. Rewrite it. Show why you are unique and how the
college will benefit from having you in its student body.
This is not a routine homework assignment, but a college
level essay that will be carefully examined for spelling,
grammar, content, and the style of a high school senior. As
strenuous an effort as it may be, your completing the essay
gives the admissions committee a chance to know the real
you: a three-dimensional human being with passions,
preferences, strengths, weaknesses, imagination, energy and
ambition. Your ability to present yourself will help the
deans and directors of admission remember your application
from the thousands that flood their offices each year.
And the best way to
promote yourself is by writing to your strengths – use your
essay to say what you want to say. Even if an essay
question seems specific, you can include your interests,
ambitions, and insights while answering the question. The
essay that asks you to name your favorite book and the
reason for your selection could be answered with the title
of a Dr. Seuss book if, for example, you are considering a
career as an elementary school teacher. If you are
interested in business, read about a famous entrepreneur you
admire, and then discuss your interest in business.
Whatever the essay
questions may be - autobiographical
or otherwise - select
the person or issue that puts you in a position to discuss
the subject you know best. All of your essay responses are
autobiographical in that they illustrate something important
about you, your values, and the kind
of person you are (or
hope to become). If personal values are important to you -
and they should be - then here is
your opportunity to stress
their importance.
Because many colleges will
ask for more than one essay, make sure that for any one
college, the sum of these essays covers your best points.
Do not repeat your answers even if the questions sound
alike. Cover the
most important academic and
extracurricular or personal activities (the ones in which
you excelled or spent the
most quality time).
If you are fortunate to
have a cooperative English teacher, you might request a
critique of your first draft, but be sure to allow enough
time for the teacher’s careful evaluation and your
revision.
Write the essays
yourself – no substitutes or stand-in authors. College
admission professionals can discern mature adult prose from
student prose. Don’t be tempted to borrow an essay from an
online source, because colleges know the cheater-sites and
you will be caught.
The Personal Essay
The Common Application
asks for two essays –first, an activity essay of about 150
words, and second, a personal essay, usually about one page
of single-spaced twelve-point type. You may write your long
essay on a topic of your choice or on one of five suggested
topics. Almost any topic you can imagine can be coaxed into
an original personal essay, as long as there’s an honest
connection to you.
Not sure where to begin?
Talk about it with your friends and family, the people who
know you best. They might remind you of a family tradition
that defines who you are. They might suggest an achievement
or an anecdote, or capture the essence of you in a few
words. Yes, they probably won’t be able to resist telling
those embarrassing stories one more time; but because they
love you, they will point out your best and truest
attributes.
Another great seed for an
essay is some encounter in your life that made you wake up
with a new realization. It might be a piece of advice you
received, a line from a book that rang true,
or the moment
when you overcame a fear.
Your personal essay should
tell your story past, present and future. You don’t need to
write an autobiography – good thing, since you won’t be
allowed that many words! -- but rather use a smaller story
to represent the big picture.
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Include a
glimpse of your younger self to tell what formed your
values or interests;
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tell what
you have done, or what you do actively that reveals
those values or interests; and,
-
declare
your future, or at least hint at what you plan to do.
Given an almost infinite
range of topics, try to pick a positive one. Some students,
of course, have traumatic events that have affected their
lives and deserve to be addressed. If that describes you,
you will have to show how events changed you and how you are
looking forward. Before you write about trouble in your
life, seek the advice of a trusted adult.
Don’t list your good
qualities with adjectives, show them with actions. If you
write “I am responsible, intelligent, compassionate, and a
team player,” it makes you look conceited. If you tell a
story that reveals those qualities, it makes you look
amazing.
One gentle nudge for you,
the good student whose writing is so absolutely serious,
straight, and formal in tone: please liven it up, warm it
up, and make it a little funny and personal! It’s okay.
Transcripts can’t show your generous heart or your
passionate dream-- that’s why colleges ask for essays.
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