10 Tips for Staying Sane While Writing College Application Essays
Writing college application essays is so different from the type of writing students are used to doing for high school classes.
And while they may balk and protest, the summer before senior year is the perfect time for them to start wri ting essays for college applications.
These essays are meant to be personal and introspective, not reports and factual, which students may be used to doing.
Here are some tips to keep the sanity, while gently pushing rising seniors to get started.
These are not rules, but general guidelines, ways of thinking about what lies ahead.
1. Note the Bad News and the Good News
Sorry to tell you this: The essays are a slog, and if you’re applying to schools with many supplements or several schools not on the Common Application, they can add up to a lot of work.
The good news is that doing the work can be a terrific way to focus your experience, your perceptions, your goals, and your sense of yourself as a soon-to-be college student.
Finding your voice and your story will help you make that transition.
Writing the essays can help you learn how to present yourself, talk about your interests, talents and accomplishments –
2. Get Personal
I advise students applying to Common Application colleges and universities or to a majority of them to do the Common App essay first.
And when you do, find a topic that makes your heart beat a little faster than usual – a topic with some energy and even tension: A piece of your personal story that’s essential to who you are and not reflected in your activities list, a talent, a hardship, a moment you took a risk and spoke out to defend
a position, or a problem you solved, even if it was putting together a trampoline in your backyard.
Students have not been encouraged to write from a personal perspective for much of high school, and having to do that suddenly for the Common App essay and for many of the supplements can be a real challenge.
These are personal essays, not academic papers or speeches.
3. There Are no Right Answers
Students often ask me: What does the school want me to write?
It is often a surprise for them to hear that the school wants to know what you think and what your experience is.
Make sure your essays tell what it is you want colleges to know about you: Your passions, your talents, your ambitions, the qualities that make you who you are.
No right answers – but do remember to answer the questions/prompts you are asked, whether it’s the Common App prompts or the other possibilities.
4. Make a Master List
Once you are done with your Common App essay, make a master list of what supplementary essays are required for each college: 1. The topic. 2. The length. 3. The due dates.
Have a sense in advance how many essays you might have to do – whether it’s 3 or 15 or even 20.
Some colleges have 2, 3, 4, or even more essays.
Though the essays may only be 100, 250 or 500 words, they must be written with well-considered words.
Some of the essays are creative (“What makes you happy?” “
5. Note the Non-Common App Universities
Many outstanding universities are not members of the Common Application organization, and their essays have nothing to do with the Common App.
Make sure you know which institutions are not Common App, among them MIT, Georgetown, Wake Forest, University of California, University of Texas, and many universities in Florida.
6. Write Informally and Long and Then Edit
As you tackle the Common App essay, write informally and write long in order to find your material.
As you begin, don’t stick to the 650-word limit.
Again, you’re looking for material, energy, what matters.
Once you have that down, you can edit out everything that isn’t essential.
This is where you might need help from other readers.
7. Yes, Engage and Entertain
College admissions officers often report that they want to be entertained and engaged by your essay.
I’d say it’s more important to go for “engaged” than “entertained,” but the message is clear.
The first sentence needs to be a grabber.
But keep in mind that you may end up writing the first terrific sentence once you’ve done the third draft.
It doesn’t need to be acrobatic or pyrotechnic, and it doesn’t need to be one for the ages (“Call me Ishmael” – opening of Moby Dick), but a little pizazz goes a long way, at the beginning and throughout.
8. Getting Down to It
There are dozens of websites that give advice about the nitty gritty of writing the essays.
There are also many sites that publish college essays.
Consider taking a look at these sites with these caveats: There is an infinite variety in college application essays, and some are more appropriate for individuals than others, based on their records and where they are applying.
You don’t need to read other essays to write your own essay.
In fact, sometimes reading others’
9. The Writing and Language, in a Nutshell
Much of the advice comes down to: write in your own voice, as though you are talking more than writing an academic paper.
The tone should be more informal than the stiff, academic language you would use when writing a history paper.
It’s sometimes helpful to write the essay as though you’re writing a letter to someone – a friend or mentor.
SS language, word choices and other writing tips:
This essay is not a place to show off your SAT vocabulary or your penchant for writing poetry.
Use SS language: Simple and Straightforward.
But though it’s SS, it must be precise, detailed, and specific.
For instance: “My parents are in the military and we moved a lot. “ vs: “My parents are medics in the Army, and we’ve lived in five countries since I was born, including Poland, Germany, and Botswana.”
Specific details are always more memorable, and forcing yourself to focus on details focuses your brain and your powers of perception.
10. Use Active Examples
It’s often great to start an essay with an active example of what you’ll be writing about.
Put us in the middle of the action and then step back and explain how you got there and how it relates to the essay prompt.
“The conductor pointed his baton to the string section, and we began the fugue that ends the second movement of Brahms’ Requiem.”
“
“I fell in love with the violin when I was six, and music has been the center of my life since then.”
“
“The policeman grabbed me by the arm and demanded I show him my ID. I had no idea what I had done wrong, and I didn’t have my wallet with me. I was just riding my bike in San Diego. I didn’t think it was a crime to ride on the sidewalk.”
“This was my first experience of discrimination in the United States, where we moved from Algeria when I was ten years old.”
“
Staying calm and working towards finding your voice are the keys to creating an essay that will be compelling and help you stand out.
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Don’t just write a personal essay. Write an essay that shows what you’re passionate about and how you think.
Many well-meaning advisors will tell you that your college essay should tell us about you. This is true, but it’s not enough.
When it comes right down to it, your main college essay is a 650-word introduction to you as a scholar, a community member, and a potential alumnus/a. This means that the story you tell about yourself must depict you as someone with strong interests, an inventive mind, and a willingness to pursue your goals.
There are likely plenty of stories in your background that are personally meaningful to you, but that don’t represent you in this particular light. A story about watching reality television with your sister, for example, might capture a family tradition, but it won’t tell us much about your scholarly interests or goals. A narrative about your mother’s immigration to the U.S., too, might show us her ability to overcome difficulties, but it won’t highlight yours.
Rather than focusing on stories that are personally important to you, we recommend that you tell us about moments in your life that highlight your passions, goals, and interests. Tell us about how watching reality TV with your sister inspired your award-winning research project on modern celebrity culture. Tell us about how your mother’s experience coming to the U.S. informed your own passion for immigration reform, which has led you to spend your time campaigning and volunteering with organizations that support migrants.
The stories don’t just give us a window into your life. They give us insights into how you’ve developed and explored your interests in high school — and how you might continue to pursue them at college.
Show, don’t tell.
The #1 suggestion in all creative writing classes holds true in your college essays, too. Show, don’t tell.That is, rather than telling us that something is true, show us evidence that makes us believe it. It’s especially important to follow this advice when making statements about yourself: I like chemistry. I am a strong baseball player. I am kind.
These assertions may be accurate, but your reader has no reason to believe them without any supporting evidence. You can make your position far more compelling by offering evidence that shows the truth behind each statement. Tell us about the three chemistry classes you’ve taken outside of school
By giving us examples that prove the truth of your assertions, your statements won’t come across as empty boasts, but as important insights into your interests and values.
Don’t be afraid to talk about failure.
At the end of the day, your essay is a narrative. Although it may not have the well-developed characters and complex plot of a lengthy novel or film, it does need to have enough tension to hold your reader’s interest.
One great way to develop this tension: talk about a time you’ve failed. Tell us about the ideas you held that were incorrect, the projects you developed that didn’t work properly, or the arguments you presented that were quickly dismissed on the debate floor. Once you’ve shown yourself at a low point, you can then explain how you climbed out of this hole. Tell us about the ways your project’s failure inspired you to rethink your approach and tackle the next year’s competition with a new perspective.
This structure doesn’t just draw in your reader. It also shows your ability to grow in your thinking and to learn from your mistakes — two great abilities for any college scholar.
Make sure your essay supports your larger application profile.
As we’ve mentioned before, admissions officers generally don’t have much time to review students’ applications. As a result, they’ll often look for a quick way to sum up each applicant — an elevator pitch, if you will. They might describe Student A as a scientist who volunteers to help low-income families. Student B might be an artist with a passion for literacy education.
In order to sell yourself as a candidate, you’ll want to come up with a compelling angle for your application and write a college essay that supports your self-presentation. If, for example, you’re a budding politician, use your main essay to talk about your summer internships for a state congressman, not your enjoyment of the nature walks around your home. If you’re presenting yourself as someone with a passion for women’s rights, talk about your experience campaigning for equal pay and supporting women’s education, not about the fun experiences you’ve had learning how to cook with your dad.
This isn’t to say all of your essays should reiterate the same point or that you can’t tell original and compelling stories. You want to be conscious, though, of how your application presents you and make sure that you stand out as a thoughtful, focused applicant.
Open with a hook that grabs your reader.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: your opening line matters!
Especially since admissions officers read countless essays every application season, you need to grab your reader early with a compelling opening that draws him or her into your essay. In a blog post over the summer, we reviewed some easy ways to use your introduction to grab your reader’s attention. Some quick suggestions:
- Surprise your reader by opening with an unexpected statement or a situation
- Present a thought-provoking question that drives your studies or your reader won’t be able to answer easily
If you want to see some of these approaches in action, take a look at this collection of opening lines for successful admissions essays to top colleges:
By giving us examples that prove the truth of your assertions, your statements won’t come across as empty boasts, but as important insights into your interests and values.
- I change my name each time I place an order at Starbucks.
- Some fathers might disapprove of their children handling noxious chemicals in the garage.
- When I was in eighth grade, I couldn’t read.
- The spaghetti burbled and slushed around the pan, and as I stirred it, the noises it gave off began to sound increasingly like bodily functions.
- I’ll never forget the day when my childhood nightmares about fighting gigantic trolls in the Lord of the Rings series became a reality.
