College Essay Essentials
It’s college application time. Those of you applying for early action or early decision are likely finished with your essays. But for those of you applying regular decision, you might not even have begun your personal statement.
Students most often ask me three questions about the essay:
• What do I write about?
• How do I start?
• How long should it be?
Guess what? Your college essay should be about you! College admissions officers want to know who you are, what you will contribute to the community, and how you write. They want to see what you’re made of and what you value.
Discovering what you value is where it all begins. They are your dreams and aspirations and where your essay starts. Do you value quirkiness or quiet, empathy or enthusiasm, inspiration or insanity? There are many values exercises, but one of the easiest ways to discover your values is to ask. Ask your parents and three friends to describe you in five words. Here’s where the magic starts. Admissions officers LOVE stories...honestly, they do. And when your family and friends give you those five words, they are usually attached to stories about you.
You own these values and these stories. Each of the questions on your applications just begs you to tell a story. Colleges are not looking for perfect essays or perfect students. They are looking for students who will make a difference in their community, be it the classroom, the dorm room, or the neighborhood. So tell your deepest story, using your own voice. Don’t go vocabulary hunting.
Your first draft should just be a free write of everything pertaining to the “time” you are telling about. Each draft after the first should begin to narrow your essay down to hone in on the specific message you want to convey and deliver it as succinctly as you can.
As in an English class essay, “show, don’t tell”. Show the reader your values, without using dry words. If resourcefulness is your value, show your resourcefulness through your story. Be creative in your story-telling. Don’t be boring. That doesn’t mean that your essay should or must read like the latest thriller. But it shouldn’t lay out the ending too soon. Make the ordinary extraordinary; the mundane memorable. Think about your grandmother’s cooking and how you value family; your dad’s bad jokes and how you value laughter; how you empathize with every doctor in Grey’s Anatomy; or how The Three Musketeers helped you realize how much you value loyalty.
Do you know that admissions officers read on average 3,000 essays each admissions cycle? Be kind to them. Consider quality over quantity. The average length of submitted essays is 500 words. If you can deliver your story in 354 words, stop. If you need 502 words, use them. Don’t add words to reach the often-posted 650 word limit. Those words can seriously dilute your message. Your essay needs to be just long enough to show who you are and what you will contribute to the school.
So sit back, close your eyes, and reflect on your personal values. Now - start writing and rewriting until your essay jumps off the page with your voice clearly showing them what your bring to the table.
It’s college application time. Those of you applying for early action or early decision are likely finished with your essays. But for those of you applying regular decision, you might not even have begun your personal statement.
Students most often ask me three questions about the essay:
• What do I write about?
• How do I start?
• How long should it be?
Guess what? Your college essay should be about you! College admissions officers want to know who you are, what you will contribute to the community, and how you write. They want to see what you’re made of and what you value.
Discovering what you value is where it all begins. They are your dreams and aspirations and where your essay starts. Do you value quirkiness or quiet, empathy or enthusiasm, inspiration or insanity? There are many values exercises, but one of the easiest ways to discover your values is to ask. Ask your parents and three friends to describe you in five words. Here’s where the magic starts. Admissions officers LOVE stories...honestly, they do. And when your family and friends give you those five words, they are usually attached to stories about you.
You own these values and these stories. Each of the questions on your applications just begs you to tell a story. Colleges are not looking for perfect essays or perfect students. They are looking for students who will make a difference in their community, be it the classroom, the dorm room, or the neighborhood. So tell your deepest story, using your own voice. Don’t go vocabulary hunting.
Your first draft should just be a free write of everything pertaining to the “time” you are telling about. Each draft after the first should begin to narrow your essay down to hone in on the specific message you want to convey and deliver it as succinctly as you can.
As in an English class essay, “show, don’t tell”. Show the reader your values, without using dry words. If resourcefulness is your value, show your resourcefulness through your story. Be creative in your story-telling. Don’t be boring. That doesn’t mean that your essay should or must read like the latest thriller. But it shouldn’t lay out the ending too soon. Make the ordinary extraordinary; the mundane memorable. Think about your grandmother’s cooking and how you value family; your dad’s bad jokes and how you value laughter; how you empathize with every doctor in Grey’s Anatomy; or how The Three Musketeers helped you realize how much you value loyalty.
Do you know that admissions officers read on average 3,000 essays each admissions cycle? Be kind to them. Consider quality over quantity. The average length of submitted essays is 500 words. If you can deliver your story in 354 words, stop. If you need 502 words, use them. Don’t add words to reach the often-posted 650 word limit. Those words can seriously dilute your message. Your essay needs to be just long enough to show who you are and what you will contribute to the school.
So sit back, close your eyes, and reflect on your personal values. Now - start writing and rewriting until your essay jumps off the page with your voice clearly showing them what your bring to the table.
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