Alright high school seniors, it’s time to get serious about your college admissions essay.
Yes, the dreaded college admissions essay:
- The most important writing assignment you will ever have.
- The 250-plus words that will determine your college fate and dictate the course of your entire life.
- Your opportunity to wow admissions committees with wit and candor and a vocabulary of Olympian proportions.
- Get it right and you will be on the path to health, happiness, and a future full success and riches beyond your wildest imagination. Get it wrong and… well, let’s not even go there.
Whatever.
Are college application essays important? Yes.
Do most high school seniors dread the thought of writing them? Definitely.
Will you be relegated to a college-less life of misery and despair if your essay fails to bring admissions officers to tears? Hardly.
(Is asking and answering a set of hypothetical questions like this a rhetorical device you should employ in your college essay? Almost certainly not.)
Many students applying to college view the essay as a necessary evil. A burden to be endured, but not embraced. A trip to the dentist, where if you brush well enough the night before the hygienist won’t lecture you about flossing better, and God willing you won’t have any cavities.
But that’s all wrong. The essay you submit as part of your college applications is an opportunity. A gift – better even than a free toothbrush. It’s the one part of the application where you get to offer real insight into who you are and what matters to you in your own words.
The trick is getting past all the hype and pressure and stress so as to convey something true about yourself in a way that is crisp, clear, and compelling.
Okay, since it is much easier for me to say all this than it is for you to do it, here are a few thoughts on preparing for and writing your college admissions essay.
- There are enough of books, articles, blogposts, and “How to” lists about writing college application essays out in the ether to keep you busy reading and fretting over this task from now until Thanksgiving. It’s entirely up to you, but I don’t think that would be the best use of your time. Pick out a few of them, get a taste of the guidance they are offering, and move on.
- Selecting an essay topic is like shopping for a car– you should test drive a few different options before settling on the one you want. Check out the essay prompts for the applications you are completing and identify 3 – 5 possible response topics that interest you. Then write one or two drafts for each. Often something that seems like a good topic in your head proves to be elusive when you start working at it. Another benefit of writing entirely different pieces is that you may end up going someplace in one draft that works even better in another. It’s well worth the time to explore and try out different ways of approaching your essay.
- Ask two or three people whose opinions you trust to proofread and critique your essay. One of these people should be your college/guidance counselor. Another should be a teacher – you want someone with an understanding of content and a good eye for grammar to review your work. Parents and siblings can be very helpful, but it is important that you get help from someone with whom you have a professional relationship. Keep in mind that admissions counselors who don’t know you are going to read and evaluate your essay. You will benefit from getting feedback from people who can give objective criticism that is not colored by being your parent or having known you since you were in diapers.
- Avoid gimmicks. If you scan the internet you can find a variety of mythical college essays that may inspire you to write your own version of: “I have climbed Everest, cured cancer, and danced with the London Ballet, but I haven’t yet gone to college.” Don’t. Every year students try, and almost all of them fail – spectacularly. Write about things that convey a piece of who you are in a genuine way. You want to demonstrate that you are smart, that you can write clearly, and that you are a person who will contribute in positive ways to a college community.
- Once you settle on your topic (or topics – some colleges require more than one essay) write your essay over from scratch at least three times. Starting with a blank screen forces you to reengage with your subject in different ways and often leads you to new and interesting places in your writing. Computers are great for ease of editing. But sometimes you need to begin anew and let your writing take you wherever it needs to go. You will also find that doing so tends to lessen the pressure you feel to get it “just right” and frees you up to do your best work.
Writing well is a process. It takes time and patience and perseverance. And above all else, it requires you to lower your guard and reveal something genuine about yourself.
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