August is coming to an end and the college application process has begun. If you’re a high school senior, don’t think that only way you will get noticed by college admissions counselors is if you jam as many accomplishments and titles into your essays as possible. Doing so will make your essays an extremely boring read.
Transcripts, ACT and SAT scores, awards, honors, activities, volunteer positions, internships, and jobs all have a place in your college applications, but it is not in your essays! The essays are where you want to write about life experiences that will reveal who you are beyond your statistics. Think of your grades and test scores as the cover of a book. We might pick up a book because its cover is appealing, but if the first few paragraphs don’t interest us, we pass. Your essays need to be an interesting read and let us get to know you.
Memorable college essays present story, not stats.
To check your essay for boring boasting, read it out loud. Does it sound like a list of all the fabulous things you have done? If so, back to the drawing board you go. For any generic statements you have made, brainstorm about the relevant Five W’s (Who, What, When Where, How & Why) behind those statements.
I read a Common App essay last week from a rather accomplished young woman who has clear life goals, but her essay read like her resume in prose. The good news was that lurking in her draft were a couple of lines that stood out because they revealed something about a turning point in her life. I wanted to know more; I wanted to learn exactly what happened and why this particular event changed her. Of course, the student knows “what” and “why,” but she didn’t express that in her draft. The student is now expanding those two lines into an engaging essay.
Remember, we, your readers, have not had a front row seat to your life. Clue us in.
Look for similar diamonds in the rough of your brainstorming notes and early drafts. If you don’t see even a hint of a sparkle, then ponder your activities and accomplishments. But instead of trying to quantify them, think about standout experiences you had while participating in those activities or something that happened that transformed you or a remarkable person you met. Then brainstorm about those memories. Then go write your essay.
Transcripts, ACT and SAT scores, awards, honors, activities, volunteer positions, internships, and jobs all have a place in your college applications, but it is not in your essays! The essays are where you want to write about life experiences that will reveal who you are beyond your statistics. Think of your grades and test scores as the cover of a book. We might pick up a book because its cover is appealing, but if the first few paragraphs don’t interest us, we pass. Your essays need to be an interesting read and let us get to know you.
Memorable college essays present story, not stats.
To check your essay for boring boasting, read it out loud. Does it sound like a list of all the fabulous things you have done? If so, back to the drawing board you go. For any generic statements you have made, brainstorm about the relevant Five W’s (Who, What, When Where, How & Why) behind those statements.
I read a Common App essay last week from a rather accomplished young woman who has clear life goals, but her essay read like her resume in prose. The good news was that lurking in her draft were a couple of lines that stood out because they revealed something about a turning point in her life. I wanted to know more; I wanted to learn exactly what happened and why this particular event changed her. Of course, the student knows “what” and “why,” but she didn’t express that in her draft. The student is now expanding those two lines into an engaging essay.
Remember, we, your readers, have not had a front row seat to your life. Clue us in.
Look for similar diamonds in the rough of your brainstorming notes and early drafts. If you don’t see even a hint of a sparkle, then ponder your activities and accomplishments. But instead of trying to quantify them, think about standout experiences you had while participating in those activities or something that happened that transformed you or a remarkable person you met. Then brainstorm about those memories. Then go write your essay.
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