The application essay is the most crucial piece of writing the
student will submit to the colleges, and, if not done impressively, it
will also be their last. In most cases, it is the college's first actual
exposure to the student, and first impressions have a habit of lasting.
A memorable essay contains all the student's Kodak moments interlaced
with some less than blissful adventures to create the necessary drama in
the writing.
Students must begin by choosing the right topic,
meaning the right topic for them, and one that will be well received by
the admissions committees. The subject matter chosen and its degree of
difficulty say volumes to the school about the character of the author.
As the quality of the essay is dependent on the student's ability to
respond to the subject matter, making the correct choice is absolutely
essential.
Students should select a most thought-provoking and
stimulating subject to write about, and it helps greatly to view the
task as a "we dare you to compete for the privilege of attending our
school" challenge from the college. In other words, if there's a
literary masterpiece inside the student crying out to be written and
read, this would be a good time to unleash it!
Students writing
about their favorite anything should be passionate about it. It's not
enough just to say you love something or someone. It must be explained
why in no uncertain terms. If writing about how a particular relative
was admired by the student above all others, then how that person
influenced the student's life, how the student apprenticed that person
or fashioned their lives in their light should be factored in.
Students
often write about themselves as the subject matter is well known to
them and requires no research. However, as this is certainly not the
road less traveled, a necessary and serious effort is sorely needed to
make the journey stand out amongst all the other students doing the
same. Be it overcoming adversity or how the past summer was spent, the
writing should be uniquely appealing to the reader and not the same old,
same old. However, the essay should not be overwritten.
One of my
students wrote about being molested when she was eight years old. She
wisely chose not to go into the horror in her accounting of it, but
rather focused on how she overcame being victimized. The essay was most
compelling and was well received. She is now pursuing a medical career
at a very prestigious West Coast university.
Students should avoid
writing too vividly about any traumatizing experience. The essay can be
gripping but not horrifying. Remember, the object here is to write an
essay that captures the reader's imagination and begs to be read in its
entirety. Highly controversial subjects such as abortion are best
avoided.
One of my honor students wrote a "Pro Life" essay and
expressed her views with such intensity that reading it left me with the
impression that she might be viewed as a danger to others with strong
"pro choice" convictions! At first, when I advised her to rewrite it,
she flat out refused. I explained that she was losing site of her goal -
to be accepted to the college and not to win points on her take of the
anti-abortion issue. She finally realized the wisdom of my words when I
reminded her that after she was accepted, she could protest and exercise
her freedom of speech in any way she chose, but first, she had to get
into the school.
Students must keep their eye on the prize and never lose sight of the main objective - getting an admission ticket!
My
all-time favorite essay question is the University of Pennsylvania's,
"You've just written your 300 page autobiography. Tell us what's on page
217?" I advise students who choose this essay to go back in time five
or six years (about a third of their life), recall where they were and
what they were doing in that time period, and then begin writing about
it.
A most effective and creative approach is to begin the page in
the middle of a sentence, preferably ending the thought by leaving the
reader in a quandary, i.e. "...because that's the way it was arranged."
Remember that this is page 217 from your autobiography. Open any
autobiography, or any book for that matter, to page 217. It probably
won't start with a fresh sentence or a new paragraph. It is also
important to leave the reader hanging at the end of the page, i.e.
"...As he ran into the street, the car continued to..."
I often
critique essays for students I counsel, but never write the essay for
them. I cannot advise strongly enough against employing the services of a
professional essay service or writer! Not only is this first degree
cheating, but the risk/reward ratio isn't worth it. The admissions
committees and the application readers are neither stupid nor naïve, and
they're on to that scam. Students should never take the chance of
throwing their futures away for the want of a better paper! If you're
qualified to get into college, than you're talented enough to write your
own essay.
Some years ago, a wealthy family who chose not to take
my advice in this regard, did just that. They apparently felt it would
be the sure-fire way for their son to get into an exclusive East Coast
school. He had good grades, good SAT I scores and would have otherwise
been acceptable, but his writing skills were, at best, slightly below
average. So, they hired a professional, and their son was accepted to
his college of choice.
After the third week in English Comp, his
teacher couldn't believe that someone with his limited writing skills
could have ever been accepted. The professor went to the admissions
office and reviewed the student's application and essays. His suspicions
were confirmed after reading the three much too professionally written
essays that were in his file. He concluded that none of them could have
been authored by the student.
The young man was summoned to the
Dean's office and confronted with the evidence. Left with no choice, he
reluctantly confessed that his parents had hired a professional to do
his essay writing. Consequently, he was given the option to immediately
withdraw from classes - or be expelled for the fraud he had perpetrated
on the school.
Students should also avoid the much too popular
topics that everyone else usually writes about such as, How the death of
a loved one or a pet had a profound affect on their life, or How
growing up in an Italian neighborhood was difficult because they were
from a different ethnic background. Growing up in the ghetto or in a
refugee camp is a far better topic, because if you did, then you
actually did overcome a life-challenging situation - and that will make a
far more impressive essay.
