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Beyond Test Scores and GPAs: The College Admissions Essay
Autumn in New England is marked by a number of signs: crisp days, changing leaves, and the start of a new school year. In addition to all of these changes, fall also marks the time that high school seniors are immersed in their college admissions essays. Here are a few questions that seniors may ask about the essay process:
Why should I start thinking about my admissions essays now? Most of my applications aren't due until December or January!
The early fall is the perfect time to complete at least one essay. A few well-spent hours now can help you avoid a lot of stress as application deadlines come closer. Even if you are planning to use the Common Application, a standard application accepted by many colleges, the supplements that some colleges require often include additional essays. Elizabeth Cirillo, graduate of the class of 2007 who is now attending New York University, started working on her Common Application essay in July so she could focus on the supplemental essays as soon as she finalized her apply list.
How important is the admissions essay?
Although transcripts, test scores, application, and teacher recommendations can say a lot about you, the essay gives admissions counselors a more personal picture of you as a student and a person. Heather Shows, an admissions counselor for Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, believes that "coupled with the extracurricular activities and recommendation letters, the essay helps us identify students whose unique voice and talents will enrich our campus community."
What are the secrets to writing a good admissions essay?
There is no single formula for writing a great essay. Instead, consider the following tips:
1. Discuss yourself in a meaningful way. The college admissions essay is not the place to show-off your knowledge of history, literature, or science. Also, avoid simply summarizing. "A lot of students fall into the trap of narrating an important event in their lives without providing any insight into what that event meant to them," said Heather. Instead, Heather says people in college admissions want to see a deeper level of analysis, to understand what that specific event or the choice of role model says about who you are as a person.
For her Common Application essay, Elizabeth described spending a summer with her cousins, who helped her learn to accept herself for the interesting person she is. She writes, "I remember sliding into home base after hitting a grand slam. Knees bleeding but smiling proudly, I walked over to where some of the girls were sitting. One girl looked at me with disgust and rudely told me, 'This section is for girls only. Go back to where you belong.' At that moment, I realized I didn't have anything in common with the popular kids, and I didn't want to be like them."
2. Write about something meaningful to you. If you are passionate about an idea, your passion will be evident in your writing. Heather notes that "all of us in admissions work in this field because we genuinely enjoy working with teenagers. If we read an essay that sounds like it was written by a 45-year-old attorney, we're going to assume that it was written by a 45 year old attorney and we're not looking to admit 45 year old attorneys to college. Don't be afraid to be yourself."
Clients of Educational Advocates have translated their most meaningful experiences into successful essays. These topics range from discovering an unexpected talent for acting after spending years backstage to developing a rapport with a homeless man who shared the student's enthusiasm for chess to speaking out against the ignorance of world events that the author perceived as common among young people today.
3. Be sure to rewrite and revise. When asked what advice she would give to rising seniors preparing to write college application essays, Elizabeth counsels "Patience. You're not going to get the perfect essay on the first try. Also, the essay isn't everything. It is only one part of the application."
Happy writing! |
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Short Takes on Colleges: New Programs
- Wentworth Institute of Technology in Massachusetts is starting a bachelor's program in environmental science. Students will select a specialization in science and technology, health and safety, or policy and pre-law.
- Brandeis University and Middlebury College will be offering a new joint summer program in Hebrew. The program is scheduled to start in the summer of 2008.
- The University of Southern Maine is offering a new minor in environmental sustainability.
From www.insidehighered.com and www.thetartan.org
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October To-Do Lists
Juniors
- Find out from your school counselor which college representatives are visiting your school. Plan to attend a few meetings as a way to begin educating yourself about the process.
- Evaluate and focus your extracurricular activities. Make choices that help you explore your interests such as writing for the school paper if you are interested in journalism, or volunteering in a medical laboratory if you love science.
- Avoid choosing an activity just because you think it will look good on your college application. If the interest is not genuine it will be obvious to colleges and you will not be using your time well.
Seniors
- Continue to visit colleges and arrange interviews where available as you narrow down your list.
- Begin thinking about early decision or early action applications and note deadlines.
- Make an appointment to ask teachers if they would be willing to write a recommendation. You will need two recommendations from teachers and one from your guidance counselor.
- Complete at least one essay and begin work on supplemental essays. Make a list of all essay questions that you need to answer for all the colleges on your list and create a schedule as a way to keep yourself on track.
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