Hello, Princeton Reviewers!
As many of you prepare for college with us in various ways, we'd like to touch upon a particularly touchy subject for many: the college essay. Whether considered intimidating a nuisance or a welcome challenge, your college essay can be as vital an aspect of your college application as any. And rewarding in and of itself. Writing is not everyone's strongest suit and unfortunately there is no set formula for what makes a good or great college essay. But as with many a university or global organization today, one of the best things about it is the possibility of diversity. Of so many different and unique responses to the same prompts and questions. And while we join many advisors in encouraging this, here are 10 guidelines that may hopefully help you focus your experience and your process. Good luck!
1) Take the time. This can be one of the truest representations of yourself you can make. Sure, your grades and extra curriculars and recommendations will speak for you as well, but this is you speaking on your own behalf. It doesn't have to be fancy or complicated or the next bestseller...but it requires time. Time and thought and attention. Give yourself the best possible chance/opportunity to let colleges know how you see yourself and you want them to see you.
2) Start with yourself. Remember, this is about you. So, be sure that you do you. Even if you want to write about some pop culture craze or an earth moving current event, think about your particular reaction to it. What makes you care about it? What about your reactions to it is unique? Don't immediately try to go so far outside of yourself for topics, especially if the essay prompt is guiding you. Writing about a formative event in your life could, in fact, be better served by describing a game of Monopoly you played once rather than writing about the current pandemic, if you honestly feel a stronger connection to the former than the latter. Essentially, you want to be real and honest more than you want to be impressive.
3) Be interested in what you are writing. Many of us tried or engaged in activities in high school because we thought they would make us look good to a college admissions office. Or maybe we were just trying it out of curiosity, but it somehow left us feeling cold. If that's the sort of thing you write about, Admissions will know. You may know a lot about a given topic that you were essentially forced to study and think that that store of knowledge would be a good way to fill up an essay. Keep in mind, however, that knowledge does not always equal interest. Maybe you've got a good memory. But which of your memories stands out to you most? What experiences made you want to make more memories?
4) Specificity and asking why. Part of the proof that you care about something is specificity. Not only specificity in physical or sensuous detail, but also specificity of thought and feeling. "Playing high school volleyball was important to me." Why? "Because it was fun and I made friends." Is that all? What else? Is your ability to have fun and make friends what makes you a good fit for your desired college? What did it do to your sense of teamwork, competitiveness, leadership, and camaraderie? And maybe your ability to make friends does make you a good fit for your college, but how is it you make friends easily? Are you a naturally compassionate, supportive, protective person? How did that show in playing a team sport? And how do these qualities show elsewhere in your life?
5) Remembering your audience/Balancing your voice. While you want to be true and specific to yourself, and able to demonstrate self pride and knowledge, you also need to keep in mind for whom you are writing. You're not sending a Chat message or e-mail to a friend or relative, but writing for a respected educational institution. Unless a Creative Writing program asks you present your essay as a poem, making that choice yourself is a considerable risk. So, remember to keep your default tone natural, but respectable. Avoid slang, deliberate misspellings of words, and over sharing. You can afford a conversational tone, a few fragmented thoughts or sentences, but your college probably wants to know that you have at least a basic grasp of acceptable writing and content. If you're going to talk about something that got you grounded or suspended, you'll want to think about how and if best it serves to paint you as an ideal candidate.
6) Getting feedback/editing. Part of finding an acceptable tone of voice is testing out your essay on a few early readers. Now, keep in mind that the notion of getting the tone and voice (the overall essay) right can be tricky and even frustrating, so make sure not to show your essay to too many people. The more readers you have, the more opinions you will receive, which could end up too easily replacing your voice and your story. Be sure to show your essay more to elders than classmates/peers, since no one your age will be reading essays for admission.
7) Introduction. Remember, this isn't the same as an essay you write for a Literature or Philosophy class. You don't necessarily need to open with three to five sentences. You could open with a one liner, if you feel it will best express how you want to capture your reader's attention. Avoid clichés if you can help it, unless you're prepared to put a spin on them. You could amuse with "It was a dark and stormy night" if you follow it up with "No, really, it was a dark and stormy night when I learned how to be an older brother/sister." But that will depend, of course, on the question/prompt and how you think to answer it.
8) How well do you know the college? Just as we want to be noticed by a college, colleges also want to know that you have really noticed them. And while we write common application essays for several colleges, be prepared to tweak your essay (not completely rewrite it) depending on what particular schools ask you. They may ask you for an additional piece of writing more specific to them. If the question is basically why you want to be on their campus, as ever, return to specificity, return to you. If it is well publicized what the school's specialty is or specialties are, then it may sound obvious that those are the reasons you want to attend. So, what is/was your unique first impression of the place? What surprising, engaging conversations have you had with student ambassadors or faculty members? Did you visit the campus and have something unexpected happen to you?
9) Proofreading. This is not so much for content as it is for structure and presentation. And it can save your essay. Many of us know how overworked high school can leave us feeling, so it's understandable a few errors may slip through the net. But you can still catch them before submission. Make sure the right school is addressed, for a start, and make sure to finely comb for any spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors. Eliminate any careless mistakes in your writing, so that your doesn't seem like a careless one to the Admissions people.
10) It's only one part of your application. In spite of everything here mentioned, don't put too much pressure on your essay if you feel writing is not your strongest suit. You can't really tell what will be the deal breaker of your application. So, do your best (which does not mean they have to be equally brilliant) on all of them. This will be a lot of work, as it may decide a four-year adventure to come. Try to enjoy the process and enjoy the ride.
Thank you for reading, Princeton Reviewers.
Keep reviewing, keep learning, keep reaching!
— The Princeton Review PH