It is not at all surprising that the college essay is the part of the application where students and parents feel the most pressure and stress.
In a process that overall lacks transparency and control, the essays are where students feel they are able to have the most influence above and beyond their statistics and accomplishments.
As a result, everyone from professionals to parents have ideas on what constitutes a “good” essay and what doesn’t. This is one of the few times where I’m not going to provide links to such articles, because I don’t want to add to the confusion. Except for this article, which is my “favorite” and by favorite, I mean, is the worst thing EVER, because this list is basically everything a 16 or 17-year-old would write about!!! (And I just broke rule #7 about not using sarcasm).
Here’s the thing, if you ask an admissions rep, ESPECIALLY now with so many colleges going test-optional, they will tell you that their goal for the essay is for YOU to share YOUR story, the one that ONLY YOU can tell, the one that, in the words of the common app prompt “your application would be incomplete without”.
That’s it!!! And NOBODY can tell your story better than YOU.
Have you ever been part of a group of friends who were all recounting what happened at a particular event? Do they usually tell the story the same way? Include the same details? Not very often. That’s because each person experienced the situation in a different way and that influences how they tell the story. So EVEN if it’s the same story, what you choose to share, how you tell the story and why you chose that aspect says something about YOU! And says it in YOUR voice!
When I meet with students for the first time, I have them complete a values exercise, where they choose amongst a list words they feel best represent their values and then describe why they chose them. I’ve done this exercise over 10 years, with hundreds of students, and while hundreds have chosen the same words, NO ONE has ever described why they chose them in the exact same way. The “why” is what is unique to them, as well as “how” they share the story or example.
It’s the SAME with college essays. I’ve had many, many students write about athletics. It may have even been about the same topic, like an athletic injury or losing a championship, but not one student’s story is the same. In every instance, how they were affected and what they learned was completely different and the message of the story was unique to them. Most importantly, it conveyed their character and personality traits, the ones that the student felt proud, excited, inspired, and confident to share.
A quick note about trying to figure out what the colleges are looking for…….please don’t. It’s sort of like dating, the more you start out liking things just because the other person does or being a certain way to please that person, the less genuine the relationship. It’s even more challenging with colleges, because “who” they are and what they want is a moving target, influenced by a wide variety of variables that change every admissions cycle.
That’s why the “best essay” is one that shares YOUR point of view, told in YOUR words, that helps the reader get to know you in a way that enhances the information already provided on the application or shares a different aspect of you.
In other words, a good essay is one that begins with “Y” (Why) and ends with “U” (You).