Telling Your Story: Admissions Essays

I've been asked to read and edit many college admissions over the past few years. Several in particular stand out in my memory, including one written by a girl named Mandy to answer a question about diversity. Her essay vividly described how she discovered during a visit to her grandfather's house in China, that he was a life-long communist, and how she came to terms with the emotions this knowledge evoked in her. It was short, sweet, and extremely well-written. A few grammatical touch ups and I knew Mandy had a winner. Later, Mandy wrote to thank me for my editing help and confided that the admissions representatives at both Harvard and Yale had told her that it was one of the best essays they had ever read. I agreed. (By the way, Mandy is heading off to Harvard in the fall.)

Then there was the essay sent to me that began, "The motivating force which is coaxing me to get admitted into a renowned academic institute is the tenuous and adamant desire to acquire my goals, to augment the pace and standard of my life, in order to fuse my life with felicity and alacricity..." I kid you not: this is the beginning of an actual admissions essay I was asked to review. My advice to this student: start by throwing away your dictionary of words you think will impress an admissions committee, and then find a real story about your life to tell.

That really is what college admissions essays are all about: telling a true story that gives the admissions committee a glimpse of who YOU are. It should be a story that no one else can tell because you are unique. Find that story, write it in an interesting and focused manner, and your application comes alive as something more than a list of courses taken, test scores and grades, and extracurriculars. In short, a well-written essay puts a human face on your application.

However, here's the catch: the English curriculums in most schools aren't focused on teaching students how to write in this personal way. Instead, they're focused on academic writing, on standardized formats, and on keeping the "I" word out of school papers. There's nothing wrong with that --- in college, good academic writing is a strength. But, many students find they freeze up when they are finally asked to write about themselves in a way that looks deep into who they are, and how they became that person.

So, the first step most students need to take before they sit down to tackle the admissions essay is simple: Write in your own voice, not the academic voice that your English teacher has demanded all these years. It may take several starts and stops to find that voice, but it is in there, so let it out!

As a writer myself, I know that finding the story to tell is often the hardest part.
When I'm tackling an assignment, I often end up with literally hundreds of pages of notes about the people I've interviewed, background information on the topic, facts and figures that may or may not make it into the final story, and my own reactions to what I've learned. I read through this pile of words asking myself one question:
"What is the most important thing I want my readers to learn from this story?" Often, the answer surprises me -- and my editors!

Over the years, I've learned that the times I struggle most with getting started is when I immediately jump into writing, when I don't allow time to gather and review all of the relevant material, when I rush to start writing without really answering the question of what I want my readers to know.

It's the same with writing the college admissions essay: if you simply look at the essay prompt and then dive into writing you will often find yourself stymied because you haven't yet decided where you want to take readers (in this case the admissions committee). For this reason, when students ask me how they should answer a particular essay question, I tell them: gather your material first, then mull it over, and finally ask yourself: "What is the most important thing I want my readers (the admissions committee in this case) to learn from this story (essay)?"

So, how do you start gathering material? Brainstorm. Here's one way: Write down five adjectivites, positive and negative, that describe who you are. Ask your best friend, a parent, even a sibling to do the same. Take those adjectives and think of events in your life that demonstrate their truth - or their falsehood. But don't stop there. Make a list of the ways you have changed or been challenged in the past four years. What events or personal encounters illustrates that change? How? What defines who you are as a person? What experiences have shaped you? Don't worry how this brainstorming will work for a specific essay question at this point, just spend some time thinking about who you are and why. If you're looking for more brainstorming ideas for essay material, I recommend College Admissions Essays for Dummies. The appendix of this book is filled with memory-jogging prompts to help get you started.

With your "material" in hand, you'll be set to sort through the stories that define your life...And answer the question "What is the most important thing I want my readers to learn from my story?"

TOMORROW: Ten best tips for essay writing.