College Essay Secrets for the Most Competitive Schools
“Maybe more so than grades or activities, the college essay is a window into the applicant that no other methods can match”
As a high school senior, you’ve worked insanely hard over your schooling career. You have had more cups of coffee than you can count.
All of this can be for naught!
Having a high GPA, class rank and a resume full of activities can be completely nullified with a terrible college essay.
The good news is that you have laid a good foundation. Now you definitely want to use the first semester — or even the summer before your first semester — to craft and perfect your college essay!
Yes, It’s Really Hard to Start Your College Essay.
Working on your college essay might be overwhelming, but it can also be one of the most fun parts of the college application process. While the majority of your application consists of numbers, statistics, and scores, those aspects of your application do not by any means define you.
Your college essay is your opportunity to define yourself and to show the admissions committee who you are and what you’re all about.
Even if your grades and your test scores aren’t quite where you want them to be, you can use your college essay to show the admissions committee who you are beyond your application file and make an unforgettable impression.
The guidelines below will help you write an essay that you’re proud of AND will likely turn some heads in the admissions committee. If you are planning on applying to graduate school, you can use these same guidelines for your graduate school statement of purpose as well
Let’s Go Over the Tips Your Counselor Probably Didn’t Tell You About
The 90-Minute Confidential Brain Dump This exercise will help you clarify your thinking about who you are and what your priorities are in life. Set aside 90 minutes when you absolutely will not be disturbed.
Turn off your cell phone.
Turn off any other digital devices.
Don’t allow anyone or anything to interrupt you.
Ideally, this exercise is done with a pen and paper. However, if you wish to use your laptop, it is imperative that you disconnect from the Internet during these 90 minutes to ensure that you won’t be distracted.
Let Your Imagination Flow.
Write 100 questions that come to mind about anything and everything without taking a break and without worrying about repetition. There are no rules about the kind of questions that may occur to you.
Your questions could include:
Why is the sky blue?
Why did I sabotage myself?
Who am I meant to be?
Why do I like ice cream more than most people?
Don’t censor yourself or hold yourself back in any way. Just keep writing. Once you finish 100, keep going until the 90 minutes are up. Store your pages in a safe place. Now take a break for at least one day. Remember that the results of this exercise are confidential and you are entitled to write whatever occurs to you.
The 60 Minute Bucketing Exercise
Set aside 60 uninterrupted minutes for this activity. Review your 100+ questions and sort them into categories. Take separate pages and organize your questions that belong together in the same category. Name these categories intuitively, for example, Math, Alcohol, Friends, and College. Again, there are no rules. You can categorize as you see fit. You should end up with 10–20 categories.
Take another break for a day now.
The 90 Minute Self Appreciation Exercise
For each category, make a list of all the positive things you can think of about yourself. Make 5–10 points below each category.
Examples could include your high marks in math, your altruism, your curiosity, or anything else that you see as a strength.
Don’t worry about coming across as “bragging,” as this exercise in honest self-evaluation is just for you.
Reflecting upon all of your positive qualities will put you in a positive mindset and give you the confidence you need to tackle the rest of the exercises and to write that stellar college essay.
Take another break for a day.
The 90 Minute Hard Look Exercise
Now for each category, make a list of all the challenges you face as you think about yourself.
Make 5–10 points below each category.
Perhaps your struggles in learning a new language, your disagreement with a classmate about a school project, or how frustrating it was when your team lost a basketball game.
As difficult as it is to reflect on our challenges or shortcomings, some of our best life lessons come from these reflections, which can give you gold for your essay content.
Take another break for a day.
Write Twenty Paragraphs Now
Write out 20 paragraphs on the categories you came up with and give them a positive slant while being realistic about yourself and your challenges.
This is your chance to show off your mettle.
Include stories, anecdotes, challenges, and achievements from your life. Add some of your favorite quotes.
Think vertically and horizontally. You have now created a unique database of who you are, which will help inform your essay and make it personal like nothing else will.
Part of what makes writing a college essay so exciting is that it’s your chance to set yourself apart. Most of the other applicants will likely have similar grades and test scores to you, but you also have something unique to share that the other applicants will not. Start thinking about what it is that makes you stand out.
What are you passionate about? What are your hobbies? What’s an experience that you’ve had in life that has taught you something valuable?
None of these will be reflected in your grades or your test scores, but they can definitely be the basis for your essay. What do you want the admissions committee to know about you that they won’t be able to find elsewhere?
Trusted Advisor Consultation(s)
Reach out to and meet with your trusted advisor(s). These could include parents, teachers, counselors, or friends. The only rules here are that you must be certain that your trusted advisor(s) have nothing but your best interest at heart and are literate enough to understand how adults think. Show this person or people your 20 paragraphs and ask them to critique them. Have them help you refine your message and find your voice.
Don’t Make this Fatal Mistake!
Many colleges use the Common Application, which allows you to use the same main statement of purpose for multiple colleges while answering different supplemental questions for each one.
Even those colleges that do not use the Common Application usually have similar essay prompts. While it is acceptable and common to use the same content across multiple applications, make sure you read the directions carefully.
Sometimes you might have to cater your content to the specific school. Keep in mind also that different schools might have different word or character limits for essays and supplemental questions, so make sure you read the instructions carefully and follow them to a T.
The Great Rewrite
After marinating in the wisdom you got from your trusted advisors, rewrite your essay in your own voice.
Write as you would talk: with dignity, with confidence, with a bit of humor, and a bit of swagger.
Show the reader who you really are. At this stage, let the ideas flow and don’t hold anything back.
Imagine that you’re writing a letter to a friend sharing your experience.
How would you tell a friend the same story to make them feel like they were there? You definitely want to draw the reader in with an engaging anecdote and with concrete examples to support your claims, but the key is to make sure that your voice is represented throughout the essay.
Be honest. Your college essay should not merely repeat what’s already on your resume or in your application, but it should not contradict the rest of your application either.
Now It’s Time For You to Get into Your Dream School
Use writing your personal essay not as another opportunity to fret about the stressful college application process, but rather as an opportunity to be creative, to reflect on your life experiences thus far, and to express yourself and get your story on paper.
For more college essay writing tips and tricks, you can join Konversai — a knowledge-sharing platform that allows for live video conversations with people about topics that are meaningful to both of you. As a college applicant, you can use Konversai to connect with a current college student or anyone else who can give you advice on writing your essay or provide you with feedback on an essay draft.
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