Writing a memorable college essay that catches the attention of an admissions committee doesn’t have to be a daunting or anxiety-invoking task. Admissions professionals and writing coaches say prospective college students need to approach an application’s essay section with confidence, clarity, and a deeper understanding of what the committee is looking for. It’s a skill developed through devoted practice, an awareness of how the material will read, and, sometimes, the tactful use of comedy.
Kristin Olsen Landis, a lawyer and former admissions evaluator at the University of Virginia, says that using the word “essay” when referring to admissions is somewhat of a misnomer. Landis, an 11-year admissions veteran turned college consultant with Educational Connections, often warns students against approaching this project like they would a formal paper.
Evaluators aren’t looking for students to write like they would at school. Instead, an admissions essay is a chance for students to personally reflect on the experiences that shaped them and what they want from college.
Of course, nothing can replace good grades and extracurriculars that reflect a student’s interests. But in a competitive circumstance, a strong admissions essay “shows the university that you are going to make a valuable contribution,” Landis says, which “can definitely push you over the hurdle.”
Selective universities may receive thousands of applications each year. That means the admissions essay could be the only chance for a prospective student to stand out.
Before starting the writing process, students should take a second to shake off the dust and realign their intentions. An admissions essay is meant to answer one deceivingly simple question: What makes you tick?
Choosing a Compelling Topic
Even when students know they have a chance to get personal, that doesn’t make picking a topic any easier, especially with so much riding on the essay’s success.
At this juncture, a student might ask: What if I have multiple passions? What if my topic contains heavy or taboo material? How am I supposed to condense years of my life into a single-page essay?
To start, students should write down all their topic ideas on a sheet of paper. This will not only help them get a sense of what excites them but also whether they can give a topic justice.
“One of the biggest misconceptions that people have is they try to do too much with the essay,” Landis says. Don’t try to cram everything you love under one umbrella topic. Instead, she recommends students settle on one facet of their life or experience to craft into a gripping story.
“It can really be anything. One student I worked with wrote an essay about how her love of baking and perfecting her buttercream frosting impacted her outlook on life,” Landis says.
What’s most important when choosing a topic is that students demonstrate through context how that experience affected them, especially if it isn’t reflected in their transcripts.
Janssen Keiger, assistant director of undergraduate recruitment at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, loves it when students showcase a part of their personality “that is not shown in other parts of the application.”
While students don’t need to have all the answers, their “creativity should shine through” whatever topic is chosen, Keiger says.
Crafting a Narrative
After selecting a topic, try not to get bogged down in minute details early in the writing process. Learning to judge which narrative details to include is a skill that even some adults lack. Don’t fall into the trap of simply listing off accomplishments or details found elsewhere in the application.
A key element of storytelling, in fact, is to refrain from regurgitating events. “The admissions essay is not a narrative résumé,” Keiger says.
Phillip Mink, a pre-law adviser and assistant professor at George Mason, recommends creating a detailed sequence of events that outlines how you want to tell your story. Nothing is more frustrating than an admissions essay that opens more stories than it closes or introduces events without any resolutions.
Structuring how an essay will flow does more than provide a roadmap for writing, it makes the piece more satisfying to read and shows that a student can synthesize an event’s impact into a cohesive narrative.
Revise, Revise, Revise
Revision is perhaps the most ambiguous stage of an admissions essay because “writing is an individual process,” says Landis. Some students will need very little help editing an admissions essay, while others may need to produce multiple drafts before they’re satisfied with the results.
Mink suggests that students “write as many drafts as it takes to create a fascinating story.” Clean prose that is free of grammatical and spelling errors sends a clear signal to an evaluator that this candidate proofread the submission and paid attention to small details.
Likewise, comedy can be an effective tool. But don’t overdo it. Revising an admissions essay means honestly reviewing what works and what doesn’t. Unless it’s clear that a joke is landing as intended, it may be best to omit it.
Essay writers who want to ensure they’ve successfully structured and synthesized their story should share it with a trusted English teacher or friend. Landis says students need to be careful that there aren’t “too many cooks in the kitchen,” otherwise the applicant’s voice might get lost.
Bottom line: Prospective college students need to believe in themselves, stand by their accomplishments, and proceed with confidence. Even though “these are hard questions to ask yourself in high school,” Landis says students need to remember that “before the pen hits the paper, you’ve already put in the hard work.”
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
This story originally ran in our October issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
