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Considerations for Writing Your College Application EssayPresented by: Leah [email protected]
Topics• Role of the essay in the application and evaluation process • Admissions committee as an audience: Who they are and what they’re looking for• Personal Narrative • Key tips and strategies• Questions
Your Application8 Pieces:
Application FormActivities ListAcademic Documents (Transcripts, AP)School FormsTest Scores (SAT, ACT, SAT Subjects)Letters of RecommendationEssay and supplementsOther: Portfolio, Interview, etc.
The 8 Pieces Used holistically Used to answer two key questions: 1. Will you be academically successful ?2. Are you a good fit for our school or program?
Key Question (#1)1.Will you be academically successful? Key Pieces:
transcripts, test scores , strength of curriculum Importance? It depends…
size selectivity self-selection
A look at Penn… For Freshman applying Fall 2014Applicants: 35,000Accepted: 3,500Acceptance rate: about 10%Academically qualified? Academically qualified: 85%**according to the Dean of Undergraduate Admissions
What matters?How do you move from the 85% of academically qualified applicants to the 10% of accepted ones?
How do admissions committees decide who gets in?
Key Questions (#2)1.Are you a good fit? Key pieces
Activities, Letters of Recommendation, EssayImportance? It depends…Key consideration for fit: who you areOther consideration: Institutional PrioritiesDifferent schools evaluate differently
What matters?How do you move from the 85% of academically qualified applicants to the 10% of accepted ones?
How do admissions committees decide who gets in?
Importance of the EssayIf your grades and test scores qualify you academically, the essay becomes an important tool to move from qualified to acceptedUnderstanding importance of the essay is the first step in writing a good one. Next step…
Understanding your Audience• When you write whether you realize it or not you are writing for an audience… • We can think about audience in 2 ways: 1. Real Audience2. Intended Audience
Admissions Audience• Real Audience: The actual audience who is reading your essay and perceiving your message• Intended Audience: The audience you imagine when you write
Admissions Audience• Who do you imagine is reading your essay?
Intended Audience:
Real Audience
William & Mary Inside Tufts Admissions:
Who they are…Combination of a few recent college grads, a few associate directors, maybe a few seasonal readers… Generally “people persons,” friendly and eager to find great people and great students to be part of their campus community
What are they looking for?• To learn who you are
• Who you are vs. What you’ve done• To hear your voice • To evaluate your writing, thinking, and communication skills• To find something/someone unique and original• A good reason to accept you!
How do you show them?• Show don’t tell them• Personal narrative
Personal Narrative• A true story about something that happened to you that makes a larger point for the reader.– Tell a story and make a point:
• 2 layers:1. events & actions2. thoughts & insights
Personal Narrative Key Components:1.Purpose2.Substance 3.Voice 4.Structure
Structure• Shape and pattern of your essay• Weaves together: actions & events with thoughts & insights • This is a creative process—no academic essays. Narratives can follow any of the patterns below:1. Chronological2. Flashback3. Compare/contrast4. Cause-effective5. Descriptive6. Extended Metaphor7. Hybrid
Key Considerations:1. Be original 2. Be yourself3. Show don’t tell your story 4. Avoid clichés!
Cliché Traps• Cliché topics
– Ex: Sports, family trips, volunteering, music, etc. • Cliché themes
– Ex: perseverance, friendship, helping others, etc.• Cliché points
– Ex: I’m unique, I’m better/more unique than my peers• Cliché hooks
– Ex: famous quotesSolution: details and insights; Show don’t tell
Avoid Clichés • Topic: summer volunteering with kids at a non-profit youth organizationa) Good topicb) Bad topicc) It depends
Avoid Clichés: Details and Insights• Topic: summer volunteering with kids at a non-profit youth organizationAt camp I had played with the children, helped them learn to swim, twirled them upside down and sat with them looking toward the sea. I had changed from an outsider who could not understand what was being said to a friend who often found no need for words. I had grown to love the feeling of being needed. I was fed by it, fed by the sense that I was making a difference and fed by the exultation that came from constantly stretching myself.
Find your NarrativeTopic: What significant events, moments, or aspects of your life do you want to share? Themes: What possible themes can the reader relate to that are associated with your topic?Don’t stop here!
Find your Narrative Significance: Why is this topic important? What do you want the admissions committee to learn about you from this topic? What have you learned about this topic?Details: What details will you include to communicate the significance to the reader? (Show don’t tell)Insights: What other insights do you have about your topic?Hook: How might you “hook” your reader into your story?
McEssayFast Food. That's what I think of when I try to draw an analogy with the process of reading application essays.
The bad. Ninety percent of the applications I read contain what I call McEssays - usually five-paragraph essays that consist primarily of abstractions and unsupported generalization. They are technically correct in that they are organized and have the correct sentence structure and spelling, but they are boring. Sort of like a Big Mac. I have nothing against Big Macs, but the one I eat in Charlottesville is not going to be fundamentally different from the one I eat in Paris, Peoria or Palm Springs. I am not going to rave about the quality of a particular Big Mac. The same can be said about the generic essay. If an essay starts out: "I have been a member of the band and it has taught me leadership, perseverance and hard work," I can almost recite the rest of the essay without reading it. Each of the three middle paragraphs gives a bit of support to an abstraction, and the final paragraph restates what has already been said. A McEssay is not wrong, but it is not going to be a positive factor in the admission decision. It will not allow a student to stand out. A student who uses vague abstractions poured into a preset form will end up being interpreted as a vague series of abstractions. A student who uses cliché becomes, in effect, a cliché. If we are what we eat, we are also what we write.
-Park Muthe, University of Virginia (former admissions officer)
