When you apply to many colleges and universities, the admissions office puts together a folder of information about you that will be used to make an admissions decision. Much of the information that is collected is a lot of facts: names, high school, rank, contact information, classes taken, grade point average, test scores, lists of extra-curricular activities, etc. These factual pieces give the admissions committee an indication as to your readiness and preparedness for college.
There is an additional piece of the application that goes beyond the numbers and lists and is the main place where your personality, voice, and point of view can be expressed. That is the personal essay or personal statement section of the application and it is a key element that helps the admissions officer learn more about you as a person, how you think and write about your experiences. The essay can offer the admissions committee a fuller picture of your experiences, what has shaped you as a person, what is important to you, and what you could contribute to a college or university campus. This is the section of the application that is not a descriptive list of your accomplishments (there are plenty of places on the application to list those) but is where you will get the opportunity to paint a vivid picture of yourself, your life, your experiences, and what makes you unique and interesting!
START EARLY: It cannot be stressed enough that students should begin thinking about and writing drafts of their essays before the start of their senior year. The summer before senior year is a great time to begin brainstorming, thinking about and drafting your essays. Remember, the essay writing process is just that, a process. Your essay should go through a number of drafts before you have reached the final product. Taking time to ponder, compose and refine will help you to generate a stronger, more compelling essay.
Once senior year begins, it is a very busy time for students so the more you complete over the summer, the more prepared you will be as deadlines draw near. Refer to the “Brainstorm” section below for tips on getting started.
General Essay Tips and Advice:
• Answer the Question! Make sure to read each question or prompt and be clear as to what is being asked. Many applications offer a choice of prompts so read them all and choose one you feel comfortable writing about.
• Comply with word counts, spacing and formatting instructions before beginning. Each application has its own requirements.
• Do not type directly onto the application. Compose your essay in a word processing program and copy and paste your essay onto application. Make sure to repeatedly “save” your essays as you go!
• Proofread your essay and have others proofread it as well. Spell-check does not catch errors of syntax, homonyms, and other areas of grammar!
• Have others (teachers, parents, friends) read your essay and ask them if it reflects who you are? Ask the readers, “Does this essay sound like me?”
• Read your essay out loud. Does it sound like you? You should write in your own voice.
• You must write your essay! Your parents, teachers and friends can offer advice and thoughts about your essay, but it must be your writing and your voice that comes through. The admissions officers can tell if a student does not write an essay!
• Don’t discount your personal experiences. You may think that caring for your younger sibling, working at a summer job, being part of a school club, or volunteering in your community is
insights into your life and what is important to you. What did your involvement with your job, activity, and internship, or classroom experience teach you? Did you learn new skills or discover something about yourself or your abilities? Has your involvement sparked an interest or passion that you might like to pursue in college? Write about what you know.
• Make sure you are sending the correct essay with the correct application!
• Submit the essay and application on time!
• Keep a copy of your essay and your entire application for your files!
Students should look at the Personal Statement as their personal interview with a college or university. Keep asking yourself, “What would I want a college to know about me?” Make sure to use “I” statements about your accomplishments, learning experiences and personal stories. “Show” the reader, don’t just “Tell”; you want your story and your personality to jump off the page to the reader of your application. Use words that describe, detail, and evoke your thoughts and point of view. Essays that work demonstrate growth and learning as a result of new perspectives about yourself and the world around you.
Types of Application Essays:
The University of California (U.C.) Essays:
Go to www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions for specific details regarding the admission process and helpful hints and suggestions about the personal statement requirements.
Directions for U.C. prompts: Applicants must respond to two essay prompts, using a maximum of 1,000 words total. You may allocate the word count as you wish. You may choose to respond to one prompt at greater length, but your shorter answer should be no less than 250 words. Read each prompt carefully and use specific examples to illustrate and support the points you want to make.
2016-2017 Essay Prompts for Freshman Applicants:
“Describe the world you come from---for example, your family, community or school, and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.”
2016-2017 Prompt for All Applicants:
“Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?”
Additional Comments Section: This space, up to 550 words, gives you the opportunity to share something about yourself that you did not have the space or opportunity to detail or discuss in other parts of the application. For example, you could use the space to further elaborate on one of the activities, experiences or honors you listed in the Activities and Awards section of your application.
The Common Application Essays: www.commonapp.org
• Choose one of the five prompts listed below.
• The maximum essay length is 650 words and the minimum word count is 250 words.
2015-2016 Common Application Essay Prompts (choose one):
1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
2. The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
4. Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma—anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale.
Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
Common Application Supplements: Some private colleges and universities require applicants to complete a school-specific supplementary essay or short answer section in addition to the
required essay on the Common Application. While some of these supplements want to know why you want to attend their school, others are may be more creative (see the supplementary prompts from the University of Chicago, Tufts, or Occidental College). They may ask you to write a letter to your freshman roommate, analyze a joke, talk about your favorite word, write about a book that you have read, talk about a person who has influenced you, etc.
Ø Many Colleges ask the “Why College X?” question and this seemingly straightforward question is actually more challenging than one would think. Colleges that ask this question want details as to why you are a good fit with their school and what specific things does the school offer that would mesh with your interests. How do you answer this question?
• Don’t: list things that can be readily found on the school’s website or in their brochures. Saying you love the school colors or the beautiful campus does not tell the reader anything about how YOU will be a good fit with their community.
• Do: make a list of what you want in a college experience and then go and find out if the school can fill your needs. If you are interested in studying Japanese, look for something related to learning Japanese that the school offers (maybe a study abroad program in Kyoto, a Taiko drumming club, or the school has one of the foremost experts in Japanese literature on its faculty). These kinds of details show the school that you have interests and that the school can match your interests with its offerings.
Ø Helpful Tip: Once you have set up your “dashboard” of colleges on the Common Application site, you can gain access to the supplements. In a separate Word document, cut-and-paste each college’s supplements. It is not only helpful to have them all in one place but you may notice that there are overlaps. Often you can use one response or parts of one response for one or more schools.
Additional Information Section: This is a 650-word section where students may choose (not required) to elaborate on information that they did not have enough room to describe in other parts of the application. For example, you could explain more about an activity, award or experience you
BRAINSTORMING: Before You Begin Writing: The Brainstorming Session!
It may feel quite daunting to write about YOU. Brainstorming is a great way to generate ideas and points of view. Here are some ways to get started:
• Make a list of adjectives that describe you (for example: athletic, leader, innovator, creative, loyal, witty, entrepreneurial, first generation, imaginative, diligent, etc.). Pick one or more of them and spend a few minutes writing about that aspect of you. Write descriptive examples.
• Spend several minutes writing an answer to the following sentence: “My best friend always says that I………?
• What do you consider one of your strengths? Write a few sentences about this quality.
• Write a letter to your new college roommate; include meaningful ways to describe yourself.
• Make a list of things that are important to you.
• What is distinctive about your life story? What special circumstances exist in your family?
• Have you overcome any obstacles in your life? Describe. What did you learn about yourself through the process?
• What inspires you?
• How have your life experiences and activities shaped who you are?
• Come up with a list of songs, books, paintings or movie titles that characterize your life.
• If you had a free weekend, how would you spend your time?
• What makes you laugh? Cry? Frustrated? Angry?
• What is the best thing that ever happened to you? The worst thing?
• What is something that no one else knows about you?
• Describe three objects in your bedroom and what they say about you.
• Have you had any experiences in the classroom that had an impact on your learning process, ability to work with others, or allowed you to demonstrate a talent or skill?
Taking the time to brainstorm, think and write about your ideas should help you to begin to formulate the story you will tell through your application essays.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
The following are excellent examples of first-person narratives:
David Sedaris: Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim Amy Tan: The Opposite of Fate
Annie Lamott: Bird by Bird: Instructions on Writing and Life and Operating Instructions Julia Alvarez: Something to Declare
Calvin Trillin: Feeding a Yen and Family Man