If only it were that easy. Imagine. Just one way to write the college essay. Well, if there were one way, I guarantee it wouldn’t be to start with three sentence fragments.
Of course, there isn’t one way to write a college essay. There isn’t one way to write any kind of essay. Writing is personal, people are different, and essays travel various routes. But I can offer you ways to write a college essay, and maybe one of those ways will help you discover your way.
First, read through the Common App prompts. These prompts don't suffer seismic shifts every year, so last year’s prompts are a reliable place to start. I love the prompts, but I’m nerdy like that. The prompts invite the writer to ask big questions, and when I say big, I don’t mean big like a mountain: I mean big like a cavern. You don’t have to climb; you just have to walk in.
When you’re reading the prompts for the first time, you’ll lose track of which is asking what. That’s normal. Eventually you’ll need to give each its due, but for now, just read them through and let them wash over you. Here, I’ll help. They’re asking: who are you really? Too mountain and not enough cavern? Try this instead: what have you faced, who has mattered to you, how have you changed, and what lights your fire?
Those are four very different questions, I realize. And after more preliminary work, I’m going to suggest you slow down and ask yourself those questions again. I’m also going to suggest you return to the eight actual prompts, break each apart, and dig in with basic brainstorming techniques. For now, though, while you’re swimming in only an impression, I’ll ask a few questions that are not on the Common App.
1) How do you spend your time?
When a college essay writer answers this question by mentioning an activity they think will impress a college admissions reader, even though the applicant doesn’t devote much time to it, I redirect. I press lightly: “No really, how do you spend the bulk of your time outside of school?” If they answer, “I play a lot of baseball” or “I work at a pizza place” or “I’m at dance” or “I don’t know, video games, I guess,” then their wheels are turning. If you spend a lot of time doing something, chances are those hours have shaped you in a significant way. “Tell me more about that” is my follow up.
2) How would people describe you?
Start with family. Now what about your teachers? How about your boss or coach or director or sensei? And your friends? Usually these descriptors are the same ones the college essay writer would like to use to describe themselves, but it’s easier to attach the compliments to someone else’s perspective. Let them. The list is fruitful. It’s a collection of words describing how they are seen and how they want to be seen. And at least one of these qualities needs to shine through in the college essay.
3) How are you different from other people in your life?
The work of the adolescent is self-construction, and discerning differences between oneself and others is critical to this process. The exercise illustrates self-awareness. Maybe the writer will admit, “I was embarrassed because I didn’t want to get my license” or “I quit soccer even though all my friends played” or “My dad loves science but I hate it.” These variations on a separation theme help the writer see that their true self, distinct and independent from those around them, is fodder for an essay.
4) What subjects come easily to you?
Notice I didn’t ask which subjects do you enjoy? I also didn’t ask where do you earn your highest grades? What I’m really asking is how does your brain work? Students shouldn’t necessarily pursue degrees in subjects that come easily to them, but they should understand how their brains work. Art came easily to me. I didn’t major in it, but I understood that I was creative and perceptive, and I’ve put those gifts to good use throughout my education and career. And guess what? Those qualities were, and are, transferable. I used them as an English major, I use them as a teacher, I use them as a writer, and I use them as a college essay advisor. When a writer recognizes they have a knack for, say, logic or problem solving or analysis or communication or body memory or whatever comes easily to them, they may have found the quality they want to showcase in their college essay.
So you’ve answered my four questions that are not on the Common App. 1) How do you spend your time? 2) How would people describe you? 3) How are you different from other people in your life? And 4) What subjects come easily to you? Through this exercise, you’re getting to know yourself and that’s useful — for writing your college essay and for living a full life.
Now try my four, boiled down Common App questions. 1) What have you faced? 2) Who has mattered to you? 3) How have you changed? And 4) What lights your fire? These are harder, I know, but you’re warmed up now, so give them a shot.
Afterwards, head back into the Common App prompts (and maybe into the Coalition App prompts, but that's for another day), and one by one, brainstorm potential responses to each. It’s the if-you-had-to-answer-this-question-what-would-you-say approach. Put every potential idea, no matter how weird or insignificant or cliché, on the table. I’ve heard that no college essay topic is inherently lousy; it’s only poor execution that makes it so. Not true. There are lousy topics. But a lousy one can lead to a good one. So put all those silly and serious thoughts into motion by dumping them on the screen.
One idea, eventually, is going to rise above, I promise. And won’t it be exciting to discover which one pops to the surface? One more word of caution: chances are you’ll want to chose the prompt that comes easiest to you, but remember, I didn’t become an artist, and I’m glad about that. If I had, I wouldn’t be helping you write your college essay.
Read more tips HERE.
Photo credit: Laura Ockel
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