Writing College Application Essays

Almost every college or university requires you to write one or more essays. Essays are one of the most important parts of your application. Some topics are broadly defined (for example, the generic "Tell us about yourself" essay), others are more narrow in scope (for example, the specific "If you undertook to write a book what would it be about?"). From the essay, the college wants to learn what you are thinking about and doing. That you haven't figured out your entire life won't be a strike against you. That there are things that you care about and serve as a rough guide to your daily living and future plans, and that you are beginning to understand yourself -- these will impress them. There is an essential uniqueness about each of us; the trick is to capture that, as difficult as that may seem, and convey it to the reader. Warmth, directness, and humility -- if genuine -- are qualities that can shine through. Cynicism and "cutesiness" are generally unattractive. Humor frequently flops and "laundry lists" of activities and cliches should be avoided. The following are notes from Bill Hiss, former Dean of Admissions at Bates College, on writing college application essays.

1. Essay's importance for colleges:
   a. To judge depth of students' understanding of intellectual or social issues, quality and freshness of mind, "lighting up" of issues referred to skeletally elsewhere in application.
   b. To show writing style, technical correctness, fluency (sentence subordination, paragraph construction/unity, vocabulary, metaphorical versus concrete language, etc.)
2. Subject: Anything of real interest to the student. It should light up another part of the folder.
   a. Autobiographical: Be careful of the obvious "How my trip to France taught me independence." but if reflective (travel, significant personal struggle, or family experience) can be a very impressive subject.
   b. Social/political: Ought to be tied to previous student interests. An essay on devotion to environmentalism as an abstract idea carries little weight.
   c. Intellectual interests: Response to works of a particular author, research in certain areas, places where the student has outgrown and reached beyond his/her curriculum.
3. Length: More than 2/3 of a page, and usually less than three pages to ensure being read carefully.
4. Format:
   a. Neat, readable, typed or hand written (or word processed)
   b. Physically prepared by student him/herself (not dad's/mom's secretary, even as typed -- it raises doubts about editorial overlays.)
5. For weak writers/poor scorers:
   a. Take real care; start in summer or September; rewrite frequently.
   b. Send one to three extra writing samples; in and out-of-class work, with teachers' comments.
6. How weighted by college: Often as a confirmer of decision if other credentials clear. Essay can be a powerful "tipper" in close cases, especially with very strong or very poor essays. Warning: Faculty admissions readers pay careful attention to essays. As eventual consumers they are vociferous complainers about admitting students with dull or error riddled essays.