“The College Essay: the hardest essay you’ll ever write”
Overview
The season of college essays is upon us, and seeing that I myself am a first-generation student I have done plenty of research on how to write the perfect college essay. For some students this process will come easy for others the writing process cannot even begin because we do not have any idea where to even start. This post will briefly touch base on the steps to crafting your college essay from brainstorming ideas to what to avoid at all costs.
Step #1 Identifying Your Strengths
Most of us will find it obvious that we need to identify our strengths but it is not always obvious what those strengths are. In fact, it is not uncommon for people to think that their talents are their strengths but these really are two separate things. Your strengths are what’s behind your talent, why are you talented? For example, if you are talented in math it’s most likely because you are observant, organized, and rational. These would be your strengths. One way to identify your strengths is to take a personality test, specifically the Meyers-Briggs 16 personalities test. This test will pair you with a 4 letter personality type and provide you with examples of this personality type's strengths. Another way to go about identifying your strengths could be asking 5 to 6 people three adjectives that describe you and determine whether there is a pattern.
Step #2 Finding Your Story
Once you have identified your strengths you will use this information as a starting point to jump off of. Think about a time in your life when your strengths really showed, it doesn’t have to be anything major, but it does have to highlight your strengths without ever explicitly stating them. My own personal example would be a story about the time I started a passion project workshop at my school. The strengths that are shown in this story would be determination, originality, resourcefulness, as well as independence. Remember the whole point of writing our essay is to show them who we are, not show them who we think they want us to be.
Step #3 Keeping it Authentic
When trying to create a one of a kind college essay it is 100% necessary to focus on authenticity. To do this, think about the following: how does my essay show development?; how has this experience shaped and changed who I am today?; does my essay sound like me?; do I get straight into the story or is there too much clutter?; how does my essay show where I’m going and who I want to become?; how can I make the reader feel what I felt when experiencing this event?; and do I use effective writing strategies like dialogue and imagery?
Step #4 Revising
Revision isn’t only about dressing your essay up, sometimes it can mean taking things away. According to my research and knowledge of general writing skills, if anywhere in your essay you explicitly state “that’s when I realized”, “that’s when I learned”, or “the most important lesson was” then you are not using your story to reveal your change, you are simply telling them that it happened. Another common college essay mistake is when students talk more about a person that played a significant role in their life, than themselves. It’s great that this person affected you and all but if you are not revealing how they changed YOU, then you’re not telling the admission reps anything about you at all. People also feel like their introductions and conclusions need to be top tier. Yes they’re important but realistically the admission rep will remember your story (when done right) a lot more than your introduction and conclusion.
Conclusion
Remember that the college essay is supposed to tell a story about your self-discovery and realizations. It doesn’t have to be fancy but it does have to represent you. Do not write an essay that doesn’t show who you are, focus on your strengths and your own voice. Writing this essay will be hard but it will be even more difficult if you’re trying to write about a person that you’re not.
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