Blog readers and clients come to us daily and ask: “how can I make my college essay stand out?” Seeing as this is a primary focus of our job, we do have thoughts and feelings! Interestingly enough, they stand in direct opposition to the things you’ve heard about, and read about, on the internet.
Before we begin, google “best college essays.” (And yes, we know you’ve probably already googled this before.) What do you see? An essay about a trip around the world, an essay about a grandparent or another important figure in your life, an essay about messy and complicated relationships. You’ll also likely encounter the gut-wrenching story about an illness or death.
Before we move on, because we know you’ll ask, here’s why we don’t think you should write about the above. A trip around the world: this speaks to what you do on vacation, and flags privilege. It’s not about an every day experience The grandparent essay? That’s about well, not you. Complicated relationships? No adult wants to read about a teenager’s love life. And if you’ve dealt with health issues, a death, or extenuating circumstances, we’re so sorry. But that essay should live in the additional information section.
These essays are all over the internet. We’ve even worked with clients who’ve read their essay, loved it, and then come back the next day to tell us that the essay needs to be redone. Their reasoning? Because it’s nothing like the essays they’re reading on the internet.
Our answer is this: isn’t that…a good thing? At TKG, we don’t write essays that neatly fall into the categories that have been living on the internet for years. And you shouldn’t either. We write essays you’ve never seen before. Essays that move and surprise the reader. If you see a version of your essay on the internet, that means that your idea is unoriginal. This is harsh, but it’s true. Of course, statistically speaking, someone out there, somewhere, is writing something similar. But that doesn’t mean that you should find something you like on the internet and then try to recreate “your” version of it.
Back to the question. How do I write an essay that’s going to be memorable? By going small. Your common app essay is about your personality. It is not a space to elaborate on academic achievements or extracurricular pursuits. Think about it like this: why do you like your friends? It’s probably not because they’re on student government, or are the captain of the robotics team. It’s because they’re a good listener, or because you never quite forgot about the way they organize their bookshelf. It’s the quirks, it’s their uniqueness, it’s the way that you relate to one another oh a human level.
While it seems ironic and daunting, the task of writing a memorable college essay is achievable through smallness. Do not try to tackle something huge, because it’s impossible to do so with just 650 words. You can, however, hone in on something that makes you, you. Show them how you think. Tell them a story about your role in your family. Get creative. As we like to say, go an inch wide and a mile deep.
If you’d like to work with us, contact us here.