If you’re familiar with our blog, you know that we’ve written tons of guides about writing your college essay. You should also know that the best college essays of all time are about the person who wrote them. They’re about you, and they shed light on an aspect of your personality that can’t be discerned from the rest of your application. Everyone has grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities. We even like to pretend that you’re applying alongside of a very large group of students who have the same exact academic profiles as you do. So, what’s left? Everyone also has different personality traits, and colleges are looking to admit students with all different kinds of soft skills, traits, and quirks. The best college essays explain those traits in the form of a story with a beginning, middle, and end.
For this post, we’re taking it back to basics! We’re going to take you through an exercise we sometimes do with our clients – it helps us get to know them, and is a great way to start the brainstorming process for your common app essay.
Text 5-7 people and ask them to describe you in a few words or phrases. They can use singular adjectives, or something like “I always come to you when I need someone to cheer me up.” Transfer your list to a Google doc.
You should have about 10-15 adjectives and phrases. Cross off the things that don’t feel genuine, and highlight or bold the ones that resonate most.
From there, cross off the entries that align too closely with anything that is represented in your activities list. For example, let’s say you’ve been working as a tutor at an elementary school for all four years of high school, and someone said that you’re good at working with kids. The most important thing about your common app essay is that it offers brand new information, so writing a common app essay about something that is clearly expressed in another part of your application is not the way to go. You don’t have many opportunities to show the admissions team who you are, so be sure to cross off anything that feels repetitive.
Narrow your list down to 3-5 adjectives and phrases that speak to who you are.
You’re now left with a handful of phrases and adjectives that describe you. This is where the fun begins! Aside from being 650 words or under, our only requirement is that your common app essay showcases an aspect of your personality and is told in the form of a story. No clunky introduction paragraph, no conclusion that aims to distill the meaning of the essay into one sentence, no thesis statements. A 650-word story about one of the adjectives you’re about to choose.
Start brainstorming stories that demonstrate your quality. Let’s say you’re trying to show your dream college that you’re the kind of person who’s curious about just about everything. You come up with two examples: the time you stayed up for 48 hours straight comparing the latest season of the Crown with real-life events you found through google, or the time you decided to interview all of your living family members in order to finally, finally create an accurate family tree.
Write out both stories. Write down everything you can remember about that day, or that experience, without regard to word count. After that, read both entries – which one do you like, if any? If you’re feeling good about the topic, but not the way it’s written, then and only then should you consider getting creative. What if you told the story in the form of a play, or you spliced the events up into three mini stories? Don’t get “creative” until you’re sure that you have the necessary ingredients--a story and a personality trait.
You should repeat this process as many times as it takes until you’re certain you’re telling the best story you can. It doesn’t have to be big to work, it just has to be genuine. This is how the best college essays are written. Countless rounds of edits, revisions, and mini-fixes. If you’re really stuck, go back to your list. Just keep the most important thing in mind: the best college essay of all time is a story about the personality trait you’ll be bringing to college next year.
Not sure where to start? Get in touch with us here.