Writing the College Essay
Our team just held a story slam at the town library to showcase our high school seniors as they read their college essays. What a feeling to celebrate these accomplished kids!
My son, a rising senior, attended the event, and as I chatted with him and his friends afterward, they had some insightful comments:
I thought the essays would be really long and complex, but they just told good stories
It was great to hear that they sounded like what a teenager would write. It made me feel like I could do this too.
Some of the stories were funny or talked about cartoon characters or TV shows or Dungeons & Dragons. I liked that.
Even kids who are going to places like MIT and the University of Chicago had essays that I could relate to.
A great essay tells a great story– or usually, a set of great stories– and it does so in service of showing admissions officers who you are at your core. Here are the nuts and bolts of what you need to know about writing the personal essay:
What is the personal essay or Common App essay?
Almost all students in the US will apply to all or most of their colleges through the Common App. Most colleges on the Common App require or suggest that students write a personal essay with a maximum length of 650 words.
The Common App prompts are designed to elicit a wide range of responses, and the final prompt is a catch-all. Many colleges also are part of the Coalition for College Access, and they use the Coalition App. The word limit is similar (500-650 words), as are the prompts.
Students can write about almost anything within the word limit, and an essay for Common App will work for Coalition, and vice versa.
Who needs to write a Common App essay?
More selective schools will require or recommend that students submit the essay. That said, many schools require no essay at all. Most students applying to four-year US colleges will write this essay.
What should I write about in my Common App essay?
Think about your application as a pizza pie and consider what a college does not know about you from your transcript, activities list, test scores, and letters of recommendation. What else does your pizza need to be a full circle? The essay should show what matters to you and bring to the fore other aspects of your life or character that might not already be known.
This might relate to what you do: If you have very high grades and test scores, you don’t need an essay that emphasizes your intellectual prowess. You might instead write about an experience close to your heart that isn’t as prominent in your background. If you are a well-decorated athlete, and your activities list is replete with club and school sports, you might want to highlight your time on the school newspaper.
This might relate to who you are: Think about your core values and strengths. Think how they relate to your current life and future goals. An exercise to get you there is to work on a highlight: adjectives that describe you linked to your actions and aspirations. This highlight will guide where you plan to go with the essay.
CTK’s top tips for writing the Common App essay:
After you have identified the “what I do/who I am” highlight, write those ideas at the top of your paper as guideposts.
Map out individual stories that relate to the guideposts. You should have several paragraphs.
After you have written a few paragraphs, look at all your stories. Decide which ones are telling the story of you. Keep those. Weave them together.
Edit for logic and for showing your highlight/s.
The adage “show don’t tell” is apt: good stories will teach a reader what you want her to know; your reflection/analysis is important but should not overwhelm the storytelling.
Dos and Don’ts for editing the Common App essay:
Make sure your logic holds throughout.
Edit out any unnecessary words and sentences. You will find that 650 words is not a lot of space in which to convey big ideas.
Watch for stories that droop in the middle: start strong, end strong, and keep the flow throughout.
Edit for clarity, formality, voice, spelling, and grammar.
When you are confident in your work, share it with trusted readers, but don’t let anyone– parent, teacher, friend, or older sibling– edit out your voice and perspective.
Are there other essays I have to write for college admissions? What about supplemental essays?
Many schools require additional essays, either within the application or in a writing supplement post submission. Some schools have numerous prompts– Stanford has eight– and others have a more typical set of two or three.
You may also find yourself writing essays for special circumstances: merit scholarships at individual colleges, honors college applications, and outside scholarships.
Finally, the University of California does not use the Common App or Coalition App. It has its own application, which requires four essays (drawn from eight prompts) of 350 words each. MIT has a similar approach, with students required to write four essays.
CTK Pro Tip: Hang onto all the ideas and stories you did not use for your Common App essay so you can draw on them for the additional essays.
Is there anything I shouldn’t write about?
There are no wrong topics. I have heard other advisors tell students not to write about allegedly mundane topics, like sports or friendships, or personal challenges, like mental health crises. I have seen students write meaningful, impactful essays about all of those topics. The one thing to avoid is an essay that doesn’t show who you are. In other words, it’s not the topic but how you approach it that matters.
Do I need to tell a college about my history with learning differences or mental health challenges?
Your medical history, including learning differences and mental health problems, is your own to share or not. If you choose to disclose that history, it should be because you think it is a crucial part of your story, and not because any school has a right to know your confidential history.
How can I get help writing my personal essay?
Our team of writing coaches helps students generate ideas, map out a plan, push toward strong storytelling, and edit written work. We are happy to work with kids from concept to completion or for a final review and polish. Read our team bios and review our packages.
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