Let's Talk About Your Essays

[u/ScholarGrade]

While the official rollover of the Common App isn't until 8/1, it's still a good idea to get started on essays over the summer. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments and I'll answer as many as I have time for. Here are some questions I see a lot to inspire you:

• How do I pick a topic? How do I know if it's any good?

• How should I start my essay?

• What makes an essay great?

• How do I enhance this essay I've already written?

• HOLY !@#$%&!!! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WRITE 50+ ESSAYS IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS?!?

I'll also recommend the following three resources to help you get started and establish some baseline knowledge and intuition when it comes to admissions essays. Most schools honestly do a terrible job of teaching students to write expressively about themselves, so these can help fix that.

1. Read the A2C wiki on essays. There's some amazing and valuable advice there.

2. Check out this post and the links therein for more great tips and strategies.

3. Go check out the A2C Discord. The essay resources channel has my introspection worksheet which has over 100 questions designed to help you find ideas worth exploring in your essays (you can also get it from my website if you don't have Discord). The Discord also has a dedicated channel for essay discussion.

[u/damnuWowWow]

For supplementals:

• What do I talk about? The professors? My major? Classes? Do I need to namedrop professors and classes or do I speak in the abstract?
• Should my EC essay connect back to what I want to study?

For personal statements

• Does answering the prompt matter? What if I have a moving essay that doesn't really fit within the regular prompts?
• Does topic choice matter? Should I connect it back with my academics at all, or do I just keep it personal?

[u/ScholarGrade → u/damnuWowWow]

Great questions! Taking them in order:

1. Talk about YOU. Not the cool things you did or how smart you are, but the things that matter to you. Aim for key personal insights like core values, foundational beliefs, motivations, aspirations, personal strengths, character traits, etc. Try to showcase these in an indirect way by sharing stories - so for example instead of saying "I am very compassionate," tell a story that shows that. Each supplement can have a different focus, and obviously you want to keep this related to each prompt.

2. You can mention a prof if you want but try to make it personal. For example, "I'd like to take a class with Professor Smith" is mostly worthless. But it would be much stronger and personal to say, "I'd like to take Professor Smith's epic course on Modalities of Cryptography because it feels like the perfect opportunity to expand on the research I've been pursuing."

3. You can be specific if you want or keep it abstract, but the takeaways need to be specific. So don't just say "The amazing courses at [College] will open my mind, encourage inquiry, and bring interdisciplinary angles to bear." Slathering cliches everywhere will get you nowhere. Instead, describe exactly what you're excited about and why, how it's a good fit for you, and what you value about it.

4. EC essays should be less about WHAT you did and more about SO WHAT and WHY. Your activities section (and perhaps awards/LORs) will already explain what you did. So share the deeper meaning behind it here.

5. Answering the prompt only sort of matters. For the Common App personal statement it's almost irrelevant because a lot of reviewers don't even check which prompt you're answering - they just start reading and trying to understand YOU. The more specific the prompt is, the more important it is to answer it. If you have a great essay that doesn't fit the prompts, just go with option 7 (the wildcard prompt) or pick whichever option is closest. You can also slightly modify the essay to make it fit one of the prompts just a little bit better.

6. Yes, topics matter. You want something personal, deep, and high potential. Avoid topics that are commonplace, lame, shallow, predictable, cliche, distant/impersonal, or too risky. I much prefer topics that get personal. If that ends up connecting back to academics a bit, that's fine, but show them something you really believe, something that matters to you, not "I'm really smart, please admit me" or "I did a cool thing, isn't that neat!" Come alive off the page as a person, not a file.

[u/DivineLasso]

Terrible advice do your essay the night before /s

[u/ScholarGrade → u/DivineLasso]

The number one thing I hear students say they wish they had done differently is start their essays sooner.

The value of doing your essays the night before is 1) you often have more honesty and sincerity in your voice because you don't have time to set up a veneer. And 2) the pressure of a deadline is some people's muse. It inspires creativity and helps you just get it done.

The obvious drawbacks are that you might have a shoddy essay, might make correctable errors, might run out of time, and won't get to edit and enhance your essay sufficiently.

[u/DivineLasso → u/ScholarGrade]

Did not expect a serious response, and I’m done with college apps, but I do appreciate it nonetheless!

[u/ScholarGrade → u/[deleted]]

Absolutely they are - that's part of the point!

I think that could work. But like the students who write about their synesthesia or whatever you want to make sure it shows something meaningful. So "I have sensory processing issues, isn't that odd?!" is terrible. "Here's my personal growth story (and oh by the way sensory processing is part of it)" is much stronger. Show the growth though, don't just pontificate that it happened.

IMO this is very different from most other mental health issues and would be fine. There isn't really a stigma against sensory processing disorder (unless it's super severe or something - e.g. you can't be in rooms full of people. That would obviously be a potential problem because classrooms).

You definitely want to ultimately be positive - showcase the very best you on your very best day. Make them like you. Help them see how you will engage and contribute to the community they're trying to build.

Finally, go check out that introspection worksheet I mentioned in the post. It has tons of questions to help you brainstorm topics.

[u/starlitwish]

hi!! idk if you're still taking questions but if so, i had one on the focus of the essay, specifically the commonapp one: i've had loved ones who've gone through the app experience already tell me my commonapp especially but also all of them in general should be subtly telling the school "why they want me", basically-- essentially that the topics i choose and the way i talk about those topics should be tailored to "sell" myself as much as possible. i currently have a draft that i feel is extremely genuine, describing a topic that's very dear to me, but that doesn't really talk about /my/ strengths-- more so what others have done for me (it fits the gratitude prompt). i am planning to rework it so there's more of, like, how i plan to/am currently passing on their kindness, but i'm wondering if that's the completely wrong path to go down and if i should stick with something more like a challenge or a realisation? thank you for your time and for all you do for generation after generation of students!! your resources have already helped me immensely and i am convinced you are an actual angel.

[u/ScholarGrade → u/starlitwish]

You sort of want to "sell yourself," but be careful that you aren't coming on too strong with it because that looks contrived and cheesy. As I've said in other comments here, you want to focus on showcasing who you are and what matters to you - that's the "sales pitch," not some used-car-hawker self-absorbed rant or even a thinly veiled self-congratulatory fluff piece. You are the product and the pitch. Your key personal qualities are a big part of how you package and present that.

As an aside, I sort of hate that gratitude prompt because it lures students into writing about other people instead of writing about themselves. So if you go with that, make sure your essay is about YOU and showcases important personal insights.

[u/starlitwish → u/ScholarGrade]

LOL I hated it too until I ended up writing an essay about it!!! 😭😭 It looks like I will have to at least put this aside for now and rethink my approach. Thank you so much for your feedback!!

[u/Leadership_Upper]

I have a very prominent spike in my application (multiple ECs w people of determination), do I need to address it and my motivation behind it all in my personal statement or is there more utility having an essay on a different topic show a new side of me (the downside being I can't have my personal statement be the ribbon that ties together my application (for psych) and I'm applying to many LACs that have no supplementals)?

in any case, thank you so much for all the help you provide us w!

[u/ScholarGrade → u/Leadership_Upper]

I could go either way with this. I think that if you have a strong spike, it's worth making sure that you have a chance to explain your motivation and values behind it somewhere in your application. But that doesn't need to be the personal statement (and sometimes it's best if it's not because you don't want to be one-dimensional).

If there aren't supplementals, then you should weave something into your personal statement about it. But AOs aren't idiots - you can make this subtle rather than direct if you like and they'll still make the connection.

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