By
Kelly Tanabe
, SuperCollege.com
Four Steps To Writing A Winning Admissions Essay
You
can have ho-hum grades and still get into Harvard. You can have average SAT
scores and still get into Berkeley. You can even have mediocre teacher
evaluations and still get into Princeton. But the one thing that spells instant
rejection from any college is a poorly written essay. The essay is one of the
most important parts of your application, and as you will discover, it is also
the most difficult. Fortunately, the essay is also the area you have the most
control over and can improve dramatically by following the strategies and tips
outlined in Chapter 5.
If you already have a copy of Get Into Any School: Secrets Of Harvard
Students, be sure to read the Essay-Writing Absolute Don'ts as well
as the list of Totally Dumb Topics before you get started writing your
essays.
In part one of this two part series we will look at how you select what to write
about.
Step #1. Brainstorm Topics. Is it better: a) to think of interesting
topics regardless of the specific essay questions; or b) to read the questions
and then think of only topics that directly address them. Answer: You need to do
a little of both. (Trick question, huh?) The first thing you have to do is
brainstorm. The only rule for brainstorming is: Anything goes. But it does help
to keep in the back of your mind some of the questions posed by the colleges on
their application forms. Write down every idea that pops into your head, and do
not eliminate anything. Even if some ideas lack the seed of a brilliant essay,
they may lead you to think of others that do.
Here are just a few questions to help you to get your list started:
- What are your favorite activities and hobbies?
- Do you have any special talents or skills?
- Who have been the most influential people in your life?
- What have you done during the past four summers?
- What was your best day/experience? Worst? Funniest?
- How have you changed in the past four years?
- What accomplishment are you proud of the most?
- What makes you special or unique?
- What is your strongest quality?
- What is a strong belief or philosophy that you hold?
Step #2. Narrow The List Of Possible Topics. Once you are pretty certain
you have some potential winners on your list, you will need to start narrowing
the field. The way to do this is to select topics that are important to you and
which reflect your personality. If the topic or the way in which you plan to
approach the topic does not seem original, put a big fat "X" through
it. The best way to insure that your topic or approach is original is to refer
to the
Essay-Writing Absolute Don'ts and
Totally Dumb Topics in
Chapter 5. Even if your idea seems good, if it is similar to any of the topics
in our Don'ts list, you can count on 90% of your competition to write on the
same "original" topic or in the same way.
Ask yourself these questions about your list of ideas:
- If your topic or subject is one that many applicants might write about
(e.g., travel, parents, sports) do you have a unique approach that will
insure that your essay will not sound like everyone else's?
- Does your idea have good supporting examples or stories? Your essay needs
to have concrete details about things that you have done or experienced.
Topics that allow you to elaborate on one or two of your activities or
achievements are especially good.
- Can your idea be expressed within the limits of the essay? You should
eliminate any topic that you know will require more than the given space to
write. Topics that require 2,000 words to properly explain but that are
summarized in 500 words often turn out sounding overly simplistic or are
incredibly difficult to follow since many key points and explanations have
to be omitted.
- Will your essay be interesting and creative? This is a very simple
question but one that is hard to answer truthfully. Take a step back when
answering this question and put yourself in the place of the admissions
officer who has already read 300 or so essays and has just grabbed yours,
which also happens to be the last before he or she can go home. Will your
essay pique the interest of this tired admissions officer? Will the topic or
your approach to the question make the admissions officer want to read past
the introduction? Just because a topic is original does not always guarantee
that it will be interesting. Use your best judgment by constantly asking if
you would be interested in reading about your topic or experience.
- Will the topic show the real you? Is it truly meaningful to you? Does your
topic involve some insight into who you are, how you think, or what your
passions are?
- Can the topic be recycled? If you write an essay on the topic, can you use
the essay in several different applications?
Hopefully after paring down your list you will still have at least 10 to 15
ideas left. Prioritize these ideas according to their significance to you.
Writing about something that you truly feel for will naturally transfer onto
paper and will convey your feelings and passions to the admissions officers.
CampusNut Notes: Okay, the first paragraph of this section is complete
BS. You cannot get into Harvard with ho-hum grades unless you consider
being ho-hum as "top ten percent of class" instead of "top one
percent of class." If you believe that, I am sure that you really
believe that a supermodel finds you attract because you read that he/she isn't
into looks, money, or fame. However, that being said, Kelly offers some
practical advice. If you have a GPA in the B range, don't expect a thick
admissions packet from Harvard, UC Berkeley or Princeton because you followed
Kelly's advice.
