When you’re writing your essay, make sure to avoid the “seven deadly sins” - restating your accomplishments, sports (unless you’re able to frame it in an interesting way), traumatic events, illegal activity, inflammatory topics, death, and divorce. View the essay as an opportunity to portray yourself however you want - this will be one of the only things that you have complete control over during the application process, so it’s important that it captures your personality and life experiences as you want the adcom to view you. This is a little lame, but when you’re selecting a topic, imagine what would happen if you dropped your essay in a crowded hallway with no name on it. If one of your peers picked it up, would they know that it was yours? If your essay sounds like anyone but you could’ve written it, you should start over. Attempt to capture an element of your personality that isn’t reflected anywhere else in your application - do you enjoy nature? Know the names of the janitorial staff at your school? Say hi to strangers on the subway? etc. The best essays are often inspired by experiences that are often overshadowed by the subjective elements (ECs, etc.) of an application, but if you’re struggling to write about something in that vein, I’d recommend looking at the prompts for the common app and working backwards or using this as an opportunity to further define your spike. Although I’m sure you’ve already seen these, here are the prompts for our application cycle:
- Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. [No change]
- The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? [Revised]
- Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? [Revised]
- Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution. [No change]
- Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. [Revised]
- Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more? [New]
- Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design. [New]
Because your spike is so defined, I’m sure you’d still be able to craft a strong narrative by just applying it to one of the 6 predefined prompts as long as your personality shines through, but it is extremely important that you consistently portray your personality in all aspects of your application, including the short takes and additional writing supplements. Creating a compelling narrative is all about cohesiveness and repeated themes (which will be strengthened by the spikiness of your extracurriculars). This is also why fit is so crucial - try to figure out if your personality and the attitude/mission statement of the school you’re applying align so that you don’t waste your time on additional applications. All schools have differently personalities and admit certain types of people, so it’s always a good idea to contact current students to get a feel for what the school is looking for. Also, make sure you give yourself enough time to craft winning essays and start soon so that you have one less thing to worry about during the school year. Good luck, I’m rooting for you!