<p>"That's because the fact that my life has been very boring and I have done nothing that I would consider significant enough to even mention in an essay. "</p>
<p>You need to dig a little harder, then. Have you helped a classmate or sibling with a challenge assignment, discussed 'the old days' with a grandparent, watched a sunset, lived through the first day of kindergarten, buried a pet, attended a ceremony marking a rite of passage (baptism, wedding, bar mitzvah, funeral), had a vivid dream (one you can discuss, anyway), been caught out in a thunderstorm, stayed up all night reading poetry ...</p>
<p>Some great writers keep journals of their own feelings, experiences and observations. These are the wellsprings from which they draw when creating their own works of fiction. If you look deeply enough (and this is not easy) you will be able to write more thoughfully and carefully about the real you then some exciting phantasm that you have made up for the approval of the admissions committee.</p>
<p>I beg to differ on one point - essays ARE about how well you write. They should be a strong piece of writing, one of your best. Admission counselors are expecting that to be the case, and they are assuming that what you send them is the best that you can produce. That said, they are assuming it's the best that YOU can produce (not your AP English teacher, mom, friend, hired consultant, etc.)</p>
<p>They are ALSO an opportunity for you to share something about yourself, preferably something that isn't apparent anywhere else in your application.</p>
<p>Be honest. Too many people lose acceptances due to dishonesty. Besides, this reflects on your character. Is this one of your habits? Do you condone something like this? Write about YOU not what you want to be...or who you think you should be</p>
<p>"Ok, so I need my essay to be really good to make up for EC's or rather lack of EC's and I know if I make it an entirely honest essay it will be not so good, but I'm a really good writer and can make an outstanding essay if I add some elements of fiction. By some I mean the whole thing. So what should I do, keep it honest and truthful and rather boring I might add, or not so true and quite amazing? Any answers will be much appreciated."</p>
<p>I think you simply don't understand what makes a good essay. A good essay is not good because you write about something truly unique and exciting. It's not about adventure it's about authenticity. A good essay will show who you are and make you really come to life for the admissions officer. What do you like to do? What is important to you? Who do you want to be? What makes you tick? Really good essays don't need to be creative they just need to be honest and real. A lot of people who got into Stanford wrote about something that was important to them. One girl wrote about how her mom is her best friend and another wrote about friendships falling apart. As both examples illustrate, you don't need impressive ECs to have good material for a great essay. I've read a couple of great essays by people applying to Stanford. One was about a girl who talked about why dancing was important to her. Another was about a girl who was giving a speech and was terrified of public speaking. Neither of those are especially original topics, but she really made the story her own and I thought "Wow she sounds really cool, I want to meet this girl!" after reading the essay. The essays can be about anything at all. Just be yourself. You'll know when you've succeeded. Feel free to PM me if you want me to look over any drafts of essays. Good luck!</p>
<p>i thought there was nothing terribly special to write about me either. and i wrote a boring essay, which i really hated. so i just took the risk and wrote something special about me, that was truly unique to me. it wasn't a talent or a gift or something that could be another reason for the admissions officer to want me. but it became a very personal and revealing essay.</p>
<p>i wrote about my voice. it was different because it was high pitched, girly, and child-like sounding. everyone recognises me by it, ive been teased endlessly by it too. my teacher once even told me i sounded like a powerpuff girl. heck i couldnt even order pizza delivery over the phone because of my voice. but i wrote a 500 word essay about it and how it has made a difference to my life and my attitude.</p>
<p>All the collegeswhich i sent this essay to accepted me : Brown, Vassar, Boston U, NYU. At the most, they waitlisted me - Tufts (which I fully believe is a display of the Tufts syndrome, haha). There was only one school (Northwestern) which I did not send this essay to, because it wouldn't fit into their question, and it ended up as the only school which rejected me. I sense a pattern, my essay worked! haha</p>
<p>I personally feel that essays dont have to be something that rewrites your achievements in detail, it's something to help you stand out and show your personality well, something that a list of ECs and grades wont do.</p>
<p>good luck :) and i hope you find a good topic to write about, and not have to make it up!</p>
<p>taw 19.......I've read that essay so many times before. My SAT class gave mea copy of it, my school gave me a copy of it, etc. Did your friend copy it?! A few of the phrases are different in this version of the essay, but the format, the outline it's all the same.</p>
<p>I've been having trouble coming up with what to write about, so my mom gave me some great advice:</p>
<p>a. Write about why you want an education
b. Write about what you will do with it</p>
<ul>
<li>or both. But make sure it reflects who you are as a person. Even if you haven't quite figured that out yet.</li>
</ul>
<p>For example, for me this would me writing about how I want an education because I come from a poor family (though I'm not first-generation) and I want to get a great education so I can get a great job and buy my parents a new house.</p>
<p>Then, after buying them a house, I want to go abroad to teach English and make a documentary about it.</p>
<p>Hmmm, I'm going to have to disagree, I think the truth is so much more compelling than an essay comprised of fictional elements. I have personally read quite a few good essays which were fact, all you have to do is give a fresh perspective to it and it should work.</p>
<p>I can't really believe that any of you actually feel that you have to LIE on your essay. As has been said several times this should tell the AdCom about YOU. It doesn't have to be a flashy story, but it needs to be heartfelt and truthful. If there is even a hint that you have tried to embellish it, your application will be dumped in the circular file so quick. And these folks read these for a living, they know what they are looking at. </p>
<p>If you try this, don't be at all surprised if you get a mailbox full of rejections. Firstly because they will know what you did and they will deny you and secondly, because that is what you deserve!</p>
<p>i think it's been said already, but if you're a good writer, you can turn any subject into a good essay topic. it should show your character, who you are .. hopefully you don't need to make something up to do that. O_o i'm sure the adcoms can understand that not all of us lead such interesting lives.. but we may be interesting people.</p>
<p>For those of you that have written successful essays (got ya in) what did you do to get yourself in the "mood" for writing the essay? Read the question and take a day away from it just to think about it, or do some random writing exercises...or what? Just wondering how to get the ole creative juices flowing.</p>
<p>OP,
You describe yourself as a good writer. If you really are a good writer, you should be able to write a fabulous essay that is true. The colleges would see your writing talent and would be very interested in you. Excellent writers are hard to find.</p>
<p>My son also did not have outstanding ECs. He refused to join academic or service clubs at high school, did the minimum required community service, and only participated in an activity if it interested him (AQT but not til senior year). He also refused to embellish at all in his application --- wouldn't even claim to have obtained a black belt in Hapkido when as far as he got was senior brown. What was more important to him than the all-important college app and the blank space where ECs (except for jazz band) would need to go? Friends. Hanging with his friends, going to movies with friends, doing that paint ball thing, walking and talking with friends who were down, picking friends up from places when they were messed up and called him for help. He wrote his essay about friendship and what it meant to him, friends he loved and had known since sixth grade, and friends who had moved away and one who had died and how that had affected him. It said a lot about him (I got a peek after the fact since he refused to let me see it before it was sent) and I think it must have helped or at least didn't hurt in the application process. He's a good writer and it was all him. Don't lie or make stuff up because it most likely will ring false to someone who reads thousands of these essays. Write about yourself from the perspective that only one person can have -- you. There are essay books which give various examples: singing in the shower, preparing for the day ahead, musings riding the bus to school or wherever, ....what touches you, what matters to you). Have someone you trust read it over before you send it, though.</p>
<p>
[quote]
what did you do to get yourself in the "mood" for writing the essay?
[/quote]
It's much easier to be in the mood if you are writing about something that you care about. Don't let the tail wag the dog. If you try to write about something you think someone else cares about, you risk not caring enough about it yourself. </p>
<p>Thoreau wrote the equivalent of an essay in one paragraph in chapter 12 of Walden. While observing nature (something Thoreau cared deeply about), he describes an epic battle between red and black ants which tells the reader as much or more about the narrator as it does about ants: <a href="http://xroads.virginia.edu/%7EHYPER/WALDEN/hdt12.html%5B/url%5D">http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/WALDEN/hdt12.html</a> The reader doesn't need to see a list of EC's to appreciate the author's interest and knowledge of nature, literature, history, civics, politics, psychology and sociology.</p>
<p>My kids sketched out drafts of essays on topics that excited them and then later on went back to see which ones could be crafted to answer specific essay questions. With very little tweaking, Thoreau could have answered any number of common college essay prompts with his red and black ant paragraph, even the "how would you spend $10 on a Saturday" question--perhaps by spending the $10 on a comfortable camp chair from which to engage in one of his favorite pastimes.</p>
<p>I'm a visual person, so I sat down with a brand new pack of the really chunky Crayons and did mind webs. I wrote down the prompt in the middle of a sheet of paper, then wrote down stuff that was associated with it. One of my topics was "a problem in your community" so I talked about the opressive circumstances that the household help lived under. (I was in Kuwait at the time). Some of my thought bubbles were religion, no choice, money, no passport, sexual violence, shame, uniforms, racism, and other things. On another sheet of paper, I wrote one to two sentences on each thought bubble. Finally, I wrote my paragraph using both the original web, and the expanded thoughts as my guidelines. Then I put it aside for two weeks. After the "waiting period" I read it again to see if there were any problems, anything I wanted to change, and made my edits. </p>
<p>Other Essay Thoughts:
Always outline before you start a writing assignment. Having a framework will really help. Have a beginning and an end, as well as a cohesive middle. The two week wait can be condensed to a few hours if you have something else to truly distract you from the writing process.</p>
<p>I think lying on an application essay is absurd. The whole point of the essay is so the admissions people can get to know YOU. It'll say a lot more about your character if you take a simple event in your life and describe how it was really interesting/important/life changing with your writing talents, than if you make up some random lie.</p>