<p>How do you make an admissions essay YOU? How does one write an essay that shows who they are? I mean, I could write about a passion, maybe tell a little story, explain its significance, use rhetorical devices..but how could I make it stand out of the crowd ? I just don't understand this whole personalizing your essay thing..</p>
<p>It has to be something that only you in the entire world could have written. But I have yet to come up with a unique essay myself. :(</p>
<p>I honestly don’t know from first-hand experience, I’m only a junior too. But this is what I believe:</p>
<p>Don’t think about what they want to hear, don’t worry about “What will they take this sentence to mean?”, don’t forcibly inject pseudo-passion. Just find something you want to write about, and write your heart out. Write all you feel & if you’re naturally good at writing, I think you’ve done all you can do.</p>
<p>…may I just say that I LOVE your username? </p>
<p>That being covered, when I wrote my essays, I just started out by writing down the first thing that came out of the top of my head regarding the topic. I tried as much as possible to NOT think about how I was going to write a unique essay; I just wrote what I thought. I like CC Lurker’s advice; don’t fake anything in your essay. Even if the essay is about how you are similar to a block of tofu (I know someone who actually wrote about this topic and she got into Harvard), and no matter how random your topic choice may seem, as long as you maintain a genuine voice, the readers won’t get bored. Vice versa – you can take a truly GREAT unique topic and ruin it by using the age-old cliches like “…this taught me how to persist through struggles and taught me the value of teamwork blah blah blah…” </p>
<p>Also, the style you write in should be all your own. I write in a pretty formal style because I was trained to (I’m a speech/debater haha) but I know lots of people who used a pretty informal style and their essay sounded/read great. Of course, don’t use slang or profanity, but my point is that nothing has to be forced. Just write in the way you’re comfortable with. </p>
<p>So 1) pick a topic that you can write honestly about 2) avoid cliches and forced passion 3) get someone to look over it so you can avoid cliches and let your voice shine through.</p>
<p>Cool, thanks! I guess I just need to brainstorm and spend a long time on a good topic…
ah gross speech and debaters…lol jkjk yea i guess s/d helps you write essays really well…
im more of a math/science guy so I kinda suck at essays…
it’s just hard thinking of ways in which I can write my essay…like how I should approach it…etc.</p>
<p>hmmmm. I know it must soon be a difficult time for juniors; if you want just some direction on what a college essay might look like, PM me and I’ll send you my essay. It got me into Dartmouth, Williams, Swarthmore, Pomona, Georgetown U, etc. :)</p>