Are there any accurate books I can buy that explain/display what a great college essay pertains? I have very minimal knowledge regarding the format, tone, or overall overview on what to write. The only thing I know is that most essays start off with a corny dramatic hook…
Deez, I’m going to go with this: learn what those colleges are really about, get behind their veil, see what they brag about and the kinds of kids they tout, then write from your heart, not per a formula. No, essays shouldn’t start corny (adcoms can roll their eyes, too,) or with some thesis statement (unlike hs writing.) Some of the better essay advice is on college web pages. Here’s one http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/how-to-write-a-college-essay
And make the content relevant to your admissions review. Try to stick with topics that reflect who you are now, not back in first grade, and which show you positively. (Show, not just tell.)
I said earlier that a Why Us can be casual. I’ve read many that rang by focusing on small parts of the experience, something about the community, the vibe, some fluidity, whatever. You want adcoms to say, “She gets it.” You don’t get there by mirroring the mission statement or obvious strengths or the mechanics of some program. Or, raving about a commonplace aspect (you have study abroad!) Or focusing on the college as a tool for your personal 17 year old ideas about your future. At the elites that is.
You can read lots of good essays on EssayHell. I think that site has blog roll where you can read other examples and advice.
There are samples and do’'s /don’ts for UC’s too.
@lookingforward this is the best writing advice I’ve yet seen on CC.
^:)^
@lookingforward and @MYOS1634 Great suggestions! Thanks for posting them.
I’m mostly with Pizzagirl on this one. But I think you can overthink it. Ultimately most colleges are looking for kids that will make engaging students and fun and interesting to have in the classroom and the dorm. You want the admissions committee to think, I’d really like to have this student as a friend or classmate. My kids used humor, and they provided examples of how they went the extra mile teaching themselves things that weren’t taught at their high school. They showed who they were. Then they tried to pick colleges that would want who they were.
BTW, I’m not sure this is of help to the OP, but if anyone wants to apply without bothering with researching a school much, they could apply to Trinity College Dublin* (or any other Irish uni). The Irish unis aren’t very holistic at all. For Irish/EU applicants, each program in each uni just takes the applicants who have the highest number of points (they have some point-based system for Irish/EU applicants; it seems like for American applicants, they translate an SAT score over to their points system somehow). For Americans, they would require a 500-word “Why TCD” essay, but it likely won’t matter so long as you don’t insult them.
*also know what subjects you want to study, go to uni in Ireland, and I would say not STEM subjects.
** TrinityCollege, University of Dublin has been called the Oxbridge of Ireland, though, like how McGill, which has been called “the Harvard of Canada”, is really more like the UMich of Quebec, TCD is more like the Edinburgh of Ireland; though Oxbridge does treat TCD/University of Dublin as an equal (the only one, besides each other).
What’s the goal in applying to too many schools? Usually is chasing merit or chasing a “better” school. I am sure there are some more reasons depending on the individual. For example a gap in GPA and SAT might bring some uncertainty and add more schools. However, those reasons make it even more important that the student spends time and does a good job in the apps. Usually, for the type of college that does not matter how polished your app is, it does not matter to send 20 apps either. For example if you get automatic merit for stats what’s the point to apply to 20 of those schools? You choose a couple maybe so you have a choice. But if the merit is not automatic, random app. usually will not bring it to you. And if you chase a “better” school your chances will not increase with generic app just because you sent it. At least this is how I see it
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This is false. I thought the same when we started the process. However, I guess colleges have become savvy to this, and there was much less overlap than I expected.
Regarding the requests for books on essays for college, I have read a couple and was underwhelmed with the quality of the essays that were considered “good” by the authors.
I’ve also often felt the same about the ones colleges post on their own websites. The truth is, most 18 year olds just don’t have the life experiences and maturity to write great essays.
@mathmom I’m also underwhelmed by a lot of the “slice of life” style anecdote-based essays I’ve read that are supposed to be “good” or even “great”. My eyes glaze over, and I would be a terrible adcom. I don’t see how an anecdote or the deep truth the student found in watching a caterpillar or whatever is relevant to how the student will do in college. (Feynman and his observing ants, sure, but…)
Maybe this is because we are in CA, and the advice for the previous UC prompts was specifically to not write them in the frilly way that Common App essays are written. “Just write them as if you were telling an interviewer about yourself.” The new UC prompts are a bit more like the Common App prompts, so I suppose that perhaps they are OK with something more literary now. (Though 350 words allows for a lot less fluff than 650 words.)
DS wrote essays this past year that got him accepted to the SSP summer astrophysics program, which is fairly selective. His essays addressed the prompts in a pretty straightforward way. Only one essay started “When I was 7” and another was a narrative about a challenge he encountered. I mean, looking back at them, they are well-written, but they are about the activities he actually spends a lot of time doing, not about deep meaning found in a momentary observation.
My kids didn’t write about deep meaning either. My oldest started his main essay with the results of a program he wrote that combined snippets from online college essays. He then said something like “I’d rather write a computer program than an essay.” Younger son wrote about making things from origami. It was about how something that he started doing on a lark sucked him in. How he learned how he learns best. But it also had quite a bit of humor in it.
No “deep meaning” here either…but both of my kids wrote about themselves…and their voice came through loud and clear in their essays. And in their acceptances, both had hand written comments on their essays.
I think colleges want to hear the voice of the student in the essays. Not some “deep meaning” essay.
My kid’s counselor told her to let her personality come through, with sense of humor or humanity, no need to use big words, but at the same time make sure it is a college level essay, meaning well constructed and good grammar without typos.
D2 has always been a good writer (she just graduated as a philosophy major and an independent study). There was a prompt about what she would do if she had a free afternoon (don’t remember it exactly). She wrote about taking a bath with all of her favorite books in the tub. She said she started doing that as a little kid because that was where she could get some peace and quiet from all of us to read her favorite books (I remembered she used to take very long bath, but didn’t know she was reading in bath. ). It was funny how she described she used to drop her books in the tub sometimes because she would be so into it. From there she wrote about her two favorite books and contrasted them.
I read all of her essays. I have to say I was laughing at a lot of them.
No deep meaning here, either. Mine wrote about something that changed their view of themselves (for the better.) The big essay isn’t meant for you to expound or analyze. But nor is it any old free topic. It helps to show the attributes the college likes.
A list colleges with easy applications and no essays would be useful. You could do these over winter break if you don’t get into your EA schools. And if you do get into your EA schools you will have saved yourself some application fees.
@nw2this If you Google “college with no extra essays” one that comes up is a list in a PDF. Some fairly selective colleges on the list from 2013-14 include Northeastern, WUSTL, Kenyon College, and University of Miami (FL). New York has a long list. For Californians, University of the Pacific might be one to consider. There are many religious colleges on the list.
That might be the worst reason I can think of to apply to a college (and probably pay them the cost of a house in some parts of the country to attend) – because they had an easy or no essay.
I think we are arguing a straw man here; no one postulated that the essay had to be about “deep thoughts / meaning” so not sure why everyone is so eager to refute it.