More questions about the essay

Parents Forum
1

<p>We have a draft! I truly expected that this would not happen without serious struggle, but son just sat down and wrote it in a few hours. </p>

<p>I think I understand generally the idea that the essay is a way for admissions officers to get to know applicants, and that what is important is not that the essay be technically good (commas in all the right places) but that it show who the applicant is. All that is easy to say but even having read my son's draft I am not sure how to evaluate what he has written. His topic is an international political conflict (though not Iraq; son does want to major in international studies). I think one of his teachers must have hammered into his head that all essays should have a three-prong/five-paragraph structure, so that is what he has done. The three prongs are why this conflict is important to him--meeting a person from one of the countries, family background, and his study of other conflicts in history classes. So in one sense some of it is kind of clinical (especially the part about other conflicts) and not personal (not about son directly) but in another sense it is personal because it reveals what is important to him and what he has taken away from his studies.</p>

<p>I guess I am confused about whether the getting to know the applicant aspect should be direct (lots of "I" statements) or whether a more indirect approach (writing that is objective--e.g., conflicts that contributed to the World Wars--but indirectly also reveals what the applicant thinks, or what is important to him) is also acceptable. If anyone knows of any books or other resources that might provide detailed guidance, please let me know. I have a couple books about applying to college but the advice about essays is about choosing a topic, not the nitty-gritty of writing it.</p>

2

<p>I think the essay should always be from the heart, and reveal what the applicant wants revealed about himself. That way, if rejected, he won't feel he "left anything on the table." </p>

<p>This is the opportunity for admissions officers (if they choose) to learn something they don't get from the transcript, test scores, and letters of recommendation.</p>

3

<p>What I learned during my D's application process last year is that the essay should feel authentic to the readers, written naturally and not forced. I remember when a Penn representative came to my D's school to advise about the application process, not only for that school but generally. He read an essay written by an admitted student, which he considered one of their best submissions. It was heartfelt and simple, no big words, no lofty subject matter, not complex or intellectual in nature, nearly conversational in tone, but which very much revealed the personality and sense of the applicant as an individual. </p>

<p>On reading a draft, if it "sounds" like your son and feels genuine, he is on the right track. One of the best pieces of advice is that the essay should come across as one that no one else could write, meaning that whatever thoughts, reactions, experience, or whatever he chooses to write about come across as personal to him alone.</p>

4

<p>Carolyn's web site has some very good advice on writing the essay, and one of the points she makes is that it should very much use "I" statements.</p>

<p>She recommends the book, "College Essay Writing for Dummies" (or something like that).</p>

<p>I just got the book for my daughter, we'll see if she uses it.</p>