<p>So, I've been working on my college apps and seeing as how Yale is my first choice I thought I'd post my questions about the essays here. My question is how did you decide what to write about? I mean, I've not had any extremely incredible/traumatic experiences or a single instance that shaped my life. To be honest, I'm sort of an "average" kid from WI. I mean, I've got plenty of personality (not boring, not a carbon copy), I'm highly involved and passionate about what I do (and those experiences have shaped me, no doubt), and I feel like I've got a pretty good grasp of who I am as a person, but I'm sort of at a loss for what to write about. I totally understand that essays are a highly personal portion of the essay and obviously if I'm planning on applying to Yale or any other fantastic school, they want ME in the essay and not one of you all, but I was just curious, for those who would consider themselves "average" in terms of life experiences, how did you decide what to write about? Did you write about your passions in school, or your thought process (I had a good idea for this), or a major influence in your life, or your hopes for the future/what the school means to you, or something that you did that really ? You know, I'd just really like to hear from the "average" (obviously no one is truly average, but you get the idea) kids and how they went about things.</p>
<p>And are there any topics I should really avoid? Not talking about the "big ones, divorce, disease, death, & drugs (none of which apply to me), but more general ideas like "Your hopes for the future"... are any of those sort of off limits?</p>
<p>Sorry for ranting again, please forgive me!</p>
<p>There are a number of good books out there (search Amazon) that offer guidance on the college essay writing process. I know there is one edited by Harvard students on 50 essays of admitted students. I think these may be a worthwhile read just to give you comfort on how flexible you can be on the open essays. Some find it helpful to work backwards and identify two or three vignettes or ideas that may not otherwise be apparent to the adcoms reviewing your other documents. Then you can piece together a well written essay that can touch on those stories. You certainly don’t need “an extremely incredible/traumatic experience that shaped [your] life”. My son had a favorite family recipe and started his essay with that, ingredients and cooking instructions and all. He then went on to talk about why it was important to him that this was passed down from his grandmother as part of his cultural identity and linked his generation with those before him. Apparently it worked. </p>
<p>Amongst the cliche topics I’m sure is read over and over again by the adcoms is how I faced a challenge, succeeded despite doubts (mine/others), and what I learned from the experience. It is easy to see why this is an attractive topic since it could show your perseverance and ability to learn from your successes/mistakes. Nevertheless, I think it is a hard one to use to stand out from the crowd.</p>
<p>Without doubt, the essays are hard unless you are an especially gifted writer. I would start early and write several different ones and put them aside for a few days and revisit them. Eventually one will feel right for you and at least parts of the others can be used elsewhere.</p>
<p>When I read college essays, I write down adjectives about the student that come to mind. Sometimes I don’t come up with any, because everything they write describes someone or something else, and I can’t even infer anything about them, except, perhaps the quality of their writing. Make sure you’re telling the reader some things about yourself that they can’t find elsewhere in your application. The topic vehicle isn’t all that important.</p>
<p>But . . . and this is important . . . it doesn’t have to be ABOUT you explicitly. Everything you write is about you to some extent. If you are confident that the essay shows what you care about and how you think, it’s not a problem if it doesn’t use any form of the first-person singular pronoun.</p>
<p>Here’s what I tell everyone: This is like going out on a date. You are pretty sure you like the other person, certainly enough to want to hang out more at this point. You want the other person to like you. What are you going to talk about that makes you seem attractive, shows you off at your best? It can be about you, your experiences, your ideas . . . and it usually is. But it can also just be you talking about something else you care about and think the other person may want to share. (Which means, I think, stay away from long excurses on the meaning of this or that video game, or why you think porn isn’t that bad. TMI.)</p>
<p>If you want to get a sense of how people can write in a unique, personal, and profound way about utterly trivial experiences, read a couple of paragraphs of Marcel Proust, or Virginia Woolf, or Nicholson Baker, or Javier Marias. (But don’t imitate them! Nothing turns to dreck faster than a 17 year-old trying to write like Proust.) These are great writers who have written masterpieces in which deciding what to have for lunch is about as action-packed as things get.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for the advice! I have read a bit of Woolf, and I personally hate her writing style, but still… I understand what you mean. Thank you very much everyone!</p>
<p>I agree with YaleGradandDad: try reading some of those college essay books to get yourself started. Certainly don’t try to imitate an essay, but get a good feel for them. It might be comfortable to know that you can write about a huge range of subjects, and none of them have to be like, “I met the Dalai Lama!” or “a lightbulb went off in my head and I realized I was meant to travel around the world.” I’m nothing special either. I think it’s really the voice that counts. Show YOU. It’s such vague advice and I hated it (I still do), but when you hit on that essay you wrote that really strikes a chord in you, you’ll understand. :)</p>
<p>Here are some tips to get you to that point:
verbal vomit. Open up a word document and start writing honestly. Don’t try to write a full essay right off the bat, because you can become ‘pigeonholed’ into writing about one thing. Just start writing about different things you like. Maybe a quirk you have (ie. listening to disney songs in different languages) or just something you like to do (sports, art, etc.). Anything at all. You can find ideas for essays in them, and even phrases that you really like. I know a lot of my ‘catchy’ sentences came from my verbal vomit.
Try writing in third person. When I starting drafting my first essay, I didn’t like how practically every sentence had “I,” “me,” or “myself”. I felt like I was coming off as an egoist, so to remedy the situation I wrote in the opposite POV. XD Then I edited it back into first person, etc. Maybe it’s just me, but it felt so much more comfortable, like I’d stepped out of the spotlight and didn’t have to watch my every movement anymore. I could go back to dressing in my pajamas instead of a blouse and skirt.
Just start writing simultaneously for a lot of universities. It helps to jump around sometimes, especially if you’re hitting a rut with one of your essays/shorts.
Don’t try to always be positive about yourself. Then again that doesn’t mean that you should be very negative either. To add some dimension if you need to, try using ‘neutral’ words that can be simultaneously positive and ‘negative’. For example, take the word idealistic. It’s good because it shows you’re a dreamer and it’s not so good… because it shows you’re a dreamer. If you know what I mean.</p>
<p>Mmm. I think I have more advice but I can’t remember. I hope I wasn’t too incoherent. ^^;</p>
<p>There is a book that helps you do exactly what the OP says in the title “understand what’s going on”. It describes the admissions process, especially the essay reading, from the other side- describes what it is like to be an admissions officer, and what their mindset is when they’re reading essays, what they are looking for. In other words, it helps you, the writer of the essay, to understand the audience.</p>
<p>This book is about 10 years old now, but still very relevant and insightful. Costs about 10 bucks, worth a lot more. You’ll most likely have to mail order it- stores don’t carry it, or are always out of stock.</p>
<p>On Writing the College Application Essay: The Key to Acceptance and the College of your Choice [Paperback]</p>
<p>50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays (something like that) by Gen and Kelly Tanabe is a book I found very helpful in knowing what kind of essay the Ivies are looking for.</p>
<p>Also, I’ve been journaling interesting stories that happen to me each day off and on for a while. A lot of these small “slice of life” stories can actually reveal a lot about yourself, and generally these stories tend to be pretty unique too.</p>
Certainly don’t try to imitate an essay, but get a good feel for them. It might be comfortable to know that you can write about a huge range of subjects, and none of them have to be like, “I met the Dalai Lama!” or “a lightbulb went off in my head and I realized I was meant to travel around the world.” I’m nothing special either. I think it’s really the voice that counts. Show YOU. It’s such vague advice and I hated it (I still do), but when you hit on that essay you wrote that really strikes a chord in you, you’ll understand. :)</p>
It helps to jump around sometimes, especially if you’re hitting a rut with one of your essays/shorts.