<p>I was wondering fi the essay could be about anything or does it have to be something specific? What components should the essay have in it? Thanks!</p>
<p>Anything personal. Tell them about yourself. Get them to like you.</p>
<p>Read "On writing the College Application Essay" by Harry Bauld for more ideas.</p>
<p>Don't read a book, that's a waste of your time. Write about something that you're passionate about that will portray who you are as a person to the admissions officer reading your essay. That's all that matters.</p>
<p>Bauld's book is actually pretty decent and insightful despite it's generic name.</p>
<p>I agree - Bauld's book was actually extremely helpful in the college process in general. I wouldn't buy it for the "essay exercises" it tries to carry you through - but it's the only book written by an actual ex-Brown admissions officer, and actually tells you insight into the life of an adcom. For example, did you know that the most IMPORTANT person in your ENTIRE admissions decision is your local admissions representative? Basically (from what I vaguely remember), Bauld would say he'd take home 30 applications from kids in "his district" home a night -- and just read them...and read them... making a "yes" and "no" pile. Then he'd take the "yes" applicants and go into a room with the admissions director and plead your case.... and it can literally be like this: "So this applicant had a cute essay about his dog, nice SAT scores, good recs from his guidance counselor, an ok one from his physics teacher, but nonetheless, he was president of this club......" Reading that kind of put the whole college process into a whole new perspective for me... </p>
<p>But back to the OP's question -- write your essay on how YOU want to be seen. Basically, after reading your essay, someone should go through it and be able to list at LEAST 100 adjectives about you.... with ease. They should all be good adjectives obviously. Hope this all helps - and yeah, even if you go to a bookstore and read Bauld's book - do it.</p>
<p>Matty, I didn't realize that it wasn't common knowledge how the basics of admissions work, they'll even tell you that at most schools when you visit or simple call up. The regional admissions officer does the first sweep of your app, because well, that's what it means to be the regions officer. They read the applications from that region first because they have familiarity with the schools there, the value system, typical scores, etc etc. They make a determination about each candidate in the region and then make their recommendation to the committee based upon their closer reading of the application and better understanding of what your course load and GPA means considering where you come from.</p>
<p>Was this a mystery? If so, maybe there is a book that shoul dbe read, but I thought that this was a pretty well known process that goes on at almost every university?</p>
<p>Also, like I said, it's a lot easier than being able to conjure adjectives about who you are-- just tell them. They're looking at your communication skills, but most importantly, at the one piece of personality, the one chance you get to tell them who you are besides the same **** they always read about great academics. Be personal, be personable, and don't struggle to be unique or force humor-- be who you are.</p>
<p>My essay was a piece of ****, it sounds overly passionate, it sounds fanciful, cliched, and idealistic-- but it was the truth. That's how I feel about the things I wrote, as corny and cheesy as it is. I am just glad I had several amazing recommendations (I happened to have been very close with my teachers in HS, I still call two of them about once a week), and a good hook.</p>
<p>If you want to read my essay, it's one of those listed on <a href="http://archive.justpetehere.com/ivy/%5B/url%5D">http://archive.justpetehere.com/ivy/</a> . Check those out for ideas. As good or bad as you think any of those are, they were all accepted.</p>