College Admission Essays: Getting the Most Out of Short Answers

Saying A Lot in Little Spaces

If you’ve ever taken a poetry class, chances are the teacher showed you some haiku, a poetic form that originated in Japan. Traditional haiku are only three lines long. Faced with the choice of reading and analyzing a haiku or a long poem, you may be tempted to opt for the haiku. It looks like a poetic finger snap — a second after you start reading it, you’re done. But closer examination shows you that a haiku is packed with meaning. Furthermore, writing a haiku is extremely tough. In only a few words you must make your point, create a vivid image, and suggest philosophical depths. As poets and students of poetry have discovered through the years, long poems are actually easier to read and write than tiny haiku!

So too are the short-answer questions on college applications. Compared to the full-length essays, short answers appear simple at first glance. After you’ve sweated over a 500-word personal statement, you see a four- or fiveline blank and think “piece of cake.” But when you start to choose words for those lines, you realize what a tough job faces you.

Tough, but not impossible. To create an effective short answer, keep one word in mind. Which word? One! Here’s what I mean:

• Each short answer must make one important point. If you’re writing about your most meaningful activity, for example, you can’t explain everything you learned from your stint as president of the Computer Debugging Society, describing the three new programming languages you mastered, your triumphant bake sale to raise funds for a new printer, and the club trip to Silicon Alley. If you really want to say all that, turn the Computer Debugging Society topic into a full-length essay and submit it as a personal statement. If you choose that topic for the short-answer section, limit yourself to an explanation of your new understanding of programming languages or to one of the other relevant ideas.
• The information in your short answers should appear in only one place in the application. Don’t waste space repeating information or observations from the full-length essay or from elsewhere on the form.
• Consider letting the reader “see” one tiny scene in each short answer. Returning to the fictional Computer Debugging Society, you might include a sentence or two showing how tough it was to learn a new programming language, as in this example:

I love the cooperative atmosphere of the Computer Debugging Society. At meetings members sit in front of their computers, balancing three-inch-thick C++ manuals on their laps. Fueled by extra-tall lattes, everyone shares programming tips and celebrates each other’s success.

• Never use two words in a short answer if one will do the job. In other words, don’t write, “He walked slowly into the room.” Instead, say that he “ambled” or “strolled” or “edged” into a room.
• If you can, let your short answer open the door to one additional idea. Besides the details you give on your main point, include a few words suggesting something more. Again, I refer to the imaginary Computer Debugging Society:

I never understood logic until I figured out a mapping program with my fellow debuggers. (main idea of the short answer = cooperative work; additional suggestion = you mastered logical thinking)

Let the power of one be your guide through the short answers, and you won’t go wrong!

Topics that pop up in the short-answer section of one college’s application may appear in the full-length essay section of another institution’s form. Read the directions early and often to be sure you come up with the correct word count.

Lassoing the Mavericks: Responding to Unusual Short-Answer Questions

Having combed through 250 college applications, I’ve picked up some terrific creative writing ideas for my English classes. I’ve also become convinced that more than a few admissions committees were up really late when they wrote some of those questions. In this section I show you how to deal with the mavericks of the application world — the oddball short answers that pop up only occasionally — such as the following:

• If you went into your closet and your clothes could talk, what would they say about you?
• What is your definition of success?
• Jot a note to your future college roommate relating a personal experience that reveals something about you.
• Describe something that reveals who you are (or aren’t).
• How do you plan to manage your time while in college?
• Submit a photo or drawing and briefly explain its significance.

All these questions, by the way, are variations of more common topics. When you consider the definition of success or discuss your plans for time management, for instance, you’re defining priorities and values, an offshoot of the “tell us about yourself” essay. Similarly, interpreting a photo, a drawing, or a closet full of Armani knockoffs reveals much about the way you think. Depending upon the photo or drawing (or wardrobe), you may also have the chance to disclose more about your life and experiences.

A good approach to the oddball question is to list every idea you may possibly want to explore in your answer. Then take each idea in turn, composing four or five sentences about the topic. Gradually, one idea will take hold of you, and you’ll find yourself writing more and more, on your way to an acceptable answer.

The “oddball” questions are partly designed to take you off the beaten track, to see how creative you are when challenged by the unexpected. (Not a bad test for potential applicants, when you think about it.) So as you answer an unusual question, let your playful side emerge. Don’t blow off the question or present yourself as incurably silly. Do let your creativity rule!

Check out this short-answer example essay, a delightful foray into a teenager’s closet written in answer to the “if your clothes could talk” question. The author chose to write a fairly long response, but I’ve adapted it here to show how it might serve for a briefer answer. The author uses several items of clothing — an apron, a ragged pair of sweatpants, and a formal suit — to illustrate her memories. The author’s strong sense of family, her loyalty to friends, and even her career plans become clear after this quick trip through her closet.