Your second year of nursery school and you still haven’t decided on an essay topic? Uh oh. You’d better catch up!
Calm down. I’m only kidding. You should start early, but not too early. Depending upon your other time commitments and your personality type, you can write all the essays you need in six months, three months, or two weeks. Personally, I think the three-month plan makes the most sense: You get the job done, but without leaving yourself too much time to worry. However, I know that lots of people prefer a huge margin for error, so I provide a timetable for the early birds out there. I also acknowledge those people whose motto is “Don’t do today what you can put off until tomorrow.” (Within limits. If it’s New Year’s Eve and the essay is due on January 1st, all bets are off.)
I carry a five-year datebook: The long-range plan
If your applications are due in six months, you’re on track for a long-range plan. Of course, you don’t actually need six months to write an admission essay. Three months is just fine for a leisurely pace. However, if you’re the kind of person who buys winter clothes in July, here’s a workable schedule:
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Month 1: Look through some current applications for the schools you’re interested in. Note the essay questions, keeping in mind that next year’s set may be different. Where can you find applications? Check the school’s Web site, call their admissions office and ask for a copy, or talk with your college counselor. If any friends are currently applying, ask to see their applications.
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Months 2 and 3: Begin to think about important moments in your life. Start pressing relatives and friends to name “three adjectives that come to mind” when they see you. Flip through your school papers and write “PR” on top of any writing that seems to be “Personally Revealing.” (You thought “PR” meant something else, right? Well, the college admission essay is a form of public relations, so you were partially correct.) Set aside the “PR” assignments. From time to time look through them to see whether anything is usable for your essay. Begin listing possible essay topics.
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Month 4: By now you should have current applications for the schools you’re interested in, so you know exactly which questions you’re facing. Clump together similar questions that might be answered by one essay. Check your topic list and write the rough drafts. Begin to think about the short answers.
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Month 5: Show the essays to a college counselor, English teacher, or adult who knows you well.Begin to polish your work. Write rough drafts of the short-answer questions.
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Month 6: Time to bring it all together. Create the final draft of each essay. Show the short-answer rough drafts to a trusted adult. Polish the short answers, fill in the blanks, and trudge to the post office. You’re done!
Surfing for essays: The summer strategy
If you’re a high school or college junior applying for admission for the September following your graduation, the autumn term of senior year is likely to be extremely hectic. You’ve probably chosen a demanding class schedule and arrived at the point of maximum responsibility in your extracurricular activities. You’re also facing a battery of standardized tests. So it makes sense to knock off all the chores you can during the summer preceding senior year. Sketch out two essays (or work them through to the final-draft stage if you’re confident of the questions you’ll be asked). When school begins, you’re ahead of the game.
Three months is plenty for one page of writing: The medium-range plan
Congratulations! If you’re reading this section, you’ve set aside a fine amount of time to craft an admission essay — short enough to avoid boring yourself to death, but long enough to work at a steady pace. Here’s a good schedule:
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Month 1: Download from the Internet or call/write the admissions offices for applications to all the schools you’re interested in. Read the essay questions. If you’re applying to several schools, note whether one essay may be adapted for more than one application. Decide how many and what kind of essays you’re stuck with. Look through your old English essays or other school assignments in case anything in them suggests an essay topic. Talk with people who know you well (relatives, teachers, friends, romantic partners) for their views on the important events or qualities of your life. List possible essay topics.
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Month 2: Hit the computer or your favorite notebook and sketch out the rough drafts. Show the drafts to your college counselor or English teacher or to another adult. (Don’t go overboard on the help aspect. Why? First, you should trust yourself. Second, too much help is an admissions no-no. The admissions committee will figure out what you’ve done and send you a very thin envelope when decision time arrives, saying, “Thanks for your interest; hope you got into some other school.”
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Month 3: Smooth out the bumpy spots in your essays and tackle the short answers, checking your work with at least one adult before signing off on it. Sign, seal, and deliver the application to your favorite mailbox. Now go dancing.
Two weeks ought to do it: The short-range plan
Okay, you’re a bit behind on writing your essay, but with some efficient planning and a few long nights, you’ll be fine. Here’s a timetable that works:
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Week 1: Call the admissions offices or check the Internet for the applications you need. Make a list of all the essays you have to write. List two or three possible topics for each essay. Focus on the best topics and gather details.
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Week 2: Cancel every single bit of your social life and put on hold all the school assignments you can postpone without severe penalties. (Beg your teachers for extra time, if you think they’ll listen.) Write the rough drafts of both the major essays and the short answer questions. Ask a sympathetic teacher/counselor/relative to review your work. Edit the drafts and insert them into the applications. Make friends with the express-mail clerk or, if time permits, visit the post office. After the applications are on their way, take a moment to formulate a New Year’s Resolution (even it it’s not January): “In the future, I will plan ahead.” Now get some sleep.
From College Admission Essays For Dummies Copyright © 2003 by Wiley Publishing, Inc. Indianapolis, Indiana. All Rights Reserved. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
