Collge Admission: Writing an Effective Personal Essay

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Many college application forms, including the Common Application, require one essay or personal statement. Some require more. The article discusess how to approach the essay as an opportunity for self-understanding, not just as an unwelcome assignment. Although colleges differ in how much emphasis they place on the essay, it can always make a difference. Its importance may also vary for different students because of the strength of their credentials. At most schools where your grades and scores are at the top of that college’s pool, a so-so essay won’t be too damaging, but at a highly selective or super-selective school, it always matters, since hardly anyone is admitted by grades and tests alone.

Why Do Colleges Ask for Essays?

The essay is a way for you to personalize your application and to give it life. That’s how colleges view it. Along with your letters of recommendation, your essay helps admissions officers differentiate you from others with similar records. It is a chance to share something special about yourself that will help the reader conclude that you would make a wonderful addition to the next freshman class. It can also demonstrate to a college that you can express yourself effectively and persuasively in writing—a skill that is crucial for success in college. Henry Bauld, author of a delightful book on college admissions essays, sums up the essay as follows: “It shows you at your alive and thinking best, a person worth listening to—not just for the ten minutes it takes to read your application, but for the next four years.”

What exactly do admissions officers want to know when they ask you to write the college essay? No matter which question, we are asking what is really important to you, who you are, and how you arrived where you are. The whole college application process is really a self-exploration, and the essay is a way to put your personal adventure into words. - Delsie Phillips, former director of admissions at Haverford College

The problem with advice like this is that it is hard to follow when you get down to yourself. You know that you should be honest, open, and tell the truth, but you realize that you are also trying to make a good impression on the readers. How can you do both? How can you avoid being stiff and impersonal, sort of like an awkward first date, as you try to make a good impression? How can you be sure you aren’t making yourself too vulnerable if you admit you are not perfect? It’s hard, but those are real questions to think about. In considering them, you are more likely to write a self-reflective and thoughtful essay. If you ignore the dilemma, you might err on one side or the other. Many students are so intent on being well-perceived that they write bland, uninvolving essays, thinking that as long as they are telling the truth, they are doing fine.

The Three Types of Questions

Sarah McGinty, a consultant specializing in workshops on writing college essays, points out that most college essays boil down to one of three types: some version of “tell us about yourself,” some variety of “why us?” in terms of college or career choice, or a “creative” question that asks you to reflect on some topic that may appear to be only tangentially related to the college admissions process, if at all. In The College Application Essay, McGinty emphasizes that regardless of the form of the question, each is trying to get information about you. What you choose to write tells the reader a great deal about how you think, what your life experiences have been, and what you value.