Five College Essay "Don'ts"
Don't:
Highlight your entire life in one essay. Many students come to me and want to put all of their accomplishments into one single essay. The result is a muddled, unfocused mess of an essay and it's no wonder they wind up frustrated and feeling like they can't do it.
Better:
Choose one thing that exemplifies your passion, your leadership or your skills, and tell the story of it completely. If you think it through thoroughly, you will find that you have plenty to say and that you can produce a strong essay with a good beginning, middle, and end.
Don't:
Read collections of "Best College Essays." These books are helpful for showing students what a good essay should look like. But they can backfire. I've had too many students try to emulate one of the essays they read in such a book. And they can't because that essay came from the writer's heart.
Better:
Write from your own heart, using your own creativity, determination, and smarts. You'll create a stronger essay that you'll feel better about because it will be truly your own.
Don't:
Worry about the word count. It's true--the Common Application wants a main essay that is no longer than 650 words. But that's what editing is for.
Better:
Recognize that good essay writing requires many drafts. Include all of your ideas, anecdotes, examples, and personality in your first draft. When you are done, edit, edit, edit. Look for words that are redundant, sentences that can be trimmed of excessive adjectives, and places where you have "overwritten." You will gradually drop the excess and produce a well-written essay that meets the requirement.
Don't:
Boast about your accomplishments. Saying that you directed the best musical revue your school has ever seen won't win you any converts because it has no basis in fact and seems self-serving.
Better:
Highlight your achievements. If you can say that more tickets were sold to the musical revue that you directed than any other previous one because you developed the first-ever PR campaign for the Drama Club, then by all means say it.
Don't:
Make any statements you can't back up. It's not enough, in other words, to say you "worked hard" at something. It's not convincing to say "I showed leadership skills" on the field.
Better:
Illustrate your statements. If you worked hard at dance, say how many hours you spent in lessons, talk about how your muscles ached or your legs got stronger. Explain how you led on the field--by example? Through pep talks? By showing up on time? You know best what you've achieved in your life. Your essay will be the place to show (not tell) that to an admissions committee.
Highlight your entire life in one essay. Many students come to me and want to put all of their accomplishments into one single essay. The result is a muddled, unfocused mess of an essay and it's no wonder they wind up frustrated and feeling like they can't do it.
Better:
Choose one thing that exemplifies your passion, your leadership or your skills, and tell the story of it completely. If you think it through thoroughly, you will find that you have plenty to say and that you can produce a strong essay with a good beginning, middle, and end.
Don't:
Read collections of "Best College Essays." These books are helpful for showing students what a good essay should look like. But they can backfire. I've had too many students try to emulate one of the essays they read in such a book. And they can't because that essay came from the writer's heart.
Better:
Write from your own heart, using your own creativity, determination, and smarts. You'll create a stronger essay that you'll feel better about because it will be truly your own.
Don't:
Worry about the word count. It's true--the Common Application wants a main essay that is no longer than 650 words. But that's what editing is for.
Better:
Recognize that good essay writing requires many drafts. Include all of your ideas, anecdotes, examples, and personality in your first draft. When you are done, edit, edit, edit. Look for words that are redundant, sentences that can be trimmed of excessive adjectives, and places where you have "overwritten." You will gradually drop the excess and produce a well-written essay that meets the requirement.
Don't:
Boast about your accomplishments. Saying that you directed the best musical revue your school has ever seen won't win you any converts because it has no basis in fact and seems self-serving.
Better:
Highlight your achievements. If you can say that more tickets were sold to the musical revue that you directed than any other previous one because you developed the first-ever PR campaign for the Drama Club, then by all means say it.
Don't:
Make any statements you can't back up. It's not enough, in other words, to say you "worked hard" at something. It's not convincing to say "I showed leadership skills" on the field.
Better:
Illustrate your statements. If you worked hard at dance, say how many hours you spent in lessons, talk about how your muscles ached or your legs got stronger. Explain how you led on the field--by example? Through pep talks? By showing up on time? You know best what you've achieved in your life. Your essay will be the place to show (not tell) that to an admissions committee.
