College Admission Essays: Brainstorming Session
College admissions essays are becoming a more and more important element of the admissions process.
If you, and let’s say Jenny, have the same SAT scores, the same GPA and both of you have done volunteer work, the college admissions essay is what’s going to set you apart. Take that Jenny.
In the college admission essays, admissions officers don’t just learn more about your unique personality, but also your writing, vocabulary and reasoning skills.
As more and more colleges are de-emphasizing standardized tests in the college admissions process, more weight is being given to the college admissions essay.
Admissions essays are even a mandatory part of the common application.
So yours has to be kick-ass.
The first thing you need to do to make yours stand out from the crowd, is to choose your topic. Sounds easy enough, but your topic can make or break you. You can choose something that shows a special part of your personality, that’s going to make you shine.
Sometimes, the college application gives you several topics to choose from but often you can pick your own.
For example, the Common App gives you a list of prompts including one that lets you select your own topic. This year these are the choices:
- Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
- Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
- Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
- Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
- A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
- Topic of your choice.
Spend one or two weeks thinking of a topic that will showcase your talents and your individuality and that will fare well with the major that you are interested in. For instance, if you are applying to an English literature program then writing about a fictional character or a creative work, might be a creative way to go. If you are going to study international relations discussing a personal, local, national or international concern might be a great way to show what ideas you plan to bring to your major or what lead to your interest in this field.
If you want to choose your own topic brainstorm ideas that would help admissions officers get to know you. Here are some questions worth thinking about:
- What are your major accomplishments, and why do you consider them accomplishments? (Do not limit yourself to accomplishments you have been formally recognized for since the most interesting essays often are based on accomplishments that may have been small at the time but become crucial when placed in the context of your life.)
- Does any attribute, quality, or skill distinguish you from everyone else? How did you develop this attribute?
- Consider your favorite books, movies, works of art, etc. Have these influenced your life in a meaningful way? Why are they your favorites?
- What was the most difficult time in your life, and why? How did your perspective on life change as a result of the difficulty?
- Have you ever struggled a lot for something and succeeded? What made you successful?
Have you ever struggled a lot for something and failed? How did you respond?(Don’t be afraid to show your vulnerabilities, it sometimes takes strength of character to do this.) - Of everything in the world, what would you most like to be doing right now? Where would you most like to be? Who, of everyone living and dead, would you most like to be with? (These questions should help you realize what you love most.)
- Have you experienced a moment of epiphany, as if your eyes were opened to something you were previously blind to?
- What is your strongest, most unwavering personality trait? Do you maintain strong beliefs or adhere to a philosophy? How would your friends characterize you? What would they write about if they were writing your admissions essay for you?
- What have you done outside of the classroom that demonstrates qualities sought after by universities? Of these, which means the most to you?
- What are your most important extracurricular or community activities? What made you join these activities? What made you continue to contribute to them?
- What are your dreams of the future? When you look back on your life in thirty years, what would it take for you to consider your life successful? What people, things, and accomplishments do you need? How does this particular university fit into your plans for the future?
Don’t worry if you don’t have a subject for your college admission essay just yet. Coming up with an idea is difficult and requires time.
And you’ve got to find something that you are passionate about so your essay doesn’t sound like everyone else’s college admissions essays.
We want yours to jump off the paper.
So have fun with the brainstorming process—and you might just discover something about yourself you never realized.
Now that you’ve got the ball rolling, check back tomorrow for more college admission essay ideas.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at 2:04 pm and is filed under Applications, College admissions essays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
June 18th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
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