College Discussion - View Single Post

illegiblyclear · 03-31-2008, 11:18 PM

Hi. I'm a senior, just heard back from my schools this last week. Someone PMed me from one of the "Class of 2012" threads asking for advice on how to get into that school and I started writing that PM before I realized that maybe other people could benefit from my advice too.

I'm no college admissions officer but like every good Asian, I've probably read more college admissions books than I've ever wanted. And like every good Asian, I realized that most of what's written in the admissions book didn't help me much at all.

I'm just going to present my outlook on the admissions essay--you can take my advice or you could leave it. You can shape my ideas to however you see fit, maybe take some of it and leave the other bits. I just want to try and help ease the process and point you in (what I perceive as) the right direction if I can.

Oh and in case you were curious, I've been accepted to JHU (BME), Duke, and UPenn; rejected from Stanford and Yale. Sure there were definitely other factors in my getting accepted (4.0 uw, 2220, IB Candidate, ECs) but I think there's a lot to be said for essays and that they shouldn't be underrated. Especially at the top tier schools, essays generally create the tipping factor.

On to the advice, yeah?

College admissions officers say that they don't mind reading admissions essays of any kind, but honestly, just putting yourself in their shoes--who really wants to read another essay about their grandmother dying or understanding teamwork by winning the latest soccer match? If there are giant blocks of text in front of me, I'm more likely to just scan through the essay instead of really trying to understand it. If the grammar's hard to decipher, I probably wouldn't spend long trying to read this essay and instead toss it into the reject pile.

All admissions officers have a ton of essays to read--which means a short amount of time allotted to each essay. You have to be easy to understand and incredibly effective with your words. Your sentences have to flow. And most importantly, you have to be /interesting/.

The easiest way to be interesting (I think) is to pay attention to the small details. Don't use sweeping generalities--it makes if seem as if your essay has no substance. Talk about the little things. For example if you were to write about the hospital you volunteer at, write about the worn faces of the patients there, write about the everyday feelings you had while working there, write about how you were working in pediatrics handing out the last cherry flavored lollipop to a little girl who smiled up at you--and you really felt for a moment like you were really making a difference. Write about how your stomach twisted with nausea the first time you looked into a fluorescent light microscope and the pale glow of the fluorescence under the lamp. Paint pictures. Tell stories. Bring your audience into the image. It's the little details that makes the essay human, makes the situation real.

I personally think that it's okay to be poetic as long as you don't overdo it. Keep your essay professional, but don't be afraid to throw in a pun or a well done parallelism. Don't be pretentious. Don't be ridiculously artsy. But don't be afraid either.

College essays are notoriously hard to write because they cover such a broad spectrum of activities, you aren't sure what the college admissions officer will like, and of course, you still have to portray something about yourself. My advice is to pick something specific about yourself that you want to portray to the college admissions officers instead of picking an activity. This positive trait is now the skeleton of the essay--now flesh it out with all those little details that really make the essay something you would write.

Here is the tricky part: you must never forget that your essay must express something about you, your characteristics, or your ambitions. You can give the admissions officers a narrative but what use of it is to them if they can't discern anything about you?

Er. I probably won't be able to give people specific advice about their essays (sorry, IB still owns my soul; but I'll be free during the summer!) but I can try to help with general questions?

I just hope I've helped anybody a little bit. (:

03-31-2008, 11:18 PM	#1
illegiblyclear New Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Threads: 1 Posts: 9	Essay Tips for You! Hi. I'm a senior, just heard back from my schools this last week. Someone PMed me from one of the "Class of 2012" threads asking for advice on how to get into that school and I started writing that PM before I realized that maybe other people could benefit from my advice too. I'm no college admissions officer but like every good Asian, I've probably read more college admissions books than I've ever wanted. And like every good Asian, I realized that most of what's written in the admissions book didn't help me much at all. I'm just going to present my outlook on the admissions essay--you can take my advice or you could leave it. You can shape my ideas to however you see fit, maybe take some of it and leave the other bits. I just want to try and help ease the process and point you in (what I perceive as) the right direction if I can. Oh and in case you were curious, I've been accepted to JHU (BME), Duke, and UPenn; rejected from Stanford and Yale. Sure there were definitely other factors in my getting accepted (4.0 uw, 2220, IB Candidate, ECs) but I think there's a lot to be said for essays and that they shouldn't be underrated. Especially at the top tier schools, essays generally create the tipping factor. On to the advice, yeah? College admissions officers say that they don't mind reading admissions essays of any kind, but honestly, just putting yourself in their shoes--who really wants to read another essay about their grandmother dying or understanding teamwork by winning the latest soccer match? If there are giant blocks of text in front of me, I'm more likely to just scan through the essay instead of really trying to understand it. If the grammar's hard to decipher, I probably wouldn't spend long trying to read this essay and instead toss it into the reject pile. All admissions officers have a ton of essays to read--which means a short amount of time allotted to each essay. You have to be easy to understand and incredibly effective with your words. Your sentences have to flow. And most importantly, you have to be /interesting/. The easiest way to be interesting (I think) is to pay attention to the small details. Don't use sweeping generalities--it makes if seem as if your essay has no substance. Talk about the little things. For example if you were to write about the hospital you volunteer at, write about the worn faces of the patients there, write about the everyday feelings you had while working there, write about how you were working in pediatrics handing out the last cherry flavored lollipop to a little girl who smiled up at you--and you really felt for a moment like you were really making a difference. Write about how your stomach twisted with nausea the first time you looked into a fluorescent light microscope and the pale glow of the fluorescence under the lamp. Paint pictures. Tell stories. Bring your audience into the image. It's the little details that makes the essay human, makes the situation real. I personally think that it's okay to be poetic as long as you don't overdo it. Keep your essay professional, but don't be afraid to throw in a pun or a well done parallelism. Don't be pretentious. Don't be ridiculously artsy. But don't be afraid either. College essays are notoriously hard to write because they cover such a broad spectrum of activities, you aren't sure what the college admissions officer will like, and of course, you still have to portray something about yourself. My advice is to pick something specific about yourself that you want to portray to the college admissions officers instead of picking an activity. This positive trait is now the skeleton of the essay--now flesh it out with all those little details that really make the essay something you would write. Here is the tricky part: you must never forget that your essay must express something about you, your characteristics, or your ambitions. You can give the admissions officers a narrative but what use of it is to them if they can't discern anything about you? Er. I probably won't be able to give people specific advice about their essays (sorry, IB still owns my soul; but I'll be free during the summer!) but I can try to help with general questions? I just hope I've helped anybody a little bit. (: