<p>Both counselors are professional who look over Senior’s essay and comment on them. They both have a good reputation and have been working on it for years. However, each of them has polar opposite ideas, and I have a hard time to choose whose advice I need to take.
Counselor A says that I need to write a succinct essay that just express what I want to write (just like a five paragraph essay- intro, three paragraphs, conclusion), so that I won’t go off-track. However, my another Counselor B says that I need to write a narrative essay where I should show my voice clearer through my creativity: showing more dialogues and allegories. Whose advice should I need to follow?</p>
<p>Counselor B! Do not write a standard 5 paragraph essay. That is a BAD essay. Even the teachers at my school say they hate that type of essay. It also shows NOTHING. A narrative essay is SO MUCH better. You need to show your voice, not write a stuffy academic essay.</p>
<p>(Also, it’s okay for your essay to have five paragraphs…it just shouldn’t have that typical “five-paragraph essay” format.)</p>
<p>Yeah lol. It can have as little or as few paragraphs as you want just don’t write:
This is my topic
Example 1 of why I love it
Example 2 of why I love it
Example 3 of why I love it
Restate why you love it</p>
<p>That is what not to do</p>
<p>Counselor A is asking you to do something that colleges DO NOT want. Please watch this video (and ask your counselor to watch it) from one of Yale’s Senior Admissions Officers who specifically says not to write an essay in a five paragraph format: [Advice</a> on Putting Together Your Application | Yale College Admissions](<a href=“Advice on Putting Together Your Application | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions”>Advice on Putting Together Your Application | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions)</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s bad to be “succinct,” though. Some people have a more direct/straightforward writing style than others, and I think that’s okay as long as you aren’t just trying to follow some five-paragraph formula.</p>
<p>B without a doubt.</p>
<p>It should be possible to write an essay that pleases both. I don’t think A is asking for a standard 5-paragraph essay, but is warning you away from trying to impress with your writing style. Yes, your essay is a sample of your writing, but you should be using it to tell the adcoms something about yourself. They essay is about you, so decide what you want to tell about yourself, and write it succinctly!</p>
<p>I think the 5 paragraphs is a benchmark not an exact amount. Go longer if you have to, and I agree that you should find your voice. Clear, clean prose with an original voice is the key. The format is secondary.</p>
<p>Gibby-Thanks for the video-Good Stuff!</p>