<p>I tried my hand at writing a few essays and i realised that the essays in which i talk about the serious parts of my life turn out to be too …heavy. The ones with themes that are less heavy turn out okay, but i feel like there is soooo much of me i am not conveying in the essay. What should I do?
Given that I have a long time to write my essays, six months or so, i think i can improve quite a bit. Can anyone give me any kind of advice??</p>
<p>Sometimes a really “heavy” essay is also a really good essay because it helps you stand out. While you certainly do not want to overwhelm the person reading your essay, if you feel that the less heavy essays you wrote don’t convey your individuality as well I would recommend going with the heavier ones. You should also give one of these essays to someone who doesn’t know you and see if they feel overwhelmed.</p>
<p>Keep in mind the purpose of the essay: to get you admitted. Even in a “heavy” essay, the heaviness should be part of a journey from which you become a stronger, more confident you. The heaviness - whatever it is - should be something that you overcome, that shapes you, or that is a trial for you. But on the “other end” you need to “emerge” from that.</p>
<p>Colleges want strong candidates, not druggies (even former ones), felons (even former ones), or people with mental problems (even former ones). They don’t want to see essays that confess, complain, or explain issues. If by “heavy” you mean alcoholism or mental issues or things similar, stay away from those topics.</p>
<p>Even for the less heavy topics (funny or trivial or seemingly mundane events), it must document a transition to a happy, healthy, strong individual: YOU. It’s that “journey” that creates a strong essay. </p>
<p>—Robert Cronk, author of Concise Advice: Jump-Starting Your College Admissions Essays</p>
<p>thanks
bump
anyone else?</p>
<p>My suggestion? If youre really ambitious, buy a book on college app essay writing and begin reading through some of the essay examples. Commit to reading one or two per week. See how other students have tackled “heavy” topics in their essays.</p>
<p>This is a great exercise, because, A., youre doing it early enough in the process not to have to stress at all, so good ideas will have a chance to naturally sink in, and B., just reading through examples of other stellar college entrance essays will get your idea juices flowing about how to write your own.<br>
Plus, after reading through a few of the essays at the leisurely pace of one or two per week, after a few weeks time youll begin to develop a good sense of the components that make up a great essay – whether the topic is heavy or light.</p>
<p>Back in the day when I wrote my essays for college and grad school, I struggled like this with my topic selection, and one thing that really helped was seeing how other writers handled the same kind of topic. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>