Same admission story at 2 different schools!

Applying to College
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<p>Had the pleasure of touring two well regarded, private universities in the northeast this week. One in Boston, one in NY. The AD’s were strikingly similar-both fairly recent grads who were actively trying to connect with the applicants. The striking similarity was that each one told the EXACT SAME STORY. Maybe you’ve heard it too. It goes something like this…</p>

<p>“Write your essay about YOU. It should tell me something about what makes you shine. Just recently I was reading and essay by a kid writing about his grandfather. The grandfather was kind, compassionate, involved in the community, etc. At the end of the essay, I really wanted to admit that grandfather to ______________.”</p>

<p>Have you heard this story before? How weird is this?!!</p>

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<p>Admission officers go to the same conferences and read the same professional journals.</p>

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<p>You might be surprised that hs students write the same admissions essays over and over again. D wrote what she thought was an original and brilliant essay, then discovered a few months later that it was a very common essay subject that was completely overdone.</p>

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<p>They would fail for NOT being unique enough if we were to read their essays.</p>

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<p>The feeling I got was that they both heard the story at a conference or online and chose to tell it as their own. The delivery & the punchline was the same…</p>

<p>So my advice to them is to heed your own advice & be unique and talk about your own experiences, not what you think applicants want to hear.</p>

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<p>Crumbs I understand. I went to most of the Ivies information sessions over the summer, and they pretty much said the same thing.</p>

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<p>Last year, an admissions person at American U. was emphasizing the importance of proofreading again and again. She said she read a wonderful essay about an applicant’s soccer COUCH, and thought it must be a favorite piece of furniture until it dawned on her…then told about the student who started his own T-SHIRT (without the “R”) business; that got a great laugh from the uptight group! Most original presentation we attended out of 9 schools!</p>

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<p>teachandmom, how would you feel if you heard that story again at another school? That’s the part that gets me. I know they want to be witty and engage the group but say something original.</p>