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Brody's Guide to the College Admissions Essay
Brody's Guide to the College Admissions Essay is available at bookstores and at online retailers such as Amazon.com. The book was written by a college counselor and writer who has appeared on national television to discuss admissions-related issues, and a dean of law school admissions at a major university. It has been used in high schools and in after-school programs.
For those students who would benefit from professional help with their college admissions essays, we recommend EssayEdge.com, which has been praised by the Washington Post and the New York Times.
Lessons to take away from this essay:
1. Your essay doesn’t have to be a story or about a specific incident or accomplishment.
This essay talks briefly about an experience from the seventh grade, but then is primarily about ideas and the passions of the author. We warn against generic essays because they don’t always come across as plausible—describing your love of theater doesn’t mean much if you don’t have any experiences in theater and can’t convince the reader that your “passion” isn’t just a ploy to sound interesting to colleges. But this author’s interest in biology and the delicate nature of life is almost tangible. It seems impossible that he’s not being genuine, and it’s likely that his extracurricular activities and academic record buttress this heartfelt essay. He also manages to link his abstract thoughts to tangible images (“a grieving family” and “an artery bursts,” for example)—bringing the reader into his world and showing off unusual rhetorical skill.
2. Sounding smart matters.
Seeking vocabulary “home runs” is a common way to ruin your essay. Admissions officers can see right through attempts to sound smart and intellectual, and there’s nothing worse than appearing phony or otherwise not genuine on your applications. When you use vocabulary words that are technically correct but could easily be replaced by simpler and shorter words, it demonstrates that you’re writing in a certain way just to try to impress your reader.
However, as the saying goes, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it.” The above essay is written so well that the author’s command of the English language will be noted and will work in his favor. The sentences are well-constructed and vary in length and style. The writing is emotional and evocative without being awkward or difficult to understand. He has an impressive vocabulary and wields it like a well-practiced sword—not like the blunt instrument used by some high school students as they flip through their dictionaries. Here is someone who must, simply by virtue of the way he expresses his thoughts on paper, be intelligent, thoughtful, interesting, and intellectually capable.
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