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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.
The Brainstorming Process
When we work with a student, we have a number of questions we use to try to draw out any experiences that might turn into good essay topics. How should you do this on your own?
The best way is to make a list. Take a sheet of paper and label it:
Essay Topic Brainstorming
On this paper you’re going to put anything you can think of that might serve as material for one of your essays.
Then start putting the ideas down on paper. The first few should be easy—just answer the following questions. What are your activities? Your academic interests? Your jobs? What do you do in your spare time? How would you describe yourself? How would others describe you?
Write each topic along the left margin of your page, and leave yourself room to explore each idea. To the right of each idea (e.g. “Debate,” “Dance,” “Brother,” “Chemistry,” “Job at senior citizens’ center,” “Competitive,” “Musical”), fill in details about where you think each subject could lead. Next to “Debate,” for example, you might write the following:
- finally found an arena where I could express my opinions
- learned lessons of civility, respect for others
- first experience being on a real team
- learned the value of commitment and working hard on something
At this point, don’t worry so much about the rules of essay writing or what might make a good topic. You’ll be better off just scribbling down everything that occurs to you—good, bad, or ugly—and eliminating all the junk later. Sometimes an idea seems terrible at first and eventually leads to something creative or insightful.
Spend a few days on this. Think about ideas when you’re taking a shower and when you’re lying in bed at night. Each time you sit down to brainstorm, don’t let yourself get up until you’ve had a few ideas.
Eventually, you’ll hit a roadblock. Here are some idea starters to make sure you’ve covered all of your bases.
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Academics.
What have you done in school that’s truly influenced you? Are you a budding physicist? A reader? A writer? Have you won awards or accolades for any school work you’ve done? What are your academic interests?
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Extracurricular.
What school-related activities have you involved yourself with? The big ones will be easy, but is there anything else you’ve either forgotten about or hadn’t considered important? German Club? Math competitions? What sports have you played at any level?
- Jobs.
What jobs have you had, both paid and unpaid? Include school-year positions as well as summer jobs. Don’t forget about jobs you’ve had for only a short period of time (one week externships, small projects, and so forth)
- Other Activities.
What do you do in your free time? Read? Program computers? Build models? Sew? Dance? Play sports that you don’t play at school? Church activities? Take classes somewhere?
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Who are the people who have had an impact on you?
Family members? Probably not friends unless there are some unusual circumstances. Have you had teachers who have been terrific mentors? How about employers? Role models? We’ve already discussed the dangers of discussing relationships in an essay, but it’s worth writing everything down and seeing where it leads.
- Travel.
Where have you gone? What did you do? Did you learn anything?
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How would you describe yourself?
How would others describe you? Are there specific aspects of your life or personality that might be interesting to discuss?
- What are some of your strongest memories?
- What do you like doing the most? Hate doing the most?
- What are your short-term and long-term goals?
- Who are your heroes?
- Are you artistic in any way? How so?
- What issues in the world are important to you?
It’s not important that you answer all of these questions, and you can certainly add to the list. The goal is to come up with a list of topics—as long as possible—that covers just about everything interesting or noteworthy that you could ever say about yourself.
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