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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.
Rule #1: Your essay must be about you.
Sounds obvious, right? Are you going to write your essay about someone else? Of course not. But this first point is the most important one, and the one most often mishandled by smart kids (and good writers!) who manage to flub this great opportunity to sell themselves.
First-rate, successful college essays let their audience—the admissions officers we talked about earlier—learn a lot more about the candidate. Other than your essay, you’re going to send these colleges your grades, your test scores, a couple of recommendations, a short list of your activities, and that’s about it. How well do those things represent who you are? Do those five pages or so of information describe the real you?
When you write an essay that resonates at a human level—one that’s from the heart and gives readers some insight into your personality—you give them a reason to like you, to understand you, and to want to admit you into their school. When you submit a well-written paper about something or someone other than yourself, you’re only telling them that you’re skilled at writing papers—information they can get elsewhere.
If you think this first rule is silly and easy and of course you’re going to write about yourself, keep reading. Writing an essay that really gives insight into your personality is harder than you think.
What are some essay topics that obey Rule #1?
• Claudia wrote about how her experience working with disadvantaged children changed the way she views various aspects of her life.
• Will wrote about how tennis had dominated his life since childhood and what it took for him to quit playing when he had been so successful. Giving up his (and his parents’) dream of playing professionally was the hardest decision he ever made.
• Ashley wrote about coping with a disability and how it affected her decision-making.
• Ben told a funny story that described how absent-minded he can be.
• Fran wrote a silly essay about how she hates the color pink.
After reading these essays, admissions officers undoubtedly felt as though they knew each of these applicants a little better. That’s the key to making the essay about you.
It’s not as though students who violate Rule #1 write about something entirely off-topic or impersonal. Rather, they write about some aspect of their lives, but in a way that doesn’t really tell us much about them. We hear that they enjoy reading, or traveled throughout Europe, but we don’t know how their attribute or experience makes them special. We’re left thinking, “Anyone could have written that!”
Some examples of common essay topics that don’t work because they’re too impersonal:
• Samantha wrote about her grandmother and how—immigrating from Europe at age 14 and making a life for herself in Brooklyn—grandma has been a role model for Samantha as Samantha has grown up.
Samantha’s essay is probably going to be a lot more about grandma than it is about Samantha. Even if we hear about their interactions, we’re probably not going to learn much about what makes Samantha tick. Unless grandma’s interested in starting college at age 85, this essay isn’t going to help anyone.
• Robert wrote about biology, his favorite subject and likely major in college. He has a lot of biology-related predictions about what the future will hold.
Robert’s essay is about biology. It could work if he opens up about himself, but unless Robert does something more unique than discuss current issues in the field, we’re really not going to learn much about Robert here that couldn’t be summed up in a few sentences. Robert, probably an interesting guy, may have wasted his essay.
• Jessica wrote about running on the track team and how wonderful it was when her school won the state championship; she loved being on a team and talked about how much better the experience was because it was shared among a group.
Jessica’s essay is about teamwork and sharing joyous occasions. Most people probably share Jessica’s opinion—while she might (but probably doesn’t) have some philosophical insights, they’re probably more about teamwork and running track than they are about Jessica. We’re left knowing no more about this girl after reading the essay than before we picked it up.
So Rule #1 is easy enough: your essay must be about you. Remember—that doesn’t just mean that you’re the main character in the essay. Instead, you need to come across as a living, breathing human being—someone who can think about the past few years of his or her life and find something personal and revealing to write about.
The other components of your application let the admissions committees understand your background and—if you do a good job—be impressed by you. But the essays can help them know you and identify with you. This opportunity is too valuable to waste.
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