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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.
Your Conclusion
We think the toughest part of writing the college essay is the conclusion. Sometimes, a conclusion comes naturally. If you’re telling a story, the conclusion is usually the place where you explain how the event or ordeal you describe has affected your life. If you’re discussing an important decision, the conclusion would be the place to reflect upon the impact of that decision.
But some essays just don’t seem to want to conclude well. For example, if you’re writing a quirky essay, then almost any ending risks sounding corny. If you’re writing a highly emotional essay, many endings may seem too formal or unsatisfying. What you want to do is wrap the essay up tightly in the same style as the rest of the essay, and “leave ‘em laughing.” Or crying. Or at least nodding.
It’s the same problem that comedians face, as well as comedy sketch-writers and opinion columnists. You don’t necessarily need a zinger, but you want a final thought that lets you leave on a high note. You probably know exactly what we’re talking about: whether at a wedding, a funeral, or performance or in a magazine, we’ve all seen “good endings” that made us appreciate the skill of the writer. That’s what you want.
And because coming up with that type of ending is much harder than it looks, writing a conclusion for certain types of college essays can be incredibly frustrating.
The best we can recommend is to give it time. Usually, a good conclusion will come to you if you take the pressure off of yourself for a few days. The most important thing is to recognize that your essay needs to conclude in a manner that’s satisfying to the reader, and to avoid the temptation—whether in capitulation or deadline-induced panic—to conclude an otherwise superb essay with a trite and standard ending.
Some bad conclusions:
And because of all the lessons I learned from that experience, I feel that I am now ready for college.
And that’s the story of why I quit the volleyball team.
Well, it’s time to get back to my busy life. Hope to see you soon!
While I miss my grandfather very much, I know that a little part of him is with me wherever I go.
Conclusions, or at least concluding sentences, are more about style than substance. This is no place to try to interject a funny joke or complex, meaningful life lesson. Write something that wraps up your essay neatly, and leaves the reader satisfied that he or she just read something good.
For some examples of how a well-written admissions essay might conclude, take a look at the essays we included at the back of this book.
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