College Essay Writing 101: The Basics
“Have you started applying to colleges yet?” “Did you hear Jeff is writing about pizza?” “Do you think that’s gonna get you a full ride?”
These are only a few of the questions (and rumors) I have heard since the start of my senior year. Twelfth grade, or as most know it as the FINAL year of high school, places much needed attention on applying to colleges and celebrating the true beginning of your adult life. The essay, getting good recommendations, writing supplementals, and taking the SAT/ACT, finding a major to be content with is part of the whole shebang. But what most people don’t realize is the importance of the college admissions essay, especially during these unprecedented times.
With many high school guidance counselors ghosting students over the summer going into senior year, many applicants feel lost — almost as if they are swimming in a never ending sea of stress. So, what exactly is the college essay?
The college essay is a basic introduction to… you. Though there are several different prompts to choose from, most of which have been around since the dinosaurs, but have since evolved to match the tech savvy interests of the newest generation. You can write about literally anything your heart desires! Pizza, your dog, your annual trip to the snake museum, cooking with grandpa, you name it. Ultimately though, when an admissions counselor reads your essay they should get a better understanding of you, not your great uncles sisters famous banana bread.
This, interestingly enough, is one of the reasons why applicants do not get accepted into schools of their choice. In a study conducted by Jane Warren on application essays, it was found that college admissions counselors want applicants to “provide evidence for assertions” and “make an argument” despite prompts suggesting a mere description (Warren, 51). This certainly is confusing, as it can impact your voice as a writer.
But let’s get back to those guidance counselors that ghosted you over the summer. If you don’t have an understanding of the college essay, if your questions are not answered, or even what it should entail, it can be a detriment to your overall application. The misleading nature of the prompts is especially apparent to those that did not have a ‘college essay unit’ in their english class Zoom meeting(s). Learning about the basic logistics of the college essay, and what admission counselors expect is certainly an advantage — one that many low income schools might not have.
Whenever you embark on a writing piece, or project, you take on a specific persona with your own voice — your persona is 100% going to differ based on what the norm is considered for that project. Basically, your voice is your own diverse self. Diversity in an individual is more than just their ethnicity or race, in fact, so much more. Their religion, passions, talents, “being challenged”, and “reaching out for difference” are what makes a single person diverse and unique (Kirkland, Hansen, 134). The voice you have in your college essay is what will relay to counselors the possible diversity and uniqueness you will bring to the school. To what extent is unique acceptable, though?
For example, when students in June Jordan’s class wrote statements in Black English demanding justice for Willie’s brother, they were shut down as “The Village Voice could not find room in their “Letters” section.” (Jordan, 373) This really makes you wonder about what the admissions counselors are actually looking for, and what they are subliminally expecting from prospective students. Students from low income communities as well as underfunded schools are at an extreme disadvantage when they’re only trying to relay their true selves.
Universities preach that they want you to be yourself, but from the whispers around the street only the brightest or most athletic kids get into the competitive schools. It feels as if they’re already expecting a certain somebody. After getting familiarized with the college process, it seemed as if there was an assumption that colleges want only the best of the best. After all, can a college really get to know you in less than 600 words?
This begs the question: what are schools actually looking for?
I have no clue. We can’t all be geniuses, nor stellar lacrosse players. As a writer however, you should use your own voice to relay your interests and passions without fear, no matter how silly they sound. My best piece of advice is to feel as if you’re having an informal conversation with an almost too formal person — it should showcase your personality. Fellow members of the Class of 2021, I wish you the best of luck!
P.S. If you’re wondering, I wrote my college essay about coffee. We’ll see where I end up. :)
Works Cited:
June Jordan (1988) Nobody Mean More to Me Than You And the Future Life of Willie Jordan. Harvard Educational Review: September 1988, Vol. 58, №3, pp. 363–375. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.58.3.d171833kp7v732j1
Kirkland, A. and Hansen, B.B. (2011), “How Do I Bring Diversity?” Race and Class in the College Admissions Essay. Law & Society Review, 45: 103–138. doi:10.1111/j.1540–5893.2011.00429.x
Warren, James I.. “The Rhetoric of College Application Essays: Removing Obstacles for Low Income and Minority Students.” American Secondary Education 42 (2013): 43–56.
