HOW DO I START MY COLLEGE ESSAYS?
Elton Lin
First of all, congratulations on making it to the application season! I’m sure the past few years of high school has been a tremendous period of growth, learning, and experimenting. We hope to help you capture these unique moments of realization you may have had during that time to strengthen your essays.
Even though college essays can seem like another hurdle for you to get over, think of it as a way to reflect on two things: what you’ve done in high school and where you want to go from here.
We can further isolate these two items into three essay topics. Although there are 8 UC prompts and 7 Common App prompts, nearly all of them can be focused into slight variations of these three topics:
Describe how you overcame a CHALLENGE.
Describe a COMMUNITY you’ve helped.
Explain your selected MAJOR / CAREER.
In short, the three main essays a college may request from you are the Challenge essay, the Community essay, and the Major essay. Regardless of what you want to write about, keep in mind that the essay must end up in one of the three topic categories. You should be highlighting one point that makes it abundantly clear that you either overcame a challenge, made a difference in your community, or want to go down a certain major path.
Three Tips for Admissions Essays
Now that you know what the essays should talk about, let’s look at what you should talk about. Now, each person is different so I realize that the advice here will be generic, but our admissions consultants are always happy to chat if you need more help. But let’s now look at what colleges look for and what admissions readers like to see in an essay.
First, authenticity is key. Beyond the test scores and the resume, the essay is your chance to speak directly to the admissions officers, so it should sound like you! Be yourself, and don’t try and sound like someone else during this time.
Offering a unique perspective is also incredibly important. If you have a rare talent or are part of a niche community consider writing about those aspects, as it can help you stand out as a student. Maybe you’re an incredible archer or an avid fan of a board game; having that unique take or perspective will help drive interest towards your essay. And even if you write about something that may seem standard, we want to hear your take on what is happening, your unique perspective, not what others think or what you have heard.
Finally, consider talking about motivation. What drives you to learn more things, do better, help others, or build communities? Why do the things you do? In many ways, speaking about your motivation is a way to communicate passion for the topic you are writing about and helps build the other two aspects: authenticity and uniqueness.
Starting your essay
Great, now you know what you should comment on for your essay, now let’s work on actually starting your essay. Yes, you the reader; these next points hopefully will get you started on the essay writing journey. Our broad advice are these two things:
Find your Core Memory
Reflect on why it’s important to you
Yes, just like the movie Inside Out, you need to find your Core Memory: something that you recall or remember that has shaped you as a person. After you isolate the event, reflect on why it’s stuck out to you. What did you learn, and what process did it take for you to realize it? If you could redo the experience, what would you do differently?
The real questions that will help you dig deeper is why and how. Why was the event so important? How did this event shape you? Answering these questions in an authentic way will get you moving forward in crafting a story that admissions will want to hear.
Hopefully we were able to help you get started! If you are stuck or have any further questions, feel free to reach out to us for more information!