This is a message to all high school students preparing to write a Common App essay: Don’t panic. You can do this. And this book can help.
You probably will not have time to read this book cover to cover, but you can still benefit from it. Select a chapter or a couple of pages to guide you through each step of writing your essay: picking the best essay prompt, brainstorming what to write, actually writing the essay, editing what you have written, and creating the final draft that leads to that satisfying moment when you hit “Submit.”
Right now, that seems a long way off. You’ve got a blank computer screen. And maybe a mind to match. But don’t worry. It’s understandable if you dread this assignment. Writing the Common App essay is one of the more formidable tasks a writer can take on. In most writing, authors aim to communicate with certain readers; the writer knows the intended audience. A college admission essay, however, has a limited audience—the admissions officers who will read your application. What do you, as a high school student, know about these anonymous but all-powerful readers? Little to nothing. Moreover, the pressure is on—a college admission essay matters more than most other types of writing you’ve done.
If you’re a typical high school student, you don’t have a lot of essay writing experience and aren’t accustomed to a strict deadline and a hard 650-word count. (If you are one of those students who chafes at the 650-word count of the Common App essay, be warned: The Common App software cuts off all essays at that point, no exceptions.)
No wonder you are fearful; even seasoned writers would be intimidated by all this.
The good news is that you have more help than most writers do. Besides websites, style guides, and this book, you have your parents, teachers, writing centers, and college counselors. Use them—but don’t rely on them too much. They can certainly help, but ultimately the essay must come from you. And it must be genuine: your inspiration, your voice. We advise all our students that no matter what subject they write about or how they write it, the essay must be heartfelt and honest. Those are the two guiding qualities we look for in every essay, and they are the same qualities college admissions readers look for. Experienced college admissions readers are hard to fool. They have read thousands of essays, and they are experts at spotting insincerity and phoniness. Remember—a good essay may not guarantee you admission, but a bad one will almost certainly guarantee rejection.
You will probably hear that your admission essay provides colleges with an idea of who you are, but there is something even more important about the essay. It provides you with an opportunity for introspection—a chance to glimpse inside yourself. It demands you draw on your experience, creativity, and imagination. This is how you hone your narrative abilities.
In many respects, a successful Common App essay is not defined solely by whether it helps you gain admission to your top choice. It also helps you to understand yourself better—just as any good piece of writing, fiction or nonfiction, does for a writer.
There is no one correct way, no formula, to write a strong Common App essay. This means you can be creative. You can use humor, write dialogue, or craft a descriptive essay with an emphasis on point of view, sights, and sounds. These essays can be particularly effective if they are done well. Be aware, however, that these creative conventions are difficult to master, even for experienced writers. There is a fine line between being creative and relying on gimmicks. The student who is overly concerned with trying to be creative at the expense of trying to be sincere often winds up with an unreadable essay. There are few things worse than a humor essay that is not funny or dialogue that comes off as stilted.
The one thing you don’t want is for a college essay reader to toss your piece aside after a few sentences. With thousands of essays to go through in a limited number of weeks, admission readers go through submissions quickly, and it is probably impossible for them to read every essay thoroughly. In fact, some schools are employing artificial intelligence using algorithms with proprietary characteristics to screen essays. (What are these algorithms looking for? Clichés? Certain buzz words or phrases? We don’t know.)
In that respect, here are some general guidelines that we will elaborate on throughout the book. Answer the essay prompt you have selected and try to grab the reader’s attention with a strong opening. Show, don’t tell, the reader why your subject matters. Edit yourself mercilessly. Cut extraneous words. Your essay should be lean and muscular; make every word count. Emphasize important details, but stay away from clichés. Pick the details you include carefully. Your closing paragraph is as important as your opening. In some way, try to circle back to your opening in your conclusion. When you are finished, read the essay over to yourself and then read it over out loud. Have someone you trust read it as well and consider what he or she says, but don’t make changes reflexively. Edit, and then edit again. (Don’t be obsessed with the 650-word count on your first draft. If it is longer, just write your story, then edit it to 650 words or less.)
Much of this is harder than it sounds. It takes motivation, effort, and time (and you don’t always have a lot of time). But if you are successful, you can turn out an essay that will capture the reader. One of our students used his successful Common App essay as his valedictory speech at his high school graduation. He received a standing ovation from his classmates, something he never imagined when he set out to write his essay. Every essay doesn’t turn out this well, but it gives you an idea of what is possible.
Don’t worry. We’re here to help you. It’s going to turn out all right.
Now the hardest part: Let’s get started.