As you prepare to apply to college, consider the sheer volume of student applications that pass through admissions officers’ hands each day.
A former application evaluator from Brown University commented that, during her tenure, she and her colleagues were expected to read and decide upon five applications per hour. Or one application every 12 minutes. In those 12 minutes, she “reviewed the application, standardized test scores, the transcript, the personal statement, and multiple supplemental essays–all while taking notes and making a decision on the admissibility of the applicant.” (Source)
That’s kind of nuts.
And what it means for you is that you can’t afford to submit a standard college application. You can’t afford to get lost among the roughly 40 applications a single admissions officer will view each day. Think about that–that’s 200 applications in just a week! Read by just one person!
Over the entire season of college application evaluation, yours will get 12 minutes with one individual.
So it will need to be different, memorable, and (to use a fancy Stanford admissions term) ‘angular’.
No pressure.
So, what are you going to do to stand out from the stack?
Good news. We’ve got you covered.
Admissions committees obviously most heavily weigh your high school grades and test scores. But, like we said, a lot of people apply to college. So a lot of people will have similar academic credentials–too many to admit all of them on that basis alone.
To distinguish their future freshman class from among all these applicants, admissions officers will primarily use your essay to figure out what sets you apart from the other talented candidates.
We won’t lie to you–writing a college admissions essay can feel pretty intimidating, and most applicants do it pretty badly. The conventional wisdom out there isn’t going to serve you well.
How to start a college admissions essay
Most people begin the process with examining the available essay prompts. Then, without putting a whole lot of thought into why, they choose whatever essay prompt sounds the most ‘academic’.
They then spend their essay trying to sound like whatever they imagine is an admissions officer’s idea of smart or impressive, rather than trying to sound like themselves. They introduce their essays by regurgitating the prompt. Then they fill the body paragraphs with subjects and ideas they don’t actually care about. And in the end, they possibly give a satisfactory answer, but reveal almost nothing of value about themselves.
So they wasted their time.
All because at some point it got into the water that the way to make admissions officers like you is to be the most robotic quoter of Abraham Lincoln who ‘just wants to help people’ as much as you possibly can.
But that doesn’t work.
What college admissions officers really look for
An admissions officer’s goal is to fully understand you in the context of your unique background and as a distinct member of your pool of fellow applicants. They will begin this process by assessing your academic abilities and potential. Then they will analyze how you might fit into the student body they’re seeking to curate.
What colleges look for besides grades
All of this can be somewhat vague and will depend on a diverse range of institutional goals. But they will dig deep to learn what you’re like, what your core values are, what motivates you, and what kind of student you’ll be. The answers to those questions will demonstrate to them how you’ll contribute to the vibrantly intellectual campus community they’re trying to build.
Feeling intimidated yet? Don’t worry. That’s why we’re here.
How to know what to write your college admissions essay about
It’s actually not that hard to write an admissions essay that speaks to all of these questions. At least not any harder than writing a stuffy one full of cliches and life lessons.
You just have to know yourself. You have to know what’s uniquely valuable about you, your personality, your background and personal experiences, your passions, etc.
Ok, actually, that is kind of intimidating.
But that’s why we created an entire FREE Introspection Worksheet to help you get there!
Before you even so much as look at essay prompts, get busy with our Introspection Worksheet.
The goal of the Introspection Worksheet is to help you tell your unique story powerfully and in such a way that will meet admissions officers’ criteria. It will help you showcase your abilities, qualifications, and individual attributes in a compelling light.
How to choose a college admissions essay prompt
Before you can choose an essay prompt, you must determine what about you will stand out to an admissions panel. So you’ll know in what direction to take your essay and, therefore, what prompt to choose. And then how to write to it. And even if you don’t feel like it, there is something about you that will stand out.
It’s true. All students are truly unique. No two applicants have the same combination of life experiences, personality attributes, passions, or goals. So, what personal qualities, strengths, core values, talents, or alternative perspectives do you bring to the table? What deeper motivations, beliefs, or formative experiences can you highlight?
Use our Introspection Worksheet to get started on some soul searching and self-examination.
How to use our FREE Introspection Worksheet
You’ll answer lots of questions. Questions that probably appear pretty quick and simple, but whose answers will add up to some very distinct and valuable conclusions about who you are and exactly what you’re able to offer a college campus community–exactly what your admissions officer will be looking for. And then from there, you can choose your prompt and get started on writing.
There will be six categories of questions, each designed to reveal a different important aspect of who you are. Below is listed one sample question from each category, so you can get a taste of what it’s like to complete our Introspection Worksheet.
As you consider each of these questions, focus your thoughts on your core values, aspirations, foundational beliefs, personality traits, motivations, passions, and personal strengths.
- The Basics: Describe your educational experience, extracurricular activities, etc.
- Interests: If you were on a first date, how would you describe yourself? What would you talk about? What interests from the other party would really pique your curiosity and make you want a second date?
- Relationships: Think about the important people in your life. This includes who you trust most, have learned most from, depend upon most, are most grateful to, spend the most time with, has invested most in you, etc. For each of these, think about how and why that person is so significant to you.
- Superlatives: What opinions, beliefs, or ideas do you have that have changed since you started high school? How and why did they change? What did you learn from that experience?
- A Brighter Future–College and Beyond: If you were given a million dollars to skip college entirely, would you do it? What would you do instead of college?
- Personality and Strengths: Would you rather be an extremely well-rounded “renaissance man/woman” or a top expert in a particular niche? If you had to pick a niche, what would you choose?
How to write the best college admissions essay
Granted, answering all of the questions on our Introspection Worksheet will take more time and effort than arbitrarily picking an essay prompt and jumping straight into your first draft.
But doing so will absolutely save you lots of headache–by the time you’re finished with our Introspection Worksheet, you’ll have several different topics or stories around which to choose your prompt and build your essay. You’ll know who you are as an applicant before you begin to write. You’ll chart an effective course toward an actually meaningful essay. You’ll present yourself as valuable to the endeavors of your desired college. You’ll stand out from the stack!
Read below from James P., a guy who paid for our full consultation services:
“Better College Apps was the best investment my parents and I made into the college application process by far. Working with y’all truly made me a better writer and helped me learn more about myself, on top of getting into highly selective schools.”
But you get a head start for FREE!
Don’t follow conventional college application wisdom. Write a truly awesome admissions essay by getting to know yourself first.
Access our FREE Introspection Worksheet
Click below to gain access to our Introspection Worksheet.