
As admission to the nation’s most selective schools becomes more and more competitive, the college essay has increased in significance as well. That means to gain admission to college today, it’s likely you will need to write at least one college essay—and probably more. In a world full of information overload where anyone can post anything to any platform, you’ll find a lot of buzz about the college essay: videos, blogs, books, webinars, social media posts. It’s so hard to tell what’s useful and what’s not. If you search the term college application essay (or similar terms), you’ll discover plenty of material that is either irrelevant, out of context, or inaccurate. We’ve read and heard it all, and if you’re a high school junior or senior searching for information about college essays, you’ve probably heard it too. If not, brace yourself. Some folks share templates for writing standout college essays. (Don’t be fooled. This is not a fill-in-the-blank task.)
Others promise that if you answer a bunch of specific questions, you’ll be guaranteed great essays. (Questions can help you think through your ideas, but there’s no magic. Writing takes time and exploration. No one can do it for you.) You’ll find countless books filled with sample essays that supposedly got students admitted into the nation’s most selective schools. (This type of claim is out of context; even the most amazing essay never got a student into college on its own.) Some people might tell you there are only a few types of college admission essays; if you master those, you’ll be golden. (This is way too simplistic, and inaccurate.) Some might even suggest colleges are looking for four or five specific traits, which you should highlight in your essays. (This is not true. College admissions officers want to read an authentic story about you that is insightful, answers the prompt and showcases the trait or traits you want to share—whatever those traits may be.) The application essay is the new SAT/ACT. (We have never heard any admissions officer say this. To us, this sounds like conjecture and anxious thinking.) When it comes to college essay advice, we understand why it can be hard to decipher good from bad, accurate from inaccurate, complete versus out of context. Just be careful. Gimmicks don’t work. And you cannot shortcut this process