Tip 1:  Start with Purpose (not with the Essay Questions)

In these pages, I share tips I’ve gathered during more than thirty years supporting students who want to create essays that touch and inspire admission officers.

 

There’s plenty of other excellent advice out there. It's worth exploring. 

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As you create your own plan, use the suggestions that challenge you, feed your enthusiasm, and inspire your curiosity. 

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Opportunities 

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Think of the admission process as your opportunity to help schools see why they want you in their community. It’s also an opportunity to learn about yourself. 

 

In my experience, the applicants who write successful essays tend to be the ones who take advantage of these opportunities. They ask themselves tough questions, like: 

 

• What makes me who I am?

• What are the defining elements of my personality?

• What has shaped my life and my perspective?

 

And they’re satisfied only with answers that bring insight, confidence, and discovery. 

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You’re doing more than writing essays about yourself; you’re clarifying and then sharing the version of yourself that will shine wherever you take your talents next.

 

Plan First, Write Second

 

I'd bet that you're busy. You might be eager to make progress on these important essays. You're likely tempted to jump in and start writing. I’ve read countless drafts that began this way. In my experience, these are not the strongest admission essays.

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That's why I always urge applicants to begin, not by writing, but by clarifying what they want their essays to accomplish.

 

If you look through these tips, you’ll see that I suggest students do eight other things before they start writing a first draft. Once you’ve decided what you want to share about yourself, collected anecdotes that illustrate these elements of your identity, and outlined your essays, you'll find that writing and editing require way less time than you expected. 

 

And time aside, a thoughtful, purpose-driven process helps you carefully select a target for your essays, and it naturally increases your chances of hitting that target.  

 

So yes: you may be anxious to complete a draft you can read and polish and share and collect feedback on. But I promise: your admission essays will be stronger if you’ve done some careful work on them before you start writing. 

 

A Note for Applicants to Graduate and Professional Schools

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I’ve written the following tips for students applying to undergraduate programs, but with a few tweaks, they can also be useful for graduate and professional school applicants. 

 

Whether applying to undergraduate or graduate programs, I urge all applicants to start by identifying the features of the self-portrait they want to share with admission officers. I also offer tips to help share that portrait. This strategy helps students share their identity effectively whether they’re applying to undergrad, professional, or graduate school.

 

Here’s the overarching tweak for graduate and professional school applicants: because you’re asking to enter a more focused phase of your education, your portrait should focus on your interest in and ability to contribute to the work of the specific field you’re applying to study. 

 

Where undergraduate applicants can and should share the key elements of their identities, graduate and professional school applicants should focus on their academic journey and their love of the field they’re preparing to devote their careers to.