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

Admission essays can transform you from names, words, numbers, and check boxes on a form into a living, breathing three-dimensional person who grabs and holds the attention of admission officers. 

 

Essays don't shine like this by accident; the applicants who write them maintain single-minded focus on the purpose of their essays throughout their work on them.

 

The General Purpose of Every Admission Essay

 

Your essays can be an opportunity to challenge yourself, to think deeply, to make discoveries, to hone your storytelling skills, and more. These perspectives always enrich a student's work. 

 

But the actual purpose of every admission essay is to help readers see the student behind the application. 

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The Specific Purpose of Your Admission Essays

 

When you start your essays, a natural first step is to review the essay questions and prompts. ​I suggest you resist that impulse for now. 

 

Instead, focus on the most important, purpose-driven work you can do at the outset: to decide which elements of your identity your essays will share with your readers.

 

Answering this question will hone your essays’ purpose from The General (to help your readers see who you are) to The Specific (to help your readers see several carefully chosen, defining aspects of your identity).

 

When you clarify what you want to share with your readers, you create a tool that’ll keep you connected with your specific purpose through every stage of your work: gathering content, choosing the essay questions you’ll answer, outlining your vision, and drafting and editing your essays. 

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​I use an analogy throughout these tips: admission essays are a self-portrait in words. In this analogy, ​the essay questions and prompts are the frame that will hold your portrait. They’re important, and we'll give them our complete attention in Tip 6. But as you’re starting out, the questions (the frame) will distract you from the most important, purpose-driven work: deciding what your portrait will look like. 

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Stay Focused on Your Purpose

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It’s easy to lose sight of your purpose during the writing process. With that in mind, I recommend that you look for ways to remind yourself of your essays’ purpose every single time you work on them.

 

If you define your purpose and let it drive everything you do, you may just tell the best story of your life.

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A Couple Other Useful Tools

 

Now, before you articulate your unique purpose, let’s talk about two other important tools for drafting successful essays:  (1) your plan for writing these essays and (2) lining up readers who will help you dazzle your readers.