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

Your essays will be a self-portrait in words. An important, early step in creating any portrait is to decide what you want it to look like. 

 

I suggest you start your essays -- your self-portrait -- by clarifying the aspects of your identity that your essays will show to your readers. Call it a verbal sketch of yourself.

 

This work will hone your purpose from “show my readers who I am” to “show my readers a few specific, carefully chosen, defining elements of my identity.” It turns your purpose into a tool that can guide and help you evaluate all of the work that follows.

 

Collect Ideas for Your Verbal Sketch

 

Make a list of the traits and forces that make you who you are. Consider your:

 

• Family

• Race and gender

• Heritage, language, and culture

• Neighborhood or other community, the people you share it with, how you interact, what they mean to you 

• Friends

• Favorite thing to do or think about

• Talents and interests

• Best and worst days

• Defining personality traits

• Daily routine

• Challenges

• Job, responsibilities, or commitments

• Unique perspective on something that matters to you

• Values

• Dreams

• Vision 

​

Put a reminder in your phone to think about this regularly. (I suggest doing it for five minutes a day, every day for a week.) Be ready to catch the great ideas that pop up at other times. 

 

Capture each good idea in a note in your phone. Describe it in as many words as you need. Instead of a general description like “My Personality,” gather specifics like “My determination,” “My ability to balance seriousness and humor,” “The way my commitment to my ancestors shows up in my everyday life,” “The thing that people are surprised to learn about me,” “What motivates me,” “The defining moment/event of my life,” and “The way I feel when I do my favorite thing.” 

​
 

Ask for Help

Ask for help from those who know you well. They often see you shine in ways that you don’t even notice. To start the conversation, tell them what you’re working on and ask them questions, like: “What have you noticed that I do well?” and “What should I make sure admission officers know about me?” 

​

If a conversation like this doesn't feel comfortable, find another way to gather ideas from trusted people. Could you start this conversation by text? Collect ideas and input in any way you’re comfortable.

 

Refine Your Ideas 

 

Narrow your list down to its five most important items. (If you find it hard to pick just five, congratulations: you’re doing this right!) 

​

When the decisions get difficult, consider your answers from the point of view of an admission officer. Ask yourself, “Which five items form a portrait that shows I'm a multi-dimensional student who’s ready to contribute my unique, valuable perspective to enrich an intellectual community?” 

 

Because you’re applying to educational institutions, make sure that at least one of your five items relates to school, learning, academics, or education. It can be your favorite subject, a topic that required extra work to learn, something you were surprised to enjoy studying, a discipline that captivates your imagination, etc.

 

Contrast brings portraits to life, and it does the same for admission essays. Show your readers items from unrelated spheres of your life. Consider your favorite thing to do outside the classroom or outside of school entirely. And if there’s an element of your life (even a little-known one) that defies the way people generally see you, there’s a good chance it’ll help your portrait stand out.

 

Consider including one item that’s not so serious. I’ve worked with students who included items like their love of a certain pop star, they’re favorite YouTube channel, their guilty pleasure, a leisure activity, a funny habit, a superstition, etc. Items like these can help admission officers see the real person behind the grades, test scores, and extracurricular achievements.

 

Juggle and refine your list until the items on it combine to create a sketch of you as a dynamic, thoughtful, three-dimensional person who's ready to thrive as a student and help others do the same. 

 

Well Done!

 

Your sketch clarifies the purpose of your essays: to share these five specific aspects of your identity with admission officers. Use it to guide everything you do next.

 

When you’re choosing an essay question or building the structure of one of your essays, your sketch will keep you connected with your purpose. Later, when you’re writing, editing, and sharing your draft with your volunteer readers, your sketch will be the yardstick that helps you and your volunteer readers evaluate how clearly your essays are conveying the key elements of your identity to admission officers.

 

Copy your verbal sketch at the top of each document you work on. Read it to orient yourself every time you sit down to work on your essays. 

 

This valuable work is the foundation of extraordinary essays.