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

Remember: the purpose of your essays is to show your readers the key elements of your identity.

 

When you’re ready to start on any of your essays, create a new document. Paste your verbal sketch at the top. Below that, paste the essay question you’ll answer. And below that, paste your outline.  

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Orient yourself -- focus on your purpose and your path to achieving it -- by reviewing all of this each time you sit down to work on your drafts.

 

Writing Your First Draft

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First drafts are always imperfect. Consider your first draft an effort to get something down on paper so that you can evaluate how it will work, identify necessary changes in content and structure, and begin the process of strengthening it over time. 

 

Focus on:

 

• Illustrating the elements of your verbal sketch

• Sticking to your outline

• Collecting and saving new ideas that pop up as you write

• Completing a first draft you can edit after a day or two away from it

 

Here are a few items I recommend ignoring until later drafts: 

 

• Word counts and character limits. It’s okay if your early drafts exceed the official limit. After you've made sure all your draft essays succeed individually and together, you'll be in the perfect position to make sound choices about what to keep and what to cut. 

• Grammar, spelling, and punctuation 

• Finding the perfect word or phrase

• Other forms of polish

 

 

Write as Planned, but Capture Your New Ideas 

Writing naturally generates new ideas. To give these ideas the consideration they deserve, create a section below the text of your essay called “New Ideas.” Capture any new, potentially valuable ideas there, but continue to write your first draft according to the roadmap in your outline.

 

After you've finished your first draft, evaluate the new ideas you collected. 

 

• How well would this idea fit into the essays I’ve planned? 

• How well does it complement my other material? 

• Would it help my essays convey a key element of my identity? 

• Is it valuable enough to be included in my next draft?

• Should I use it in addition to or instead of the material I was planning to use?

 

Amend your outlines to include any new ideas that survive this scrutiny. Weave the new ideas into your next draft according to the changes you've made in your outline.

 

Paragraphs Help You Make Your Portrait Clear

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Give each paragraph a clear purpose that you can sum up in a few words. As you read your draft, review each paragraph and make sure every word in it helps you achieve the purpose you’ve articulated.

 

Short paragraphs set an energetic pace and make essays easy to absorb and enjoyable to read. When you review and edit your draft, pay special attention to any paragraph longer than seventy-five words. Does it combine unrelated ideas? Is all of its content essential to achieving the purpose you've set for it? Will its purpose be clear to your readers? Would it be clearer if you broke it into two paragraphs?

 

Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation

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These aspects of your writing do not measure your potential as a student. 

 

But fair or not, your readers may judge you unfavorably for writing outside the conventions of formal, white, written English. With that in mind, I recommend you use conventional grammar, spelling, and punctuation throughout your essays. If you’d like help with this, ask your volunteer readers or a teacher. 

 

If a specific use of alternative grammar helps you illustrate something important in one of your essays, find a way to demonstrate to your readers that you're intentionally stepping outside the usual rules to express a particular point in a particular way. Then try it out on your volunteer readers, and ask what they think.

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Don’t sweat grammar, spelling, and punctuation in your early drafts. When you’re starting out, just focus on getting the material onto the page. When you’re editing your later drafts, shift over to your best grammar, spelling, etc. 

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The unconventional grammar I encounter most often in admission essays is when students combine sentences, for example “Courage is an important aspect of my personality, I’ve always been brave.” Even if you know the grammatical rules for combining sentences, read a primer or watch a YouTube on this. 

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Formal, white, written English is a second or third language for countless successful people in this country. If this includes you, consider using one of your essays to illustrate how this challenge has affected your education or your life outside of school. 

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And of course, run a spell check before you hit send.

 

Word Choice

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In your early drafts, focus on getting the content onto the page. Wait until your later drafts to find the perfect words.

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As you fine-tune your word choice, use vocabulary that’s natural to you. Your clarity and your illustrations of your verbal sketch will inspire readers far more than your ability to insert SAT words into your essay. 

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If you use elevated words, be absolutely certain (1) that you're using them correctly and (2) that there isn’t a more common, more accessible word that makes your point more clearly.

 

The best words for admission essays are the ones you’d use when you want to help someone you respect understand something that’s important to you. 

 

Working with Your Readers on Early Drafts

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If your volunteer readers are willing to read multiple drafts of your essays, ask them to focus on content and the big picture in the first draft you share with them. Questions like this can help:

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• What do you take away from each of my essays? [After they've read your essays, share the elements of your identity that you wanted your readers to take away from each essay. Ask about the changes that will help other readers more clearly see your intended takeaways.]

• What additional context or changes to the structure or order would have helped you as a reader?

• I'm concerned this part isn't working. What do you think?

• What material, stories, content felt important?

• What material, stories, content felt less important?

• I was considering including a story about ___. Would it have made the essay stronger? Would it be more valuable than some of the material already in there?

• If you didn’t know me, how well would my essays help you understand who I am?

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If your readers are going to review just one draft, make sure you also ask them about anything else that feels important, including the topics in the next section.

 

 

Working with Your Readers on Later Drafts

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When you and your readers discuss your near-final draft, make sure you collect their feedback on the finishing touches. 

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If you'd like help with grammar, spelling, punctuation, and word choice, tell them before they read your draft so they can spot concerns as they review the draft.

 

If you're having trouble meeting your word or character limits, ask which material feels (1) essential, (2) kind of important, and (3) not important. 

 

When you share your essays, ask them to read them and write up their quick, bullet-point takeaways from each paragraph. Then compare their actual takeaways with the ones you intended. This can help you evaluate each paragraph’s effectiveness.

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If your readers are going to review just one draft, make sure you also ask them about anything else that feels important, including the questions in the previous section. 

 

Mechanical Advice that Didn’t Fit Anywhere Else

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Vary the length of your sentences every once in a while. This gives your essays a rhythm and a pace that makes them fun to read. (And again: keep an eye on your grammar when you combine sentences!)

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Your admission essays should keep you and your actions in the spotlight. Don't hide either with the passive voice, as in "The decision was made to run for student council."

 

Verbs inject life into your essay. Review each sentence, and ask yourself: “Who or what does what in this sentence?” Look for sentence structures that hide your verbs. Re-write each one to spotlight its verb. And use the boldest, most creative verbs that feel natural to you.