One question I frequently get from rising seniors at this point in the year is, “How do I get started writing the college essay, and what do they want to hear?”
If you are using the Common or Coalition application, the main essay is the most important part of your college application essays because it is used for every school and it needs to be solid (the UC system application and Apply Texas have multiple essays so this advice will work well for some of their essays as well). It often has more lively and creative writing than the school specific supplements (we’ll talk about those later!). Expect to do multiple drafts of this essay as you receive feedback from your “application brain trust”.
To begin writing the essay, your first step is to brainstorm ideas for each topic. You can write a short answer to the prompt or make a bullet point list of phrases/ideas. This comprises the CONTENT of your essay.
The CONTENT of the essay reveals these things:
- Something that matters to you / or an experience that has stuck with you.
- HOW this topic shows how you think. Where did it take your mind
- The nature of your character / personality.
You do not have to write about a difficult circumstance you have encountered. If you are drawn to writing about walking your dog, playing a video game or going to the grocery store, as long as the narrative is compelling and reveals something about your character and how you think, the essay will work. There is space in your application to write about any personal or family circumstances that will inform your application.
When you have determined the CONTENT, of equal importance is the RHETORIC, which we will get to on our next step: the writing. You will write a first draft of the essay. It probably will need a lot of work and that is okay – the important thing is to put something down on paper.
The RHETORIC will reveal your writing ability:
- How do you use lively language to draw the reader in?
- Can you write the narrative essay by SHOWING, not telling.
- Think about how a good formal essay uses evidence to support the thesis. In this case, the “little stories” and vivid descriptions you use in the essay are your evidence to support the main idea in the essay (thesis).
- How you structure a narrative – are you a formal writer or more creative in your approach? There is no right answer as long as the reader is drawn into your story.
Do not get stalled on your first draft by trying to identify the best story to illustrate your point or by looking for the most lively language. First drafts often look more like regular English papers. Once you have nailed down what you want to TELL the reader, you will identify the ways you will SHOW the reader your story.
HEYER EDUCATION 