immy is ready to write his college essay. He switches on his laptop, loads a fresh Word document, inhales in anticipation of being hit with an idea, and pauses… nothing. That’s fine. He waits a little longer, tries closing his eyes; maybe the right topic will just jump out at him… still nothing. YouTube begins to look friendly. And so the procrastination begins…
To all the Timmys out there: it’s going to be okay! The issue here and with countless prospective college applicants throughout history is figuring out what to write your college essay about. Often people feel pressured into writing about something that sounds academically stimulating and impressive. But always ask the question: does this give admissions counselors a better understanding of who I am as a person? Colleges will decide on your academic fit by looking at your classes and standardized test scores. At this point in the application they want you to show how fantastically unique you are by writing about something that means a lot to you.
So as a first order of business: do NOT write about something you think will impress. If you tell of your complex scientific endeavors and your essay is picked up by a humanities major, you risk losing both the interest of your reader and his or her understanding. Additionally, your writing itself will be less inspired if your topic isn’t as interesting to you. If you have a topic in mind that you love, your writing will reflect that. That may mean writing about your fondness for Koala Bears or that time you met Ian McKellen. Go for it. It’ll be original and exciting—and it could make you stand out from the crowd.
Another potential strategy is to look through the rest of your application and see if there’s something you want to draw further attention to. That list of extracurricular activities is very concise and perhaps you feel one of them requires further explanation. Just be sure to emphasize why it is this particular extracurricular you’re drawing attention to instead of any others. The essay portions of the college application process are your opportunity to tick the ‘great personal fit’ box. If you can creatively reflect how softball or speech and debate has affected you then give it a go.
More often than not, people tend to find themselves in “the Timmy situation”. Hours of staring at a blank screen or writing a couple of sentences before angrily deleting them because how could you possibly start like that?! I’d say that starting the essay is the hardest part. Some people can manage with writing about themselves, but for the vast majority it’s an uncomfortable experience. As a British student applying to the US, I’d never had to write about myself in this way before. But I was advised to just start writing and see what I ended up with, which turned out to be an excellent idea. Take the first idea that comes into your head and write a few hundred words to get a feel for the essay. If you don’t like it you will have learned what to avoid. If you do like it, keep it and tweak as necessary.
Final Thoughts on the College Essay
As a final word of advice, humor is absolutely a ‘thing you can do’ in the college application context. Although, naturally, admissions officers take their jobs very seriously, the occasional laugh won’t go amiss—feel free to brighten your admissions officer’s day with some wit. That said, make sure that there is enough context for them to also learn about you. And it’s always a good idea to check with somebody else to see if what you’ve written is really funny before submitting it…
