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What I've Learned From My Students' College Essays, New York Times
I was delighted to read this article by author Nell Freudenberger a couple of months ago. It captures exactly what I love about working as an editor, guide and interrogator for students putting their story into words for the college essay.
I’ve had this experience with reluctant writers again and again — when a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously. Of course the primary goal of a college essay is to help its author get an education that leads to a career. Changes in testing policies and financial aid have made applying to college more confusing than ever, but essays have remained basically the same. I would argue that they’re much more than an onerous task or rote exercise, and that unlike standardized tests they are infinitely variable and sometimes beautiful. College essays also provide an opportunity to learn precision, clarity and the process of working toward the truth through multiple revisions.
As a college counselor, workshopping and offering advice on the essay is especially rewarding after getting to know the student through the college search. It's such an opportunity: the one piece of the application that is in the student's control, in present tense, in their voice.
I also think that it's only fair for students to seek guidance on this essay project-- in my mind, primarily because students often don't have the confidence to offer up the insights that will actually be distinguishing for an admission officer to read. It's not their fault; from all sides, from helpful adults to Tik-Tok and Reddit forums, the college admission noise tells them rumors of what others have done, emphasizes formulas, or leads them to thesaurus-ize their writing. Thoughtful young people need the encouragement to be real and to write in their natural voice. Admission officers are looking desperately for the unvarnished, authentic selves of the young people they have a few minutes to learn about. Despite what you might hear in popular culture, tales of trauma, sports heroics or defeat, or solutions to the world's problems are not required. A small focus is much more effective here.
The core touchstones of my counseling philosophy are reflection and evidence. Over all the years I have interacted with the college essay, including many when I questioned the point of a personal narrative for this purpose, I have come to value the experience for students; it really is a chance to identify and reflect on core values and the experiences that illustrate them. As a counselor, I am always thinking of new questions to ask to get to the really good stuff that will fuel an essay that nobody else but the student in question could write. As I advise my students, these essays don't spring fully formed, intro to conclusion, from their heads in one setting. This kind of writing requires a process and often is built from the middle out, as we tease out and explore ideas, memories, and their associations.
As I recently mentioned in a Facebook parent group, some of my favorite essays of the last 20 years have topics that may surprise a lot of adults, especially when paired with the college the authors ended up attending. For example: the joy of chicken nugget day in the school dining hall (Cal Tech), a secret love of My Little Pony cartoons (Reed), knitting and wearing a giant squid hat that got made fun of (Yale), thrift shopping (Bowdoin), love of puns and sewing (Middlebury). This last year one of my student-clients wrote a fun and well-received essay on Kamen Rider, a comic and TV show character with multiple incarnations and some cool toys that came to symbolize the student's multicultural childhood. Another wrote about an ingenious strategy of using outrageous, "Glow-Up"-worthy makeup as a tool to gain confidence and conquer inhibition as a competitive debater. All of these 650-word personal narratives shed light on the personality behind the application, making that individual a little more textured and three-dimensional to the reader.
Kamen Rider Agito. I mean, I'm inspired by this guy myself.
And, yes, as the NYT essay on essays suggests, this is also an opportunity to learn some valuable editing skills. Students are often familiar with strategies to "puff up" writing to meet minimum word requirements. 650 words is a challenging limit that requires killing some darlings from early drafts, thinking critically about language and expression of ideas, and the essence of a story.
While we're on the topic, my counselor friend Brennan Barnard crowdsourced some good advice from real-life admission professionals on what NOT to write about.
Now, a word from our sponsor...
As much as I love providing comprehensive guidance for most students, looking at the whole picture of their story and the information that will populate their application, I do offer an essay-only package at a special rate for those who just want some guidance on that endeavor. Write to me for details.
I'll also highlight an opportunity to write an essay in a live online class with my good friend Dana Perkins, with whom I worked at a school in Seattle. Dana has a background in journalism and became an English teacher who truly understands this particular assignment and the ways to maximize its impact. She's run essay writing workshops for years and is now offering her insights online with another savvy writing teacher. The event starts September 7 and runs over five consecutive weekends. Learn more at
Write on!
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