What's in a College Essay? Understanding What Colleges Are Looking For The college essay gives you a chance to communicate with the school on a more personal level. Other parts of your application—grades, scores, and recommendations—show what you have done. Your college essay reveals who you are. It can be a strong voice in your favor and a way to stand out from the rest. An Essay of Self-Analysis Self-analysis isn't easy and it can be especially hard to do at this point in your life, when many of your goals and plans are unsettled. You may already have confronted this problem at college interviews. Admissions people ask, "Tell us about yourself" or "What are your hopes and aspirations?" These are questions that require some thought, and they're pretty hard. The essay is a chance to demonstrate which questions you have asked yourself and what answers you have found. Writing Evaluation Your college essay is going to be examined as a clue to her writing ability by an audience that is both critical and crucial. For example, Columbia University lets you know what they're looking for right on the application: "Please remember that we are concerned not only with the substance of your prose but with your writing as well." After all, a very large part of your performance and evaluation in college will be based on essays and written tests. Short-Answer Questions Short-answer questions that ask for only a paragraph response should be approached with the same care and attention you give to the full-length essay. The writing process is the same. You should just reduce the introduction and conclusion to a sentence each. You should try to make your topic vivid in a few lines and never sacrifice specifics. Writing Samples Some schools require or encourage submission of an academic essay or writing sample. There's no reason not to send a school essay. You should choose a strong performance (a B+ or better) and a paper on a not-too-esoteric topic. You should not send a 15-page term paper or a collation of library research. A short, illuminating essay on one poem, one lab experiment, one incident in history, is a good choice. This article is based on information found in The College Application Essay, by Sarah Myers McGinty, which is available through The College Board.
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