Tips & Pitfalls to avoid

Find a creative angle

When choosing a topic, remember that you want to avoid clichéd, commonly written about subjects. Erinn Andrews, from Stanford Admissions, writes:

For example, did you do that mission or volunteer trip to Mexico or South America to build homes or help children? Did you learn about poverty and now do you appreciate your cell phone all the more? If so, don’t write about it—at least not in that way.

Did you play soccer (or fill-in-the-blank sport) and your team was down, but at the last second you scored the game winning goal? If so, don’t write about it—at least not in that way.

If you are going to write about a mission trip or a sport or another commonly addressed topic, you need to approach it from a different angle. For example, rather than writing the clichéd sports essay about how hard work pays off, one might write about sports from a more creative angle, such as discovering that you are better at stringing lacrosse sticks than winning a face-off. This is an unusual angle because it exposes your vulnerabilities and is more about character than talent or success.

Be careful to avoid anything that might unintentionally raise a red flag to an admissions officer! For instance, don't write about your shoplifting experience -- even if you think you learned from it!

Here is a list of topics that are clichéd and best avoided unless you have an especially creative or unique angle.

Write with a purpose

Don’t just give a play-by-play of your summer vacation to Greece or how you won the big game. Your essay needs to have a purpose: describe what you learned from the experience and how it changed you. The point of this essay is to show them some aspects of your character that make you the kind of student they would want at their school. Are you driven, open-minded, empathetic, collaborative, inclusive, open to criticism, etc.? How can you reveal that quality by recounting a personal experience?

Be honest; be yourself

Sometimes people write about a topic that they aren’t passionate about because they think that it will impress admissions officers. Others try to sound smart (by over-relying on a thesaurus) rather than sounding like themselves; voice is a key component of your essay. For example:

Authentic voice: My friends laughed when the sloppy joe I was eating ended up splattered all over my shirt.

Forced voice: My companions guffawed when the nutritious vittles I was ingesting besmirched my attire.

As the above illustrates, don't try to be funny when it doesn’t come naturally! Humor may fall flat or be perceived as off-color; instead, keep it professional. Be your authentic self, otherwise it will feel forced and the essay won’t be successful.

Show, don’t tell

Effective essays show, rather than tell. Successful essays engage the reader by bringing them into a moment with action, description, dialogue, and figurative language. So rather than simply stating, “I have a passion for teaching,” illustrate a one-on-one experience you had with a student that left you feeling fulfilled. Similarly, rather than explaining, "I failed the test," describe the moment it came back to you covered in red ink and the emotion you felt that compelled you to make a change. Essays that use specific details are always more engaging to read than those that are written about in vague or general terms.

Get feedback

Invite feedback and multiple points during the process -- from peers, teachers, counselors, or the Writing Center! One strategy is to hand your essay over with no explanation or context and ask the reader to identify what they have learned about you as a result of this piece. If your reader can identify the character trait you were hoping to highlight, you know the piece is successful.