Crafting the College Essay
ACCI 2015
Shana Castillo (YES Prep North Central)
Elizabeth Guice (St. Andrew’s Episcopal School)
The Role of the College Essay
• It is the place for the YOUR voice to shine through.
• It is something over which YOU have complete control.
• It is the most personal element of the application.
Therefore, make sure it’s a story that no one could tell in
the way that you tell it.
• It is an opportunity to make the admissions office want to
admit you.
• BUT don’t overestimate the role of the college essay. “A
great essay can heal the wounded, but it can’t raise the
dead.” In other words, an essay might make a difference
but it can’t change an academic record, test scores, or
other factors).
How is a College Essay Different
from an Academic Essay?
• Pick a story about you that illustrates what you want the
admission committee to know about you.
• Pick a moment in time that you want share; do not try to
cover a lifetime of events.
• Show, don’t tell. Activate the senses of the reader.
• Less is more. You only have 650 words.
• Trust the intelligence of the reader. Allow the reader to
make connections.
ApplyTexas Essay Prompts
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Topic A: Describe a setting in which you have collaborated or interacted with
people whose experiences and/or beliefs differ from yours. Address your initial
feelings, and how those feelings were or were not changed by this experience.
Topic B: Describe a circumstance, obstacle or conflict in your life, and the skills and
resources you used to resolve it. Did it change you? If so, how?
Topic C: Considering your lifetime goals, discuss how your current and future
academic and extra-curricular activities might help you achieve your goals.
Topic D: Personal interaction with objects, images and spaces can be so powerful as
to change the way one thinks about particular issues or topics. For your intended
area of study (architecture, art history, design, studio art, visual art studies/art
education), describe an experience where instruction in that area or your personal
interaction with an object, image or space effected this type of change in your
thinking. What did you do to act upon your new thinking and what have you done to
prepare yourself for further study in this area?
Topic S: There may be personal information that you want considered as part of
your admissions application. Write an essay describing that information. You might
include exceptional hardships, challenges, or opportunities that have shaped or
impacted your abilities or academic credentials, personal responsibilities,
exceptional achievements or talents, educational goals, or ways in which you might
contribute to an institution committed to creating a diverse learning environment.
A Sample of ApplyTexas Essay Prompt Requirements
University of Texas at Austin: All applicants must submit an essay responding to
Topic C, along with a second essay addressing topic A, B, D or S.
Nursing requires that the essay written in response to Topic C focus on your goal of
becoming a nurse and/or a career in nursing. Topic S, used to detail special
circumstances you want considered as part of your admissions application, may be
submitted as a third essay at your discretion or if you are required to submit an essay
in response to Topic D due to the major you selected. (Topic D is required for those
applying to Architecture and to Fine Arts’ Department of Art and Art History.)
Texas A&M University: Topics A & B are required; topic C is recommended for
students who do not meet the automatic admission standards.
Texas Tech University: For students who do not meet the automatic admission
standards, it is strongly encouraged that they respond to essay Topics A, B, and/or C.
UTSA: For students who do not meet the automatic admission standards, Topic C is
required (one page, single spaced).
TX State University: One essay is required of all applicants (choose from Topic A, B, C)
University of Houston: No essay required
A Sample of ApplyTexas Essay Prompt Requirements
St. Edward’s University: You may choose any one of the ApplyTexas options.
Texas Christian University: You may choose an essay topic from TCU's options, or one
of the ApplyTexas options. The TCU application requires only one essay.
Southern Methodist University: Topic A required; topic B is optional.
Southwestern University: Topic A required; topics B, C, and D are optional.
Austin College: One Admission Essay (250-650 words; topic of your choice)
Trinity University: Students applying through the ApplyTexas Application or the
Trinity University Application should apply using the following essay topic: Describe a
setting in which you have collaborated or interacted with people whose experiences
and/or beliefs differ from yours. Address your initial feelings, and how those feeling were
or were not changed by this experience. (Topic A)
University of the Incarnate Word: No essay required
(these were the guidelines as of 7/2015…
BE SURE TO CHECK THEM AGAIN BEFORE YOU WRITE!)
Common Application Essay Prompts
1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful
they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you,
then please share your story.
2. The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an
incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you
learn from the experience?
3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act?
Would you make the same decision again?
4. Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an
intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma-anything that is of personal
importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took
or could be taken to identify a solution.
5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition
from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
(parts in red are new this year; also new this year, the essay is no longer a requirement
of the Common Application; 250-650 words)
Where to Begin?
Choosing a Topic - The Mindset
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Write about something you know
Narrow your focus
No gimmicks…PLEASE!
Provide new information
Think about your audience
Be authentic
Where to Begin?
Choosing a Topic - Some First Steps
• Ask for help (from parents, counselors, teachers, friends,
mentors, coaches). What can they tell you about yourself
that might be hard for you to see?
• Think about your life before high school. Did you discover
something important as a 10 year-old? Is it a reflection of who
you are today? Did it in some way help you get to where you
are today?
• Think about the people you admire & respect. Are these
people you aspire to be like? Why? In what ways are you
working to be that person? (Caution: admissions officers
want to learn about YOU and not just your role model!)
Where to Begin?
Start the Writing Process: Inspiration
Read Sample Admissions Essays
 http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/essays.html
 http://www.law.uchicago.edu/alumni/magazine/spring11/inth
eirownwords
 http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/today-essay/
 http://www.hamilton.edu/magazine/summer08/more-essaysthat-worked
 http://www.conncoll.edu/admission/apply/essays-thatworked/
Where to Begin?
Start the Writing Process: Warming Up
Pick one the these options and write for 10 minutes about:
• One of the prompts (Common App, ApplyTX, or another
application)
• Three different ideas on one of the prompts
• At least one idea about all of the prompts
The result: you will have an opening paragraph, or multiple
possible directions in which to go. There isn’t just one way to
write an essay. There can be many viable options. Sometimes
you have to eliminate the “obvious” response to get to the story
you really want to tell!
During the Writing Process
Things to Remember While Writing
• Answer the question
• “Own” the essay…make it yours…that will make it interesting
• Be yourself (in the words of Judy Garland, “Always be a first
rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of
someone else.”)
• Create a scene. Make the reader hear the sounds, smell the
smells, see the images that you see/remember. Use vivid
language. Be specific.
• Don’t overuse a thesaurus. It will be obvious.
• Make sure the story relates to you. If it doesn’t reveal you, it’s
not the right story for this assignment.
During the Writing Process
Things to Remember While Writing
• Don’t “save the best for last”…the importance of the beginning.
• That being said, the conclusion is your last chance to leave an
impression. Make it a good one!
• Write as if you are talking to the reader, like this is a
conversation on paper.
• College admissions officers presume this is your “best”
writing; make sure that it is. Show that you know how to vary
your sentence structure. Work on clarity and thought
development.
Finishing Up the Writing
Process
Finalizing your Work
• Walk away from whatever you’ve written for a little while and
then come back to it with a fresh set of critical (and forgiving)
eyes
• Edit, edit, edit
• Have someone else (or a few trusted souls) offer feedback
• Note: don’t have so many people look at your essay that
you lose your words, your story, your voice…YOU. Also,
colleges know the difference between a way that 17 & 18
year olds generally write and the way that parents and
teachers generally write.
• You should look at it one last time before you submit it
Things to Avoid
DON’T…
• Write about a topic that is not interesting to you
• Use generalities. Be specific.
• Include a lot of cliches (for example: “I went there to change
their lives, but they changed mine instead.”)
• Make excuses for low grades (or anything else) with an
explanation like “the classes are too easy” (boredom), or
“because classes/school are so hard” (would have had higher
grades at easier school). Colleges prefer to see accountability,
not finger-pointing.
• Tell the reader things they already know from your application
• Procrastinate
• Plagiarize
Things to Do
DO…
• Think about what makes you unique and special?
• Be honest. Be yourself. Be brave.
• Draw upon your experiences. Write about a singular moment
that made a difference for you. Help your reader experience it
with you. Make it real.
• Focus. Write a strong introductory sentence and paragraph.
Support your thesis.
• Evaluate. Is your essay grammatically correct? Is it interesting?
Is it creative?
• Edit & proofread.
• Write it yourself.
Remember: there are no bad essay topics, but there are bad
essays!
Reflecting on the
Personal Essay
“The personal essay demands that we jump in with both
feet, yelling for all we’re worth…
…It requires self-awareness without self-importance,
moral rigor without priggishness, and the courage to
hang it all on the line. It’s a hard thing to do.
~ Tobias Wolff