Good College Essays Do Not Happen Overnight
Preparation for college essays starts even before high school!
The personal statement, and even supplemental essays, play a very important role in admissions decisions. Given that a perfect academic record, i.e. GPA, SAT/ACT, AP scores, are actually not uncommon, good essays can tip the scales to one’s favor during admission consideration.
Good writing skills is only one part of the equation and I have in other blog posts written about how one can convey messages meaningfully. In today’s post, I’d like to specifically mention that having a wide knowledge base and good logical reasoning are often as important. Having read hundreds and even thousands of essays as a teacher and writing coach, some of the claims students make in their essays make me wonder how a upper class high-schooler could even possess that type of logic. Here’re a few jaw-dropping examples:
“I have strong Math skills and am strong in Physics because I know the Chinese language, which is a language based on orthographic intelligence.”
“I would like to take on a position in government and help design an algorithm that will calculate the way the wealth in the country can be fairly distributed so as to solve the problem of wealth disparity.”
“Social media today only portray pictures of good lives, causing one to have low esteem. I hope my education at XX-College will help me become a leader that is not affected by such trends because a good leader needs to have high self-esteem.”
So, I’d really like for younger students and parents who are eager to start your college application prep early to seriously consider reading good literature, good journalistic articles and broadening your general knowledge base. Those skills will form the basic foundation on which your writing skills can shine through in your essays.
