jews in the d
K
im Bryant, senior assistant
director of admissions at the
University of Michigan, reads
about 5,000 college essays every year.
Many of them are unimpressive and
“pretty boring.”
“We get a lot of essays about mission
trips, about being camp counselors and
sports injuries,” she said, adding stu-
dents list what they did at camp (play-
ing archery, riding in a boat, meeting a
lot of really great people) without shar-
ing much insight about themselves.
“When I get to these types of essays,
I check out,” she said.
Bryant is not alone. She and other
admissions officers at colleges through-
out the U.S say they want to read more
compelling, reflective essays that help
colleges know the applicant beyond the
grades, test scores and activities.
“Tell us how your experience affect-
ed you,” said Bryant, U-M’s admission
rep for Frankel Jewish Academy and
Bloomfield Hills High School. “This is
your interview. Let me know who you
are.”
As admission to the nation’s most
selective schools (like U-M) becomes
increasingly competitive, the college
essay is also rising in significance.
Getting good grades in the most chal-
lenging courses is top of the list of sig-
nificant admission factors, according to
the National Association of Admission
Counseling. Next come test scores, fol-
lowed by college essays.
At its core, the college essay is all
about reflection. Students, who have
had little or no practice doing reflective
writing, often find the essay the most
daunting part of the entire admission
process. They focus on experiences and
accomplishments, rather than the traits
and characteristics that make them
each unique.
“FJA students are prepared for col-
lege, but it’s normal for students to
have difficulty explaining their story,”
said Ella Dunajsky, the school’s director
of college counseling. “The essay is
sometimes perceived as a way to show
22
October 18 • 2018
jn
Share Your Voice
What do colleges really want
in an admission essay?
KIM LIFTON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
personal statement
off and to infuse
There is no rubric for a good essay,
can truly be one-
it with parts of
but admission officers agree the
of-a-kind — in a
their resume. But
ones that stand out all share
good way.”
I tell my students
Admission
it is more about
a few common features. Regardless
officers say the
your story and
of the prompt, they:
essay helps them
your voice. The
determine what
colleges have to
• Answer the question.
an applicant can
get to know you
• Showcase a positive trait or
offer to the school
and the essay is
characteristic.
and show what the
one important
• Sound like a high school student.
student has learned
way for you to
• Illustrate something meaningful
from their life
share a story about
about the student.
experiences; the
yourself and what
• Demonstrate reflection.
things that are not
makes you unique.”
Any type of
easily captured on
application essay provides an opportu-
a transcript or activities list.
nity for a student to show what kind of
Calvin Wise, director of recruit-
person they are.
ment for Johns Hopkins University in
Gregory Sneed, the vice president of
Baltimore, Md., gets excited when he
enrollment management at Denison
reads a stellar essay. Wise expects per-
College in Granville, Ohio, believes the fect grades and top test scores.
essay is the best place to “inject some
“We need to dig deeper,” Wise said.
personality into the application.“
“That’s where the essay comes into
“Teachers and counselors can write
play. That’s where we find out more
about the applicant, but only the appli- about the student. We are looking for
cant can provide such an intensely
your story. Academically, we are glad
personal bit of character,” Sneed said.
you’ve done well. We want to know
“I’ve seen plenty of perfect SAT scores,
who you are. What did your experience
and straight A’s are straight A’s, but a
mean to you? How did it shape you?”
The essay is one (very important)
piece of a holistic admission process.
Admissions officers like all types
of stories, as long as they are genu-
ine, show reflection and answer the
prompt. The story does not need to be
about an earth-shattering experience.
Nor does it need to illustrate an “aha”
moment. It is a reflection on some-
thing that has meaning to the student.
It doesn’t matter what that is. There’s
no magic answer. No secret sauce. Not
even a shortcut.
What turns admission officers off?
Stories that are not genuine, do not
answer the prompt or fail to give any
insight into the applicant’s character.
Shawn Felton, director of undergrad-
uate admissions at Cornell University
in Ithaca, N.Y., does not like it when
students try too hard to impress him or
write essays that seem forced or inau-
thentic. “The essay is not something to
be cracked,” he cautioned.
According to Jim Cotter, Michigan
State University’s director of admis-
sions, “The essay is value added. At a
moderately selective school, it can pull
a student on the cusp up. At a highly
selective school, a poor statement can
make the difference between being
admitted or not.”
The best essays are often simple and
personal. While small, focused stories
get their attention more than anything
else, colleges are often less critical of
student essays than students and wor-
ried parents might assume.
“Life is truly lived in the smaller
moments, and that can make a pow-
erful essay,” said Jan Deike, assistant
director of admissions, Vanderbilt
University in Nashville, Tenn. “But
sometimes students feel that because
they haven’t found the cure for cancer,
they have nothing to share.” ■
Kim Lifton, president of Wow Writing Workshop,
is a college application writing coach. You can
reach her at kim@wowwritingworkshop.com.