How your college list helps you write a better essay
by Dr. Stephanie Oswald, Independent Educational Consultant
Photo Credit @mycollegiatekey: Swarthmore College dorms
Knowing your audience is important when you write your college application essay. Depending on where you apply to college the essay expectations will vary. For some colleges, it’s simply a matter of picking one prompt on the Common Application and you’re done.
Other colleges will ask for supplemental essays along with Why (insert name of college here)? While it’s not explicitly stated by anyone, these additional essays are where the door could open or close for you during the admissions process. Your Common App personal statement is being sent to every college you’re applying to, but the supplemental and why essays are specific to individual colleges and they want to know if you’ve done your homework. Have you truly taken the time to determine if it’s the right fit for you?
If you’ve taken the time to carefully build your college list then you can answer this question with ease and your essays will flow onto the paper. Why? Simple, you know your audience. In fact, you’ve probably attended information sessions or virtual visits with admissions counselors from the colleges where you’re applying, so you really know who you’re speaking to in your essay.
Your college list is all about YOU. It’s not often you’re asked to put the spotlight on YOU, but now is the time. After all, you’re the one who’s going to be living your college experience and it needs to fit you!
Photo credit: Stefan Vladimirov on Unsplash
As you’ve built your college list, hopefully you’ve spent time thinking about what you imagine your college experience will be:
where do you want to live?
what do you want to study?
do you want a big campus or small campus?
are you interested in joining student organizations?
why do you want to go to college?
Did you pause to answer each of these questions? If not, take a moment and write down what comes to mind for each. Some students have even created vision boards for themselves as they’ve explored their college options. Just go to Pinterest and type in college vision boards and prepare to be inspired. It’s a great way to have a visual representation of your college list to visit and explore.
When you finally sit down to write, if you’ve taken time to know your audience and explore the campuses, you will have a better idea of how to express yourself. There’s not a secret password to entry, but you do have the ability to show the admissions counselors that you want to be on their campus. Just as much as a college is marketing themselves to you with their emails and mailings, you are presenting them with a snapshot of who you are and how you know their campus is a fit for YOU.
