Tips on the Process: Essay

"How Colleges Use Your Essay"

If you are applying to college (and, if you're reading this, chances are good that you are), then you know that an important part of the application is the essay. What you may not know, however, is why you have to write it and how colleges use it once they have it. This process is important to understand, because once you do you will be able to see what to write about and how to write about it.

First, the idea that all colleges are looking for the least flaw in your application in order to reject you is false. This negative stereotype applies (very loosely) only to the most selective colleges, of which there are few. Actually, most colleges are looking for a reason not to reject you but to accept you. They want to find that one overriding reason to admit you, and they read your essay to try and find it. At these schools the people reading your file will first look to your transcript for a reason to accept you; if you are still close they will then look to your SAT scores for a reason to accept you; if they find none they will then turn to your essay and look for a reason to accept you, and so on and so forth. While you are putting together your essay, your underlying thought should be to give the college a reason to accept you. These schools primarily want to make sure that you can construct a coherent essay. Therefore, your essay should be grammatically correct and contain no errors in spelling or punctuation. It should display the basic form of an introduction, a body supporting the thesis, and a conclusion. In this essay, the content is not as important as the form.

That said, in many instances you can use the content to your benefit. Use the essay to explain a weak semester, or to take responsibility for bad grades. Do not make excuses or sound whiny. Instead, show your maturity and take responsibility for your actions. If there is a valid reason for a sub-par semester, you must inform the college of it. You cannot assume that your teachers or guidance counselor will tell them. If you had a lower GPA one semester because you were sick with mono, or a family member died, or your parents were divorced, by all means tell them.

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