Five Myths about the Personal Essay!
In addition to reading our insights about what makes a great college essay, check out the following misconceptions about college essays!
“You need to write about your personal hardships, overcoming an obstacle, or the details of your hardest moments.”
No way! College admissions officers have read a lot of these stories, and unless it’s really quite unusual, they’d like to read about something different.
“You can’t write about sports, camp, or any topic someone else might choose.”
Your favorite activities, even if they’re not particularly unique, aren’t what matter here. The topic is not the point; it’s what you say about yourself. If the “so what” is unique to you, then it doesn’t matter if the topic isn’t.
Your essay has to capture everything about you.
Actually, the personal essay cannot and should not say it all. There is an entire application that will tell the total story of you (from your list of activities and honors to your additional information and supplemental essays) so don’t try to cram everything into this piece! The most compelling essays focus on the details and the significance of small moments.
You can only show your best qualities.
Colleges want to see a whole person. To be able to bravely share things that you may not put on a resume is appealing, and admissions officers want to know you’re human like everyone else!
This essay is only 500-650 words, so it won’t take long to finish.
Oops, nope. The writing process is MESSY and requires rounds of drafts and feedback. Be patient and expect the ideas and words to evolve. It’s fun to see how much more refined and mature drafts four and five are when compared to draft one.
