College Admissions

Picture this: You are sitting at a desk, for hours on end. You read hundreds of essays from applicants, all trying their best to seem impressive (but without overdoing it),  unique (but not to the point where they wouldn’t fit in as a valuable asset to the institution), and smart enough (most likely by using  a thesaurus to find big words that no one really understands). Hard as they try, the attempt to seem impressive becomes a futile endeavour after the first 10 essays are read. They all carry serious, professional tones (which most people would deem appropriate for a college admissions essay) mentioning things like, “in my experience as a member of (insert generic extracurricular activity to appear responsible such as ASB, sports teams, or volunteer programs)”

This was the image in my head when I pictured my admissions counselor. Writing my essay, I knew I’d met the mark: I could  mention my experience as an ASB representative, mock trial captain, or green team and French club president. I could talk about experience on track, my near perfect GPA,  or my 600+ hours of community service. My options weren’t limited; I knew I could play it safe, but I really didn’t want to. My admissions counselor could read my laundry list of accomplishments in my resumé. There had to be something more I could write about.

Again, the image of a bored admissions counselor came to mind, so I decided to take a risk. Everything I was advised not to do is what I did. I was told to use the essay as another opportunity to highlight my accomplishments, to avoid jokes because everyone has a different sense of humor, and I was told, under no circumstances should I even reference profane language. I prayed my admissions counselor a) had a sense of humor, b) was a feminist, and c) wouldn’t shred my essay the minute she read the title: Bitch. I began my essay with, “I have always been described in one of two ways: first, assertive, and second, a much more negative locution of that– a term which would be unwise for me to include in a college application essay, but a blank I’m sure you can fill in. (Personally, I prefer what some may call the euphemism, though the latter works just fine).” I mentioned a few anecdotes, but not a single major accomplishment. I wanted the essay to stand on its own, organically; I wanted it to be something I could be proud of. A laundry list would not be enough.

In hindsight, my decision may have been a tad unconventional, and perhaps even unwise, but when admissions offers with scholarships arrived in the mail, I had few regrets. I don’t know that my essay falls cleanly into the genre that is college admissions essays, nor do I know that I would recommend this same approach to everyone, but I do know that authenticity should never be sacrificed for the sake of pleasing others.

2 thoughts on “College Admissions

  1. Hey Alexa,

    I think you brought up a lot of good points in this essay. I have to agree with you that sometimes the “different” and more creative essay, if written properly, really is the best option. While this type of essay would be harder to write, and sometimes even scarier, you will most definitely be rewarded if you accomplish to do so.

    Like Dirk elaborated in his essay “Navigating Genres,” location is key. In my opinion you were easily able to determine the “Location” of the college admission essay, and know what it was that the admission officer was looking for, something different. Overall your essay was great, you probably already know this but the main problem I see is the length of the essay. If I were you I would try cut out some of the narrative and details and focus more on the idea of genre, to try and bring it down to 500 words. I know this could be a bit difficult as everything you wrote fits into your response, maybe the conclusion could be taken out?

    Congrats on your scholarship!!

    Isabel Corti

  2. Hi Lex! First off, congrats on your accomplishments. I like how you opened up with your paper and pretty much captured how everyone thinks when they attempt to write their essay. I found it very interesting that even though you were involved in so many different activities and did well in school, you decided to take an extremely out of the box approach in writing this essay. Although this was a very good personal response, I think you needed to discuss a little more about genres and provide a further analysis. But overall, I really enjoyed reading it.