College Admissions Essay Reflection - FYW 150 Multimodal Writing

In reflection of our discussion today, the college admissions essay is a genre that requires the writer to analyze his or her audience deeply. It is important to know what the goal of the piece is, which is not only to “get into college” as referenced by Kerry Dirk in “Navigating Genres” (253), but to present yourself in a positive and impressive light. Within this, there are many challenges. In my own experience writing college admissions essays, I found it difficult to sound scholarly and experienced without sounding conceited. I did not know how to make myself seem relatable and fun while still appealing as a student involved in school and focused on my work. I believe that one of the most challenging aspects of the college admissions essay is presenting yourself to an audience with the hopes that they will like you more than the thousands of other people they meet through text.

Many colleges require a personal statement in the application process. This prompt typically entails an autobiography-style description of oneself, with the story of a personal experience or response to a situational question. When writing my personal statement, I was advised by most teachers and students to respond in a way that presented myself and my identity best. Unlike the five paragraph essays we are taught to write at a very young age, the college admissions essay is counted in words, not paragraphs. To describe myself and my story in a very limited amount of words is hard, but with the added pressure of how to best present myself it became much more difficult. It is important to understand the college admissions essay as a genre that requires the writer to reflect on their life as well as their goals.

2 thoughts on “College Admissions Essay Reflection”

In the first sentence, you mention that the writer must have “extensive knowledge.” While this is true in the sense that he or she must know enough about the audience to whom he or she is writing as well as how he or she wants to sound, I think that “extensive knowledge” may be the wrong term, simply because the essay is about oneself rather than an extended body of knowledge that might not be common. I like that you added the part about the college essay having more to it than just getting into college, but having the purpose of presenting oneself in a “positive and impressive light.” It was interesting to me because I hadn’t thought of it as any more than just getting into a school. In the final sentence of the first paragraph, I might suggest that ” presenting yourself to an audience with the hopes that they will like you more than the thousands of other people they meet through text” would be what makes the essay itself more challenging, rather than calling it “the most challenging aspect.”

I do not remember having to write a personal statement, so maybe my colleges didn’t require it…? Of course, this means I have no personal experience to compare your experience to. Nonetheless, I think your second paragraph looks really good! I think the word count is most definitely a huge part of the challenge, because we are usually taught to write as much as we can, and in this situation it seems more like writing as little as we can.

Mariana,

Great writing, you brought up a lot of good points in this essay. I really think you were able to get your point across in short but concise essay. I think you were easily able to determine the “location” of the essay, as Kerry Dirk might say it. I completely agree with you regarding the idea that as a student you need to find a balance between bragging about your achievements and not sounding conceited. The only thing I would recommend you doing is focusing more on the idea of genre like Dirk explains, and go more into detail abut what it is that the admission officer wants from the essay.

Isabel Corti

Makenzie Nickel on September 14, 2017 at 8:14 am said:

In the first sentence, you mention that the writer must have “extensive knowledge.” While this is true in the sense that he or she must know enough about the audience to whom he or she is writing as well as how he or she wants to sound, I think that “extensive knowledge” may be the wrong term, simply because the essay is about oneself rather than an extended body of knowledge that might not be common. I like that you added the part about the college essay having more to it than just getting into college, but having the purpose of presenting oneself in a “positive and impressive light.” It was interesting to me because I hadn’t thought of it as any more than just getting into a school. In the final sentence of the first paragraph, I might suggest that ” presenting yourself to an audience with the hopes that they will like you more than the thousands of other people they meet through text” would be what makes the essay itself more challenging, rather than calling it “the most challenging aspect.”

I do not remember having to write a personal statement, so maybe my colleges didn’t require it…? Of course, this means I have no personal experience to compare your experience to. Nonetheless, I think your second paragraph looks really good! I think the word count is most definitely a huge part of the challenge, because we are usually taught to write as much as we can, and in this situation it seems more like writing as little as we can.
Isabel Marie Corti on September 14, 2017 at 8:38 am said:

Mariana,

Great writing, you brought up a lot of good points in this essay. I really think you were able to get your point across in short but concise essay. I think you were easily able to determine the “location” of the essay, as Kerry Dirk might say it. I completely agree with you regarding the idea that as a student you need to find a balance between bragging about your achievements and not sounding conceited. The only thing I would recommend you doing is focusing more on the idea of genre like Dirk explains, and go more into detail abut what it is that the admission officer wants from the essay.

Isabel Corti