College admissions officers can tell a lot by reviewing an applicant’s transcript, but many of the intangibles that determine a student’s fit and future contributions to the campus are not as obvious.
And that is where the college essay comes in.
Limited to 650 words, the essay included with the Common Application, used by over 900 colleges and universities across the country, as well as any long form application essay from an individual college, is the best, and sometimes only, way for students to demonstrate who they are behind the numbers.
This 5 part series provides an overview of the college essay writing process to share with your high school senior or junior. Here are the topics and schedule, and I’ll come back to link each subsequent article after publication.
College Essay Prep Posts
Part 5: Finalizing Your College Essay in a 4 Step Process
If you (parent or teen) are jumping into the essay writing frenzy that defines the college application season with this post, please use the links above to review the first 4 parts of this series. The strategies and tips provided in those posts will help you (the teen, of course) create a much better essay in a smoother process than jumping in at the end without the foundation.
Parents, either point your college bound junior or senior to this post, or sit down and talk through it with them once they've reviewed the previous 4 parts and has a first draft complete. The rest of the article is written as if the teen was reading.
For that @#$%^& first draft.
By this point you should have your first draft complete. As Anne Lamott, author of the classic book on writing, Bird by Bird, would say, the @#$%^& first draft. And hopefully you’ve had some time (days, or at least overnight for the procrastinators) to let it sit and percolate.
Though I can’t say enough DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE, once you’ve started to write your college essay, even if weeks or months before the first application deadline, continue to write and edit on a regular schedule with no more than a few days (2-3) in between writing sessions.
You want to find a balance between being consumed with editing (not usually productive) and keeping the material fresh by working on it steadily. As an added bonus, if you continue on a regular schedule well before the deadline and finalize your essay before the school year starts, imagine the weight lifted off your shoulders for all of the other responsibilities, and FUN, of senior year. And if you are a junior getting a solid college essay complete in the winter or spring, buy that kid a Hummer! I'm kidding, of course, but completing the college essay would be an extraordinary bit of overachieving for a high school junior before the end of the school year.
Think of a reward you will give yourself or that you can convince your parents to give you if you complete your essay prior to a date you set well in advance of any application due date.
You're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Complete these 4 steps to finalize an essay you worked hard on and you can be very proud of.
Step 1
If you have not yet, create the first draft of your essay and complete the first draft self-assessment available to download as part of Step 2.
Step 2
For each draft after the first, complete the extended self-assessment described below and available to download here:
Don’t be intimidated by the length of this list. Most of the items are questions to help you craft a compelling story and view your essay like an admissions officer might. Make or print a copy of your essay and take time to consider each question, either editing as you go, or (better) taking notes or highlighting parts of your essay that might need revision. After you’ve gone through the entire list and made notes, THEN go back and write your next draft. You should at least complete draft #3 before you ask for an outside review; that section is described in Step 3.
Detailed Checklist/Explanation:
- Verify the word count- more is not always better, best probably 500-650, but if you have a great essay at 400 words, wonderful!
- Check for spelling, grammar, and syntax errors.
- Check for consistent verb tense, subject-verb agreement, and appropriate pronoun usage.
- Does the essay answer all parts of the question fully?
- Can the information in the essay be found w/n other parts of the application?
- Check for too much repetition in specific words, sentence structure, or sentence length.
- Does the essay sound like it was written by a high school student or straight out of a thesaurus?
- Do you have a hook in your opening line, or at least opening paragraph, to engage the reader and tap into their sense of curiosity?
- Is the essay concise, or are there words, sentences, or paragraphs which don’t serve the single theme or story?
- Does the tone of the essay strike a good balance between formal and informal? In other words, you don’t want to tell a dry, boring story using identical sentence structure throughout, nor do you want to write as if you are sending a text to a friend.
- Does your essay show versus tell? One way to tell is to check the number of adverbs, or “ly” words, in your essay, and try to eliminate most of them. Example: instead of “She was walking so slowly I knew I would be late for work, which I was really bummed about”, something like “The plodding rhythm of my grandma’s walker rolling down the tiled hallway reminded me of the military funeral for grandpa two years ago when “Taps” was played. I was sure the same ominous song would play in my head when I showed up late for work, but I also knew I was doing the right thing.”
- Does your essay have a clear beginning, middle, and end (conclusion), even if not in that order? Check for meandering prose or so many details the theme is lost or you find yourself “telling” instead of “showing”.
- Do you have any literature or real world references in your essay? Not gratuitous or controversial, but if the reference supports your story and is meaningful to you, put it in.
- Does the essay truly represent who you are at this moment, and does it represent some better or best part of yourself that you would bring to a college campus?
- Is the essay congruent with the schools you are applying to? In other words, your essay about an independent environmental science research project you completed the summer before your junior year might backfire if you are applying to liberal arts colleges without a strong research reputation, depending on the context and content.
- Review the conclusion. Does it show growth or a lesson learned without being cliche or simply tied up too neatly?
- Do you come across as likable in the essay, or does the essay come across as condescending or lecturing, or even negative?
- Does each paragraph move the story along the theme, even if in an unexpected way? Maybe you have a really cool related story you want to sneak in there, but given the 650 word limit, don’t be afraid to cut it. You will likely have an opportunity to include that cool story as an answer to a supplemental question or in an interview, so save it in a different document.
- What do you want a college admissions officer to know about you that isn’t included in other aspects of your application, and after reading your essay, do you think that message is conveyed by the story?
Step 3
After you’ve completed about 3-4 drafts or whenever YOU feel like you need another set of eyes on your essay, recruit at least one reviewer for a read through. Ultimately you want at least two trusted people to review your essay before submission. A reviewer could be a parent, but there are pros and cons with that option, so weigh that decision carefully. An older or slightly younger sibling might be a fine choice for a first review simply to let you know if your essay represents the person they know and tells an interesting story, as well as any glaring spelling or grammar mistakes. Other options are a neighbor, an English teacher (similar possibility of pros and cons), or another relative or friend of the family. You do not need to use the checklist below, though I highly recommend you look through the list and ensure those items are covered by someone besides you before submission. You can also write up your own list, but whichever review option you select, make sure the reviewer understands what the purpose of his/her review is by explaining and/or highlighting the questions or areas you’d like them to look at.
Here is a sample outside review checklist to download, with more details below:
Detailed Checklist/Explanation:
- Be clear to the reviewer what he/she is reviewing, for example, if the story is congruent with who they know the writer to be, if you just need to hear about the strongest parts of the essay draft, if you want them to review sections of the checklist you highlighted, or if you are ready for a thorough critique of a final draft.
- Review the basics, e.g., spelling, grammar, syntax, subject-verb agreement, use of appropriate pronouns, and consistent verb tense.
- What do you think about the overall flow and story arc?
- Is there anything confusing, repetitive, and/or off-topic in the essay? If so, what? Or please highlight.
- What is the best or strongest part of the essay?
- Can you tell why the writer chose this topic?
- Do you feel like the essay is primarily about the student’s thoughts, actions, and growth, or more about the person, place, or experience described in the essay?
- Does the essay ultimately illustrate a positive trait or traits to share with colleges, i.e., the protagonist in the story doesn’t come across as whiny, entitled, trite, or negative?
- Is there “TMI” (Too Much Information), especially very personal information in the essay, such that a reviewer might be uncomfortable reading it?
- Does the essay “show” more than “tell”? If not, please highlight sentences or paragraphs where the telling could be edited or is particularly egregious.
- Are opinions stated as facts in the essay? If so, where?
- Other comments?
Step 4
After the reviews are in, absorbed, and edits made (or not...you are not required to use anyone’s specific input), let the essay sit for a few days. The benefit to having at least 2 trusted reviewers, and preferably 3, is that you can look for common themes or recognize that a paragraph might not resonate with one of your reviewers, but the others think it is just fine, or even strong. Ultimately, it is YOUR essay and YOUR decision about what and how to write.
For a final check before submission, read through your completed essay and ask yourself:
Did I have at least two trusted people review my essay and was I intentional about including or not including the input of each one?
Does this essay reflect who I am?
Is there a beginning (hook), middle, and end (conclusion), even if not in that order, as well as a solid theme and story arc?
Is this essay ultimately positive and show colleges the imminently decent human being they are inviting to campus if accepted?
Does the essay clearly answer the entire prompt, i.e., each part of the question/s?
Congratulations! You have done great work. While it’s quite likely you will have other application work or school work to accomplish (no rest for the weary), still take a moment to reward yourself or celebrate in some way once you’ve completed and submitted your essay and the rest of the Common App. You’ve earned it!