Elite Newsletter (Common Application)
- 1. The Common Application essay: equal parts memoir, cover letter, and narrative, all packed into less than 650 words. It’s the one chance students have to communicate a sense of their unique personality to the admissions committee at the school of their choice—like a staged, high-stakes selfie, paperclipped to the front of each application package. If you are a student hoping to meet the Nov.1st deadline but have no idea how to begin writing, don’t panic. You don’t need to have cured cancer or developed an earth-shattering physics equation to write a top- tier entrance essay. The first thing to remember is that this essay is almost entirely about you. Use “I” and don’t be afraid to brag. Don’t shy away from writing about intense experiences either; stories with strong emotional resonance generally make the best CA fodder. Use appropriately complex diction, but don’t get carried away; you’ve already written the SAT, so they know your vocabulary is solid. It’s more important at this point for your reader to come away with a strong sense of who you are. If you’re truly stumped about how to begin, try asking a friend or acquaintance to ask you a series of questions about your personality and interests. What sorts of things do you enjoy? Of those, which are you most passionate about? Where did that passion come from? What would you be most excited to study in university? Why? Do you have any experiences in that discipline? Once you’ve selected your focus, try pounding out a draft as quickly as possible, just to get your ideas down. Then, when you’re ready to begin optimizing finer points like structure, diction, and flow, refer to the following general guidelines. These same three structural elements are utilized by many successful essays from previous years. First, the Hook (dramatic, high- stakes, emotionally resonant) draws the reader in, often outlining a problem, crisis, or challenge, as concisely as possible. Next, the Backstory explains your response to the challenge using careful diction and short sentences, in such a way as to convey a clear sense of your unique identity. This response often involves you taking initiative once it becomes clear no one else will solve the issue for you. Key themes include creativity, determination, perceptiveness, and maturity. Finally, the Goals, Hopes, and Dreams paragraph explains how the preceding narrative meshes naturally with your passions and intended major. Here it is vital that you look beyond university. It is not your end goal; just a means to an end.