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With Rachel Korn, former admissions officer at several top universities.
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Plan Essays
HEAD Start
When you have a master list of all of the essays required of you, take time to map them out.

You may find that you have several schools on the Common Application (which means you can re-use the same essay) or that sometimes a topic fits two schools' questions. If you can plan well from the beginning, you may be able to write fewer essays (less work - yay!).

HEAD Lines
From each school's application, take all the essay questions - even the short-answer questions - and make a long list of them. See if there is any overlap. How can you figure out what to write? Think about the following:
  • Map out an outline for each question - what do you want to say? What does this story tell about your personality or what is important to you?

  • If given options for essays, choose the one that's the most appealing to you - the committees have no preference and there isn't one "right" one to pick - so whatever is most comfortable to you will flow the best and will make for your best essay.

  • Try to see if you can use the same essay idea or full essay where you can, BUT if a topic does not directly answer a second question, do NOT re-use an essay - this is obvious and it's a huge turn-off for the admissions staff. It's risky behavior that can get a great candidate (like you!) wait-listed instead of admitted.
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Counselor's Corner

Choosing a topic for the personal statement can be the most challenging part of the essay writing process. Writing about a specific situation that shaped the development of you as a person is an excellent strategy. However, beyond describing the situation, it's important to be reflective and analyze the lessons learned. Also, the personal statement is a great opportunity to add depth and insight to items mentioned in other parts of your application, such as a leadership role in an extracurricular activity, or a summer experience. Above all, when planning the essay, keep in mind that your personal statement should differentiate you in terms of character and interests, so the admissions committee can envision the unique contribution you would have if you joined the campus community.

Susan Joan Mauriello
susan@applyivy.com
Apply Ivy Limited
www.applyivy.com
Consulting services for admission to America's top colleges and universities



The views expressed herein are those of their authors alone, and do not necessarily represent the views of Hundreds of Heads or of IECA.

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From Other HEADS
THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT of the essay is picking the right subject. And how do you do that? Ask yourself this: What are your major accomplishments, and why do you consider them accomplishments? Don't limit yourself to only accomplishments for which you have been formally recognized. The most interesting essays often are based on accomplishments that may have been trite at the time, but become crucial when placed in the context of your life. I used teaching my little brother to ride his bike as the subject of my essay.

-- K.R.
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA


CHOOSE UNIQUE TOPICS FOR THE ESSAYS. The readers tire of reading the same essays over and over again, so even if your topic is not the most obvious, the reader will appreciate it.

-- CASEY BOND
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY


Web Resources
A good place to start is to look at the topics for the Common Application (click here and scroll down): www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/FAQ.aspx


HoH Tip
  • Look for related essay themes (not just topics) to see if there's overlap. You'd be surprised - with some clever editing, you can turn an essay about leadership into an essay about teamwork while describing the very same experience on your soccer team or as a volunteer at a hospital.

  • If you're applying to one or two schools not on the Common Application look at their topics first, since one of the options on the Common App is "A Topic of Your Choice" - so you might consider using your "required" essay topics for the Common App too.



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