College Essays: School-specific Essays
So you have to write an application essay? Or maybe several? This is the second in a series of blog posts that break down different types of application essays so that you have a clear picture of who your readers are and what they expect.
If you’re applying to college, chances are that you will have to write an essay for the Common App, which I talked about in my last blog post. But some schools might require you (or give you the option) to submit an additional essay. That’s what today’s post is about.
Overview:
Some colleges and universities give their own essay prompts—either because they do not use the Common App or because they want to learn more information about applicants than provided by the Common App.
These prompts tend to be similar to those in the Common App, usually asking students to reflect on a life experience or some aspect of their identity. But unlike the Common App, they may ask applicants to connect their experiences or insights to their specific campus. Here are a few examples:
Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time. (From the University of California system’s Personal insight Questions)
The Harvard College Honor code declares that we “hold honesty as the foundation of our community.” As you consider entering this community that is committed to honesty, please reflect on a time when you or someone you observed had to make a choice about whether to act with integrity and honesty. (From Harvard University’s Writing Supplement prompts)
MIT brings people with diverse backgrounds and experiences together to better the lives of others. Our students work to improve their communities in different ways, from tackling the world’s biggest challenges to being a good friend. Describe one way you have collaborated with people who are different from you to contribute to your community. (From MIT’s short answer essay questions)
Audience:
Colleges and universities typically have an admissions office that is responsible for choosing who to accept, reject, and waitlist. Depending on the institution, the admissions committee that makes these decisions may include admissions officers, readers hired by the admissions office, college faculty, and sometimes students or alumni.
The admissions committee will receive all of your application materials, including your application essay(s). The good news is that if they are reading your essay, you’ve probably already passed an initial round of review based on your academic achievements. Your essay helps the committee get to know you better and distinguish you from candidates with similar achievements.
As you’re writing your essay, keep in mind that your readers won’t have much time to spend with your essay, and that they’ll also likely be reading many essays in a short amount of time.
What Your Goals Should Be:
If you’re writing one or more essays for a college application, then clearly your goal is to get accepted to that institution. But if you want that to happen, you also must consider what specifically your essay needs to accomplish for your readers. I recommend that you let these three goals guide you as you write:
Set yourself apart from the competition. There may be hundreds—or even thousands—of other applicants with similar transcripts, GPAs, and test scores. Your essay is an opportunity to show what you bring to the table that others don’t.
Persuade readers that you are someone they’d like to have on campus. When you zoom in on the particular details of a formative experience or foundational identity, you allow your readers not only to learn about who you are but also to envision what you have to offer as a student, a roommate, and a member of the campus and local communities.
Be authentic. You have an entire lifetime of experiences and a unique trove of personality traits to draw from—so there is no need to invent or exaggerate based on what you think your readers want to hear. Be you. Your readers (who are excellent B.S. detectors) will appreciate it. And when you get that acceptance, you’ll be able to head to campus with confidence.
For school-specific essays, in contrast the Common Application, you should have an additional goal:
Demonstrate fit. As directly and specifically as possible, show that you are a good match for the school, and the school is a good match for you.
Features:
School-specific essay prompts may range from short essays of about 200 words (less than half a single-spaced page) to longer essays of up to 1,000 words (about two single-spaced pages).
While some prompts may be fairly broad, eliciting information that would be useful to any school, many school-specific prompts highlight a value, feature of the educational experience, or aspect of campus life that the admissions committee at that institution finds particularly important.
Unlike essays for the Common App, school-specific essays often give applicants the opportunity to describe why they are drawn to that particular school and how they envision contributing to the specific campus community. If applicable to the prompt, you are welcome to mention majors, classes, extracurricular opportunities, or goals and plans that apply to the specific school.
Like essays for the Common App, school-specific essays tend to be narrative in nature—offering story and reflection from the first person point of view. And in most cases, these essays will differ from academic essays: They usually don’t need thesis statements or quotations from outside sources. They tend to be less formal in tone, and there’s more room for creativity in language and in structure.
Tips:
Do your research. Before writing your school-specific essay, learn everything you can about the school. Talk to current students or alumni—or visit campus, if you can. Explore majors, classes, study abroad programs, and extracurricular activities. Learn about campus culture. For example, is community service or activism a big part of campus life? Do students regularly take on internships for credit? When, where, and for how long do students typically study? You may not write about everything you learn in your school-specific essay—in fact, you should avoid listing facts about the school that your audience already knows. But the deeper your knowledge about a school, the better equipped you are to compose an essay that appeals to the admissions committee.
Think twice before submitting your Common App essay for a school-specific prompt. While some school-specific prompts overlap with Common App prompts, avoid the temptation to use the same essay twice, especially if you are applying to a school that also uses the Common App. Don’t give up any opportunity to let the admissions committee learn more about you. If the school you’re applying to doesn’t use the Common App, it may be acceptable to recycle your Common App essay, but consider revising it so that it seems tailored to that specific school.
Aim for variety. If you’re applying to schools that require school-specific application essays (discussed further below) in addition to the Common App essay, make sure to select prompts that differ significantly for each essay. That way, you maximize what readers are able to learn about you and give a more well-rounded portrait of who you are.
Use paragraph breaks and transitions. Remember that readers have a limited amount of time to spend with your essay. Rather than overwhelming them with a wall of text, make each idea unit its own paragraph and use transitions to help them quickly and easily navigate.
