[Tea] More Tips for Writing Your College Essay

Welcome to "Tea with Julie," a weekly missive by me, Julie Bogart. My wish is to give you food for thought over a cup of tea to enhance your life as an educator, parent, and awesome adult. Glad you're here. Pinkies up!
P.S. Was this email forwarded to you? Add yourself to the list and get your own!

Cincinnati, December 16, 2023

Hi Friend,

Welcome back! Here are more tips for writing a college admissions essay.

Give us the detes!

Details, details, details! Sensory details allow the reader to picture you in your life. The reader can’t do that if you only share abstract ideas. As you freewrite, connect to your five physical senses and ask yourself what sights, sounds, textures, tastes, and smells you can remember. Be as particular as you can—“I worked hard” is a start. More specific: “I rose in the dark and ran ten miles by sun-up.”

Remember there are many paths to a good essay.

If you choose a story with meaning for you, and you relate it with sensory details, you will be on the road to sharing some aspect of yourself that will have relevance for the admissions committee.

Some elements that shine in successful essays:

your character traits (sense of humor, curiosity perseverance, etc.),
a sense of why you have picked the school you are applying to,
a picture of you living your life and following your interests,
a discovery about what is true for you,
an offering—what you intend to bring to the college community.

Ask: What’s the big idea?

After you’ve done loads of freewriting and expanding (adding more sensory details and bits of dialogue), see if you can boil your topic down to one sentence. How about one word? Let it guide you as you continue drafting.

Grab a friend or family member and spill!

As you draft and revise, if you need a boost, take along a notebook and pen and pour your heart out to someone else about why your topic matters to you. Reminisce, tell stories from your life related to your topic. When you go back to drafting, think of your essay as a gift to yourself, a capstone for the early part of your life. Make it count for you.

Hook and release your fish—um—reader.

Your opening should pull the reader in by arousing our curiosity or cutting in on action that will sweep us along. A good opener surprises or provokes.

Your conclusion should be just that—your conclusion. It couldn’t conclude anyone else’s essay. It leaves the reader with your sense of possibility and expansion, or the feeling that a shift has taken place in you. Stay specific, even while placing your experiences in a wider context. Release your readers with a clear picture of you in their minds.

If you do have a student who is planning to attend college and apply in the next year, definitely book mark this series and return to it at the right time. We also offer a College Admissions Essay online writing class with the support of a writing coach when that time comes as well. We usually offer that class in the summer session.

Warmly,

P.S. Catch up on all the “Tea with Julie” emails here! Follow me on Instagram.