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Lesson One: Tackling the Question
 Introduction
Think of the essay as the face of your application. An application without an essay is a
statistic—just another faceless person in a crowd. An application with a poorly
written essay does not give admissions officers the chance to care about you. Use simple
psychology: make them feel that they know you, and it will be harder for them to reject
you. Make them know you AND LIKE YOU, and they might accept you despite your weakness in
other areas. Understanding the importance of the essay is a necessary first step toward
perfecting your application. If you are normally a procrastinator, you should understand
that your success depends entirely on the amount of time and effort you put into the essay
writing process. If all of this has you sweating, you can relax now. Taking this process
seriously is the first step. This course will help you get through the other steps.
Admissions essay questions
tend to be very broad and difficult to tackle. Yet, it is imperative that you actually
answer the question in your essay. It should go without saying, but if your essay does not
address the question, then everything you learn in the rest of this course is for naught.
While looking at your
application, you are probably asking yourself: “Why in the world are these admissions
people asking me this question? What do they
want me to write about?” While there is no one answer to either of these questions,
there is some reason behind the most popular questions posed by applications.
Continue on for Question-Specific
Strategies on the most common application questions and Sample Essays with
comments by admissions officers.
 Select One:
EssayEdge Extra:
Who’s Reading My Essay?
Contrary to popular belief, all admissions officers are not old men with bowties and
English accents. In fact, the first people to read your application are often people not
much older than yourself. At most colleges and universities, recent graduates of the
college serve as assistants, conducting the first read on all of the essays. If they like
your essay, they will pass it on to the associate directors or only read what the
assistants pass along. Then, the associate directors choose which essays to pass along to
the director, who makes the final decision. So essentially, the mysterious group that
holds your future in its hands is composed of a few recent grads of the college, a couple
of associate directors, and a director who must evaluate thousands of applications in a
month or two. The moral of the story: Don’t write your essay for an old British guy.
Be yourself. Write in a relaxed tone.
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From
ESSAYS THAT WILL GET YOU INTO COLLEGE, by Amy Burnham, Daniel Kaufman, and Chris Dowhan.
Copyright 1998 by Dan Kaufman. Reprinted by arrangement with Barron's Educational
Series, Inc.
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