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The
college entrance essay is just the passport to the rest of your life!
No pressure—right? Has there ever been a writing assignment that
carried a heavier burden of hope, expectation, tension, fear, pressure
(both peer and parental) than the college entrance essay?
Not to mention the impossibility of the assignment itself: just write
on the same topic as thousands of other kids—but make yours sound
a unique.Take your 18 years of ho-hum existence, your so-so SAT scores,
your OK GPA and your not-so earthshaking extracurriculars and turn them
into such fine reading that some unfortunate, exhausted, bored admissions
committee member will throw yours in the “keep” pile. It has
to sound like you, but perfect. A tall order! Yet, that’s the challenge
posed by this assignment.
So
how do you do the impossible? Here’s a hint. One word: focus. Remember
that the GPA, the SAT, the extracurriculars all show up on your transcript
or application. Focus on something that doesn’t show up anywhere
else, something that reveals you in a way that no application form ever
will. In particular, focus on your response, your reaction, your growth,
your change. Don’t tell about the part-time job; tell about its
impact on you. Your experiences may not be unusual or even interesting,
but your response to them is you. In other words, you have the major role
in this drama.
Picking Your Topic
On the face of it, this is a simple task, since the topic is you, but
in reality, it's quite difficult, because how well you make the choice
means the difference between an interesting or boring piece of writing.
And make no mistake, the college entrance essay must be interesting to
be effective.
Techniques for Picking a Topic:
Decide
on a slant or a focus. You can't tell everything about yourself,
so you need a container in which to put certain selected life experiences,
events, triumphs and failures. This container or slant by its very nature
both limits and includes. So how do you come up with an effective focus
or container for the personal statement?
Think of your slant as a buddy or a helper: By this I mean a device that
helps you select what to write and at the same time provides you with
an overall strategy of organization. This buddy travels throughout the
essay whispering in your ear, "Include this, forget about that,"
sometimes in the background and sometimes out in the open.
· Example: Remember the blue Chevy Nova in the Berkeley essay.
That's a good example of a buddy, focus or container. The student used
the Nova as a device to say things about himself, reveal things about
his character, showcase his talents, and indirectly reveal his values.
You can read that essay again: It's located under sample essay at: http://www.essayplus.com/Essay_Samples.htm
So what? How is all this going to help you write an effective statement?
Well, how about this. Look at your own life. Are there slants, buddies
or containers in it that you could use to organize and drive the selection
of events for your composition? Hobbies, interests, an interesting relative,
household chores both good and bad, a person you like, or better still
someone you avoid, the family pet, are all examples of buddies, slants
or containers.
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