Morgan's Sample Common App College Admissions Essay -- with my commentary Morgan's advice to applicants: "You've got to be vulnerable, or it's not going to work." Believe In Yourself Harder Your lowest point can be your turning point. I learned this in 10th grade when I told my mom about my reading problems. She didn’t believe me. Wasn’t she supposed to be my biggest supporter? I was scared. Were my feelings accurate or imagined? Was I just “a slow reader” or was it something else? Either way, I could not go on like this. I knew I hadn’t performed well on my first test of the year. When the grade was posted as 63, I was speechless, painfully holding back tears. My parents seemed furious (in reality, probably just confused). “Did you study?” I thought they’d be understanding, but “D” was a new game. I knew I’d have to work even harder to believe the affirmations I repeated daily, “I am smart, I am capable,” – reminders that my intelligence wasn’t determined by grades alone. Raised to have agency, one of my greatest fears is turning into someone who looks for pity or sees myself as a victim. To avoid this, I’d study 10+ hours for one test– unsustainable. Would overdrive improve my performance? My grades slipped; my anxiety climbed. As my education and future depended on my actions, I admitted to my advisor there was a problem, advocating for her to speak to my mom. This paid off: we learned I wasn’t “just” a slow reader, but there was a bigger problem that I received help to address. Aware there would be a day when I’d have to stand up for myself, I never imagined it would be at home. My parents had always encouraged positive self-talk, emphasizing the importance of feeling confident in our skin and having pride in our heritage. They taught us always to give 100% effort, never quit, and find paths forward. These beliefs were pivotal to the development of my self-esteem, my crown jewel. Now, when seemingly no one validated my perspective, I was forced to Continue Reading …
Integrity
Avoid these 5 college essay mistakes!
To an essay coach (me) who has helped hundreds of teens write their best college essays, there is nothing new under the sun. Even the sun. Especially when it comes to paralysing fear tactics delivered via expert headlines! Don't worry: the college essay process is NOT just a Greco-Roman road full of ankle-annihilating potholes and partially-discernible SAT-word mosaics. So I'm cautioning YOU against these top five college essay mistakes I've seen applicants make. Avoiding these five college essay mistakes will save you time, sweat, tears and curse words as you write-- or delay writing-- your admissions essay content. To write your absolute best college essay, or even mediocre-but-passable college essay, avoid these 5 things: Spending all your time reading 'what to avoid in your college essay' lists Hyper-focusing or procrastinating Modeling your essay too closely after someone else's Missing out on other life and growth experiences Not trusting that who you are is enough Let's break down these common mistakes. Don't: 1) Spend all your time reading avoid lists Students sometimes show up at sessions like bullet points with legs, "What not to do" items they've absorbed from the internet, counsellors, teachers. Yes, there is good advice in those lists. Lots I agree with. But no one ever got great at something from reading all the ways NOT to do it. Yes, limit your scope; yes, proofread carefully, yes, don't use invective or rage against the machine. But also, write. Keep writing. Experiment. Discover. Revise. Try again. Use detail. Hook me emotionally. 2) Hyperfocus or procrastinate Like many other coaches, I encourage students to start writing application essays early. You may write a few "practice" drafts or "warm up" drafts (or even "garbage" drafts), like you would for any big "game." And, like most of us, you might want to stall a bit on the stickier parts, or the dread of facing yourself. BUT over focusing on the essay too Continue Reading …
Your college essay should be a work of art
This pep talk is for anyone preparing to write their college essay, at any point in their future: don't keep the bar low. Your college essay should be a work of art because works of art are unforgettable. The work of art comes somewhere deep from within the artist. It is influenced by the matrix in which that artist exists. No two people create the *same* work of art, though themes may be shared. Even professional copyists have revelatory imperfections. Your college essay --humble, precise, maybe even funny-- will be a work of art, too. Fresh, honest, imagistic. With ingredients that do not appear in the same way elsewhere. With a turning point from which there is no turning away, or back. So don't go bullshitting yourself. Start priming your materials, now. Art is not lofty, yo! It's not a lofty goal. Art is for everyone, in every culture, and every life situation. For many of us, art is what gets us through the day. It defamiliarises reality, and offers new light. Through making art, we gain space from ourselves, and closeness to ourselves. We love helping you find the art in your college essay, and making it a work of art. Seed Your Draft We don't recommend beginning to work on your actual formal essay draft too early. What results might be belaboured, and aspects of ourselves still need to mature. But we do recommend seeding your field. Take notes in the field (yourself)-- journal, voice memo, sketching. Notice things about yourself and the environments you spend time in. What makes your body-or mind-- feel most alive, or most not alive? What catches and keeps your attention? When do you feel most you, or most in touch with life at large? What stories do you schlepp around with you, what themes? What is the thing you think you're not supposed to say...but that you secretly know has weight, meaning? Notice, jot, notice, jot. Whisper. Scream. I'm not an artist. Sorry, that's bullshit! We'll see you in the Continue Reading …
To write your college essay, Stay Open
Practice your ability to stay open, and the writing will come In the face of daunting things, like a college essay, it's easy to close up and shut down. But it’s spring now: stay open. If you think writing a college essay is hard, I also help people who are having babies. Now that's a bit hard. And one of the hardest things to do is the necessary thing: to stay open, and open more. Babies require it to emerge. Your writing does too. It’s spring and this is just what creatures do. Rabbits make more rabbits. Branches make buds. Buds crank petals apart and drink up sunshine. The sky seems bigger for longer. Baby turtles linger on their warmed rocks. Teenagers linger on the warmed street. You’re a creature; you can act like one. Continue Reading …
Writing About Your Weaknesses in Your College Essay
A piece in which I say YES YOU CAN and tell you a story about my sour relationship with math. Will My Weaknesses Work Against Me in My College Essay? I had a parent reach out and ask if their kid was hurting their chances in their college essay by writing so articulately about their weaknesses. The answer is: no. Not if other ingredients are there. To be articulate about your weaknesses, to reckon with them honestly and without self-pity, to show transformation in your character (as this student did), these themselves are strengths. (And also commendable qualities in grown-up people: I know many who still can’t do this without elaborate defenses, and yelping ego). To also write well in the process, and think methodically? Well, these are prized traits in college admissions essays. So I want to take a minute to experiment with writing about one of my weaknesses--starts with an M, ends with an H, and has AT in the middle. 4 letters. Guess it yet? Continue Reading …
Frog and Toad Write Your College Essay
Frog and Toad Write Your College Essay In one episode of the children’s book series Frog and Toad, Toad is concerned. His friend Frog has gone alone to their favorite rock, unannounced. Frog and Toad announce everything to one another, so, yes, this is a little strange. Toad does what any anthropomorphizing amphibian would do in a vacuum of information: he starts making stuff up. Does Frog not like him anymore? Is Frog mad? Does Frog think Toad is not a good friend? Did the flies they had at their last dinner party suck? (They are not true to their species: they eat sandwiches, cookies and ice tea). Did Toad do something wrong? Continue Reading …