Summer Series: College Essay Writing Tip #1

Written by Lily McIntyre

Hey everyone! I hope you’ve all been staying well and are taking good care of yourselves. For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be starting a series of essay-writing tips that may help you as you navigate the college essay/application process. Keep reading for the first tip, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for the next edition of this series!

Your story should help, not hurt you: If you’re to get anything out of this post, I hope it’s this: Don’t let your story hold you back in your essay. You might have a really interesting story, but it might be too specific and limit you from talking about everything you want to in a coherent way. If this applies to you, maybe think of a general metaphor that you can weave mini-stories into instead. For my own college essay, I talked about my favorite word game, Bananagrams. I exhibited my personal growth by starting off with a scene from when I was a kid playing Bananagrams in which I traded in my hard letters like Q and X in for easier ones to make words with. I related this story to parts of my life in which I took the easy way out and shied away from challenges. Later in the essay, I gave examples from when I grew older that showed my rising up to challenges and facing my fears. Finally, I tied it all together by discussing a game of Bananagrams in the present day where I didn’t trade in my letters and made creative words with the more difficult letters I already had.

As someone who was going through this process a couple of years ago, I understand how difficult writing your essay can be. Remember to take care of yourselves and prioritize you ​throughout this process!