Student Question #8: How Personal Is Too Personal?

Student Question

"How personal is too personal? How much information is too much information?"

My Response

When you're thinking about how much information to reveal, imagine yourself sitting down at an admission interview. The interviewer smiles and tells you to relax. Then he asks you your favorite books and secretly judges you if you answer "Heart of Darkness" (Liar, liar!). But the interviewer is still smiling, so you don't know he's beaming judgment rays at you. Your take a deep breath, compose yourself, and then answer his questions.

If this interviewer asks you an open-ended question about your experiences, would you talk to him about drugs, sex, violence, mayhem, and lawlessness? Probably not. I'm not saying you'd never have a good reason to discuss these experiences. (I am too lawyerly to pronounce such a broad edict.) But in most cases, you have little to gain from a confession that runs a high risk of having the reader judge you negatively. In an interview, at least you can clear up misunderstandings and read the other person's body language. But in an essay, which is really just a written interview, you don't get this chance. That's why essays (and emails, texts, and any other written communication) require more caution than interviews (and any oral communication).

If you want to write about something controversial, then try to figure out why that topic attracts you. If you can reveal the same aspect of your personality with a safer topic, then why risk putting off the reader with a controversial topic? A controversial topic can be a grimy window that obscures the reader's view of you. Before he can even see you, the dirt absorbs his attention. My general rule is that your topic should "do no harm" to your goal of illuminating your personality.

Final Thoughts

If you thought today's post was helpful, please share it with your friends. Good luck writing!

Jon

Jon Perkins holds a B.A. in English from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He helps students with their college, law school, and medical school applications.

Student Question #7: How Do I Write in a Casual Voice?

Student Question

"I've read I should use a casual voice. How do I avoid not sounding formal?"

My Response

I like your question because it makes me think about what voice is, exactly. If someone asked me what "sounding formal" means, I would think of a sentence like this:

"Formal tone might be achieved through the use of passive voice, long sentences, and extra adjectives and adjectives, a point that can be illustrated by extending this tremendously tedious sentence."

So if you want to make your tone more casual, consider these ideas:

1. Use active voice. "I hit the ball," not "The ball was hit by me."

2. Use sentence variety. If you have a bunch of long sentences, throw in a short one. If you have a bunch of sentences with commas, throw in some sentences without commas.

3. Rely on verbs, not adjectives and adverbs. If you choose the right verb, you can cut down the clutter of those wonderfully superfluous adjectives and adverbs (yes, like wonderfully and superfluous).

If you follow these 3 suggestions, your writing will take on a more casual tone. But the real challenge might be less about style and more about substance. These essays are hard because they require you to reveal your personality in 500 words or fewer.

Before you worry too much about tone, make sure you're writing about a topic that will leave the reader thinking, "Hey, I really like this kid!" If you keep this big-picture goal in mind, and if you use active voice, sentence variety, and active verbs, I think you'll find the right tone.

Final Thoughts

If you thought today's post was helpful, please share it with your friends. Good luck writing!

Jon

Jonathan M. Perkins Private College Counselor 424 646 3828 | jon@essaywise.com

Student Question #6: Is a Satirical Essay Worth the Risk?

Student Question

"I'm thinking about writing a satirical essay poking fun at the typical applicant who exaggerates his accomplishments. Is it worth the risk?"

My Response

Is your satire essay for an application to a reach, target, or safety school?

If you're considering satire for a target or safety school, then I'm not sure the risk is worth the potential reward. Satire/sarcasm sometime falls flat in person, and it's even dicier in writing. Will the writer know if you're making fun of yourself or will she just think you're full of yourself? When you're applying to a school where your chances are already good, you might not want to take that chance of offending the reader.

At the same time, if you're applying to a long-shot school (like any Ivy, or any school where your SAT/ACT <25th percentile), then you don't have much to lose. Maybe you gamble.

You can have different strategies for different groups of schools - take advantage of the fact the Common App lets you create different versions of your app.

Final Thoughts

If you thought today's post was helpful, please share it with your friends. Good luck writing!

Jon

Jon Perkins holds a B.A. in English from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He helps students with their college, law school, and medical school applications.

Student Question #5: Will the Essay Reader Understand My Puns and Literary References?

Student Question

"How smart is the essay reader? If I include some puns and literary references, will they go over the reader's head?"

My Response

Your essay idea sounds clever, but it actually might be too clever. If your essay has 10 of these literary references and puns, and if the reader needs to get all of them for your essay to work, then you might be asking too much. What percentage of readers will get all of them? It's like swinging for a home run. Though the essay readers might all be smart and experienced, that's not to say they have the background they might need to fully appreciate your essay.

My main question for you, however, is whether this type of essay is the most effective way to reveal your personality. If you write this essay well, your wordplay and references will show the reader you're smart - but is that the main thing you want to communicate? From what you've written, it seems like the real question is how to convey your humor/creativity. Maybe exploring a smaller subset of these references/puns would be a better way to do that.

How did you think of these references/puns? Why did you think of them? How does that thought process make you different from other people? How does this wordplay reveal a different perspective/philosophy on life? You might add depth to your essay by making your puns/references do double work: showing you're clever and showing how you're creative/funny.

Final Thoughts

If you thought today's post was helpful, please share it with your friends. Good luck writing!

Jon

Jon Perkins holds a B.A. in English from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He helps students with their college, law school, and medical school applications.

Student Question #4: Should I Write the Essay All at Once?

Student Question

"How should I write the essay? Is it better to write it all at once and then edit or to write and edit as I go?"

My Response

When I work with my students, I ask them to write the entire first draft all at once without editing as they go. Because later drafts will probably change, I don't want them to waste time editing. That's like polishing a car on the dealer's lot before you've decided to buy it.

After the first draft is done, I provide comments, and the students revise. Usually, in that first week after finishing the first draft, we go through 3 drafts. Then I ask the students to set the essay aside for a couple days and not even look at it. Setting the essay aside provides the distance to be able to identify parts of the essay that aren't working. By the end of the second week, we can finish the essay up. I suppose we could spend 2 months working on the essay, but at a certain point, we have to be practical and accept the law of diminishing returns. Besides, there are lots of other essays to write!

So, to summarize: 1. Find someone you trust to give you feedback. That's a critical part of the writing process. 2. When you're writing the first draft, don't stop to edit. 3. After you get feedback, do a few drafts in quick succession. 4. Allow enough time to set the essay aside for a few days so you can get enough distance to look at the essay with fresh eyes. 5. If you've put in the work and are happy with your essay, don't be afraid to say it's done and move on to the next one.

Final Thoughts

If you thought today's post was helpful, please share it with your friends. Good luck writing!

Jon

Jon Perkins holds a B.A. in English from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He helps students with their college, law school, and medical school applications.