How do I know if my Common App personal essay is any good?
What a tricky question.
After all, essays are an art form.
Each person’s experience of them are filtered through the lens of their own perspectives and biases.
It remains true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, who, in this case, is ultimately your admissions reader.
However, there are tell-tale signs of what usually works in a college personal essay, and I have detailed a few of those indicators below to help you along the writing process.
Now, without further ado, here are 4 indictors your college essay is headed in the right direction.
1. You’ve written multiple drafts
Assessing the quality of your essay by the number of drafts you have written is a crude evaluation.
Some students can write a bang out essay all in one go, or in just two or three drafts. But in many cases, telling a meaningful, appropriate, well-crafted story takes time and multiple iterations.
Rarely do students strike gold on the first or second try. Even established authors rely on crappy first drafts to eventually arrive at a crisply-written piece.
If you find that you have not fully probed the wells of your life stories, and have more than one week before the application deadline, I recommend doing some additional digging. Who knows. You might uncover gems that take your essay to the next level.
2. Meaningful character growth
You may be familiar with the ingredients of a story: there’s plot, theme, character, setting, and conflict. Most stories revolve around a protagonist—the hero—who must overcome an obstacle before coming out the other end, changed. This change is of utmost importance.
Sure, slaying dragons or conquering kingdoms add spice to a narrative, but it’s really how a character grows that makes a story resonate with a wide audience, because struggle and the change it produces are universal.
While your major essay does not have to take the form of a story per say, I find that most impactful essays include a character arc—a clear distinction between who the student was and who the student is. This makes for a dynamic personal statement that illustrates qualities like emotional maturity and self-awareness.
3. Tasty, descriptive language
Once you figure out the essay’s topic and structure, remember to edit the prose. Add color to your language and trim out unneeded words. Use descriptive language that helps readers step into your shoes, to see what you saw and feel what you felt. Where possible, show rather than tell.
4. Spotless grammar
Grammatical errors can make the wrong first impression, fast. Though they are innocent mistakes and some admissions officers overlook them, you may encounter a reader who is less forgiving. It’s best to cover your bases as much as possible.
Of course, proofreading can be hard work.
Remember to ask a teacher or parent with excellent grammar to read over every essay you submit. We can also be of service.
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If you are still unclear of what direction to take your essay, we offer programs to help students tell their best stories. Fill out an application to get started.