Reply to PSA: Don't write your essay about building huts in Africa!

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Doubt that any essay is going to be make or break for selective college admissions if you are "standard suburban white kid" - even a wealthy one.

They're not going to notice anything that's not a URM "overcoming tremendous obstacles" essay.[/quote]

It doesn't make or break unless you write one of the top 50 essays they read that season (that maybe goes on the website as an example of a great admitted student essay).  My own view is you just want the essay to be different such that the AO at least wants to read it because it is a topic that nobody else is writing about.  You then weave in your life story in a nuanced way...but you never write directly about an activity, sport, etc. [/quote]

I agree completely. It’s about being authentic. Granted it’s a lifetime ago (and acceptance is way harder now), but I went to Williams and wrote my essay in part about a pay to play experience - digging fossils in South Dakota. The broader context was how desperate I’d been to try to fit in / how hard being a nerd in high school can be, and when I ditched that and went on a trip with adults who still liked fossils it made it easier to be authentic in other areas of my life. My guidance counselors only comment on my essay was that I meant million instead of thousand “because there weren’t any ice ages 26,000 years ago” so I ignored her. I write often for work, but my essay for Williams is still probably the piece I put the most work and heart and soul into. I remain proud of what I wrote though recognize “pay to play” can be off putting. [/quote]

My rising junior is literally in Africa right now building huts. She is having the WORST time. [/quote]
Ha! Ha! That was me in the 80’s when my mom forced me to dig latrines in Mexico. She was one of the early tiger moms. My essay got me into Stanford though.[/quote]

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