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 [b]building huts[/b]. She is having the WORST time. [/quote]

That’s damn near the only thing they’re capable of building for themselves; why are people helping with that?[/quote]

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