About DC punk legends Fugazi.

As someone who has worked in this space, I'd like to call attention to the fact that the Brown Table essay everyone loves so much is on the "forbidden topics" or "overdone topics" lists you see a lot of -- death of a grandparent.

This is proof that there is no such thing as a list of topics you can't write about. Just wanted to point that out.

Agree with the PP who cautions against applicants using that essay as a model though. It is a great essay, coming from a young writer anyway, but when I read it I want a lot more insight into the writer and who they are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Google: NYT brown table essay

Tears.

Bravo to the author for getting into Harvard (five years ago) and getting an essay published in the NYT.

However, I was an admissions reader and wouldn't recommend this essay as a model for current applicants. From that point of view, this essay is a missed opportunity for the writer to give more details about herself, her qualities, her aspirations. It succeeds in telling the reader that she is low-income, and that she is trying to write in an elevated way ("a tedious mixture of wood glue, brute force and pure spite"? Tedious?).

I think using a person, place, object or personal belonging as a central grounding force for an essay can work.....

Something i bookmarked from r/A2C:

A great essay can definitely push set someone apart even if they’re an average good applicant. Best example: myself.

I hung around the smart crowd, but I was the dumbest one in the group. People talked behind my back because they thought I leeched and cheated off my friends. My own friends told me to my face that I would get most likely get rejected. Yeah, that one stung.

I was barely ranked top 10% of my class of ~450. Perfect GPA. Took the hardest course load. Never ranked first or got any academic awards.

I tried taking the ACT four times...got a (in my opinion and my opinion only) VERY mediocre score of 30 every time. Didn’t send a score in the end.

Recommendation teachers probably gave me a 7/10 recommendation at most.

I did no research. I did no internships. I didn’t even hold a job or anything.

Based on my general profile, I’m a qualified applicant but quite far from an exceptional applicant. No hook. If it matters, I am also Asian.

If anything, I had a mini spike in music. Specifically vocal performance, as I went to honor choirs, won some local (never regional, state or National) music recognition awards, and a lot of my leadership came from music. I’m lucky that I excelled at my musical ECs, but many other applicants w/ my profile did soooo much more.

My Common App was one of the best things I have ever written. Everyone who read it said something along the lines of “if this essay became a human, it would be you.” My friend group actually did a test in which we presented our essays anonymously to each other and tried to guess who was who. Everyone knew mine was me. On a scale from one to ten of how well do I write, I’m definitely a solid 6.5. The overall theme of my essay was escaping mediocrity. Simple but it’s how I conveyed the importance of breaking from my living constraints.

I poured my identity into those 650 words, so if AOs had rejected me, I knew that I definitely wasn’t a good fit for the school in the end.

Additionally, my supplemental definitely also sealed the deal. I’m studying human organizational development, so my supp. was about how I recognized a problem in a group dynamic and how I applied leadership to solve it. The school within the university is also highly ranked in education, so I was lucky that it was a personal academic pursuit. I intensively researched and analyzed what type of student AOs would want studying HOD. I became that answer, wrote about it, and sent it off.

Having said all that, I’m attending a T20 in the fall. I met some people on introductory Zooms, and we’re nosy little brats and asked each other what we thought got us in. Out of the dozens of people I talk to, I have been the only one with my smart-but-mediocre profile. I’m talking nationally ranked debaters, national leadership positions in DECA, and titles I can only dream of reaching. I made it through with guys like those in the applicant pool, which means that AOs definitely go through the essays and consider them heavily.

Disclaimer; i don’t work In admissions at all. These are just my experiences. From what I’ve read from stalking on here and various admissions articles, the stats are the checkpoints. Generally, an applicant has to meet some benchmarks to reach the final admissions table. The essays complete the picture, especially at prestigious institutions that do true holistic reviews. A student who is a guaranteed reject because of their stats might not make it through solely based on essays; HOWEVER, there are plenty of instances when a student is accepted because of their accomplishments (like the guy who programmed the live COVID tracker for free and didn’t monetize it).

My advice to you: craft an application that highlights the best parts of you. If the essays and resume sent in came to life as a human, you should be standing right in front of the admissions table. Not the person you think AOs want or anything. Just you.

(Side note; I live the most basic-ass life ever. Literally in pre-dom white suburbs. No dead relatives. Wholesome life. When I saw no hooks, I mean I might as well have negative hooks if hooks could be quantified.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It truly doesn't matter if it's an unusual or a common topic. What matters is what it allows the student to reveal to the admissions officers.

+1 OP, you need to completely change your approach. Step back and let the kid be authentic. "Unusual" topics are cliche.

I don't think you know what cliché means.

Anonymous wrote:Google: NYT brown table essay

Tears.

Bravo to the author for getting into Harvard (five years ago) and getting an essay published in the NYT.

However, I was an admissions reader and wouldn't recommend this essay as a model for current applicants. From that point of view, this essay is a missed opportunity for the writer to give more details about herself, her qualities, her aspirations. It succeeds in telling the reader that she is low-income, and that she is trying to write in an elevated way ("a tedious mixture of wood glue, brute force and pure spite"? Tedious?).

Does not need to be unusual. My DS wrote about his mundane part time job.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It truly doesn't matter if it's an unusual or a common topic. What matters is what it allows the student to reveal to the admissions officers.

+1 OP, you need to completely change your approach. Step back and let the kid be authentic. "Unusual" topics are cliche.

+2 Stretching for something unusual isn't necessary but it should be something personal. DD's was about her notebook where she draws and writes stories and then used that as a jumping off point to talk about her passion for her intended major/career (which isn't art or writing).

Anonymous wrote:It truly doesn't matter if it's an unusual or a common topic. What matters is what it allows the student to reveal to the admissions officers.

+1 OP, you need to completely change your approach. Step back and let the kid be authentic. "Unusual" topics are cliche.

Google: NYT brown table essay

Tears.

The College Essay guy has lots of examples and tips

https://www.collegeessayguy.com/personal-statement

It truly doesn't matter if it's an unusual or a common topic. What matters is what it allows the student to reveal to the admissions officers.

Serious question: how is this helpful?

My friend wrote about how she escaped her country at a refugee at age 12 when a war started in her country.

Curious for examples.

And what online resources are good for personal statement writing?