leocan24

[leocan24]

My Essense Object

Ever since the first time my parents told me I couldn’t go somewhere, whether it was because they didn’t have the time to bring me, or because they didn’t want me to go, I have craved independence. After getting my driver’s license, I felt a little bit of this independence, but it wasn’t until I was blessed with my car that I truly felt what being independent meant. I chose this specific image of my car, due to it being the first one I took of it. The headlights were horrendous, the wheels were caked in brake dust, and the body definitely needed a good wash. Fixing all of these issues made me realize just how challenging taking care of a car really is, but it allowed me to grow so much as a person. Beyond taking me to my destinations, I’ve created so many memories with my friends while driving, and I cannot wait to make more.

-leocan24

[leocan24]

Where to go and How to get there

I think all high school students in the modern age have had the same experience about the college admissions process, especially during the early action stages of admissions: Worrying about your common app information, pushing all activities aside to focus on your application, and most of all, stressing about if your college essay is suitable for the school you’re applying to.

Well not to worry, I’m here to help! After reading through countless college admissions articles written by experts, I’ve pulled together information that can really benefit you! 

One of the first things I had found when researching the college essay process, was on what colleges to actually apply to! Many people with good grades often push to apply for Ivy League Universities. However, more and more studies are beginning to show that attending an Ivy League isn’t as beneficial as one would think. Many think that attending an Ivy League can provide a drastically better education than a standard state university, an example being UPenn or PennState. However, economic researchers Alan Krueger and Stacy Dale sought to find whether attending an Ivy League School was preferable to attending a state or public university. When comparing those who were accepted into both an ivy league school and a state university, they found that there was no difference in the amount of success a person achieved when at an ivy league school rather than a state university. (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/10/10/getting-in-ivy-league-college-admissions) Not only does this show that attending an Ivy League school doesn’t mean you attain more success, but it also shows that by attending a more expensive Ivy League school, you could be putting yourself in a possibly worse situation, due to increased debt.

The college essay itself is a confusing piece to begin writing. Unlike many other pieces of writing, the prompt that should be the basis of your essay, is very misleading, almost criminally misleading at that! Typical college essay prompts ask for a certain event, or individual that had an impact on the applicant's life, however, admissions counselors don’t want to hear about the person or event, but rather more about how you’ve grown from that impact. As James Warren, Assistant Professor of English at the University of Texas puts it, “Students [need] to walk a fine line in answering the prompt accurately, while conveying as much information about themselves as possible” (https://www.jstor.org/stable/43694176) This, although challenging, is indeed possible. Most people tend to write about a recent experience or how that experience will play into who they will become in the future, and that’s a great way to show you have grown in your time during highschool, rather than just staying the same throughout the recent portion of your high school career. I personally wrote about my experience during my time at an educational summer camp hosted by multiple railroad organizations. This camp really helped me develop my interests in the industry, and more importantly, helped me to become more confident in myself and my interests. Moments such as these, or individuals that have helped you feel this way, are things to write about in your college essay. Not only do they show that you have grown in your highschool career, but they also show that you can help to build a welcoming environment throughout campus, and beyond! Beyond the college essay, many institutions request a supplemental essay. These supplements can vary on what they're asking for, but many of them ask about how applicants would bring diversity to their campus. It’s a tough question to answer for a great majority of people, no doubt, but it can be easier to write about than you might think! 

When people see the word, “diversity” they immediately think about who they are racially and ethnically, but many colleges aren’t looking for just diversity of race, but a unique and welcoming experience for those on campus. Anyone who can provide something like this can certainly help to bring diversity to campus. To further stress this, authors Anna Kirkland and Ben Hansen have written in their article, “Race and Class in the College Admissions Essay”, that the Michigan diversity essay prompts and supporting media perfectly reflects this, “It does not mention race at all” (https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-05914-004) Speaking on your own personal traits, or perhaps even activities or interests that might not be extremely popular, could be a great start to writing your diversity supplemental. It can show colleges how you are willing to build a community or help others experience new things throughout their time in college.

Hopefully all this information was of great help to you, and has made the process of writing essays for college to be a little less daunting! If you have any questions, feel free to reply!

-leocan24