How to Write College Essays That Actually Stand Out

Webinar Transcription

2026-7-13-How to Write College Essays That Actually Stand Out

Lydia: [00:00:00] Hello, hello, hello everyone. My name is Lydia Hollon. I am your moder- moderator for tonight. Welcome to How to Write the College Essay… “How to Write College Essays That Actually Stand Out.” Uh, as I said, I’m gonna be your moderator for tonight. I’m also a senior advisor here at College Advisor, and have been with the company for about four years now.

Lydia: And in addition to advising students, I’m also an education consultant and an alum of NYU. To orient everyone with the webinar timing for tonight, we’re going to start off with a presentation, then answer your questions in a live Q&A. On the sidebar, you can download our slides and start submitting questions in the Q&A tab.

Lydia: We’ll also be recording this session so that [00:01:00] you can review the webinar again later. Now, let’s meet our presenter

Chi: Hi, everyone. My name’s Chi. I’m going to be presenting all about the college application essay tonight. Um, similar to Lydia, I have been with College Advisor just actually a little over five years.

Chi: I’m also a senior advisor advising a number of different students to a large number of different universities. And yeah, officially welcome everyone.

Lydia: Fantastic. So let’s go ahead and move into a quick poll. So we’d love to know just what grade you all are in. While I give you all a chance to answer that question, Chi, I would love to know what did you write about for your personal statement when you were applying to college?

Chi: Yeah, great question. Um, so my essay, albeit maybe not my best written work of art compared to how- … I can write today, it was deeply personal to me because, [00:02:00] uh… So when I initially moved to the US, it was when I was at a really young age. And so I based my Common App essay around kind of my experience being an immigrant, really kind of being the first of my family to apply to college, uh, i- in the US.

Chi: And so, so much of that reflection of kind of a story of resilience and growing to be a lot more independent, uh, maybe faster than I even expected in that sense. And so different examples of even, you know, one of my high school years of how I was able to, right, like, you know, learn differently compared to my peers.

Chi: So much of that focus on, right, just, you know, also reflecting on the pride, uh, that it took to, you know, be where I am today as well.

Lydia: Awesome. So looking at our responses, we have 2% in eighth grade, 2% in ninth, 5% in 10th grade, 27% in 11th grade, 59% in 12th

Lydia: grade, and 6% in that other or [00:03:00] parent category. So in total, we have about 85% of our audience tonight in that 11th or 12th grade category, which makes sense because now is a great time if you’re a junior or a senior, summer break, for you to get started with writing or thinking about what college essay topic you wanna go with and how to make it stand out for college admissions.

Lydia: So, so glad to have you all here tonight, and I will pass it back over to Chi to get us started with the presentation.

Chi: Thanks, Lydia. So excited to get everybody welcomed in to talk all about the college application essay process. Um, one thing I did wanna start off by mentioning is that, um, these slides will be shared with you all.

Chi: So please don’t feel that you have to, you know, jot everything down as we’re moving forward here. But do know that if you have any questions, right, we’ll be answering them at the end. And again, the slide deck will be shared with you all. Um, so to kinda kick us off in terms of the application [00:04:00] essay as a whole, I wanna give some context in terms of where in the overall application process that this typically takes place.

Chi: So as you can see here, usually this will be at the midpoint, right, of when an a- admissions officer will be evaluating your application. They’ll always start with the academic profile. So think, you know, your transcript, any test scores if you submit them. They’ll be taking a look at your activities and honors/awards, and then afterwards how the essentially application that they’ll be seeing it in is.

Chi: They’ll see your personal statement, which is your main Common App essay that you’ll be submitting to most of your schools, as well as supplemental essays as well after the fact. And so that represents any school specific, uh, additional prompts that you might receive from a particular university. Um, and afterwards, right, wrapping up as well with any letters of recommendation that the university might require as well One thing to note, um, in addition to all of this as well, is that I will be mainly discussing the [00:05:00] college essay in the context of the Common App.

Chi: Do know that there’s also different applications as well. A main one is the University of California application. There’s also certain universities that have specific applications, such as Georgetown, MIT. While we won’t necessarily go into the scope of those specific ones, do know that at least the timeline of how, you know, AOs at those particular universities, they’ll still typically follow this, you know, rough outline of how they’ll go about reading your essays.

Chi: So how do, right, or rather where do essays still overall fit within the application? Think of it as an opportunity to share more about yourself, right? So, you know, your personality, your voice, your identity. The main distinguishing factor, like I mentioned from before, right, there’s two different types of essays.

Chi: So the personal statement/the Common App essay, I’m gonna use that term interchangeably here, it’s not necessarily a platform or an opportunity to mention your major, right, what you want to study, your accolades or, or, you know, an essay that’s specific to a school. [00:06:00] This is one where you’re going to be submitting it to a number of different applications.

Chi: So think of it as, you know, sharing about who you are, right? You as a le- learner, you as a leader, you as a person, but not necessarily, you know, thinking about it in the sense of a resume, for example. Your supplemental essays or your school specific essays. Now these are gonna get to be a little bit more specific prompts, a- and typically, those will ask more about your specific experiences or interests as a whole.

Chi: We’ll talk a little bit in deeper detail in the future slides about specific examples, as well as how to approach both of these. But do know, like I mentioned before, right, like overall essays, you can think of them as the opportunity in your applicant profile where, you know, what can I show an admissions officer beyond just, you know, my own academic ability, as well as demonstrate your writing skill, right?

Chi: Your ability to basically share a story about yourself. And as I mentioned before, um, you know, there’s a number of different application platforms that are out there, UC, ApplyTexas, like I [00:07:00] described. Um, so, so do know that the length and the quantity of how much you might be writing will vary depending on how many schools you decide to apply to, as well as where you’re applying to as well So to start going a little bit deeper in terms of the actual writing process and how they might differ, especially for you all that, you know, in junior or senior year if you’re taking AP English Language, right?

Chi: It’s gonna vary a little bit from, you know, traditional academic writing. What I mean by that is think of almost like when you’re reading a nonfiction story or when you’re reading a biography of someone, right? Like, it’s going to be much more reflective and personal. So, you know, when you’re reading a really great story, right, there’s gonna be a lot of imagery.

Chi: It’s going to be much more sort of learning about someone rather than something, and I think that’s a great way of thinking about it. You know, it’s not necessarily gonna sound like a speech, right? You wanna limit, uh, you know, more of that formal phrasing. There’s not gonna be a lot of technical terms, right?

Chi: If you find yourself needing to, you know, articulate [00:08:00] something that’s like a really complex topic, maybe not going to be the best, you know, environment, uh, in terms of like, you know, writing your personal statement. And so when, when I say y- writing without really like, you know, going too many sentences, uh, outside of first person, that’s what I mean by reflective and personal.

Chi: You’re using a lot of I statements, right? You’re saying my, mine. Think of first person writing because, you know, you’re gonna be writing about yourself and not necessarily about someone else or a different topic altogether. The style is narrative, right? And so if you’re familiar with kind of like, you know, writing styles, you’re not, you know, making an argument.

Chi: You’re not trying to necessarily articulate, again, a concept or… It, it’s not an article, right? It’s, it’s very much you’re, you’re sharing a story about yourself, and so whether that’s, you know, a, a moment in time that happened in your life, a lesson that you learned, a challenge that you overcame, you’re not convincing your readers, right?

Chi: You’re not convincing your admissions officers either. But rather you’re sharing a story about something that, you know, one, is, is personal to you, right? And two, hopefully it’s [00:09:00] about a topic that, you know, re- you have a lot of pride in or that you’re really comfortable writing more, uh, so that they can learn about you.

Chi: So like I mentioned, think of it as a memory or a moment about, you know- One of the many experiences that you’ve had throughout your childhood life as well. The writing itself, and then this is what’s tricky, right? The writing itself is not gonna follow a rubric, and so that’s probably the biggest, like, you know, what’s on paper, the tractor, uh, or a contrast, right, from traditional high school writing.

Chi: I know it’s like, you know, it’s easy to fall in the routine of, okay, like, how do I structure this? Like, what guidelines am I following? There really is not a universal template that, like, you know, makes a college essay successful, nor are admissions officers looking for a particular type of essay or type of topic, right?

Chi: What makes this challenging but also much more, right, like, you know, personal is the fact that you’re, you’re just kinda talking about yourself, right? Imagine as if you’re meeting someone new, you get a chance to share about yourself, right, in a conversational setting. Obviously, your writing is not gonna be conversational like that, but it’s not gonna be necessarily [00:10:00] academic in, in that sense as well.

Chi: And so, um, what I would say is, like, you know, take these as your introductory tips as we continue exploring more about the ins and outs of the essay. So again, emphasis here, right, just in terms of the Common App essay prompts. The different application platforms, you’ll see different application prompts as well.

Chi: So again, Coalition App, you see- expect to see some different ones. But what I’m about to share with you tends to be a pretty universal rule of thumb, right? So here you can sort of see on the Common App at least, you get to pick one out of seven different questions. So if you’re not familiar with these before, uh, basically, you know, they haven’t really changed in the last seven, uh, application cycles, which is great ’cause, you know, if you’ve gotten exposure to these from an older sibling or something, right, nothing really has, you know, differed that much in terms of the questions.

Chi: But just so you know, um, for, for the Common App itself, you will be picking one out of these seven prompts to write about, right? And, and I’ll talk a little bit more about specifically the importance of these questions and how to necessarily approach [00:11:00] them, um- In the next slide here. So if you’re curious about how to necessarily format, right, like, you know, your essay or like what’s, what do you prioritize?

Chi: How do I emphasize the right piece of my writing? Well, what you see here, uh, sort of highlighted in green, and I apologize if this might not be the most, you know, color, uh, friendly, right, description. But just so you know, the last part of the prompt is really what’s most important to focus on. So, so essentially, aside from, you know, prompt number seven, which we’ll touch on in just a bit, the first six prompts, right, that last section or sentence, right, ha- what have you, that’s really what you want to emphasize your response towards because that’s how you’re gonna be able to reflect the most about how you’ve grown or why your experience was important.

Chi: So if we were to take question four, for example, right? It’s not necessarily writing your essay solely about what someone did for you, but it’s going to be about how that sense of gratitude affected or motivated who you’ve become today, right? If you talk about prompt number [00:12:00] five, it’s not solely gonna be, you know, writing the essay on the event or the realization, but rather, you know, what was that personal growth that you experienced, right?

Chi: What was sort of that new sense of self? How did it impact you, right? So always think about it as in even with supplemental essays, what is sort of the part where you get to talk about yourself and not necessarily just the example that the question is asking you about. I mean, as you can see here, right, a lot of these are multiple sentences, and that’s part of the intent, right?

Chi: They want you, you know, to, to be able to write a little bit about the example or your experience, but so much of what admissions officers are looking for is what you see highlighted in green slash what is the last sentence or question, um, you know, within the prompt itself. So I mentioned as well, like, you know, prompt number seven, which, uh, essentially is an open-ended question.

Chi: So what it allows you to do is you’re not necessarily, uh, by the way, right, like copy and pasting a new question in there, but essentially you’re kind of implying to the admissions officer and saying, “Hey, you know, my [00:13:00] essay in its final draft, it’s not necessarily responding to just one prompt that exists there.”

Chi: Maybe, you know, your essay could kind of be in between different questions. Maybe you’re kind of writing on your own sort of topic, right, that’s not necessarily answering a particular direction. This is where you can have prompt number seven, the open-ended one, right, as, as your choice to click. So again, on the Common App, you eventually click one prompt, and then you, you know, copy and paste your essay in, right?

Chi: Um, what this essay question isn’t, is not like, you know, you’re, you’re not necessarily deviating from a traditional essay, right? So like, you know, again, it’s not like free roam, oh, I can just put in a scientific paper, or I can just do like a, you know, a creative writing poem, for example, right? Slam poetry.

Chi: You’re still writing an essay, but rather you’re just interpreting it as if my essay doesn’t necessarily, right, like, you know, fit into the other six prompts. So again, please don’t mistake this, right, as a chance to just kind of write anything else. Um, you will still have to like, you know, it’s the same [00:14:00] standard, right?

Chi: Like, you know, you’re, you, you need your theme, you need a message, right? You still need to create a cohesive story, um, from what you’re writing about. And, and part of, right, like, you know, at the end of the day, what I do wanna say is that from, when an admissions officer is evaluating your essay, it’s not going…

Chi: What I mean by it’s not gonna be a rubric, right, is that like, you know, I think oftentimes we might be overthinking, hey, like, you know, is this essay addressing all parts of the prompt, right? Think about those prompts that you see here. Those are your guiding tools, right? That’s just to show you what do you emphasize as you’re thinking about the structure of your essay.

Chi: They’re not going to be evaluating you solely on have you fully answered just this specific prompt. Or like, you know, if it’s a still a really great essay that’s answering like, you know, again, multiple essay questions, right? It’s not gonna be, oh, but you didn’t just only answer number five, right? They’re gonna be focusing more on, you know, your overall essay response rather than just like, you know, again, a rubric style to the question itself.[00:15:00]

Chi: So in structuring what your personal statement will look like, again, think of the, the overarching theme of what we’ve been discussing, right? It’s, it’s a form of a narrative here. Um, I like to break it down in sort of three different components, right? So the first piece is your background. Really, this is kind of gonna be the smallest part of your essay, right?

Chi: I think oftentimes a mistake that I often see my own students as well is that, you know, your whole essay is just a background, right? And there’s actually nothing about the growth or the future. This is the s- you know, it, it should be no more really than maybe like a third or a half of what your essay’s length will be.

Chi: This is where you’re introducing, okay, what is the theme or what is the experience that you’re talking about, right? So let’s say, you know, it might be an experience where you really got to learn a lot about, you know, expanding your own perspective, or it was a challenge, right? Or it was, you know, that moment of gratitude that someone helped support you.

Chi: This is that chance to kind of share that experience but not make it your whole essay, essentially. What you really want to focus on [00:16:00] is the growth aspect, right? So two questions, if it’s helpful, that I think are pretty universal, right, even when you’re answering a more specific prompt from, from one of the Common App questions is, what did you learn from this experience and what changed about yourself, right?

Chi: I think oftentimes, you know, we’re not used to writing about ourselves. We, we think about, like, you know, the world through the people we impact, or we think about, right, the connections that we have with other people or, you know, maybe it’s something that’s happening to something else, right? But really what you wanna try your best to focus on is, you know, how did you personally, you know, change or grow or develop?

Chi: And it doesn’t always have to be positive, right? But, you know, it, it’s really just what your story is focusing on. You wanna make sure that the perspective is just focused on you, right? Because it’s so much about, again, the, the first person, I, my statements. Um, uh, as, as it says here, right? Like, think about how you view the world differently now after you got a chance to, you know, have a great experience, right?

Chi: Learning about, uh, a topic or something. [00:17:00] Um, and, and what’s really important, kind of going back as well to the difference between this and academic style writing is the conclusion to an a- a more like, you know, paper you write in English class or even your social studies class, right? Those typically summarize what you’ve already written in the essay as kind of like a, you know, putting a bow on, on the present, right?

Chi: Like, you know, kind of writing, uh, and, you know, reviewing what you’ve discussed here. This style of essay, rather than looking back at the past, you wanna finish with thinking about how you’re going to reflect and carry these skills or the message that you’re sharing into the future. So it’s not– now it’s not just thinking about, okay, what did you change or what did you learn, but why was this important for you, right?

Chi: Like, you know, how will you continue demonstrating or thinking about, right, like, you know, these values moving forward. So it’s always gonna be about your future, right? Like, you know, this could be saying, “Hey, you know, in college I hope to continue building new relationships with people because I learned about the importance of growing out of my comfort zone,” [00:18:00] right?

Chi: Or it could be about like, you know, because I was super passionate learning about computer science growing up, right? Now I’m looking forward to continuing to learn about maybe it’s like, you know, the most recent, uh, trend in AI, right, uh, moving forward. So focus on the present, focus on the future. That’s kind of the main goal as you’re thinking about rounding out the ending, right, of what your personal statement will look like.

Chi: So we’re gonna transition a little bit now, right? We, we talked a lot about the Common App, the personal statement, right? We’re gonna now speak a little bit to supplemental essays. So think of now supplemental essays as, again, more personal, specific questions that you might encounter. So I’m gonna talk about three common ones that you’ll most likely see.

Chi: And one thing to note too is, I’ll start point blank, is that, you know, supplemental essays, right? An admissions office is not going to see your application to a different university. So, you know, these questions, why are you interested in this school? Why are you interested in this major, right? You can definitely repurpose [00:19:00] like a starting template for how you wanna answer this question.

Chi: And then of course, do your research, right? Like, you know, in terms of the examples that you want to leverage depending on the college you’re applying to. Um, but just know again, like, the, these are kinda three specific ones that you might commonly find in your applications. So the why us question, right?

Chi: Why are you interested in XYZ university? What I tend to find very, very frequently is that, you know, sometimes these drafts end up just becoming a list of qualities that the university offers, right? So it’s like, oh, you might be interested in Yale because they have residential college living, because they’re a really renowned research institution.

Chi: Admissions officers will know that already, right? So how you wanna approach this essay is not necessarily talking about what Yale or whatever university, right, you’re applying to offers, but think about what matters to you, right? So rather than saying, “Oh, Yale has residential colleges,” start your essay by thinking about, okay, you know, I’ve always grown up…

Chi: Maybe it’s you’ve attended a small school, right, and [00:20:00] you, and you know, close-knit communities really matter a lot to you. The idea of, right, like, you know, learning together in smaller groups matters a lot to you. Start by mentioning that because that’s really what you’re looking for, right, in your college experience, regardless of where you’re applying, and then tie in that example afterwards, right?

Chi: If you want to conduct research, if, you know, like, you want a school that has a lot of like, you know, like, sports or, or social life, right? Mention that community matters to you, and then bring in the example, right? Because what’s gonna be really important is that admissions officers, they’re gonna be seeing so many different essays and so many different reasons about why a school matters to them.

Chi: But I promise you, a lot of times, it- it’s just gonna be talking about what, you know, they already know about their own college, right? So start your essay by talking about what matters to you. Do not mention, right, like, you know, the school more than what you’re talking about what you want in your college experience.

Chi: The second, uh, you know, common essay that you might find is, you know, talking about your academic [00:21:00] major, AKA why do you wanna study what you wanna do in college. And so similar logic here. You don’t necessarily just wanna say, “Oh, you know, I want to study, let’s say, economics at UPenn Wharton,” right, because they have XYZ class and XYZ professor.

Chi: But rather, you know, mention why you’re interested in studying your major in the first place. So think about maybe starting your essay with an anecdote about how you got interested in, in, you know, your program, right? Uh, or you could talk a little bit about like, you know, what’s a goal that you have in mind, right, as a, as an aspiring economics major, and then tie in, like, you know, not just, “Oh, I wanna go to UPenn Wharton because then I can be a part of this,” but rather flip the script and say, you know, p- like, “Wharton is gonna help me get to the next step of whatever my goal is,” right?

Chi: “And here’s how it will get me to the next step.” Start always with you, then talk about the school because I, you know, oftentimes or most often, right, I find that it’s the other way around. And a third question [00:22:00] on supplemental essay prompts that have become more common in previous years because of how the admissions landscape has changed, especially in regards to judicial rulings, is that you’ll find oftentimes an identity-related prompt.

Chi: So what that means is like, you know, it might be a question that says, “How do you see yourself fitting within our community or contributing to our community?” Right? Basically asking you to share about your own perspectives and what you hope to bring. One thing that I wanna make clear is that, you know, with these types of essays, it’s not gonna be about what is most unique, right?

Chi: But rather be authentic about what has been an experience that has shaped your mindset, right? So mindset is a great way to think about it. You know, it doesn’t have to be a very significant or, right, like, you know, a dramatized example, but just think about it from the lens of, again, right, when was a moment where you changed your perspective or you realized something important to you, right?

Chi: And focus on that, because that’s part of your identity. You know? It’s, it’s shaped by your decisions, [00:23:00] your environments, your interactions. And so when you brainstorm on those types of prompts, it doesn’t have to be inherently, right, like part of y- you know, your i- your person. But you can think of it as, right, again, like, you know, part of your own experiences as well.

Chi: At the end of the day, it’s all about growth and change, right? So making your writing strong and unique, kind of again, this is… Now this is going back to, like, you know, overall picture, right? Not just supplementals or Common App personal statement. Uh, you really wanna bring in your, your personal interests.

Chi: I, I know that sounds like, you know, super, uh, super straightforward, right? But, you know, an easy way to kinda think about it is, is so much around your own perspective. If it’s helpful, write about hobbies or passions that you enjoy, right? Like, something that I always ask my students when they fill out their activities section of the Common App is, it’s not just the clubs that you’re a part of, right?

Chi: But, you know, what do you spend your free time doing that you enjoy doing? Like, your supplemental essays don’t have to solely be about your extracurriculars, right? They can be, you know, it could [00:24:00] be about a hobby that you enjoy doing that doesn’t show up anywhere else in your application, but that you’re able to speak to, right?

Chi: Because clearly you have a lot of like, you know, strong feelings or passion about it, right? Um, the emotional impact and imagery, I can’t, I can’t say enough. Like, it’s not just talking about I or my, right? But you really wanna say, “Oh, you know, I felt this way,” or, “I realized this,” or like, you know, like b- be sort of open with the emotions that you felt.

Chi: The best way I can describe it is I always ask my students, like, pretend as if literally I don’t know anything about the topic that you’re writing about. It could be about playing basketball, right? And I, I love basketball, but in that moment, as an AO, I’m going to not necessarily know anything about why you love basketball, right?

Chi: Or why it’s like, you know, relevant to you. So always like, you know, assume that you’re talking about a topic in a way where you want someone to basically read your mind, right? Or get to learn what’s going through your mind at the time, and that’s the best way I can, [00:25:00] you know, describe when it comes to emotions and imagery, right?

Chi: And I’m, I’m gonna sound like a broken record here, but authenticity is really what’s most important. It’s not about what’s most unique. It’s not a list of accolades, right? You get that chance in your activities and honors sections on the Common App. Your essays are going to be about you. So please, please don’t use it as a platform for just talking about your awards, right?

Chi: Like, admissions officers, they’re not looking for a resume in your writing. They’re looking to learn about who you are as a person, right? And that comes off in your writing style as well, your personality, you know, your experiences and memories. So don’t write what you think you, admissions officers wanna hear.

Chi: Don’t write what you think is most unique. Trust me, some of these AOs, they read hundreds of thousands of applications. Just focus on who you are, right? That’s, it’s, it’s a simple piece of advice, but I think oftentimes we tend to forget that, especially when we’re reading essays written by other people, right?

Chi: Or essays written by people who got into some of these schools. So much of it, I promise you, is just gonna be about who you [00:26:00] are. So in starting the writing process, um, what I always say is most important is, like, you know, if we’re thinking about, okay, who, who are you personally, right? And not just like, you know, solely the things that you’ve done.

Chi: Um, you know, start by brainstorming example. Um, not examples, but rather by values, right? So consider like, you know, do I want them to learn about me as someone who’s curious, who’s resilient, who’s observant, who’s reliable? Like, what are like, you know, the traits that you see yourself or that you’re most proud of?

Chi: And then, right, think about, okay, what has been a moment where I’ve demonstrated that value, right? Because I think oftentimes like, you know, we might have a lot of really great memories or a lot of really great experiences, but if we can’t translate that to, okay, so well, why was it significant or what am I learning about you?

Chi: Then the example itself, right, despite, you know, again, how unique or significant it might be, it might not have a lot of purpose if there’s not, you know, any values that you’re sharing about [00:27:00] yourself from there. So again, like always think about it from, you know, what is the, what is the type of person you want your admissions officers to remember you by?

Chi: And then, you know, how has the experience, right, that you’re gonna write about, how is that going to shape how you’ll carry these values into the future? So again, if it’s, if you’re wanting to show that you’re a resilient, right, like, you know, individual and you talk about an example where you demonstrated that, end your essay, right, or make a connection as well in terms of how you hope to continue being someone who can, right, stay resilient or like, you know, share that sense of resilience with other people as, as well.

Chi: Thinking about the timeline for writing, this is, you know, one for all of the juniors and especially the current seniors in the room. Um, and especially if, you know, if you’re a senior, like, now, right? Think about what those meaningful values or experiences are. Um, I will just say this, like, you know, through College Advisor, most if not all of my students at this stage are working on [00:28:00] their Common App personal statement, right?

Chi: It’s not late to work on it now or to get started now, but this is that prime time in the summer, right? Really start just thinking about, you know, we’re not saying, “Hey, you need to write, like, you know, write an essay once a week until, like, you know, you burn out.” What I’m saying is, think about what’s important to you, right?

Chi: What characteristics, what experiences, right, really matter, and, and start from there, essentially. Use this month to really start, like, you know, brainstorming, right? Revising, drafting. Like, I can’t stress this enough, this is not necessarily an essay where you’re just, you know, revising once and you’re finalizing it, right?

Chi: You really wanna take intentional care in terms of how you’re shaping out your story, right? Like, think of each draft rather than just working on spelling errors or working on, right, like, you know, moving paragraphs around. Think about, am I really sharing everything that I want to about myself in the story, right, that I’m telling to my admissions officers?

Chi: And then, you know, as we head into August, right, in a couple weeks, like, you know, try your best [00:29:00] to start refining or revising the essay as you get closer to that point. Um, I know it’s not always the case, right? Like, you know, enjoy your vacation too. Don’t be spending, right, like, you know, just every day writing here.

Chi: But I do think that now, especially, right, in the summer is this, uh, you know, prime opportunity to be able to continue writing and practicing. So last couple of slides here, these are gonna be a little bit more sort of, right, like, you know, from my own perspective and kind, kind of some commentary, right? So common mistakes, like I said, that I’ve seen in essays a lot is that, you know, the, the balance, right, between talking about the example, AKA maybe the first part, right, of like, you know, each of the Common App questions and the growth piece, which is really what admissions officers want to learn about you, right?

Chi: That reflection is very much what is key here. So make sure as you’re writing, especially in your first couple versions of your essays, right, that you’re not just going to talk only about the example, but to focus most of your [00:30:00] content around what you learned from said example, right? Make sure that as you’re, you know, drafting and revising, like most of your essay is not, you know, focused solely on just, again, the exposition part.

Chi: Um, and I can’t repeat this enough, but like, you know, writing… Don’t, don’t write what you think other people wanna hear. Like there’s, there’s no rubric. There’s no like, you know, specific set of checkboxes, right, that admissions officers are looking for. And, and in that same vein, what I’ll also say is like I b- I don’t really believe in the idea that there’s a lot of taboo, quote unquote, essays, right?

Chi: Like they’re not going to be saying, oh, like, you know, if you’re writing an essay about your political beliefs or about religion/faith, right, that that’s necessarily seen in a negative light. But rather, you know, you should be thinking for your essay, what was the impact of that, right? Why is that important to like, you know, who I’ve become today in the sense that I’ve had a lot of my own previous students write about politics, write about faith, right?

Chi: And what you want [00:31:00] to really emphasize towards is, so, you know, how has that shaped who I’ve become today? Maybe it’s my beliefs, maybe it’s how I’ve interacted and engaged with others, right? That’s, again, the key part of what an AO’s gonna be looking for. It’s not just going to be looking at the topic. So, you know, something to kind of keep in mind, uh, if you’re thinking about, right, one of those topics And the last piece to this too, right, is like, you know, uh, on that note, like, you know, please, please don’t write an essay about a topic that you’re uncomfortable with.

Chi: You know, we have had different levels of experiences, right, like, you know, growing up. Um, and you know, last thing that you would want is to necessarily force a narrative that, you know, is, is maybe more dramatized, something that’s not necessarily authentic to you. Or again, maybe it’s a topic that you personally aren’t fully ready to like, you know, talk about.

Chi: Because right at the end of the day, admissions officers, they’re kind of strangers, right? And so, you know, write about something that you feel like comfortable challenging yourself [00:32:00] to like, you know, reread, look at. Because the goal is, right, you’re gonna be looking at this essay for like, you know, multiple weeks revising it.

Chi: So please make sure that it’s like, you know, it’s going to be one that you’re focused on in terms of like, you know, who you are, right? And again, something that you’re comfortable with. And this is like, you know, a- as we’re rounding out towards the last couple of slides here, um, something important that I want to mention, right?

Chi: AI technology, how it impacts like, you know, admissions reading. One thing I want to say is that an artificial intelligence is and never will be the sole evaluator of your writing. And what I mean by that is, I’m sure we’ve seen some articles, right? Virginia Tech, Tufts, other universities that are now using AI as a tool for the essay reviewing process.

Chi: One thing I do want to make clear is that they’re not substituting admissions officers’ jobs, right, when they’re doing that, but rather they’re using it as a quality control process. So you will be having a human admissions officer evaluating your [00:33:00] full application. It is not a, you know, computer, right, that’s just generating and normalizing like, you know, who you are and, you know, generalizing your results.

Chi: They care about you, right? Like, I, I mean that. Like, you know, admissions officers care about wanting to learn about you. So one thing I do want to make clear is that, right, like, you know, AI, like it’s never going to substitute this part of the equation when it comes to the admissions process. And that being said, you know, these people that are reading your essays, they can perceive when an essay is going to be, you know, more or less AI generated, right?

Chi: So think of it as like, you know, like make sure when you’re writing your examples that you have depth and you have emotional reflection. It’s a, it’s a helpful support, right? Like, you know, I think ChatGPT is a great tool if maybe let’s say you have an idea and you would like to, you know, kind of think about, okay, what’s the best way to structure, right?

Chi: Like, you know, these three paragraphs, should I move some sentences around? I think something like that is fine. Don’t ask ChatGPT to generate an essay about like, you know, a response to a [00:34:00] prompt, right? I promise you Anyone, right, can, can easily identify whether that’s gonna be AI generated or not. So words, you know, uh, food for thought there, right?

Chi: Um, as we’re wrapping up, final advice here. So like I talked about before, like, you know, helpful to, right, like, you know, learn to be a little bit uncomfortable. And what I mean by that is this is a different style of writing. You’re talking about yourself. These are things that, you know, honestly, in high school, you don’t have a lot of practice with, right?

Chi: Just because that’s not part of the, you know, normal curriculum. So it’s okay if sometimes you get stuck, right? Like, you know, don’t bang your head against the wall. Take some time. Practice writing first person, writing about yourself, writing your emotions. Like, it’s, it’s a challenging process, but, you know, the essays are one piece where I would say the more you put in, right, the more time you invest, the, the stronger, right, you know, the results are gonna be.

Chi: And the last thing that I will say is when you finish an essay, you’re finished, right? Like, you know, so, so I, I can’t tell you the amount of times, even in my own advising [00:35:00] history, it’s like, don’t lose sleep trying to nitpick about whether this one word or this one sentence fits better here versus there, or like a synonym, right?

Chi: Admissions officers, they’re gonna be learning more about who you are, not whether or not a semicolon is better than an em dash, right? And so, like, as you’re working through and finalizing your essays, please make sure that, you know, do your due diligence, do your final read. But when you feel great about where your essay is, make sure to close that document or to copy and paste it into your application portal and call it a day.

Chi: So that is the slide deck for now. Um, I will turn, yeah, the, the time over back to Lydia.

Lydia: Okay. Thank you so much, Chi, for that great presentation. I think you answered a lot of the questions that were in, uh, the Q&A tab, but I know we have a lot to get through, so very excited to answer some of the specific questions that you all asked. Um, feel free to continue submitting questions in that Q&A tab.

Lydia: We’ll get through as many as [00:36:00] we can, um, but we’ve got a good amount of time, so I think, uh, we should be able to get through most of the questions that you all have asked. So to start us off, um, one of the questions that we have is: which do admissions officers prefer for personal statements and supplementals, expanding on and sharing moments from extracurriculars or focusing on stories and values beyond the activity list?

Chi: Ooh, that’s a great question. Um, what I would say is that, you know, you shouldn’t necessarily focus on what admissions officers prefer, right? But rather paint the picture or the narrative that you want them to learn about you. And so what I mean by that is if you feel that, right, like, let’s say if most of your extracurriculars align really well to what you wanna study in college, right, or align really well to the type of person that you are, it could be very favorable, right?

Chi: To like, you know, write your supplemental essay, um, around the, like, you know, again, right, an activity that you’ve [00:37:00] participated in high school that’s meant a lot to you, right? And that being said, like, you know, if, let’s say, you know, you want to show them the type of person that you are, right? Like, you still have activities that are relevant to what you wanna major in, but you have a lot of different stories that you wanna share, maybe talking about values beyond your activities list would be better, right?

Chi: So that this is where kind of that freedom is, is helpful. Like, you know, think about, okay, what do admissions office… What do I want my admissions officers to learn about me? Do I want to be someone that they see as a really strong candidate for this particular, like, you know, program, or do I want them to see me as like, you know, maybe more of like a leader, right?

Chi: Like, you might already have a really brilliant academic, like, profile, and so you wanna highlight something else. And so think about how you want it first, right? And then, you know, structure your, your essay ideas around that.

Lydia: Yeah. Um, and I, I think the, the, the thing that’s interesting to me about the way that question is phrased is it seems to think that hearing a moment [00:38:00] from an extracurricular is kind of separate from stories about values, but I’ve certainly read personal statements where a student is able to capture their values by telling a story about an extracurricular.

Lydia: So, I, I think it’s about whatever story you choose to focus on, whether it’s a personal story, uh, you know, in your family life or a story about an extracurricular, think about what the kind of moral is or what side of yourself you’re showing. Because really with every single essay, every single part of your application, you wanna make sure that you’re showing a different layer, a different dimension to who you are.

Lydia: So it’s not that one is right and one is wrong, it’s just about thinking about, well, if you’re using your personal statement to show this side, is it going to feel redundant if you’re asked about it in a supplemental essay, or if you’re already highlighting it really well in your resume, in your activities list, and things like that?

Lydia: Just making sure you’re taking full advantage of all the [00:39:00] different opportunities that you have, uh, to showcase the different elements that make you a strong applicant. Um, another question that we have is when talking about growth, should we include ex- specific examples? Do they have to be stories, or can we just touch on it very briefly and then move on?

Chi: Yeah. Um, I… One thing I’ll, I’ll mention, right, just for context from my presentation, I tend to use examples and stories as an interchangeable term. So I would kinda think about it in the same way, right? So when you… What I mean by like, you know, growth and, and reflection, right, this is kind of that chance to say, okay, like, you know, we’re no longer talking about like my past experiences, right, but what are opport- we’ll call them opportunities or we’ll call them moments, right, that you sort of like practice that message today.

Chi: So again, if we were to put this in the, a case of maybe it’s like an obstacle or a challenge, right, [00:40:00] that you overcame and you learned a lesson from said challenge. How do you, right, sort of take what you learned from that experience in the past and kind of apply that to, you know, kind of your daily life today?

Chi: Um, that could be, right, through the form of like, you know, an example that’s similar to what you’ve written about, you know, regarding your, your past experience. Um, or right, you can kinda just like, you know, allude to how you hope to, right, again, strengthen that particular skill or, right, like, you know, that value in the future

Lydia: Great. Um, so another question that we have is about, um, feeling like they are a well-rounded person. So they say, “I feel like I’m a well-rounded person and no one thing defines me. Rather, there are multiple facets of who I am. How can I write like that for my personal statement and still sound specific?”

Chi: No.

Chi: I think [00:41:00] one, like, tangible way you could perhaps experiment or, right, like, you know, take a swing at that is if you feel like there’s like, you know, let’s say multiple values, right, or multiple experiences that really matter a lot to you, I mean, one, from a big picture, right? Like, see if there’s any commonalities, uh, you know, between maybe the examples that you wanna bring up, right?

Chi: So let’s say, for example, you know, is, is it the fact that, like, you’ve had a lot of, right, you’ve traveled to a lot of different places or maybe you’ve moved across, right, like, a number of locations, or maybe you wanna write an essay about, like, you know, a number of different memories, right? I think a montage essay would be a really great way of, like, you know, kind of showing different, like, specific vignettes or episodes, right, from, you know, your, your childhood.

Chi: But the key part here, right, in, in how to highlight that really well, um, is, you know, mainly making it stay specific, right, is, you know, ensuring that there’s a commonality between all of them, right? And sometimes that might mean not including every single item or example that you want to incorporate, right, in your essay as well.

Chi: Uh, I, I [00:42:00] didn’t mention this specifically, right, for the context of this webinar because, you know, we’re talking about essays as a whole, but, you know, the longest essay length typically for these is six 50 words, right? And so, like, you know, you’re not gonna be writing a life story. Uh, you know, that sort of quality rather than quantity is also key here.

Chi: So think about any connections, right, between the different memories you wanna write about and use it in sort of like a montage essay form

Lydia: Yeah. And I, I think sometimes students think that having multiple interests or being well-rounded is a detriment. I think it, spending some time, if you, if you have multiple things that you could talk about, if you wanna go the direction of a montage essay, um, I think that can be great. But just spend some time thinking about what m- what makes you drawn to these things that maybe on paper seem really disconnected.

Lydia: Because when I’ve worked with students who think that they’re just kinda like a, “I do a lot of different random [00:43:00] things,” we actually end up finding that, oh, there is actually a theme here. Like, I worked with a student who, um, she was, like, on the robotics team, and then she also really liked to sew, and then she really liked to draw.

Lydia: But, like, there was this, like, over … And then she wanted to study engineering, and it was like, oh, like, there’s actually, like, a running theme here. Like, all of these things that you’re really interested in have this overlap of requiring a really good understanding of, like, spatial awareness, planning.

Lydia: There’s a lot of math that you’re actually doing for each of these individual things. And so then we helped to create an essay that kind of showed the connection between all those things and highlighted that underlying interest or passion that made her drawn to these things that on paper seemed really disconnected.

Lydia: And I, I find that for a lot of students, if they’re really doing things intentionally and they’re not just doing extracurriculars for the sake of doing them [00:44:00] because they think that they look good, usually there is some sort of thread that can be found that can connect each of those puzzle pieces together if you spend enough time maybe sitting down with someone and kind of working through it.

Lydia: Which is a great segue, um, to a little, learning a little bit more about CollegeAdvisor. So we’re gonna pause the Q&A now for just a minute to highlight some student success stories. So the first one is DJ, who grew up wanting to be a physician. He was active in relevant extracurriculars and sought out challenging coursework.

Lydia: And as a scientist, writing narratively was just a challenge, so the college essay style didn’t come naturally to him. So he decided to work with CollegeAdvisor and was accepted by five colleges, including Johns Hopkins, where he received an institutional scholarship of around $61,000 a year. And then we have another student here, Abby, who reached out because she was an aspiring first-generation college student, and her immigrant parents had no experience [00:45:00] applying to US colleges, and she just wasn’t receiving much support from her teachers or school counselors, so she felt alone in the process.

Lydia: She was thinking ahead and connected to CollegeAdvisor as a sophomore. She ended up applying early decision to Cornell, where she was accepted and received full financial aid. These are just two examples of the thousands of students that, that CollegeAdvisor has guided through the application process.

Lydia: Our team of over 300 former admissions officers and admissions experts is ready to help you and your family navigate the college admissions process in one-on-one advising sessions and essay editing. To learn more about how you can get started with CollegeAdvisor, just scan the QR code to sign up for a free 60-minute strategy session with an admissions specialist on our team.

Lydia: And during this meeting, you’ll receive a preliminary assessment of your academic profile, along with some initial recommendations on what you can do to stand out. At the end, you’ll also learn more about the premium packages we offer that pair [00:46:00] you with an expert who can support you in building your college list, editing your essays, and much more.

Lydia: We’re here for the whole process. All right. So that is just a little bit about CollegeAdvisor. If you’re having any trouble or forget to scan the QR code, when you leave this webinar or when the webinar ends, it’ll automatically take you to a calendar page where you’ll be able to schedule that session, um, if you are interested.

Lydia: But getting back into the Q&A, um, another question that we have is, um, for the supplemental essay, would you say it can be more like a free write, or should there be structured sections for why the major, your identity, um, why the school? What’s more effective? Is there a certain way that you need to structure it in order for it to get the point across?

Chi: Yeah, it’s a great question [00:47:00] question, the way that I would personally approach this, right, is so supplemental essay prompts are going to be more specific, right? Compared to the Common App or, you know, more personal re- uh, statement related questions. And so at the end of the day, you still want to keep a rule of thumb of what is the admissions officer going to learn about me, right?

Chi: Which is why when I talked a little bit earlier about like, you know, some of these supplemental essay prompts, it’s not necessarily free writing per se, but rather thinking about the qualities that you’re looking for, right, at that particular university. So if we’re thinking about it from the lens of, you know, why do I want to study, let’s say for example, computer science at Georgia Tech specifically, right?

Chi: Your desire to study computer science, it should relatively be universal no matter where you would end up attending, right? There’s a goal that you have in mind with what you want to study. There’s preparation, right, or experience that you’ve built up to, you know, build your interest. And so really when the school comes into play, right, or when the supplemental essay comes into play, that’s just an [00:48:00] opportunity for you to talk about like, you know, one or two examples, right?

Chi: Or maybe a little bit more, you know, depending on the length. But essentially at the end of the day, it’s all gonna come back to you, uh, and you know, your own motivations. So that’s kind of how I would approach, right, like, you know- Mm-hmm … uh, the, the writing process. It’s not necessarily you have to be very, right, like, you know, rigid in how you answer the question, but make sure that at every stage of your writing process, right, your, your AOs get to learn something new about like, you know, your own motivations or your own experiences.

Lydia: Great. Um, another… Well, actually, before I ask you the next question, I’m seeing multiple people ask about if the recording will be sent after this. Um, as I stated at the beginning, we are recording this session. It’ll be available on the CollegeAdvisor website the next, uh, within the next day or two. So just be sure to check the CollegeAdvisor website, and then you’ll be able to access the recording there.

Lydia: Um, and also for those of you who I’m also seeing some questions just about working with CollegeAdvisor, yes, we do [00:49:00] provide essay support. Um, so you’ll be able to learn more about that when you schedule that one-on-one advising session. So just wanna make sure I answer that before I ask the next question.

Lydia: Um, the chi- another question that we have is, “I’ve heard that I should keep it simple with my essay, but how simple is too simple?”

Chi: I think, you know, there, there’s that sort of fine balance, right? When, when I think of keeping an essay simple, I think of it as, okay, like, what, what is sort of your overall structure of your writing, right? ‘Cause really at the end of the day, a personal statement is you showing us a glimpse of one experience, right?

Chi: Again, you’re not meant to write it as your life’s journey, right? But rather, what is a moment in time where you, again, experienced a change or a conflict or a lesson that you learned, right? And then diving deeply into how that lesson from [00:50:00] said experience, right, has impacted who you are. So that’s, you know, how I would define simple in this context.

Chi: Too simple would be thinking about then maybe it’s an experience that you had, right, along that similar vein, that maybe you didn’t necessarily learn that much from, right? And then sometimes that happens. Like, you know, like, I, I can’t necessarily write a lesson about, you know, me watching my, my most recent Netflix show on TV, right?

Chi: Like, you know, maybe I didn’t learn that much from my K-drama that I watched last week. But if there really is a show that you feel like has impacted who you are, that you learned a lesson from, right? Then like, you know, again, simple experience or moment in time, but you’re still able to elaborate on it, right?

Chi: So I hope that answers the question. Um, again, it’s, it’s so much gonna be about just did, did you, right, feel like a, a lesson or an impact that you’ve been able to kind of take away from and, you know, impact you today?

Lydia: And another question that we have that I think it’s kinda connected to this is, does length matter when writing your personal statement?

Lydia: [00:51:00] So obviously there is a word limit, but there’s not really an explicit word minimum. Is there a length where it just gets so short that it can actually reflect negatively on you

Chi: Yeah, I will say, I mean, like, you know, if we’re… Because right, like, when admissions officers read essays, like they don’t have like a word counter, right?

Chi: Like, you know, on their screen. But you can kind of visually see, right, like, you know, the difference between like a 300-word essay versus like, you know, a 650-word essay. So I’ll also say is that like, you know, there can be, right, like, you know, a, a certain length, right, um, where if you feel like there’s not enough depth to support why that experience has been meaningful to you, or rather there’s not enough content to talk about like, you know, your lesson or reflection, then yes.

Chi: Right? I, I do feel that like length, right, like how long your essay is can matter. That being said, when I, you know, gave that example, like truly I’ve had successful student essays that were closer to like, [00:52:00] let’s say, 550 than 650, right? They’re not counting. Again, they don’t have a word counter up. You do not need to max that 650, nor is a 600-word essay, quote-unquote, “weaker”, right?

Chi: But rather, like, you know, typically when I see essays that are closer, right, admittedly to that 300, 400 word count, what goes through my mind is, you know, is that, was that really the most impactful piece that you could talk about, right? Because I feel like there’s more that, you know, you can share about it.

Lydia: Right. And the truth is, sometimes a student can write a 650-word essay and still not be going very deep, or going just as deep as someone would’ve gone in 300 words, but there’s just extra fluff. But I, I definitely agree with that. Um, I think i- if you’re finding yourself struggling to hit… I, I, I feel like if you need a rule of thumb, I feel like 500 is a good minimum to shoot for.

Lydia: If you’re, if you’re finding yourself not able to hit 500 words when talking about a topic, [00:53:00] then maybe ask yourself if that is the topic that is the right one to explore. Um, or think about, you know, is there something that I need to maybe do, or some exercises I could do, a conversation I need to have to help me dig a little bit deeper.

Lydia: But the, the reason that you usually want to try and get closer to the word limit, it, or that you most people do try to get closer to the word limit, is that every opportunity that you have to share information about yourself is an opportunity to further support why you think you would be a great candidate.

Lydia: So if you’re going well below the word limit, like 350 words, but the word limit is 650, not only… I mean, maybe there is an essay that is just super-duper spectacular, but there’s just that question of in those 300 words, is there may be some other detail that you could have included that would’ve- supported your argument or supported your, um, candidacy [00:54:00] even further.

Lydia: So just ask yourself, like, “Is there anything that I’m leaving on the table if I’m going well under the word limit?” But usually if it’s only 50 words or something like that, there probably isn’t much that you’re leaving on the table by, um, having that difference. Um, another question that we have is, is it ideal to write about, let’s say, a passion project or an extracurricular activity even if you are in the early stages of it?

Lydia: So should you only write about things that are already complete or that you have already been doing for a significant amount of time, or can you write about something that is a little bit new?

Chi: Yeah. Um, uh, so I, I think that’s a great question. What, what I would say to that is if you feel like, right, even something that’s been in progress but you feel that it’s had a significant impact on you, it could be worthy to experiment, right?

Chi: And, and like, you know, talk more about… I, one, [00:55:00] one thing I’ll say is it will probably be more challenging, right, to t- to think about the reflections of how impactful it will be if it’s still incomplete, like, you know, if we’re thinking about it from the, the lens of a passion project, right? Um, so, so what, what I’ll say to that like, you know, in, in short is like I would find it more difficult, right, to like, you know, think about how did you learn from an experience if it’s still ongoing.

Chi: But that being said, in the big picture, don’t hesitate to still put that in your application, right? Like-

Chi: Like, you know, if you’re working on a passion project and it’s still in progress when you’re applying to colleges, there’s a connotation where, you know, you’re active and ongoing work. Um, but because you’re raised typically there’s like a natural, right, like, you know, like expectation to discuss what it, you know, for lack of a better word, what it’s taught you, right?

Chi: Or why it was meaningful. That would make it much tricky, uh, the day. So personally would not advise[00:56:00]

Lydia: And I’m also seeing some questions about like, are there things that you should absolutely not talk about? Like talking about sports, talking about grandparents. Are there just cliches that are so played out that it might look bad?

Chi: I think it’s a common question. Um, I mean, honestly, what I would say is like, y- you know, admissions officers, they will see certain topics that are much more common than others, right? But it’s, it’s really what you do with said topic that matters much more. So like, I, I think a common one, right, not to stereotype essay topics, is the, the sports injury o- one, right?

Chi: Where you’re talking about, oh, like, you know, I, I was playing a sport, I got injured and then, you know, here are the steps that I did to recover from, you know, said experience. That, yes, I would say it’s, it’s not because of the topic, but it’s because of the approach towards the essay, right? Now, if we were to reframe that as like, you know, yeah, maybe, you know, you got injured, right, your sophomore [00:57:00] year.

Chi: But then throughout the recovery process, like, you know, you were fascinated with how the human body reacts to certain, right, like, you know, maybe bodily motions or you wanted to learn more, right, because your injury inspired your interest in anatomy and physiology. That’s a different perspective, right?

Chi: Like, so, so it’s not necessarily about the topic, but rather again, like what are you sort of sharing as your message that you, right, like, you know, learned or came as a result of the experience. Um, I’m, I’m sure I could come up with an example about, you know, again, right, grandparents, family, religion, all of that.

Chi: Again, at the end of the day, it’s all gonna be about, you know, what is it that- You want your admissions officers to learn about you, right, from said topic

Lydia: Right. I, I think if you’re finding yourself wanting to talk about, like, “Here’s why my grandma is so great and she inspired me,” or, “Here is how my basketball injury shaped who I am,” like, those really common topics, or even, it’s not as common anymore, but I feel like in the first [00:58:00] two or three years after COVID there were so many essays about COVID.

Lydia: Um, like, if you find yourself wanting to talk about something that is pretty common like that, really ask yourself, “What makes this experience unique to me and something that no one else could share?” So I think, like, with the example that she just shared, it, it feels unique because it’s not just like, “Oh, here’s an experience I went through that thousands of other kids have gone through.”

Lydia: This is something that created, like, a very specific interest, and here are specific ways that I explored the interest. And it’s almost like that cliche beginning of, “I injured myself playing a sport and then I wasn’t able to explore it.” That ends up actually just being kind of the footnote or the method for you to get into the thing that is unique, rather than being the focus.

Lydia: You don’t want the cliche to be the whole point of the essay. If anything, you just want the cliche, if you are gonna go with something [00:59:00] that’s a little bit more common, to be just a method for you to talk about a specific thing, um, that is unique to who you are. Yeah. So, um, yeah, since we have just a minute left, uh, I’ll ask one last question for you, which is, do you have any final tips for us on how to identify what you should share, improve your communication skills so that you can effectively, um, write an essay that stands out?

Chi: Yeah, I think, um, final advice that I would say is, like, you know, at the end of the day, right, a- ask yourself the question of, like, you know, what do I feel most proud of, right? Like, so that could be the traits that you have, right, your own strengths, maybe a memory that you can’t wait to share, um, or a topic, right, that you love learning about that you can’t wait to share with your admissions officers.

Chi: So start by, again, like, it’s, it’s less about [01:00:00] creating a hook that entices a reader. It’s less about what an admissions officer wants to learn about you, right, but rather what’s something that, about yourself that you’re just excited, right, like, you know, to, to talk about? Y- like, pretend as if it’s conversational, right?

Chi: What’s something that you would love to share with your best friend about yourself if, you know, you had, uh, right, a moment in time to catch up or, you know, a part of who you are, right, that you would like to, like, you know, put into essay format. That’s always what I encourage my students, right, to, you know, begin with.

Chi: It’s all about their values. It’s all about what they’re passionate about. So that’s my parting words, right? Like, you know, focus on that and let the rest do the work for you.

Lydia: Fantastic. Thank you so much, Chi, for joining us tonight and for sharing your insights with us. We so appreciate it, and I hope that all of you at home learned a lot as well.

Lydia: Um, as a reminder, once this webinar ends, it’ll take you straight to that landing page so that you can book a session, and you’ll be able to learn more about the different packages that we [01:01:00] offer, uh, once you book that free 60-minute strategy session. All right. Thank you so much for joining us tonight, and enjoy the rest of your evening.

Lydia: Bye.

Chi: Thanks for coming out, everyone.