The Science of the College Essay: What a Former Admissions Officer Learned Through PhD Research

Webinar Transcription

2026-06-15-The Science of the College Essay – What a Former Admissions Officer Learned Through PhD Research

Lydia: Hello, hello, hello everyone. Welcome to tonight’s webinar, “The Science of the College Essay: What a Former Admissions Officer Learned Through PhD Research.” My name is Lydia Hollon, and I’m going to be your moderator for tonight.

Lydia: We’re very excited to have you. I’ve been with CollegeAdvisor for four years now. I’m also on the essay review team, and I’m a, an, am an alumni of New York University. Now, let’s meet our presenter

Dr. Aya: Hello, everyone. Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, depending on where you are in the world. I am Dr.

Dr. Aya: Aya Waller-Bey, and [00:01:00] I will be your presenter tonight. Um, just to start and say a little bit about myself, I often like to begin with the saying that I am a proud first generation college student, which means I was the first person in my family to earn a four-year degree. Um, I’m born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, which is where I am located at this moment, and I went to Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where I studied sociology, and upon graduation, became an admissions officer and coordinator of multicultural recruitment.

Dr. Aya: Um, after my tenure in admissions, I went across the pond to England to the University of Cambridge, where I earned my master’s in philosophy of education as a recipient of the Gates Cambridge Scholarship. While there, I also became an alumni interviewer for Georgetown, so I got to interview international students, which was a really exciting experience.

Dr. Aya: Shortly after, I came back to Michigan to earn my PhD in sociology at the University of Michigan, go Blue, where I studied the [00:02:00] college admissions essay. So this conversation’s gonna be really exciting because it’s gonna be one of the first times I get to talk about my work, um, to a broader audience in the context of the college admissions process.

Dr. Aya: So I’m super excited to talk to you about my work and the admissions essay, and to share, um, what, a little bit about what we do here at CollegeAdvisor. So super excited for the conversation.

Lydia: Fantastic. So before we jump into the presentation, we’re gonna do a quick poll, and I’ll alt, open that up, and if you’re a parent, feel free to just choose that other option.

Lydia: Um, and before, to give you all a little bit of time to answer that question, uh, first I’m just gonna orient you all with the timing for tonight. So we’re gonna start with this poll, then, uh, Dr. Aya Waller-Bey is gonna get a chance to walk through some of her research, give you some context about the personal statement, and then we’ll conclude with a Q&A where you all will be able to ask questions.

Lydia: So feel free to ask questions in that Q&A [00:03:00] tab. We are recording tonight’s session, so don’t worry if you have to get up at any point, you’ll be able to watch this back later. And we also have the slides in the handouts tab. So feel free to download them if you want them for reference later on. Uh, also, Dr.

Lydia: Aya Waller-Bey, I’d love to hear just what you think is, like, the most important thing that you’re gonna share for tonight’s session. What is the biggest tip that you would wanna share with students who are watching tonight?

Dr. Aya: That’s such an interesting question, ’cause I was thinking about, you know, I was just preparing the slides.

Dr. Aya: I actually don’t know if I explicitly write this, but the… One of the most important tips I would say, um, is for students to know that they don’t have to write about pain to be successful in the college admissions process. So often students feel like they have to talk about their pain to be legible, um, and to be seen or to be competit- competitive, and that is actually not the case.

Dr. Aya: So I think that’s the biggest piece of advice, um, I would share. [00:04:00]

Lydia: I think that’s a great tip or great piece of information to share with students, ’cause I know I hear all the time students saying, “I don’t have anything to write about. I haven’t gone in through anything really traumatic or really hard in my life.

Lydia: My parents aren’t divorced. I don’t have a deceased- Right … family member, so how could I have a good personal statement?” So it’s great to hear that that doesn’t have to be the case. You can have a strong essay even if you haven’t gone through something really, really hard in your life. Okay. So let’s take a look at the poll And it seems like we got a mix of people joining us tonight.

Lydia: We’ve got 8% in 10th grade, 32% in 11th, 48% in 12th grade, and 12% in that other parent type category. All right. So, um, I will pass it over to you, Aya, to get us started with the presentation.

Dr. Aya: Fantastic. [00:05:00] So let’s dive right in. And as we’ve talked about and as you see from the title, not only will I talk about broadly from my tenure working in college admissions, but a lot of my comments will also be informed by my research and, and from my work.

Dr. Aya: Okay. So I have a very interesting, um, experience as, again, a f- student who was a first-generation, um, college student who participated in a lot of non-profit and college access programs, and then someone who navigated the admissions process, of course, as a high school student, then became an admissions officer, and then became a PhD researcher and sociologist.

Dr. Aya: So again, I wear a lot of hats in, in this role. So in thinking about what role does the essay actually play in college admissions, which is actually a question I asked not only my undergraduate participants, I interviewed undergraduate students at selective institutions, one historically Black college and one, uh, historically or predominantly white institution.

Dr. Aya: It was a question that I asked the students because I was also curious about how they thought about their own work, and then I also asked [00:06:00] the admissions officers. So the college essay plays a lot of roles, right? It plays an important role, and it’s very critical in the college application. It firstly provides context about students’ backgrounds and experiences, right?

Dr. Aya: So when you think about the broader college admissions essay, particularly for more selective universities, which they might require extracurricular activities or a resume. They might require a personal statement and/or supplemental essays. They may require additional information, several letters of recommendation.

Dr. Aya: So with all those pieces of the puzzle, the essay allows the students to speak directly to admissions officers and provide context about their background and experiences. It offers qualitative insight into a student’s academic performance and complements the quantitative aspects of the application profile.

Dr. Aya: What I also heard from admissions officers is that the essay can also simultaneously serve as a student writing sample. Now, we should put an asterisk here because you all know that there’s an increasing [00:07:00] use of ChatGPT and other generative AI that students and families are using to help support the essay, essay writing process.

Dr. Aya: However, there are still some disparities as far as who’s actually taking advantage- of those resources to support their admissions process. So still currently, admissions officers are also using the essay to think about whether or not, uh, a student has written a, has written the actual essay or are thinking about does this essay show that there’s a proficiency in the English, English language or just based on their GPA, can this student do collegiate level writing?

Dr. Aya: Okay, so again, the essay is playing a lot of important roles in the college application process So in thinking about my own research where I study trauma in college admissions essays, you know, although the college essay, as I just highlighted, plays various roles, AO shared that essays remain critical to helping them, again, understand [00:08:00] more about students’ identity and circumstances that may explain aspects of their backgrounds.

Dr. Aya: You might say, “Dr. Aya, what on earth does that mean?” Well, you’ll have context where, for an example, a really high-achieving student might have shown a drop in their grades in their junior year. So perhaps that student experienced, you know, a, a really difficult life experience or circumstance. Maybe there was some housing insecurity at the time, maybe a death of a loved one, or they had to change schools.

Dr. Aya: There might have been a circumstance that may have signaled or contributed to, rather, a student’s drop in their grades. That student might choose to use the essay to talk about that experience. They might say, “I think the college personal statement actually could be an opportunity for you to learn more about me, but also learn more about this circumstance that may have contributed to what you might consider a slight dip in my, my academic record.”

Dr. Aya: And again, this, these are students, right, thinking about in the context of students [00:09:00] applying to high-achieving or, excuse me, high selective schools, which were the students in my research. Um, so again, the admissions officers might say, “Hmm, the student wrote their personal statement about a very difficult moment in their lives.

Dr. Aya: Let’s use this as context, um, to learn more about the high school and familial background, but also I can use this experience to advocate for this by, uh, any other kind of means this very, very exceptional student during a, a committee review or provide additional information.” So again, that, what is disclosed in the personal statement can then ultimately be used to support a, a application or applicant, um, or give admissions officers a little more insight.

Dr. Aya: Maybe the student moved to a different country, and that was completely disruptive to their experience, right? So they talk about that in their college personal statement, and now the AOs have more understanding about the [00:10:00] background, and they can say, “This student grades then dropped because they took a harder class.

Dr. Aya: They had a really challenging or difficult or disruptive life experience, um, that may have contributed to this.” Okay? So that’s one of the ways that admissions officers kind of interpret the essays, um, to inform how they make admissions decisions.

Dr. Aya: So in thinking about what makes a essay stand out or compelling or memorable, there are a lot of pieces to this puzzle. One thing I often like to point out, and perhaps the audience may not love this response, is that the essays operate, college personal statements, admissions essays, the college essay, it has a lot of different names, operates differently for different types of students.

Dr. Aya: Fun fact. So a great essay, as you might know, commonly, you know, understood, it presents information in a way that’s focused, that’s thoughtful, and, you know, [00:11:00] really c- um, index- shows a little bit about a student’s background. It gives precise and concrete examples. It shows, it doesn’t necessarily… You know, it doesn’t just tell.

Dr. Aya: Um, it’s colorful. Um, it tells admissions officers about who the student is, personal triumphs, challenges, leadership opportunities, growth, and experience outside the classroom. It also ensures that the essay question is actually answered, right? Which is especially important in the case of supplementals or supplement essays.

Dr. Aya: But I also think authenticity is so, so important, right? And thinking about what are the stories that only you can tell. And I’m gonna talk a little bit more about that because I find that students, particularly those who might come from backgrounds with more means or backgrounds that most might consider privilege or from environments that one might consider more homogenous, right, where there’s la- there’s not as much [00:12:00] diversity, sometimes those students struggle with thinking about, “How can I stand out?

Dr. Aya: What does compelling mean for me?” Well, again, a great college essay effectively describes how an experience detailed has led to personal growth or understanding of belongingness, or in a way that really demonstrates maturity and, and character and open-mindedness, right? And this is a reminder that we all have stories to tell, right?

Dr. Aya: Um, we all have very distinct lived experiences, even if we live in an environment where it feels like everybody looks the same, dresses the same, speaks the same. There is something that makes us all individuals and special, right? A great essay, again, is reflective of the student voice, right? Naturally, it should be polished, it should be free of major grammatical errors and typos, but it also should read like it was [00:13:00] written by you.

Dr. Aya: And again, I, I think with the overusage, in my opinion, of generative AI, that students are AI-ing their voice out of their writing, right? You know, we think about artificial intelligence, but we have our own, you know, authoritative kind of imagination, our own authentic imaginations that is truly our AI, and I want students to really lean into their own authoritative voice when they’re writing, ’cause it’s so, so important, especially as we think about making our essays memorable or compelling, right?

Dr. Aya: You also wanna use specific and concrete examples. I think I- I’ve been reviewing some personal statements for students applying to college in the, uh, fall of 2026, and I’ve, I’ve been giving a lot of feedback around be specific. Give me a concrete example. Paint the picture for me. I wasn’t there, and I don’t wanna make assumptions about what happened or what didn’t [00:14:00] happen, right?

Dr. Aya: What did you see? How did you feel? What did you s- you know, what did you smell? Think about the senses, right? I so often feel like students zoom out because we… A lot of folks struggle with talking about themselves, so it’s so easy to zoom out of the story instead of zoom in, and I want students to think about zooming in and giving some specific examples.

Dr. Aya: So when you think about common mistakes, um, which there are quite a bit, right, that’s why they’re common, um, to avoid in the college essays, you know, one piece of advice we often tell our students is we wanna avoid writing essays that focus on other people And students often have figures, mentors, parents, grandparents, siblings, that really inspire them, that motivate them, that really informs their why or their goals.

Dr. Aya: And it’s really important that when you write that essay, um, that you’re talking about [00:15:00] yourself, right? So there’s often students writing essays that tell us a, a story about a grandparent, right? You know, I’ve read stories of like, “My grandmother was the first woman to graduate from this particular law school.”

Dr. Aya: Huge accomplishment, in the history books, right? Very notable, and that informed why that student also wanted to be a lawyer. They saw their grandmother, you know, navigate law school, become a lawyer, start her own practice, and had to break a lot of glass ceilings. So naturally you’re like, “This is an amazing story.”

Dr. Aya: Very compelling, right? But then the story becomes about grandma, and grandma’s not the person applying to college, right? So you want to make sure that the story also talks about you, that it centers you, that it prioritizes your own arc and your own triumph and stories of overcoming, right? You also want to avoid writing essays about overly common or controversial topics.

Dr. Aya: Now, [00:16:00] another asterisk here, we often encounter young people who say, “I have played this sport,” let’s say hockey. I, I worked with several students who played hockey for very long periods of time. Hockey is not a easy sport. It’s an expensive sport, and it takes up a lot of time, right? Very… Traveling, it’s expensive, et cetera.

Dr. Aya: So students are like, “I’ve given my life to this sport. I wanna talk about hockey,” right? So there are in- instances and, and examples where students want to talk about a sport that was so critical to their development, and particularly not talking about winning the game shot, which we’ve heard. It’s not talking about, um, getting injured on the ice, which we’ve heard in every version, right?

Dr. Aya: It’s not talking about being cut from the team and having to try out again and, you know, again and again until you got it back. Those are stories we’ve heard. Those are very common, right? If you do have a angle or s- or perspective or some type of distinct POV [00:17:00] about… and a sport, a sport, especially if it’s one that’s less commonly played stateside, then I think, you know, writing about it is appropriate, right?

Dr. Aya: So again, there’s some cliches. Again, injuries, we heard every story. Getting cut from the team and having to try out again. Winning the game shot or not making the game shot, those kind of stories. Getting along with teammates, getting along with coaches, those are common topics, okay? Will admissions officers read it and throw it in the trash bin?

Dr. Aya: No, of course not. The essay is just one of many pieces- To the admissions puzzle, so we’re not suggesting that, but just know that we read a lot of essays about sports. And then you also see, uh, controversial topics such as politics. Another asterisk here, if you apply to a school, say my alma mater, Georgetown, or even maybe American University or, or George Washington, located in the nation’s capital, you have a desire to pursue, to study government or, uh, political science.

Dr. Aya: Um, maybe you want to [00:18:00] work in, uh, a government, whether it’s a foreign government or domestic. Um, you wanna intern on The Hill, or maybe you actually wanna be president one day. So you do write about, um, the way politics have informed your life, or how civically engaged you are, and how you knock doors for a candidate in your community.

Dr. Aya: Students do write about that. I think that is appropriate. Now, writing essays bashing current administrations or the lack thereof, or, and et cetera, you do wanna be incredibly careful about that. You do not know who’s reading those essays exactly. You don’t know their political affiliations or biases.

Dr. Aya: Admissions officers work their darnedest to be objective as much as possible, but please recognize it is a subjective process at the end of the day. So you just wanna be careful, right? Read the room, um, and just make sure you’re being appropriate as you talk about, um, you know, politics or other things that might, one might consider, um, controversial or taboo.

Dr. Aya: You also wanna write essays that read like you. As I mentioned before, students are AI-ing their, their [00:19:00] voices out or relying on parents to sometimes write the essays for them, and you don’t want to do that. We want to hear from you. Admissions officers want to hear from you. We also get a lot of mentioning experiences without describing them.

Dr. Aya: That’s the show, don’t tell s- narrative where students say, you know, “I worked really hard to achieve this goal.” Then they just move on. Well, how hard did you… What does working hard look like? Talk to me about working hard. What did that mean? Did that mean getting up at 6:00 AM, um, a hour before you would usually get up to study for AP chem, or did that mean getting up early, um, to run two extra miles before going to school?

Dr. Aya: Like, what exactly happened, and what goal were you trying to achieve? L- show us, right? We also have students who sometimes, unfortunately, name a university or college in the personal statement. I actually saw this, uh, when I worked in admissions, um, and we see a lot here in the State of Michigan, where students might say Michigan State, but they’re mean University of [00:20:00] Michigan.

Dr. Aya: So the personal statement is not an appropriate place to identify any school. Remember, you’re writing one 650-word essay, and that’s going to multiple schools that are on your list. Um, overly using a thesaurus or complex sentences. I’ve seen this, uh, you know, a lot, where students are using words that they believe are synonyms that may not actually be appropriate for the context that they’re using, or complex sentences.

Dr. Aya: I’ve seen students write, uh, essays where the first paragraph was just one sentence. One very, very, very long sentence. We’re seeing that now, especially with the use of the em dash. Um, so you wanna be mindful about the, the style of the sentence, the syntax of how you’re writing as well. And I get it, I’m an academic.

Dr. Aya: We write very… I mean, we’re quite loquacious as public speakers, and also we write very long sentences sometimes. So I understand that, but you just wanna be mindful of the flow. Admissions officers are reading hundreds and sometimes thousands of essays. Where possible, avoid passive voice and, and use active voice, and that’s something you might have heard in [00:21:00] a English classroom in high school.

Dr. Aya: And again, using AI or artificial tools such as ChatGPT to write your essays. Again, students might use AI and generative tools to help with outlining sometimes, but you just wanna make sure you’re just not writing an entire essay, essay using Claude or ChatGPT or some of these other generative AI platforms.

Dr. Aya: Also, it’s becoming easier to spot, frankly. Um, even if they’re not scanning it through a detector, a lot of us have seen so many of these essays where you can, you can see it. So how can students identify meaningful topics? This is actually a really popular question that we get. You wanna start with experiences that change how you think, see yourself or understand the world.

Dr. Aya: Now, that requires a bit of introspection, which again, is not always the easiest, but you really want to think about you, right? What is something that happened that might have transformed your kind of experience? Actually, that’s one of the first questions. Might have been the first [00:22:00] question I asked all of the undergraduate students that I interviewed for my dissertation.

Dr. Aya: It was the first… You know, I wanted to just hear how they thought about what was meaningful to them or… And that question came up. Um, you know, how are students thinking about how they see themselves? And sometimes students were like, “My parents were divorced,” or, “I, um, got an injury,” or, “I ha- I found myself in the hospital,” or, uh, “We moved to cha…

Dr. Aya: We moved cities. We moved towns. I moved schools.” That was often a really, um, transformational kind of experience for students. And then you wanna think about meaningful topics that are ordinary moments with significant personal impact. And I, and I often really, really try to drive this point home that the mundane can be so beautiful.

Dr. Aya: Stories about things that we might consider common. Maybe you just work at a coffee shop in your town and you’re like, “That is not special.” It’s so special. It really is. You know, even telling stories of what is a day in the life of your life look like? [00:23:00] What is the day in the life of Dr. Aya or, or Lydia?

Dr. Aya: You know, just talk about what does it mean to walk, you know, a mile in my shoes. What’s your morning routine like? What’s your evening routine like? There’s some mundane moments that we sometimes take for granted, and those can actually be really important and beautiful stories. You know, ask yourself, and I said this earlier, “What story could only I tell?”

Dr. Aya: You also wanna focus on experiences that reveal growth, values, or decision-making. Okay? Sometimes you might find yourself in a role where you have to make a difficult decision. You have to bring people together, or maybe people are going left and you had to go right for a host of reasons, right? So that might be in a meaningful topic.

Dr. Aya: And again, the best topics provide insight into who you are, not just what you’ve done. So when we’re thinking about character, you know, it may not easily translate I won that award, I got that job, I got that girl, whatever. It may not always translate or [00:24:00] map nicely into those particular categories, but think about who you are.

Dr. Aya: What, what reveals essence of your character? How can you facilitate a sense of belonging and meaningfulness for people who around, you know, who are around you? And also, I’ve seen, uh, um, some supplement essays ask students, like, “When is the time you, like, stood up for someone else?” Or something like that.

Dr. Aya: So there are universities who are now inviting more stories about how, uh, how students have helped others, um, feel like they belong as well. So just kind of reflect on those experiences as you’re thinking about meaningful, uh, topics. So in thinking about what the strongest essays reveal about a student, you know, I think some of the essays that have really stood out to me often indicate how student make meaning of their experiences.

Dr. Aya: And you might say, “Aya, what on earth? Like, what does that mean?” Right? So when I think about how students, particularly the ones I interviewed for my dissertation, a lot of them r- [00:25:00] it was the first time they really got to sit and, and think about why they made, uh, the decisions they made, and why they chose to write about their stories in particular ways.

Dr. Aya: And I think about some of the students who said, “You know, I wanted, you know, this university to see that even though I had to endure this particular moment, or even though I had self-doubt, that I was resilient, that I was a hard worker, that I was kind, that I was a good sister, a good daughter, a good brother,” right?

Dr. Aya: Or some students, you know, “Even though my parents had gone on to become physicians, I wanted to chart my own path as a journalist. And even though I had a lot of pressure to go take path A, I chose the route less traveled.” Right? So essays that kind of reveal that process. Also, thinking about the values and motivations and beliefs that guide their decisions are often quite strong.

Dr. Aya: Self-awareness, very important, and reflection. And in anything, [00:26:00] you know, personal growth, um, I think sometimes we… it’s a bit oversaturated as far as how we frame that, but there are, again, moments in the mundane that really help signal, like, how we grow. And I, I had a student write about, um, having a, um, you know, speech impediment, right?

Dr. Aya: And he talked about how hard and diligently he had to work in speech therapy. He experienced bullying, but he wanted to be a lawyer, so public speaking and being able to articulate himself in front of audiences were so important to him, and important to the profession he hoped to pursue. So he talked about what he had to do and endure, uh, in a very reflective and introspective way, while also signaling that personal growth.

Dr. Aya: So again, strong essays are revealing about how students are responding to challenges and opportunities or uncertainty, right? And we often think about what might a student [00:27:00] contribute to a college community? How will they add value to this campus community? And that can be through their research. Maybe they wanna just put their head down and do research.

Dr. Aya: It might be a club they wanna participate in or contribute to or start or expand or extend. Um, you know, they might wanna run for student government. They might wanna join the theater troupe. They might want to join the university’s banking club. There’s a lot of ways that students might contribute. They might wanna, you know, share their mom’s recipe for their, their, uh, residential community and bake in the, you know, the kitchen in the residential hall, et cetera.

Dr. Aya: So again, also signaling how you might contribute to your college community

Dr. Aya: So in thinking about the, you know, the effectiveness of storytelling or, or what makes storytelling effective, again, storytelling really helps admissions officers connect experiences to the person behind them. You know, we’re always trying to, like, paint the picture of the, of the applicant, of the candidate.

Dr. Aya: Um, [00:28:00] and s- s- telling stories really gives us, again, really critical insight. We’ll see the grades. We’ll see the test scores if you choose to submit them. We’ll see the letters of recommendation if you require them. We’ll see the extracurriculars and resumes, right? Um, but the telling the story behind it, like if I read a student started, you know, h- wash club at high school, we’re like, “What on earth is a wash club?”

Dr. Aya: Right? So then you could tell a story about the motivation. You noticed that students at your school, um, were being bullied because they, they weren’t coming to school with clean clothes. You expressed concerns to a teacher who helped support you to advocate for, you know, adding, you know, washer- washing machines to your, to your gym, you know, where students can wash clothes there.

Dr. Aya: Um, so that… I just made that story up by just thinking about a story that you could tell, um, that helps talk about the person behind what we see in the resume. Effective stories include specific details rather than broad summaries. [00:29:00] So sometimes students, again, want to summarize experiences, and there are certain stylistic choices you can make that can make that an effective strategy, but generally, we wanna see specific details.

Dr. Aya: Strong essays show moments of reflection, as I mentioned earlier, and not just a sequence of events. And the most memorable stories reveal, you know, in- insight and, and ways, uh, that students have transformed. And I think about a student who wrote about his parents sent him to Nigeria for, like, a, a year in school because they were like, “We gotta toughen you up a little bit.”

Dr. Aya: And he talked about how vastly different… The student was Nigerian, but he had never attended a Nigerian, a school in Nigeria. He only attended state schools in the United States. So stark contrast of how students are trained, um, both academically and socially, and it changed his life, you know? And again, a compelling story answers both what happened and why does it matter.

Dr. Aya: I often ask [00:30:00] students to say, “Why do admissions officers need to hear this story? And why should they care?” Why should they care you broke your leg in the 10th grade? Like, so what? What happens next? And I know that sounds a little bit harsh, and admissions officers are reading with a kind lens, I assure you.

Dr. Aya: But you do wanna make sure that the audience leaves understanding why should they care. Why does this matter, okay? And again, a compelling story is answering not only what happened, but why does it matter.

Dr. Aya: So in thinking about authenticity, huge, you know, conversation right now, again, with the use of generative AI and just broader students are always thinking about how can I stand out and show my authentic self. So what separates the authentic essay from one that is overly polished or strategic? You know, I do think there is strategy when it comes to a college application, right?

Dr. Aya: Um, that- that’s just being honest. I think students are, and parents and families and admissions officers and counselors and college advisors, and [00:31:00] you name it, are all trying to think how to be strategic, right? How to present myself in this particular way to be legible, to be admissible, to be competitive.

Dr. Aya: Well, auth- authentic essays sound like a real student and not a robot, not like chat, not a marketing brochure, not a resume. You know, it is not an appropriate use of the essay to just be like, “And I won this, and I won this, and last year I won this, and I won this, and I won this.” Thank you for sharing. We can see that in your honors and awards section, right?

Dr. Aya: So you really wanna make sure that you’re speaking from the human side of yourself, right? You prioritize honesty and reflection over impressing the reader. Again, there are ways that you wanna signal success, right? I often tell students, admissions officers don’t know what you don’t tell them. So if you wanted something that was so significant or so important and you built the story around this accomplishment, it could be really, really compelling, right?

Dr. Aya: And if you feel like it is so important to who you are and you’re like, “Wait, I don’t wanna brag, [00:32:00] so I’m gonna leave this out,” then we won’t ever know about it, right? So again, please tell us what you’ve achieved, right? Please tell us what you’ve done. But the goal isn’t to just drop, you know, make a list of all the things you accomplished and use that as the essay.

Dr. Aya: We want to hear a story, right? We want to hear specificity. We want to… where appropriate vulnerability. Vulnerability, not trauma. I wanna flag that, right? Does- Vulnerability does not mean expose all of your family business, everything you’ve had to endure. That is not, does not mean bleed on the page. That, you know, a personal essay, a college essay is not a diary, okay?

Dr. Aya: So you do want to make sure if you do choose to share things that you think are personal or intimate to you, make sure you are making that decision because you want to disclose that. Don’t feel forced to do that. And make sure you’re just being thoughtful about how you choose to disclose [00:33:00] things, okay?

Dr. Aya: You also, you wanna, you know, overly strategic essays often focus more on what students feel like the college wants to hear, um, than what generally the student learned. And I get it, right? If you’re applying to only certain types of schools, maybe all the schools are Jesuit schools. I went to a Jesuit university.

Dr. Aya: And you know, service is so important, so you’re like, “Okay, they like service. I like service, so let me write about service.” Well, that could be a good strategy only because- You, it’s, it’s authentic to who you are. Like, you are someone who’s done a lot of work in your community, so you’re like, “I do wanna highlight that because I know that’ll resonate with the admissions officers.”

Dr. Aya: But that comes from a genuine place, and you’ll be able to talk about what you learned. Don’t make up stuff, don’t lie, don’t over-embellish. If that’s not a good fit for you, if that’s not, you know, your lived experience, please do not lie and create something that doesn’t exist. And again, the strongest essays feel thoughtful and purposeful, right?

Dr. Aya: And not just simply manufactured. Um, and again, the… I’ve seen it, I’m starting to see it a lot with the use [00:34:00] of generative AI, where it just feels, you know, like robots are writing and, and you lose the essence. You know? The, the, the, the generative AI only knows what you tell them, right? So they don’t often get to the crux of who you are.

Dr. Aya: So as we think about the final tips here, and of course we will have opportunities to, to… I’ll have opportunity to answer your questions. I want to remind you to show and not simply tell, you know. It’s… example I always use is, you know, if a student says, “I learned a lot volunteering at the Cleveland Animal Shelter,” right?

Dr. Aya: It’s like, okay, sure. Another way to frame this is, “While feeding the sick puppies,” so showing us what you did, “With other shelter volunteers,” showing us who you did it with, “I learned the importance of teamwork and compassion.” So you’re not only telling us what you learned, like, what particular traits or characteristics or values.

Dr. Aya: You showed us y- you showed us how you did it, through what means. Okay? So that’s a great example of giving us a little bit more meat, something to hold [00:35:00] onto. Tell the story. Paint the picture. You wanna share lessons learned. Details how the experience you write about inform your future and the type of s- uh, student you’ll be at in college, right?

Dr. Aya: You wanna talk about the type of student, um, that you’ll be and, you know, how that, you know, what type of roommate you’ll be. You know, what type of, um, teacher or mentor or student or, you know, student leader, et cetera. You wanna proofread, of course. Exhibit A. You wanna proofread. Use read- allow features.

Dr. Aya: That’s one of my favorite features for those who still use Microsoft Office to capture correctly spelled words used in the wrong way. Um, I know sometimes you can do plugins with, um, like, the Google Docs. But you definitely want to proofread, and then tell your story. You definitely wanna write about your own experiences and not someone else’s, which again, unfortunately, um, students also do a lot because they’re so excited to talk about how someone that they [00:36:00] know and love and respect and admires really informs them, and the essay then becomes about that person solely.

Dr. Aya: So we definitely want you to write about your own experiences

Lydia: Right. Thank you so much for that excellent presentation, Dr. Walabe. Now we’re gonna transition into the Q&A portion of tonight’s session. And as a reminder, you all are still able to put some questions that you want us to answer in the Q&A tab. We’ll be reading those aloud and giving Dr. Walabe a chance to answer them.

Lydia: Um, so we will go ahead and dive into some of the questions that you all submitted. So the first one that I have is just a question about what should a student do if they are not really sure what they should be talking about in their personal statement. Like, they don’t know what their brand is as a student.

Lydia: They don’t [00:37:00] really have a specific event in their life that really pops out to them as particularly important or a good depiction of who they are as a person. Where should they start when trying to figure out what to write?

Dr. Aya: Yeah. That’s a great question, and it’s, it’s one, again, we get quite a bit. It’s something I, I mentioned earlier in the, the webinar, that students often kinda struggle with feeling, you know, thinking about what makes them distinct or what makes them special.

Dr. Aya: And I often just tell students that there’s a lot of things to draw from, where it’s reflecting about the day in the life of you. You know, whether it’s writing about your morning routine, your evening routine, telling us what traditions or values, um, that your family or a relative has that really has informed how you see yourself.

Dr. Aya: Um, tell, you know, thinking about something that really piques your, your curiosity and keeps you engaged. Uh, [00:38:00] write about… I mean, I, I’m working with a student now, and she wrote a essay about her favorite color, which was blue, but talked about the way that color showed up in her life in so many, in really, really important, um, ways.

Dr. Aya: So again, I, I once… Students often overthink this, but I just think starting from self, again, just starting from you. Don’t worry about what you believe they want to, to write about. I think we all have a distinct story and experience. And when in doubt, there are various online resources and exercises that, you know, you could use to, um, you know, st- get the juices flowing.

Dr. Aya: You know, you can always look at the personal statement essay prompts, um, and see what types of questions they’re asking and, and just jot, see how quickly you can jot down some bullet points that might respond to those questions as well. So there’s various tools and, and tricks you can use to really get the, the juices flowing.

Dr. Aya: But when in doubt, I always tell people to, you know, start writing about, write, you know, a few hundred words [00:39:00] about what you love about yourself or what you love about your, your day or… And I think that’s a really great way to, to really start the r- the really, the introspective and the reflective process that sometimes personal statements require

Lydia: I love that recommendation to write down the things that you love about yourself as a, as a starting point.

Lydia: Um, another question that we have is how do you recommend students choose which prompt to respond to?

Dr. Aya: Yes. Yeah, and I see this, uh, person asked specifically about the PIQs, the personal insight questions, which are, um, the UCs, right? The, uh, University of California system. Unlike the, the Common App, which has I think seven questions, and one is like choose your own adventure, or maybe six and one is choose your own adventure.

Dr. Aya: The University of California has eight questions, and students, um, have to choose four of them. We often encourage students to write about the essays that they, A, feel like they can actually, um, write a thoughtful response [00:40:00] to. And then also, B, particularly in the p- the PIQs, think about which essays will give you an opportunity to talk about the most, um, diverse experiences, right?

Dr. Aya: So you don’t wanna write four essays that are all talking about the same thing, right? So if you love… If you wanna be an engineer, so if one essay is about robotics, you don’t want the other essays to be like, “Why I like science,” “Why I like robotics,” “Why, why I like, you know, physics.” You really wanna provide some diversity.

Dr. Aya: If you want… If the first essay is like your love for robotics, then the second essay might be a family tradition that you wanna write about. The third might be some community service that you’ve done. The fourth might be a hidden talent that you have. So you really wanna use those PIQs to signal different parts of your identity, your background, and experiences.

Dr. Aya: So you don’t wanna… You wanna make sure all the essays are not about the same thing. So that is a very great question, but that’s particularly specific to the, the PIQs, the personal [00:41:00] insight questions in the UCs, because you do have to write four of them. In the case of the personal statement, you write one, um, and you choose the one that feels the most comfortable to you.

Dr. Aya: I mean, I, a thousand years ago when I applied to college, I end up choosing the pick your own topic essay question. And just so you know, I’ve spoken to my colleagues at the Common App, there is not a preference for any of the questions. So sometimes students think, “Oh, if I answer question number two, that looks better than question number six.”

Dr. Aya: No, not true at all. All of the essay questions are treated equally. Um, so you just wanna write the essay, um, that responds to the question you feel like you have the most thoughtful, um, and generative, uh, response to. And sometimes that means picking the choose your own topic question and writing a thoughtful essay to that.

Dr. Aya: So that’s how I, uh, would recommend students choosing kind of which prompts, particularly in the context of the PIQs in the California system, but also in the Common App, uh, personal [00:42:00] statements more broadly.

Lydia: Yeah, I think that, that’s a great point, and I can definitely say for me, like, when I read personal statements, a lot of the time I wouldn’t

Lydia: I mean, sometimes you can tell which prompt it would be responding to. Right. But a lot of the time it’s like, “Oh, it could probably res- be responding to like, a handful of these.” Right. Um, so don’t get too hung up on it. I like to think of them more so as a tool for you to kind of narrow your focus if you feel like you’re kinda all over the place, to think about a specific question that you’re trying to answer rather than it being like, “I have to pick one or the other.”

Lydia: Something that I would also add is, this is particularly true I find for pre-med students or just any student that is very passionate about a specific path. Um, I think it’s also important for those students to think strategically about what they write about in their personal statement, especially if you are planning on applying to more selective schools [00:43:00] that often do have a supplemental essay where you will have an opportunity to write why did you choose your major, why did you choose this school.

Lydia: Um, even though those schools don’t have like, s- all have the same set of PIQs like the UCs do, s- I have seen students who chose to write a personal statement that ended up being kinda similar to what they talked about in their supplemental. Yes. And then it ended up feeling like a missed opportunity, so to speak, of, “Oh, I ended up kinda saying the same thing twice in two essays, and I tried my best to distinguish it.”

Lydia: So just be, like, conscientious. If you already have a list of schools that you know that you’re interested in, maybe take a look at what those supplemental essays might be and just make sure that your personal statement will be able to be distinct enough from those other supplementals. I would definitely say for personal statements, while you can talk about, [00:44:00] like, a specific thing that you’re passionate about or interested in, it should not feel like a, “This is why I’m majoring in XYZ,” type of essay because many colleges do have a supplemental essay in that kind of vein.

Lydia: So just make sure it’s more about who you are as a person.

Dr. Aya: I cannot agree more.

Lydia: Um, another question we have, this one’s a little bit more specific, but this student is asking, “Would writing about a business that I run in high school be a good topic to write an essay on?”

Dr. Aya: It could be. It could be a amazing topic.

Dr. Aya: I don’t have enough information to know about the business, how it came about, what you do, who you serve, et cetera. But it could be a phenomenal essay, actually. To this, great question, um, it’s so funny. I, uh, when I was an admissions officer, now it’s 10 years ago when I worked at, at my alma mater, and I still think about a essay from a student whose name I won’t [00:45:00] say, uh, ’cause I still remember her name, and she wrote about her cupcake business, and she was applying to the business school.

Dr. Aya: And I remember being a bit on the fence, um, with h- with her application profile. I went home and slept on it. That’s how much I couldn’t stop think- I dreamed about the student, and the business, and the essay. And I remember coming back the next day and telling my colleagues that we have to admit her. And then I had to, you know, go through the whole process.

Dr. Aya: But, so yes, she wrote about her cupcake business, and it was in, in, in informed why she wanted to study in the, the sc- the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown. And she was, uh, a student from a interesting, kind of diverse background. Um, and it was just incredibly compelling. So in, in short, absolutely you can.

Dr. Aya: I don’t know enough about your particular business, but students do write about that. Um, and I think it could be a really interesting essay. So, sure.

Lydia: Yeah. I think, uh, good guidance for any person that’s, like, thinking about writing about a specific activity, [00:46:00] extracurricular achievement, things like that, it’s just like remember that the personal statement, like, k- like, like what Dr.

Lydia: Aya Waller-Bey was saying earlier, you want every essay, every part of your application to serve a unique purpose. So if your essay starts to feel like it is just a resume or like a list of I did this and then I did that, and then I did this and then I did that, um, or I achieved this metric, that’s not really helping them get to know you.

Lydia: Yeah. But if you feel like there’s a specific story that you can tell about your business or any extracurricular that you might be considering writing about, make sure that there is a moment that you can zoom in on or a lesson that you can talk about that helps to give a better picture of who you are as a person.

Lydia: Don’t think of your personal statement as like, “Oh, I just need to talk about the most impressive thing that I did.” Right. And I think sometimes students think, “Oh, I either need to talk about the hardest thing I ever went through or the most exceptional thing I [00:47:00] ever accomplished,” and yes, sometimes those can be really good essays, but a lot of the time it’s more so just like a moment that really captures like the essence of who you are.

Dr. Aya: Mm-hmm.

Lydia: Um, another question that we have is, is a personal struggle or lesson that a student learned be okay to write a- write about, for example, a mental health journey? Or would that make colleges hesitant to accept you?

Dr. Aya: Yeah, this is a great question, and it’s one we’ve gotten quite a bit over the years.

Dr. Aya: You know, I, I would say honestly, when I worked in admissions 10 years ago, essays about mental health, um, were, um- yellow flags, um, sometimes in the admissions office because some, it made admissions officers wonder if the student could be successful at this school, whether or not the student, whether or not the university had tools to, to support the student, [00:48:00] um, and to ensure that they would be safe, that they would be healthy, and that they would be able to do the work and graduate and be successful, right?

Dr. Aya: So it became more of a, like, can we support this student given the gravity of the mental health challenges that they’ve expressed. Now, this is a decade ago, and I’m, you know, I’m just being honest here. I mean, increasingly so, uh, mental health, particularly during the COVID, the, the, the heart of the COVID crisis, we saw a lot of essays about mental health because we all were deeply affected by COVID and also everything that happened in, um, summer of 2020 as well.

Dr. Aya: Um, can students write about a s- lessons learned, um, struggles? Um, yes. Students do it all the time. Again, I wrote about a particular challenge I had to overcome. I read essays about students writing about things they’ve had to endure and overcome all the time. I, I, I am very sensitive to mental health, um, only because I just wanna make sure a student is Thinking carefully about what they’re sharing and why they are sharing it.

Dr. Aya: If you recall, two of the [00:49:00] questions I, I, you know, I, I- that I wanted students to think about, one was, you know, um, you know, tell me what happened and, like, why we should care about it. So making sure that you are not disclosing mental health as a way, like, “Let me tell you all the mental health challenges I got.

Dr. Aya: Let me get it out to someone,” right? Remember, this is not your diary. Admissions officers are not mental health professionals. Some might be trained, but most of them are not, right? So you wanna be incredibly mindful about what you are disclosing to these strangers who might, because that’s a piece of data you have now given them, might use that to inform their decisions.

Dr. Aya: They’re trying to paint a picture of you, right? So can I say in a hard stop, like, don’t write about mental health? No. I mean, absolutely, there are some students… I, I worked with a student this past year who wrote about, um, the need for m- more mental health, uh, services in her particular school. Like, in her urban school, she felt like there was not enough mental health services, and she talked about why it was important.

Dr. Aya: Wrote an amazing essay, got into a- [00:50:00] you know, almost all the schools she applied to. So yes, you can write about mental health. I do, again, always tell students when they’re writing about personal struggle, trauma, things they’ve had to overcome, to just be really, really sensitive to, you know, why are you telling this story?

Dr. Aya: What is the admissions officers going to learn about it? Is this the best way to present that particular story? Um, so again, it is not a hard absolutely not, but I do want you to… You know, there is some caution, just to make sure that the story you’re telling is sh- putting your best foot forward. Not saying it’s, has to, you know, be a positive story about your life, but just wanna make sure it is telling and communicating the aspects of your identity and your background you want admissions officers to walk away knowing about you.

Lydia: Yeah. I, I completely agree with that. Like, I … The, the short and sweet thing I have told students in the past is, like, don’t leave your admissions officer walking away feeling, like, concerned for you [00:51:00] or- Yes … scared for you.

Dr. Aya: Yes.

Lydia: So if you’re talking about something really heavy, like I’ve had a student who talked about, like, an attempt that she had made to, like- Yeah

Lydia: take her own life. Yeah. And that was something where, you know, it was something that was really important. It shaped her view. But it, I, it was one of those things where there was gonna have to be so much work to talk about what she did to overcome that and- Yeah … be in a different space, and you just don’t want the impression to be like, “I’m really concerned for this student.”

Lydia: Yes. Um, and sometimes in the … Even though the story, like, that you experienced may be, “Yes, I’ve overcome this. I’m not in that space anymore. I’m so proud of myself,” sometimes 500 to 650 words is just not enough to, like, paint that full picture. Yeah. Um, so also think about that part. Like, do I have enough space here in this personal statement to tell my story in the way that I need to [00:52:00] tell it so that they can understand what I have learned?

Lydia: And sometimes, unfortunately, like, if you went through something really difficult, it’s difficult to show that full story and give it the, the air that it needs to breathe.

Dr. Aya: Yeah.

Lydia: So, um- And

Dr. Aya: I, and I just … If I just … I wanna add this, uh- Yeah, go ahead … as well. Um, I interviewed admissions officers and I asked them this question from, and, for my, my, my PhD and, and, and I did have some admissions officers share that sometimes student reveal details that had them so concerned that they had to reach out to the high school counselor.

Dr. Aya: So students talking about harming themselves, harming others, um, and that was a point of concern to the point that they had to potentially even put the, the student at more harm by disclosing to a, a high school teacher or counselor, a counselor usually, that a student had written about something that was so perhaps troubling.

Dr. Aya: So again, you just wanna be- Mm-hmm … super careful, uh, about that as well.

Lydia: Yeah, definitely. So, um, we’re gonna take just a brief pause to go over [00:53:00] the amazing things that CollegeAdvisor can offer to students who are working on their college admissions essays. Um, so this is one student, um, as a scientist, uh, Zach was challenged to write narratively.

Lydia: The college essay style just didn’t really come naturally to him. Um, but CollegeAdvisor was able to help him find his voice, and he was accepted into five colleges and also received the Zell Miller Scholarship, which is a merit-based scholarship for Georgia residents that essentially covers full tuition, and ended up choosing Johns Hopkins, where he received an institutional scholarship of around $61,000 per year.

Lydia: Um, another student that CollegeAdvisor has helped, uh, is Abby, who reached out because she was an aspiring first-generation college student, and her immigrant parents had no experience 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: [00:54:00] She was thinking ahead and connected with CollegeAdvisor as a sophomore and ended up applying early decision to Cornell, where she was accepted and received full financial aid, which is amazing. So feel free to connect with CollegeAdvisor to get support on your college admissions journey. Um, there are so many resources that we have, from essay support to one-on-one advising and things like that.

Lydia: So feel free to connect with us, um, using this QR code that you will see on the screen. It’ll also pop up after this webinar finishes, so feel free to use it, um, to get access to your free one-on-one session with a qualified admissions, uh, advisor like myself or Dr. Aya Waller-Bey. All right, so we are gonna continue with the Q&A here.

Lydia: Um, another question that we have is you talked [00:55:00] earlier about how essays can really be used as a tool to advocate sometimes for students. Like you talked about one student where you, um, like were thinking about her cupcake essay, and you went back and were like, “Oh, we really need to admit her.” Are there any specific things that a student can include in their essay that can help them to stand out in that way that can be useful tools for an admissions officer to advocate for them?

Dr. Aya: That’s a really great question, and the short answer is no. Um, I, I d- it’s less about what is being said and more so who’s saying it, and I, and I, I know this is a perhaps a very unpopular, uh, answer, but what I’ve learned through my own tenure in admissions, my own tenure in graduate school, and now, you know, as a sociologist studying college admissions essays and, and higher ed more broadly, the admissions process looks differently for different types of students.

Dr. Aya: The [00:56:00] essay operates differently for different types of students. So when you do have students from underrepresented backgrounds, say a first generation college student who is communicating something that is difficult or started a business and they’re the first person in their family to go to college, um, and they grew up in a, in a, went to a school that was lower resource and they also had another job, a student disclosing that in a personal statement and say they maybe got a B in AP Calculus, so they were interested in business, that looks very different than for a student who had a lot of resources, went to the best private schools or public schools in the country, parents, you know, have MBAs and they’ve got a B, a few Bs in, in calculus.

Dr. Aya: You know, the student are more likely to advocate for and say, “This is a student who’s first gen who’s done exceptionally well, still has high test scores, but did have a, you know, a, a slight dip.” So again, the essay looks differently for different types of students, and how admissions officers choose to use the context [00:57:00] o- of the essays just really depends on the student.

Dr. Aya: So there is not a black and white, we advocate for this student and not this student. The goal… I mean, and again, we really wanna admit as many students as possible, but we know that there are enrollment constraints that does not make that feasible, right? And it’s oftentimes their own institutional priorities and not the students that inform those decision-making processes.

Dr. Aya: So the short answer to your question, Lydia, no, there isn’t anything explicitly that a student can just say to say, “This will make them advocate for me.” Um, it really is contextual based on student, their background, what they choose to disclose, and the, also the institutional priorities of the, this perspective university

Lydia: Yeah.

Lydia: So I guess what, what I’m hearing from that is that you wanna, as a student or applicant, make sure that you’re just using your essay to paint, like, the fullest picture of- Absolutely … who you are, what you were going through. If there were things that made your life hard or made it difficult for you to maybe meet certain [00:58:00] expectations, make sure that you’re talking about that, but also making sure that you’re talking about the other things that make you who you are and, you know, your achievements.

Lydia: So that, that’s what I’m hearing from that.

Dr. Aya: Yes.

Lydia: Um, okay. Another question that we have is, you talked about just trying to avoid talking about overly common topics like sports, um, injuries, for example. However, if a student really has, like, a defining experience that they went through that is kind of a cliche, what is the best way to handle that?

Lydia: Like, what if their story really is, “I got injured playing basketball, and then I couldn’t play my senior year, and it changed everything”?

Dr. Aya: Well, if the student is, you know, determined to write that essay, ultimately it is their story to tell. You know, I, we’ve… I’ve, I’m sure you’ve encountered this. I’ve encountered students where there was some, you know, bit of pushback and tussling [00:59:00] regarding, like, what topic they ultimately choose to write.

Dr. Aya: But again, everybody has their own distinct POV. So as much as I’ve read all types of stories about juggling, sport injuries, swim team, cut volleyballs, you know, serve missed, et cetera, lost the game, won the game, won the trophy, broke the trophy. We’ve heard all types of iterations, yet there is, you know, students who have different perspectives, right?

Dr. Aya: So maybe you did get injured and got cut from the team, but then what happened after that? You know, again, the so what, why we should care is the part of the story that actually sings anyway. So if you wanna prioritize what comes after that, what you learned, the growth, um, maybe that changed something in you or how you see the world or your future and your goals, then lean into that part.

Dr. Aya: Because the actual injury part, again, we’ve heard that before. The cutting of the team, we’ve heard that before. But tell us what comes after that, and tell us a story that only you can tell. So that would be my, my feedback there.

Lydia: I think that’s, that’s great advice. Like, [01:00:00] ye- yes, we ideally wanna have a story that is unique or not a quote unquote cliche, but the devil’s really in the details.

Lydia: Like, even if you’ve gone through a s- experience that millions of other s- people have gone through, they didn’t go through it the way that you did. And there, like, even if you look on TV at movies or TV shows, a lot of them have the same general plots, but the details make it unique. And so the same is true with personal statements.

Lydia: Um, all right. It is 9:00, so, um, I think we’ll have to wrap up with just one last question, which is, what is the line between meaningful reflection and stretching a story beyond natural impact?

Dr. Aya: Hmm. What is the line between meaningful reflection and stretching a story beyond its natural impact? Well, I think the natural- I guess they’re

Lydia: asking about, like, not navel-gazing too much.

Lydia: Like, are you ref- being [01:01:00] overly sentimental? I think that’s what they’re meaning.

Dr. Aya: Okay. Well, I mean, I think that’s the answer then. I mean, I think the natural impact is whatever you make it, honestly. Like, you know, no one can tell you how an ex- uh, an experience affected you or impacted your life, but you do want to give specific examples and not spend a whole kind of essay in the stars.

Dr. Aya: You definitely wanna ground the story. So it’s hard… It, it’s not as black and white, and it’s hard to say without actually reading the particular essay in, um, in question. But you definitely wanna get to the point and the so what and why we should care, and a- at the end of the day, only you can determine, like, what the actual impact is.

Dr. Aya: No one can say how something affected your life, but if we feel like you’re just trying to reach the 650-word word count and you’re just going on and on and on, then that also is, is very clear to admissions officers as well.

Lydia: Yeah. And I mean, I would also say with a personal statement, regardless of what story you choose to kind of be, like, your central [01:02:00] story, the personal statement still should end up connecting back to the present.

Lydia: So, like, you shouldn’t be spending the entire 650 words, like, telling us about something that happened two year… Like, there should be some connection to here’s who I am, here’s, like, what the meaning of it is, rather than spending the whole thing talking about something that happened in the past. Um-

Dr. Aya: Yeah.

Dr. Aya: And I’ll, I’ll just say quickly, ’cause I saw that person follow up, um, it’s okay if a st- to your point, the, you know, the q- the question asker, it’s okay if it’s a, a story that, again, it has more value to you than what might be seen by the larger public. If it quietly reshaped the way you view the world, then I think that’s actually a very beautiful essay.

Dr. Aya: Again, that’s the, the idea when I say writing about the mundane can actually be quite impactful, so I, I… You know, it could be very meaningful Great questions.

Lydia: Okay. All right, so we are gonna conclude tonight’s [01:03:00] webinar. Thank you all so much for joining us. Yes, thank you. Um, again, um, just be sure to book that one-on-one session, a free 60-minute strategy session with an admission specialist on our team using this QR code on the screen.

Lydia: During that meeting, you’ll receive a preliminary assessment of your academic profile, along with some initial recommendations on what you can do to stand out, and at the end, you’ll also learn more about the premium packages we offer that pair you with an expert who can support you in building your college list, editing your essays, and many other amazing things.

Lydia: So thank you so much to, for joining us, and thank you especially to Dr. Aya Waller-Bey for the exceptional presentation and all the expertise and insight that you were able to share with us tonight about the personal statement.

Dr. Aya: My pleasure. Good luck, everyone.

Lydia: All right, thanks. Good night. Bye.