It took over a month to fix, but as of today, both the print and electronic versions of If the U Fits: Expert Advice on Finding the Right College and Getting Accepted are officially error-free. The copyediting service that missed the mistakes
refunded all of my money. And now I can feel better about promoting
the book knowing people who buy it won't be distracted by senseless
errors. Thank you for being so patient with me.
Here's a free chapter for seniors working on your college essays:
Avoid clichés
One
of our counselors referred to his last year working in admissions at
Caltech as the year of the blood drive essay. That year, an unusually
high number of applicants told the same tale of how one on-campus blood
drive changed their lives and made them appreciate the importance of
serving humanity.
Writing such grandiose statements into your essays won’t help you
stand out. The statements sound cliché. So here are the five most
overused clichés I—and every admissions officer I’ve spoken with—see
most often, and which you should avoid.
1. The aforementioned “blood drive essay” or “How community service taught me the importance of helping others”
Colleges appreciate students who are concerned about their
communities. But one blood drive does not a humanitarian make. A claim
to have learned how important it is to help people needs to be
substantiated with evidence of a sincere, long-term commitment to
helping people. Otherwise, your message loses some oomph.
If you had an experience during your community service that really
meant a lot to you, say so. And be honest. Otherwise, consider doing a
good deed for admissions officers and avoid the community service
cliché.
2. “Hard work always pays off,” and other life lessons learned while playing sports
The problem with many sports essays is they explain what life is like
for every athlete. You go to practice. You work hard. You compete.
Then the student makes it worse by saying sports taught him the
importance of hard work and commitment, which is almost certainly not
something he would say to his friends.
Be original. Tell your sports story that nobody else can tell. If you
can’t find a story you own, just write about something else. The sport
will still be listed on your application.
3. “How my trip to another country broadened my horizons”
This essay essentially says, “France is very difference from the
United States—the food, the language, the customs. But I learned to
appreciate the differences and to adapt to the ways of the French.”
Visiting a country and noticing that it is different is not a story
that you own. The admissions office doesn’t want to read your travel
journals. Instead, make yourself, not the country, the focus of the
essay.
One of my students who had never previously ventured onto any sort of
dance floor wrote that his trip to Spain was the first time he’d ever
danced in front of other people. That wasn’t an essay about how Spain
was different—it was an essay about how he was different in Spain.
4. “How I overcame a life challenge [that wasn’t really all that challenging]”
Essays can help admissions officers understand more about a student
who has overcome legitimate hardship. But far too many other students
misguidedly manufacture hardship in a college essay to try to gain
sympathy or make excuses (e.g., for low grades). That won’t work.
If you’ve had a difficult hardship and you want to talk about it, you
should. Otherwise, it’s probably better to choose a different topic.
Note: The pet eulogy falls into this category. Lovely if you want to
write one. Just don’t include it as part of your college essay.
5. Anything that doesn’t really sound like you
Your essays are supposed to give the readers a sense of your
personality. So give your essays a sincerity test. Do they sound like
you, or do they sound like you’re trying to impress someone?
Don’t use words you looked up in the thesaurus. There really is no
place for “plethora” in a college essay. Don’t quote Shakespeare or
Plato or the Dali Lama unless that is really you. If your best friend
reads it and says it sounds just like you, that’s probably a good sign.
Get the book: If the U Fits: Expert Advice on Finding the Right College and Getting Accepted