When I would brainstorm college essay topics with our Collegewise students, I always recommended that the final paragraph answer the question, “What’s next?”
For example, say you write your essay about your experience playing on the lacrosse team. Do you hope to play for a college team? A club team? Will you play other intramural sports instead? Or will you leave athletics behind entirely (and if so, why, and what do you envision doing instead)?
An essay that doesn’t answer what’s next is like a movie that leaves you hanging at the end with no sense of what happens to the characters. It’s natural for a college admissions officer to wonder how you will bring—literally or figuratively—this activity, experience, lesson, etc. to college with you. For you, it’s, “What’s next?” For them, it’s, “What’s in it for us?”
The most important thing to remember about a “what’s next” paragraph—and frankly, any paragraph in a college essay—is to be honest. Colleges don’t expect that everything you did in high school will translate directly to your life in college. So if you aren’t sure what’s next, say so. That might sound like this:
As much as I’ve loved lacrosse, I don’t think I want to continue playing in college. In fact, I may leave sports behind entirely. I’m so excited about studying what I want to study, meeting new people, and getting involved in activities that have nothing to do with athletics, I think it will be a nice change of pace to know I’m not spending 2-3 hours a day on the field. Lacrosse will always be there for me if I miss it too much (I’ve made my mom promise not to give away all my equipment just yet). And of course, I’ll always be proud of these scars I earned playing my favorite sport in high school.