Essays and Writing Samples
The essays applicants submit are the only way the student has to speak directly to the admissions officers about themselves, their experiences, and how they will contribute to the university. Understandably, there is often anxiety around these essays, which usually have a variation on the instruction to “tell us about yourself and something that you find meaningful.” Even the most confident writers can find themselves frozen with self-doubt.
This is entirely normal. We are not often asked to write about ourselves or trace some kind of narrative arc showing growth. We are in the middle of our own lives and can find it hard to pick out what makes us special. Particularly among students who are academically curious or have a passion for or sport, there is a tendency to write about that field or activity and not themselves. The reader may finish the essay having learned about a particular chem lab experiment or mountain biking but no better informed about the writer. Another common phenomenon is setting the bar too high: Applicants may feel that, having failed to start a company or set up an NGO, they have nothing to say.
Another issue is voice. It is important that the essay sounds like the student, and not what the applicant thinks the admissions officers might want him or her to sound like.
In addition to essays describing their personal and intellectual journeys, applicants to masters and doctoral programs in non-STEM fields usually need to submit writing samples of between 20 and 30 pages long. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate subject matter expertise in front of readers from the department who will be able to grasp complex arguments or technical points. However, the sample usually benefits from some editorial advice, particularly if it is an excerpt from an undergraduate thesis. Again, the applicant may be too close to the subject matter to see contradictions, lapses in logic, or references that go unexplained.
What We Do
Besides being a college counselor, I have been a speechwriter, editor, translator, and English teacher. I have published one book and am working on a second, so have been on both sides of the editorial process.
I draw on this experience to work with clients in a collaborative way. I am the outside reader who is getting to know them through these essays. We consider how the applicant might adjust an essay to suit the priorities of a particular institution and otherwise demonstrate how he or she has researched the school.
While I play an important role in brainstorming and suggesting points it might be useful to include, the applicant is always in the driver’s seat. He or she is the sole author, the one who makes the first and final calls about what to say and how to say it.