Be a Red Ball -- The College Admissions Essay

 For most students, writing the college essay is unlike anything they wrote in English class.  There, they became adept at expository writing and were able to craft a five-paragraph essay.  They were accustomed to arguing a point or analyzing a piece of literature.  But explaining why the admissions committee should select them over all of the other applicants is often a far more difficult topic.  For a start, it feels really uncomfortable.  How does someone select that one, life-changing experience?  How can someone write about a unique personality trait without bragging?  The University of Chicago is known for asking strange questions.  One year, one of the essay choices was, “So where is Waldo, really?”  How can a student write about something as weird as that?  The college application process is an anxiety-producing experience, and being confronted with a seemingly flippant essay prompt is just not appreciated!  No wonder students dread the college essay.

When I help students in the college admissions process, the greatest proportion of our time together is spent on the college essay.  I try to help my client understand what the admissions committee really wants.  When asked how a particular work in the arts inspired the applicant, the committee is not asking about a painting or a piece of music.  When the student is invited to write about his/her thoughts about global warming, the essay is not supposed to be about stratospheric chemistry.  So what is the admissions committee really asking?

There are only two classes of essay prompts: one uses an event and the other asks about a personality trait.  But both are just vehicles that help the admissions team get to know the applicant.  All questions boil down to: how are you special?  Consider that Waldo question.  I think it is asking, “How do you stand out in a crowd?“  Put more simply, what gives you dinner plate-sized eyes and a red and white striped hat?

I went to a tag sale and saw a deerskin bag sitting by itself near the edge of a table.  I picked it up and looked inside.  It was filled with white marbles.  There must have been fifty marbles in that bag.  As I jostled the bag, one red marble appeared from behind a layer of white marbles.  Just one red ball.  It really stood out.  That is what I help my clients become.  I talk with them and help them discover how to be a red ball.

I help students move beyond a white ball topic.  “When I volunteered at the local shelter, I realized how fortunate I am.”  White Ball.  “The Most Important Moment in my life was the day my team won the championship.”  White Ball.  “We should all be concerned about global warming.”  That white ball is so dull it must have fallen out of the bag!

Let’s turn that community service experience into a red ball.  I don’t want to read you brag about how lucky you are to have a place to sleep and plenty of food in the kitchen.  Tell me about what you did at the shelter.  How did you feel about working there?  Was it a personal challenge?  How did you overcome the apprehension you felt as you walked in the door?  Who did you talk with while you were there?  What was that person’s story?  What did you talk about?  How did you feel about that person?  Did you perceive that person’s dignity and humanity?  What enabled you to make this connection?  Is there a lesson in this experience?  What insight about life did it give you?  Did it change the way you look at the homeless?  Did it change the way you think about the nature of community service?  Were you able to apply these lessons later on, in some other part of your life?  The answers to these questions reveal who you are as an individual.  They touch on your core values.  They make you stand out from all the other applicants.  They make you become a red ball.

Sometimes we race through life so quickly that we miss the lessons that are there for us.  Sometimes we need someone else to ask questions and help us to understand in a new light.  When a student goes through this process correctly, the result is not just a compelling essay.  The student does much more than become a red ball.  When done correctly, the student learns something about him/herself.  Gaining self-knowledge is an important part of growing up, and it comes from unexpected places… even college essays.