What Do Colleges Look For in an Essay? 

For colleges, your admissions essay is a window into the person behind the grades and test scores. It’s their opportunity to gain meaningful insight into your unique background, character strengths, and innate qualities that statistics alone cannot convey.

As an applicant, the personal statement presents an invaluable chance to humanize your application and truly stand out. When reviewing your essay, admissions officers will be looking for:

• Context on your life experiences that reveal who you are as an individual
• Distinguishing positive traits you can bring to their campus community
• Concrete examples that showcase you actively embodying those admirable qualities

A strategically selected topic and storytelling can allow you to make a memorable personal impression, highlight what differentiates you, and provide proof of your unique strengths through lived experiences.

College application essay context: What sets you apart?

Your college essay should reveal aspects of your identity, experiences, and character that cannot be gleaned from other application materials. It should provide valuable context, nuance, and an insider’s perspective on what makes you stand apart.

Admissions teams already know much about your academic achievements, extracurricular pursuits, and leadership roles. They lack insight into the “you” behind these credentials – your motivations, values, and worldview. An exceptional essay illuminates the intangible qualities that numbers on a transcript cannot convey.

Think about it this way: The strongest applicants on paper can sometimes feel one-dimensional when reduced to data points. Your essay can add depth, texture, and vibrant color to your application portrait.

Positive character qualities

As admissions officers review your college application essay, they’ll look for indicators of solid character that enable success in college and shape leaders who can positively impact the broader community. Your application essay is a crucial component of the college admission process, offering insights beyond test scores and extracurricular activities.

When responding to an essay prompt, remember that the admissions team is seeking to understand you as an applicant and gauge your potential contributions to campus life. A well-crafted essay can significantly strengthen your overall application, showcasing personal qualities that set you apart in the competitive application process.

Self-reflection and vulnerability

Colleges seek students who have done the introspective work of examining their experiences to extract meaningful insights. An essay demonstrating authentic self-awareness, critical thinking, and a willingness to openly explore personal growth is incredibly compelling.

The best essays don’t shy away from vulnerability but lean into it, revealing struggles or failures that catalyze newfound perseverance, resilience, or shifts in perspective. This level of maturity signals preparedness for the intellectual and emotional rigors ahead.

Initiative

Admissions teams are drawn to students who have seized opportunities to chart their own paths of curiosity and discovery. An essay highlighting entrepreneurial spirit, intellectual courage, or a strong internal locus of motivation offers a powerful endorsement.

Perhaps you took it upon yourself to spearhead a community project, learn a new skill independently, or seek out mentors in your field of interest. Showcasing your initiative and drive to actively shape your circumstances hints at your potential impact on campus.

Proof: Show, don’t tell

It’s one thing to claim you possess desirable qualities like curiosity, empathy, or dedication. It’s quite another to vividly illustrate those qualities through fully realized experiences and anecdotes.

Bad example: Claim without proof

I am a very compassionate person who has overcome many challenges with determination.

While those may be factual statements, they lack substantive evidence to support the assertions. The admissions reader is left to take your claims at face value without being shown proof.

Good example: Showing instead of telling

The waiting room echoed with muffled sobs as patients cycled through, clutching tattered paperwork and bracing for the delivery of grave diagnoses. Despite the relentless parade of anguish, the volunteer coordinator greeted each new arrival with a reassuring smile and comforting words. Her warmth sparked something within me—I longed to replicate her compassion on a broader scale. Over the next two years, I devoted hundreds of hours volunteering at that clinic, holding trembling hands, providing water cups, and learning how to meet anguish with empathy.

This narrative example employs vivid sensory details to immerse the reader in a specific scene. It then demonstrates through actions and motivations how the writer possesses and strives to exemplify the quality of compassion they’re hoping to highlight.

Showing is always more powerful than telling when it comes to capturing the attention of admissions officers and earning their trust in the authenticity of your experiences.

Two strategies for finding your admission essay’s topic

Now that you understand what admissions officers are looking for in an essay, the next step is settling on your topic – the driving anecdote, purpose, or central theme that will work together in your narrative.

You have two paths to get there: starting with the qualities or personal traits you wish to spotlight or starting with a captivating life story that organically reveals those positive attributes.

Option 1: Start with your qualities

Perhaps you’ve identified core values like intellectual curiosity, resilience in the face of adversity, or dedication to serving others that you want to emphasize. You can then craft an essay that illustrates those qualities through grounded examples and rich anecdotes.

Example: Starting with your qualities

Intellectual curiosity, tenacity, and a drive for excellence – these are the qualities that defined my high school experience. I recount how I progressed from taking the standard biology course as a freshman to conducting an independent genetic research study by my senior year. First captivated by the complexity of DNA in an advanced placement class, I voraciously consumed scholarly journals and books on the subject. When a unique opportunity arose to intern at a local biotech lab, I lobbied extensively to be selected despite underclassmen rarely receiving such privileges.  

This example opens by stating the critical character traits of intellectual curiosity, tenacity, and a drive for excellence. It then gives a specific illustrative example demonstrating how the student embodied those qualities through dedicated self-study, a persistent initiative to break conventions, and a tireless work ethic in pursuing an advanced scientific passion project.

Option 2: Start with a story

Alternatively, you can work backward by identifying a defining life experience, obstacle overcome, or pivotal event that helped shape your character and perspectives. From that launching point, you craft an essay that brings readers into the heart of the experience before unpacking the valuable insights gained.

Example: Starting with a story

The hospital waiting room felt like a second home. I clutched my tattered homework between sweaty palms as Mom got wheeled back for another round of treatment. With Dad working double shifts to pay the mounting bills, I had to step up and be the “man of the house” way sooner than my friends.

That experience taught me:

Independence – Whether it was making dinners, helping my little brother with homework, or cleaning up around the house, I couldn’t rely on Mom and Dad like other kids.

Level-headedness – When you’ve seen your parent fight for their life repeatedly, little things don’t rattle you as much. I stayed calm in emergencies.

Empathy – I knew people battled private battles you couldn’t see on the surface. A friendly smile or lending an ear could make someone’s day.

This problematic childhood made me grow up faster than my peers. But it also gave me qualities like self-reliance, resilience, and compassion that will help me thrive in college and beyond.

The student starts by vividly painting the scene of their childhood that was significantly shaped by their mother’s illness. They then list the positive qualities – independence, level-headedness, empathy – that directly stemmed from that formative experience. This “start with a story” approach roots their strengths in a personal narrative, providing context for how they developed such maturity from an early age.

Authenticity and Personal Growth

Colleges want to see your authentic voice in your personal essay. Admissions officers are interested in understanding who you are beyond your test scores and extracurricular activities. A well-written essay should provide insights into your character and experiences that aren’t evident in the rest of your application.

When writing a college application essay or personal statement, focus on examples of times you demonstrated personal growth or overcame challenges. Admissions committees look for students who can articulate the lessons they have learned from their experiences and how these have shaped who they are today. For instance, you might write about specific coping strategies you developed during a difficult time or how you contributed to your community.

Remember, your essay should tell a story that only you can tell. Avoid trying to impress admissions officers with grandiose claims or copying and pasting generic content. Instead, use your essay to showcase your unique perspective and the positive character traits you possess. Whether you’re writing about a significant life event or a seemingly small moment, what matters most is how you reflect on the experience and demonstrate your capacity for self-awareness and growth.

To make your essay stand out in the college application process, consider starting your essay early, perhaps as early as the summer before your senior year. This gives you time to revise and edit, ensuring your essay is well-written and truly reflective of who you are and how you’ll contribute to the campus community.

What is a college looking for in an essay?

Colleges are looking for essays that show who you are as a high school student beyond your SAT or ACT scores and high school curriculum. They want to understand your character, experiences, and what you’ve learned from both inside and outside of school.

What three things need to be included in a college essay?

• Personal Experiences: Share stories that reflect meaningful moments or challenges, whether from school or outside of school.
• Character Traits: Highlight qualities like leadership, resilience, or empathy that make you stand out as a high school student.
• Specific Examples: Use concrete examples from your life, such as interactions with a counselor or volunteering experiences, to bring your traits to life.

What essays do colleges ask for?

Colleges often ask for a personal statement that covers your experiences and how they’ve shaped you. They may also request supplemental essays explaining why you chose their school or how you’ve grown from a particular challenge. Additionally, some colleges may require recommendation letters from a teacher or counselor to support your application.