Same with What I Did and What I Learned, college level essay writing. Step 4: Add more details. Probably yes to all three. Narrative Structure step-by-step recap : Complete the brainstorming exercises, as these will help no matter which structure you choose. Sometimes, I like TV spoilers.
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First, what is the college essay i. This is your main essay. Your application centerpiece. The essay is a chance college level essay writing the student to share who they are now and what they will bring to our campus communities. Basically, college admission officers are looking for three takeaways in your college essay:. Will this person contribute something of value to our campus? Below are the five exercises I have every student complete before I meet with them:. Essence Objects Exercise : 12 min. Values Exercise : 4 min. Everything I Want Colleges to Know About Me Exercise : 20 min.
The Feelings and Needs Exercise : min. I recommend recording all the content from your exercises in one document to keep things neat. At the start of the essay process, I ask students two questions:. On the weak end of the spectrum would be things like getting a bad grade or not making X sports team. On the strong end of the spectrum would be things like escaping war. Being extremely shy but being responsible for translating for your family might be around a 3 or 4 out of But, for the sake of this blog post, answer those first two questions with a gut-level response, college level essay writing. Heads-up: Some students who have faced challenges find after reading that they prefer Montage Structure to Narrative Structure.
Or vice versa. A montage is, simply put, a series of moments or story events connected by a common thematic thread. Or remember the opening to the Pixar movie Up? One purpose is to communicate a lot of information fast. Another is to allow you to share a lot of different kinds of information, as the example essay below shows. Narrative Structure vs. College level essay writing Structure explained in two sentences:. In Narrative Structure, story events connect chronologically. In Montage Structure, college level essay writing, story events connect thematically. Imagine that each different part of you is a bead and that a select few will show up in your essay. The theme of your essay is the thread that connects your beads. You can find a thread in many, many different ways.
For example, are there 5 T-shirts you collected, or 5 homes or identities, or 5 entries in your Happiness Spreadsheet. And to clarify, your essay may end up using only 4 of the 5 things. Or maybe 8. But 5 is a nice number to aim for initially. Note the huge range of possible essay threads. Sports have had a powerful influence on me, from my understanding of history, to numbers, to my relationships, extracurricular college level essay writing, and even my career choice. Crassulaceae plants, which can reproduce via stem or leaf fragments, are a great analogy for not only how I make art, but how I choose to live each day. Binary star systems are a metaphor for my relationship with my parents. The number 12 has influenced so much in my life, from my relationship to sports, college level essay writing how I write, to my self-esteem.
All of these threads stemmed from the brainstorming exercises in this post. To frame how to think about possible topics A boring personal statement chooses a common topic, makes common connections, and uses common language. A stand-out personal statement chooses an un common topic, makes un common connections, and uses un common language. Be honest. But consider this: The more common your topic is the more college level essay writing common your connections need to be if you want to stand out. How do you figure out what to say?
By making uncommon connections. Use the Values Exercise for ideas. Hands-on work? Probably yes to all three. Why do this? An essay on how cooking allowed the author to become more accountable or socially aware would be less common. One thing that author discusses is activism. A stand-out essay would go further, demonstrating, say, how a sense of humor supports activism. In fact, the great essay examples throughout this book sometimes make use of common connections. Also note that a somewhat-common lesson e. The Values Exercise. Go to www.
Once you do, a huge list will appear containing knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for your career. This is one of my favorite resources for this exercise. Go to a college's website and click on a major or group of majors that interest you. Students are often surprised to discover how broadly major-related skills can apply. Ask 3 people in this profession what unexpected qualities, values, or skills prepared them for their careers. What do I mean? So it makes it much more difficult to stand out. How do you stand out? A cliché is all in how you tell the story, college level essay writing. So, if you do choose a common topic, work to make uncommon connections i.
Or explore a different topic. You are infinitely complex and imaginative. My laptop is like a passport, college level essay writing. It is plastered with stickers all over the outside, inside, and bottom. Let me take you on a quick tour:. Art has been a constant for me for as long as I can remember. Today my primary engagement with art is through design. Design means more to me than just branding and marketing; it gives me the opportunity to experiment with texture, perspective, and contrast, helping me refine my professional style, college level essay writing.
A rectangular black and red sticker displaying the theme of the TEDxYouth Austin event. TED gives me the opportunity to help other youth understand new perspectives, by exposing them to the diversity of Austin where culture is created, not just consumed. Poop emojimiddle right. He brings out my goofy side, but also helps me think rationally when I am overwhelmed. Bought in seventh grade and transferred from my old laptop, this sticker is torn but persevering with layers of tape. This is the logo of a startup incubator where I launched my first company, Threading Twine.
I learned that business can provide others access to fundamental human needs, such as economic empowerment of minorities and education. In my career, I hope to be a corporate advocate for the empowerment of women, creating large-scale impact and deconstructing institutional boundaries that obstruct women from working in high-level positions, college level essay writing. Although I attempt to love all my stickers equally hahathis is one of my favorites. I always want my association with work to be positive. When my computer dies hopefully not for another few yearsit will be like my passport expiring. My next set of stickers will reveal my next set of aspirations. They hold the key to future paths I will navigate, knowledge I will gain, and connections I will make, college level essay writing.
Cool, huh? Notice how each bullet point discusses a value or values, connected to different experiences via her thread, and sets up the insights she could explore. She found this thread essentially by using The Five Things Exercise in conjunction with the other brainstorming exercises. Ex: spent weekend designing websites, graphics for my companies. Go backcomplete the exercises, and then Case study: How to find a theme for your personal statement aka the thread that connects the beads of your bracelet. Just last week, my shoelace got caught in an escalator and I tripped about 20 people. I have misophonia--sometimes I even have to eat dinner in a different room from my family. I collect funky socks--at this point, I have socks with tacos, snowmen, college level essay writing, Santa, and even animals wearing glasses.
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War has taught me to recognize the power of representation, to find courage in vulnerability, and best of all, to celebrate humor. Your word count will be pretty evenly split between the three, so for a word personal statement, ish each. To get a little more nuanced, within those three basic sections, a narrative often has a few specific story beats. Status Quo : The starting point of the story. The Inciting Incident : The event that disrupts the Status Quo. It gets us to wonder: Uh-oh … what will they do next? or How will they solve this problem? The situation becomes more and more tense, decisions become more important, and our main character has more and more to lose. Moment of Truth : The climax. Often this is when our main character must make a choice.
New Status Quo : The denouement or falling action. This often tells us why the story matters or what our main character has learned. Notice that roughly the first third focuses on the challenges she faced and the effects of those challenges. Roughly the next third focuses on actions she took regarding those challenges. Though she also sprinkles in lessons and insight here. The final third contains lessons and insights she learned through those actions, reflecting on how her experiences have shaped her. Again, with the caveat that What She Did and What She Learned are somewhat interwoven, and yours likely will be as well.
But the middle third is more heavily focused on actions, and the final third more heavily focused on insight. How does the Feelings and Needs Exercise map onto those sections? Same with What I Did and What I Learned. The details in your Feelings and Needs columns can be spread throughout the essay. Why not? Take a look:. Challenge 1 : She grows up surrounded by war, which is explicitly stated. Challenge 2 : She comes to the U. to find safety a need , which is implied, but instead, she is villainized, which is explicitly stated. Effects : She is ostracized after arriving in the U.
Vulnerability creates connection. Here, naming key emotions helps us understand her inner world. Needs : As I read this essay, I can imagine the author needed safety, order, love, respect, reassurance, connection, and many more. But these are implied by the story events and need not be explicitly stated. In fact, spelling these things out might have made the essay sound weird. That might sound awkward or too obvious, right? At six years old, I stood locked away in the restroom. Regardless, I knew what was happening: my dad was being put under arrest for domestic abuse.
Living without a father meant money was tight, mom worked two jobs, and my brother and I took care of each other when she worked. For a brief period of time the quality of our lives slowly started to improve as our soon-to-be step-dad became an integral part of our family. He paid attention to the needs of my mom, my brother, and me. I cooked, Jose cleaned, I dressed Fernando, Jose put him to bed. We did what we had to do. As undocumented immigrants and with little to no family around us, we had to rely on each other. Fearing that any disclosure of our status would risk deportation, we kept to ourselves when dealing with any financial and medical issues. I avoided going on certain school trips, and at times I was discouraged to even meet new people.
I felt isolated and at times disillusioned; my grades started to slip. Over time, however, I grew determined to improve the quality of life for my family and myself. Without a father figure to teach me the things a father could, I became my own teacher. I learned how to fix a bike, how to swim, and even how to talk to girls. I became resourceful, fixing shoes with strips of duct tape, and I even found a job to help pay bills. I became as independent as I could to lessen the time and money mom had to spend raising me.
I also worked to apply myself constructively in other ways. These changes inspired me to help others. I became president of the California Scholarship Federation, providing students with information to prepare them for college, while creating opportunities for my peers to play a bigger part in our community. I began tutoring kids, teens, and adults on a variety of subjects ranging from basic English to home improvement and even Calculus. And I have yet to see the person that Fernando will become. Not because I have to. Because I choose to. First, the author brainstormed the content of his essay using the Feelings and Needs Exercise.
Did you spot the elements of that exercise? If not, here they are:. Effects: Author and his brother shared the mental strain, father was arrested, funds were tight, mom worked two jobs, brothers took care of one another, they kept to themselves when dealing with financial and medical issues, avoided going on certain school trips, at times author was discouraged from meeting new people, grades started to slip. Feelings: Confused yet understanding, anxious, worried, relieved, alone, lost, vulnerable, lonely, disconnected, alone, heartbroken, ashamed, disillusioned. Needs: Order, autonomy, reassurance, growth, safety, understanding, empathy, hope, support, self-acceptance.
What He Did About It: Took care of his youngest brother; became his own teacher; learned how to fix a bike, swim, socialize; found a job to help pay bills; improved his grades; broke a school swimming record; learned to play instruments; became the first student in his school to pass the AP Physics 1 exam; took a leadership role in clubs; and tutored and counseled friends and peers. That was his number one value, by the way. This sounds like autonomy. Another one of his top values. With just minutes of focused work, you can map out your whole story. Next, the author used Narrative Structure to give shape to his essay.
Did you spot the Narrative Structure elements? Inciting Incident: While the author is brushing his teeth, his father is arrested for domestic abuse. Status Quo: His father had hurt his mom physically and mentally, and the author and his brother had shared the mental strain. Raising the Stakes: The entire second and third paragraphs, which describe how living without a father meant money was tight. Moment of Truth: At his lowest point, he decides to do something about it. And again, notice that those fit within the framework of:. Q: Are there any situations where I may not want to write about my life struggles?
A: Yes. Sometimes it can be too difficult to discuss them. Or you may be actively dealing with a challenge. If this is the case, reach out to your counselor, a trusted mentor, or, if possible, a therapist. If money is an issue i. Many mental health professionals work with clients at low rates or for free. Q: Should I write about mental health challenges? A: Mental health can be very difficult to write about for a few reasons:. If a student is still very much struggling through the challenges they describe, the admission reader may wonder if the student is ready for college. In some cases, the admission officer may feel that a student is ready for college, but their institution may not be adequately equipped to help them thrive not all colleges have the same kinds of resources, unfortunately.
Unfortunately, mental health challenges have become so common these days that many students write personal statements about them, and so it can be difficult to stand out. Do I have any other topics I could write on? Or must I write about this? Have I truly worked through this? Maybe run your challenge through the Feelings and Needs Exercise to see what surfaces. If I were an admission officer reading this essay, would I feel like this student has their situation handled and they are truly ready for college? Could the mental health challenge be a brief explanation in the Additional Info section? To see if this might work for you, see how briefly you can describe your mental health challenge using factual bullet points.
Important: If you have a counselor, I strongly recommend consulting with them as you decide whether to discuss a mental health challenge in your personal statement. Talk to them and find out. Q: Are there any situations where I may not want to write about my career in my personal statement … even if I know what it is? A: For sure. Narrative Structure step-by-step recap :. Complete the brainstorming exercises, as these will help no matter which structure you choose. Take special care to complete the Feelings and Needs Exercise, as it will help you outline your essay. Create an outline using the Narrative Structure described above. Check out my blog for more Narrative Structure examples.
Graduate School. Counselor Resource Hub. Online Courses. All Counselor Resources. Free Resources. College Application Hub. International Students. Personal Statement. Supplemental Essays. University of California. College Admissions. Matchlighters Scholars Program. College Admission Essentials. College Essay Essentials. Essay Workshop In A Box. Choose Your Own Adventure Essay Tool. Email Me. March 17, Personal Statement. Can this person write? Brainstorming your college essay topic. Below are the five exercises I have every student complete before I meet with them: Essence Objects Exercise : 12 min. Download a Copy of the Brainstorming Doc. Would you Rather watch instead? At the start of the essay process, I ask students two questions: Have you faced significant challenges in your life?
Do you want to write about them? Neither is true. Vision for your future? Montage Structure. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. Posted in: Book Review , Issue 27 1. Actions: E-mail Permalink. Related Articles Multidisciplinary Collaboration: Research and Relationships Book by: Karen Weller Swanson Ed. Mistakes Were Made but not by me : Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts Book by: Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson Review by: James Creech Academic Advisor First Year of Studies University of Notre Dame Ever Basketball Junkie: A Memoir Book by: Chris Herren and Bill Reynolds Review by: Andrew Murray Academic Advisor Michigan State University Chris Herren was Not Impossible Book by: Mick Ebeling Review by: Valerie McClinton Senior Academic Advisor University of Colorado, Colorado Springs In Not Impossible, Mic All American Book by: Steve Eubanks Review by: Jennifer F.
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