Writing the Supplemental Essay # 1

The supplemental essay

 

The supplemental essay is typically required for the more “prestigious” schools. Since so many people are applying to these schools this is another way for the student to stand apart from others.

If you are applying to one of these, then it can have different dimensions – some of them such as Stanford will ask about “Intellectual vitality” and others like Princeton will ask you to write about your civic engagement and how you value diverse perspectives. Just about all of them will ask about why you want to come to their wonderful out-of-the-world college! When you write this essay, please don’t say “I want to come to Stanford to enjoy the weather and solve world hunger using Machine Learning”!

Most students apply to for more than ten colleges now and if you sweat over this too much then I am not sure how you can get through the senior year. Spending excessive time on the supplemental essay will not only make you neurotic it will also start impacting your health and your grades. Therefore, your goal is to be efficient and minimize the work and optimize the whole process.

What is the difference between the Common App essay and the supplemental essay? 

As the name implies the Common app essay is common to all the colleges and provides a specific and unique picture of you as an individual. Your interests are not exactly revealed but they can be hinted. The supplemental essay is looking for how your interests and values are a good fit for their specific college.

While the keyword in the Common Application is “Common” it is “Specificity” for the supplements.

The key to college admissions is integrating all the pieces of your application package and provide a coherent and consistent story. The ideal application is the one where students’ credentials and interests match their EC and are validated by the teacher’s recommendation and the essay. It will be great if you can provide connectivity from your common app essay to the college-specific essay. Though in reality, this is only possible if the student has finalized where and when she wants to apply.

 The most common supplemental essay topics are:

1.       Why do you want to major in this area/Why this college?

2.       What are your community engagements?

3.       What is the extra-curricular activity that you most enjoy?

4.       What can you say about leadership?

5.       Other topics

Your goal in writing the supplemental essay is to sell the notion that you are as wonderful as the college and the two of you are made for each other. Think of this like trying to sell yourself to your soul mate.  The more “prestigious” the soul mate is the more work that you need to impress.

Now we will take one topic by one and provide a road map of how to write this. We will begin with the why this college essay for now.

Why do you want to major in this area/Why this college?

When the colleges ask the “why us” question, they are actually asking the why us plus the “why you” question. Make sure you address both. We will first start by listing the “what not to do” list:

·         I want to come to ABZ university because it has great weather

·         I want to come to ABZ because it is great for economics

·         I like ABZ because it has great forms

·         The gender ratio is balanced!

·         ABZ is Highly ranked by US News and World Report

·         Do not quote from the school’s website

Now we will list what needs to be done:

Distribution of contents: The supplemental essay should be 50% about yourself and 50% about the college. You can go back and forth.

Selecting your major: This is a key step in writing this essay. You should at least have a rough idea of what you want to study. Granted, many students may not have a clear idea, one should start with narrowing down between STEM and non-STEM fields. If you do not like STEM, then one could conclude that one likes the non-STEM fields. If you also do not like the non-STEM field either, then that is a completely different problem! Once you have narrowed this down, then see which subject that you like – for example, both Psychology and Sociology are liberal arts. Which one excites you more? If you like STEM, then you should ask yourself whether you like pure sciences or engineering and go from there.

Once you have chosen the major, then write down what motivated you towards this major and how you prepared yourself. State the major in the same way the school states that (if you want to study Electrical Engineering and the school offers “Electrical and Computer Engineering”, then state exactly what the school states.

Alignment with your grades and EC: Once you have narrowed the major down, look at your courses and see if you have taken courses in your desired major.  As an example, if you like the STEM field, then ideally you should have taken Calculus and Physics at your school. The higher your grades the better, and the more competitive the school the better your grades should be.

Alignment with ECs: After grades, see if you can match your ECs with the major. If you like CS and if you have taught coding to students to motivate them then there is alignment between your EC and major that is great. Keep in mind that when you motivate you are also demonstrating leadership abilities and that is a plus. Another example is if you like Political Science and if you are in Model UN plus you have taken some advanced-level course in PS that is a big plus.

What the college offers: Find out more about the specific program that you are applying to. Get as many details as possible. For example, if you want to major in Finance and become an investment manager and are applying to a prestigious school then you need to find out more about the finance courses they offer and specifically list and integrate that information in your essay. An example would be “A successful investment manager needs a solid grounding in managing derivates and I can get this by enrolling in your Derivates for investment professionals’ course”. When you are listing the course do not list basic courses such as “Accounting 101”. There is nothing unique about accounting 101, just about any community college offers that. Your goal is to find the unique course the college offers and that way you can demonstrate your interest in the college and what specifically they offer.

Look outside your major: Remember an education in liberal arts is never complete without some exposure to STEM and vice versa. If you are planning to study finance, then you should consider the social impact of $$ and how you can address the inequity in the world and you can only get exposure by taking courses in sociology courses as an example. Another example is someone planning on majoring in CS should identify courses on ethics. Again, the key thing here is how do you integrate all the moving pieces to come up with one coherent image of yourself.

Make connection with the professor: If you can connect with the professor who would be teaching a specific course that you are interested in and show genuine interest in the subject, she will be teaching that would be wonderful. It is not always possible to get an answer from the professor, but if you do figure out a way to include that in your essay. If not, at least mention the professor’s name in the essay.

Connect with colleges’ culture: The best way to get a feel about the culture is to talk to someone who went there. Another resource is to look at the college website and look at the list of clubs there and find out about the active clubs and see if there is a match between what you are passionate about and what the club stands for.

Impact: Finally, figure out what impact you are going to have at the college. Remember impact here simply means how your background can enhance the culture of the campus.

Structure: In the first hundred-word list what is unique about the college. Then go back forth between your background and the college. Then Integrate your skills, passions, and EC with what the college offers.

Good luck with the Supplemental essay! In the next blog, I will discuss how to write community service and leadership essays.

 

 

I have based this blog based upon the following material:

“On Writing the College Application Essay” by Harry Bauld. This book is must-read

https://www.youtube.com/c/Collegeessayguy - Great videos on essays!

 

The Commonapp Essay

                                                  The Commonapp Essay 

Introduction:

The college essay is one of the many pieces of the college application. I am writing this blog in September 2021, and this is after extensive research in this arena. Throughout the last 20 years, I have talked to multiple personnel that includes former college students (including Harvard graduates), Guidance Counselors, watched plenty of youtube videos, and attended multiple virtual college admission sessions. The motivation behind me doing all this is that I want to make sure that I pass on what I have learned to anyone who is reading this blog. With the application deadlines looming in the corner if you are a parent or a student you will find the tips here quite useful. Feel free to leave your comments.

 

Importance of the Essay:

First and foremost, how important is the essay? The answer depends on so many factors and its importance need to be valued in the specific context of the overall credentials of the students and where she is applying. There is a widely held notion that the essay is the most important piece of the application and with a thoughtful and insightful essay, one could secure admission to a prestigious college.

This notion is flawed.

For a student with great credentials in every sense (SAT, GPA, ECs, etc), if she applies to a competitive and prestigious school, then she can stand out from other applicants through the essay. If she applies to a less competitive school, then the essay is less important relatively speaking.  In other words, an applicant rarely gets in because of the essay alone, at the same time the essay can provide that little bit of nudge to push him to the admit pile.

Your essays are read by admissions officers who have little or no knowledge of you as a person, and often your essay will be read in less than a couple of minutes. Admissions Officers usually spend only a few minutes to review the entire application package. Top schools get thousands of applicants, and this raises every year. For example, in 2021, Harvard reviewed more than 50,000 applications! The admissions officers will be reviewing hundreds of applications in a day and often on a cold winter night slouched in front of the TV trying to ward off sleep! So, your first and foremost goal is that your essay should not put him to sleep! More importantly, when there is a close contest between you and some unknown person, your essay should stay in the mind of the admissions officer, and that way she can promote your case over the other.

That is all.

I have read that in some prestigious institutes the interesting essays get discussed among the Admissions Officers during lunch break and one can imagine that this could tilt the decision in a particular student’s favor.

Colleges have a holistic review process where your personal traits are evaluated in addition to grades. The essay is one way you can show these traits. You have complete control over your essay and your own voice can shine through the essay and reveal something that is not revealed anywhere else.

The whole idea of your character shining through is the most important aspect of the essay.

What do you need to do to shine through? 

The only way is to be authentic.

Here are the steps involved in writing the essay:

1.   Brainstorming: Brainstorm with your parents, friends, and teachers. This can be done verbally or by writing things down and eliminate what is not appealing.

2.   Drafting: Draft your essay by writing as much as possible within a given time (say 10 minutes). Write whatever comes to your mind. Don’t edit your thinking. Keep on doing this until you feel your draft is complete. Don’t categorize them yet in terms of beginning, middle, and end. That comes later.

3.    Review: Have someone you value such as a parent, teacher, friend, or a high school guidance counselor to review your essay. Be absolutely open to their feedback. You don’t have to take all of their suggestions. At the same time if several people are saying the same thing, then chances are you need to consider incorporating their comments.

4.    Rewrite:  Rewrite and ask someone you know quite well the following questions:

a.       “If you read this essay without my name on it, would you know it is me?”

b.       “What qualities of myself are coming through”

If your friend can answer these questions affirmatively, then you are quite close.

5.     Organize: Now organize the essay in terms of beginning, middle, and end. The end should be tied to the beginning subtly. Keep in mind the organization should be self-evident and never explicit.  One good rule of thumb is that the beginning and the end should be no more than 20%.

6.    Finalize: Take a final look and look for typos and grammatical errors.

7.    Read it aloud: Make sure you read the essay aloud. When you read you can “feel” your words better and you can identify some typos that spellcheck or Grammarly would have missed.

Some tips to consider:

·       Don’t try to impress the reader by telling them what you think they want to hear. Be yourself.

·       Chose simple events and elaborate: Chose simple events in your life and spin the essay to reflect on an interesting aspect of your personality.

·       Topics: There is no such thing as a good or bad topic (at the same time avoid, contentious topics such as politics, sex, abortion rights, etc).  

·       Don’t approach it the way you would write a school essay. Avoid complicated words or phrases.  This is not a scholarly pursuit. One simple yardstick is that the average reader shouldn’t have to consult a dictionary.

·        Avoid clichés: Another rule of thumb – if you had already heard an expression, don’t use it.

·        Make your essay entertaining if possible. If you can add humor that is great but don’t overuse it. Be subtle in humor. Keep in mind that humor is not the only way to entertain.  It is perfectly fine to entertain by evoking other emotions – such as empathy, sensitivity, or even sadness.

·       Don’t be afraid to show your vulnerability: Showing your vulnerability in your essay makes you human. Remember you are a teenager, and it is perfectly ok to show your vulnerability especially when it fits into the context.

·       Depth, not breadth: Your essay should have enough depth concerning whatever you are writing. If you touch on so many other things, then the message gets diluted. Stay focused.

·       Sight, smell, and visuals: An insightful essay should unfold what is being written in front of the reader. It is not just enough to talk about an incident that changed you. What was it like in that scene? The vivid imagery of the scene will make your essay stay longer in the readers' minds.

·       Have authority in your voice: When you have authenticity and truth the authority in your words will reveal itself.

·       Proofread: Spelling and grammar count but you are not writing for a writing competition!

·       Peer check: Have someone review your essay. It could be your guidance counselor, parent, friend, teacher, or anyone who knows you well.

·        Have a rhythm: Good rhythm breaks the boredom, and the reader can escape from the monotony of reading your essay if you use sentences of varying lengths in your essay. This brings a unique cadence to your essay.

·        Let the end resonate with the beginning: The end is one of the most important aspects of the essay and it should resonate with the beginning.  

·        Beginning, middle, and end: All essays should have these parts. Once one has finished reading it should be obvious to the reader. Remember all classical music traditions – whether they are Indian classical or Western classical have these three parts. Your essay is in a way should feel like classical music. Like all music, your personal experiences and the traits that you reveal should touch someone else's heart.

·         Beginning: Grab the attention in the first sentence - at least in the first paragraph that kindles the reader’s interest.

·         Middle: The first paragraph should effortlessly and seamlessly lead to the middle where the core idea is expanded more.

·         End: One way to think about the end is that how the incident or event that you are describing changed you as a person. Don’t state the conclusion, but instead tie the conclusion to the beginning

 

Checklist:

·         Is the essay authentic?

·         Is the essay interesting?

·         Will it stand out because it shows who I am?

·         Is it about something which is important to me?

·         Does the essay convey a uniquely personal experience?

·         Is the topic presented neatly, and logically and is clear?

·         Is there a good transition between ideas?

·         Is the reading length, ok?

·         Is my voice concise and clear?

·         Does it sound like me? (Don’t cover too much about yourself – reveal one or two of your traits)

I have based this blog based upon the following material:

·         “On Writing the College Application Essay” by Harry Bauld. This book is must-read

·         Excellent video by Vanderbilt University. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL5zdPbHTn4