The College Essay

Reprinted from the NY Times 5/20/11

Juniors: In the Quiet of Summer, Start Your Essays

By ALAN GELB

Mr. Gelb is the author of “Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps.”

In preparation for the senior year, most students try to plan their summers around some kind of résumé-building job, internship, coursework or community service, with the necessary stops along the way for beach and barbecue. Summer is also an ideal time to get the jump on your college admissions essay. These less hurried months before the onslaught of a highly pressured fall offer the chance for students to think, reflect and connect with a writing topic that can then be developed into 500 words of polished prose.

So how can you use the summer before senior year to your best advantage?
Here are half a dozen suggestions to keep in mind:

• Clear your head. Distractions like TV, texting, video games and Internet surfing can seriously inhibit inspiration. Once your school term is over, schedule some time away from those electronic diversions and find a park bench, rooftop, library carrel or some other quiet place where you can hear your thoughts bubbling up from deep down in your consciousness.

• Ask yourself exploratory questions. In looking for an essay topic, an excellent way to begin is by asking questions that can turn up some juicy conflict. Some examples: What has been the hardest thing I have ever had to face? If I had to quickly replay my life, which two or three moments would jump out ahead of all others? Which experiences have really pulled me out of my comfort zone? When have I ever felt pure rage? Write down your answers to these questions (trying to devise questions of your own as well) and, as time passes, note the answers you keep coming back to. There may be some fertile ground for an essay in those responses.

• Write it down. While we’re on the subject of writing things down, let’s make this the summer that you carry around a pad and pencil or some kind of wireless device to record your thoughts. Take it from this writer: if you don’t write it down, you’re bound to lose it.

• Familiarize yourself with the narrative form. Everyone loves a good story — particularly the overburdened college admissions counselor who has to read hundreds of student essays, too many of which view this assignment as an opening for self-promotion. It is far better to think of the college admissions essay as your chance to tell a good story. Stories are narratives, and narratives have formal elements, like a specific time frame, a point of view and a certain degree of conflict. Read some good stories this summer — not just sample essays — and be conscious of their narrative techniques. Where do they start? How do they end? What is the central conflict? How is it resolved?

• Enjoy yourself. These warm, feel-good months make it easier to relax, and approaching the college admissions essay with less anxiety is a good thing. In fact, it would be extremely beneficial to view this assignment not as an onerous task but as a creative act. In that vein, you’ll want to commit yourself to the work, accept the idea that your essay will evolve through a series of drafts and allow yourself to take some pleasure in the process. Who knows? You may even discover the joy of rewriting.

• Own your essay. Make an ironclad commitment that this is going to be your essay. No one should be permitted to write it for you — not a parent, not a sibling, not a hired gun. This essay needs to reflect your authentic voice, and perhaps making such a commitment is one of those things you’ll actually want to affirm, in writing, this summer.

It’s no mean feat to produce a powerful essay on a highly personal subject, but the good news is that we all have stories within us that deserve to be told. In the quieter, less pressured time of summer, those stories stand a better chance of coming into their own.