The Slice of Cake Mistake

If you’ve ever eaten cake, you probably know how easy it is to cut yourself a slice that is too large for one serving. The same risks exist in writing the Common Application essay. Most essays that require revision often explore rich and promising topics, but bite off more than they chew, alluding to multiple stories or experiences in the span of 650 words. The best essays for Common Application essays focus on one topic, one hobby, one interest, one talent, one experience, or one story. 

One of the biggest misconceptions about the Common Application essay is that it has to show all of your personality. The other big fallacy is that it has to show your best or most impressive traits. Neither myth is true. The reality is that no 650-word document is capable of showing anyone’s personality, let alone their best qualities. Like a cake with multiple layers, frostings, and parts, no singular slice or topic can sum up your best and complete self. Embracing the opportunity to write about something that is small and manageable while also poignant and compelling will allow you to write a better Common App essay overall. 

I’ll share a few examples of essay topics that were successful for the scope of the Common App essay. One of my best friends at Harvard wrote about her favorite flavor of ice cream. Another friend of mine wrote about a walk he once had one Spring with his late grandfather ten years ago. For my Common Application essay, I personally wrote about a singular stance in Kung Fu that helped me relax. Of course each of us later tied the small story to something bigger, like how the ice cream flavor contributed to personal maturation, or how spending time with family members can help build strong leadership qualities, or reflected how practicing martial arts encourages creative thinking. But in all three cases, we started with something small, manageable, and definable.

Weak Hook, Poor Look

One of the easiest ways to lose your reader’s attention within the first few minutes of your application is to begin your Common Application essay with a quiet, boring, vague, or uneventful quote or opening sentence. The remainder of the essay may be filled with rich, captivating details and powerful insights, but recovering the essay after a poor opening is much harder.   

Strong hooks build rapport with the reader. Remember that the people who end up evaluating your essay do not know you at all. I like to compare a good opening paragraph with a strong hook to a student raising their hand eagerly in a small classroom whereas weak opening paragraphs without a hook resembles a student murmuring in the background of a 100-person lecture hall without ever raising their hand. One scenario gets everyone’s attention and the other is forgettable. 

So what does a strong hook actually look like? Consider starting with dialogue from someone in the story or experience you’re recounting. Alternatively, open with a surprising revelation or something humorous (ex. “I never knew doing trigonometry could give me more pimples”). Offer a familiar quote in your life. In one college essay I wrote about how participating in debate made me think holistically, I opened by saying “My father likes to say you do not truly know a song until you can play it in all twelve keys.” Do not start off with a quote from a famous person or a well-known idea (ex. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” is not well-suited for a hook). 

Nails But No Hammer

The biggest, most important, and frequently the most challenging aspect of the college essay is the concluding paragraph(s). In your finale, you’re expected to tie together the details of your story, draw insights about the experience, and show how it still impacts you now. As opposed to a thesis statement in an essay’s introduction, you have to show the relevance of your topic and analyze it all at once in your conclusion. At the end of a college essay, all the nails from the essay are ready to be hammered in with your conclusion — except most undeveloped college essay drafts do not even attempt a conclusion and try to hammer in the nails from the essay.  

The first and easiest way to avoid the Nails But No Hammer mistake is to attempt a conclusion. Expect your concluding paragraph to be rewritten several times. Tackling the conclusion well requires synthesizing some familiar questions mentioned in the How to Show and Not Tell (Mostly) article: Why was the story you talked about important? How has the experience changed what you want to study? Pursue in your career? How has the story shaped the way you interact with your peers? What values have emerged as takeaways from your story?

Quick Tip: Strong concluding paragraphs synthesize relevance, personal connection, and ambition.

Of course the prompts are specific to your own story. The best conclusions in Common App essays synthesize these prompts. Returning to an example I gave in the first section, a concluding paragraph may discuss why listening to a grandparent’s story and brand of leadership important, and then talk about how familial values have allowed the author to gain an insight about his own role and vision of being leader, and how the author hopes to be influential in the future. Great conclusions bring together story relevance, personal connection, and ambition.