Don’t Write A College Essay About This!

College admissions are exponentially more competitive now than when we parents applied to school. Elite colleges glowingly report record low percentage of acceptance rates.

So how can our kids stand out, be memorable, and increase their odds when applying to college? Make a great first impression. And do it fast. But be careful not to turn off college admissions officers just as quickly.

Given:  A strong essay is crucial for all applicants.

New Idea:  A burgeoning number of admissions officers across the nation also welcome a short, engaging video that reveals how an applicant is unique. Seeing is believing — especially nowadays when on-campus interviews are so rare. Family Tribute Film makes concise, impactful videos revealing the true essence of the student at his or her best, showing colleges what they want to know about an applicant:

Who is she?
What does he excel at?
How is she unique?
What is his passion?
What makes her a leader?
What makes him a consummate team player?
What inspires her to: create/investigate/compete/perform?
Why does he want to attend our university?
How will she fit into our college?

But there are some surprising topics to avoid for essays and videos that I hear echoed as a warning from college admissions officers, as well as from independent consultants, and college counselors at both public and private high schools.

First, what started as a genuinely noble effort has become a cliché for college applicants — getting more doors shut than a traveling snake oil salesman. Many applicants in recent years have written their essay or made a video about a trip to an exotic land to help indigenous peoples. And they sum up with the realization that s/he was the real beneficiary, deepened by the life-changing experience of helping others in need.  Not to belittle this well-intentioned and fruitful service, I am only passing along the warning that this topic is no longer recommended.

Secondly, at a recent college night at Beacon, where my son is a senior, the directors of admissions at both Kenyon and Goucher Colleges, in separate rooms, shared remarkably similar advice on essay topics: “Avoid the Ds.” For one, this included “death, drugs and drinking”; for the other, “death, divorce and dating.” Clearly, these may be central issues to any number of students who might write excellent personal essays about them. However, if they do, they risk turning off the overworked college admissions officers who have seen it all.