Get Your Common App Essay Done This Summer

By: Alan Gelb

That’s my best advice. We all know how incredibly packed and tense the first semester of senior year can be, so getting this difficult essay out of the way before you return to school can make all the difference for you. And don’t worry that you’re already late to the game. Summer just started on June 21.

Here are my top tips for how to make the most of these crucial months when you have some extra time on your hands:

 

1. Clear some headspace. Whether it’s tennis, golf, backpacking, water skiing, or just hanging with your family and friends, summer is a time to decompress a bit, and you should take advantage of that. Schedule some time in your day—or at least in your week—to really enjoy summer. By the same token, don’t fritter away your time with idle Netflix streaming, video games, YouTube forays, and texting that just goes round and round. You need to make some psychic room to work on your essay, so find a time of day and a place that feels right to you—your backyard, your rooftop, a park bench, a library carrel—and make sure that it’s quiet enough for you to hear your thoughts. Those thoughts will hopefully develop into an essay topic or two.

2. Start asking yourself key questions. The way I help students find a topic is by giving them a set of questions to answer. These questions require some real thought and perhaps even a huddle with family members or friends. They’re questions like: When has my mind and body been in perfect harmony or disharmony? If something is keeping me up at night, what is it? What fills me with pride? Have I ever felt betrayed?  These questions appear in my book Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps, but you can formulate questions of your own, if you’d like—anything that will point to some conflict in your life that you think might lead to an essay topic. Write down your answers and then, over the course of a few days, go back to them and see which ones are exercising a magnetic pull over you. In other words, pay close attention to those answers that are raising their hands and saying, Write me! Write me!

3. Keep a journal. No, I’m not advocating keeping a journal for the rest of your life, although there certainly is nothing wrong with that. I’m talking about keeping a journal during the period when you are looking for a topic and then working on the topic you’ve chosen. You don’t want to lose important thoughts and ideas, and that memo pad or phone or whatever you want to use to keep your journal will serve as a trusty bank. You should have your journal next to your bed when you sleep, for if you wake up from a dream that sparks some ideas, you want to be sure to write those down. They won’t be there in the morning.

4. Read. That’s right. Read some good stories or even novels. These will clue you in to the narrative form, which is what you want to use for your essay. Narratives have formal elements, like a specific timeframe, a beginning and an ending, a point of view, some conflict, and a reason to exist, and reading good stories and books will give you a better understanding of how those elements work. If you have absolutely no time to read this summer, then just read “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury, the science fiction master. It’s only 819 words, but you can clearly see all those narrative elements I mention above.

5. Remain positive. Yes, there is much to make you anxious in the college admissions process, the Common App essay being especially challenging, but you should also view the writing of this essay as an opportunity. Writing this deeply personal and reflective essay can—and should—help you find out some important things about yourself and how you live in the world.

6. Claim ownership. This is your essay, and yours alone. Never let anyone write it for you. Not your mother, not your father, not your brother, not your sister, not your friend, not a hired gun. You will not come away from this summer with a good feeling if you let someone else do this pivotal assignment for you.

 

Whenever I start working with students, I tell them that they should figure on two weeks to get the essay done, soup to nuts. Perhaps it will take you somewhat longer, but there is no reason why you can’t get this done before school starts. Good luck!

 

About Alan Gelb:

Alan Gelb is the author of Conquering the College Admissions Essay, and he works internationally with students to help guide them in the writing process. For more information, visit www.conquerthecollegeessay.com

 

 

For additional insights, read:

How to choose colleges to apply to

5 Simple Tips to Writing a Great College Application Essay

5 Ways Parents Can Better Support Their Children During the College Admissions Process

Definitive Guide to Writing Help

 

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