Keep a journal as you explore your past and your present. You are setting out to discover what has made you who you are. You cannot write an essay without first discovering what you have to say. That takes time and commitment, but in the end, you may strike gold. We’re talking about digging to see what’s below the surface. We’re not talking strip-mining, where you just pull up whatever’s on the surface. So how do you tell admissions officers about yourself in a true and convincing way? First, you need to “mine” various areas of your identity to discover what makes you an individual. Students are rarely asked to write personal narratives. But many felt ill-at-ease when asked about the most significant event in their own lives.” After all, as many students will attest, they have never done anything like this before. In The Chronicle of Higher Education (1/25/02), McGinty says, “I knew that students felt comfortable talking about the most significant event in the life of Jay Gatsby. She found that while admissions officials viewed the essay as “somewhat important,” students found themselves unprepared to write it. Sarah Myers McGinty, of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, conducted a study in 1998 to determine the importance of the college application essay and students’ ability to complete it successfully. When colleges instruct you to “Tell us about yourself,” it may sound simple, but it is not. I wonder if it’s that simple? “Tell us about yourself” And let that page come out of you- Then it will be true. Langston Hughes begins his poem “Theme for English B” this way:
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