soopastryheart

I was proofing personal statements before I had received my official acceptance letter from the UW. Then I found myself making a little allowance money when college students, bogged down from graduate school applications, were paying me to edit theirs. So between writing my own essays, to reviewing nearly 50 others, I definitely picked up on the nuances of college application essays. Like, the major themes people liked to focus on, the super common mistakes that were made for the sake of “uniqueness,” and the outrageous levels of self-absorption contained in 700 words or less.

“From my earliest childhood, all I’ve ever wanted was to attend either an Ivy League school, a still respectably expensive party school, or a so-called safety school, where the standards are so low that I’d be a shoo-in, and which my parents could tell their friends was “a better fit.” Although, of course, as a biracial child, I wasn’t sure if higher education would even be an option for me. And, when I say biracial, I mean that my father went to Harvard and my mother attended Oberlin. When I was young, this situation tore me apart, because I never knew which world I belonged in. Should I follow my dad and become hugely successful and condescending to everyone, or should I dream of becoming every bit as creative yet talentless as my mom? I still don’t know the answer, but maybe not knowing is my greatest strength.”

–excerpt from Paul Rudnick’s “College-Application Essay” in the most recent New Yorker.