r/CollegeEssayReview

Now that this application cycle is in full swing and we are reading a lot of essays, we are reminded that the best practices will always remain true.

Imagine you’re an Admissions Reader who is tasked with reading hundreds of applications per week. It can be mentally taxing to keep focus, so don’t make it even harder. The first sentence should be something that grabs the reader’s attention and makes the reader want to read more. This sentence will set the scene for the rest of the essay. Tip: Drop the reader into a moment of your life. Describe what one (or more) of your five senses was experiencing in a moment. Example: “The clock was remarkably slow as I sat uncomfortably, legs tightly crossed, squirming at my desk” or "The taste of blood filled my mouth with a metallic tang that made me immediately naseous" (this one sounds cryptic but it was actual about dental surgery :))

Picking the right topic sounds very basic, but I can’t tell you how many students write about a) cliche topics like winning the championship game or the hardship of not making the varsity team or b) someone else's hardships. While these may be important moments in your life, Admissions get tired of reading these types of essays. Skip them, unless those moments transform into larger life changes (e.g. sports injury focused you to take up an instrument while you recovered and now you want to be a music major). While it is great to include context about how others influenced you, it should not be your entire essay. Their stories are their stories, and your stories are your stories. Be careful not to confuse them.

Your essays are not meant to your resume in paragraph form. Even if you have impressive extracurricular activities, Admissions can already see that from your resume. Admissions Readers will review your resume before they read your essays, so don’t just list out your experiences. Instead, talk about what you learn from those experiences and how you impacted those around you, especially if you’re answering the leadership/impact supplemental essays.

At the end of every essay, ask yourself, “So what? Why will Admissions care about this?” The goal of any essay is to show Admissions who you will be once you get to their campus. Don’t lose sight of that when you’re writing.

Good luck and happy writing!

hi i'm an incoming freshman at uchicago, and understand how stressful college app season is.

i also got into UT and american honors before i withdrew my other applications due to getting in uchicago ed2.

i would love to help out with the editing and brainstorming aspect of essay writing, as i have a free month ahead before college. i did receive college counseling throughout my senior year, and want to share what i learned. i understand most college counseling is extremely unaffordable, and want to offer my help for free. although i'm not a professional, i think it always helps to gain another perspective!

if you want me to review your essays/activity lists/want to read my supplementals, just dm me.

Guys i need your help i am preparing for colleges and i need someone to plz review my essays and give me honest feedback cause i can't afford a counselor someone who got into a good college .

Msg me personally plz.

Essay 2nd draft: Unnoticeable assymetries

The clock strikes 11pm as I glare at the girl in front of me. Her face seems familiar, yet one I strain to recall every encounter. She possesses puffy cheeks and a nose slanting towards solely one side as her eyes carry resignation, and I can't bring myself to look at her further. A soft "click" echoes in the room as I shut my pocket mirror to its initial state. When did my own face become so unrecognizable?

As my finger continues scrolling through my TikTok feed, one autumn afternoon, my mind dismisses the intended information, rather observing an unnoticed pattern. With each scroll, I encounter heaps of immaculate facial features. My student counterparts with colored doe-eyes, sharp jaws, and glass clear skin, while I carry mismatched eyes, a rather vanishing jawline, and rough skin.

Alas there I was, face crimson red with bits of dead tissue cells dangling from my jaw as I rub the Gua Sha back and forth. I shut my eyes as the manually applied tension chafes my skin meanwhile my grasp around the object tightens with each coarse slide. Half an hour later, after vigorous activity, I had deflated like a balloon. As my vision began to blur, so did the conventional rules for perfectionism. Still, I forced myself to sleep on my back for symmetry.

The following day, I printed a rendering of myself for further modification. Stacks of grid paper lay scattered across my bed as the faint glow from my laptop demonstrated the infamous Golden Ratio. With a bright red sharpie in hand, I began circling the visible blemishes. The eyes, the nose, and don't forget the cheekbones. With each minute, increments of circles began to inundat the thin sheet. The red ink had nearly concealed my face. My fingers curled around the edge of the picture as I could feel an unpleasant feeling creep up the back of my neck and irritation tangle my thoughts.

In the midst of emotional anguish, a soft knock on my door snatched me from my despondent contemplation. In entered my mother, possessing a smile only she could offer with a bowl of fresh handmade yogurt. "Go easy on yourself with those proportions" she said, cupping my cheek with her unoccupied hand. I looked back at her, letting the weight of her advice settle between us. In doing so, I observed her weary eyes accompanied by dark circles, the wrinkles on her forehead and her pale lips. Nonetheless, those features did not appear to me as imperfections, but rather, personal possessions, each one shaped by its own history. Her worn eyes that offered nothing but tenderness to my tired student body, the wrinkles on her forehead shaped with every distress she endured for me, and lastly her pale lips alleviating my soul with every kiss.

In that moment, as small curves formed on the edges of my mother's mouth, the significance of late-night face massages and internal distress suddenly evaporated. While we tend to criticize our own appearance, deep down we know we'll never look at the person we love through a tarnished lense. A genuine smile and caring eyes will always make us forget about their unequal measures. Proportions will turn into smattering numbers as each facial assymetry develops into a signature they secure. The connections we form faily were never dependent on our appearance, but rather on the engraved bond shared between souls, and with each shared laugh, cry, and flaw, those connections strengthen.

Just finished my first draft and would love some honest feedback on the story, voice, flow, and whether it actually feels memorable/personal.

Happy to exchange essays and give feedback in return. Prefer sharing through DMs for privacy. Thanks! :)

lmk i’ll dm

Hello! I'm a rising senior this year, and I was working on reviewing my Common App essay. I was just wondering if anyone could review my essay. It's only the early version, so it may be a bit bad. I tend to write in a stream of consciousness, but I have been finding a lot of conflicting advice on social media, so I was wondering if anyone could review it and give me some feedback.

Hi! I'm a rising senior and have written a draft for my common app essay. I think it kinda sucks and I can't decide between scrapping it or keeping it. I'm looking for constructive criticism please! DM or comment if interested :) also my essay is vaguely about the book Twilight if that makes it more interesting lol

Hi Everyone,

I am a college counselor who works with about 100 kids a year, and I just wanted to share some tips as we move into application season!

Here are a few common mistakes I point out to my seniors all the time:

1. **Going for cliche topics because it is low hanging fruit:** many of my seniors as they start brainstorming go for big sports moments, talk about being the "eldest daughter" or "forgotten middle child" without connecting it to their own personal growth and how that realization helped them achieve or experience something tangible. It is okay to talk about things others experience but you need to be able to specifically connect it to something about yourself and weave it into a narrative which has a background, body, and conclusion- paired with a strong hook.

**2. Not answering all of the prompt.** Many students will focus on one part of a multi-part prompt and ignore the rest. If a prompt asks what you did AND what you learned, you need both. I see so many essays that are 90% story and then a rushed, generic sentence at the end trying to cram in the "lesson." Colleges can tell when the reflection was an afterthought.

**3. Writing the "resume in paragraph form" essay.** This is where a student lists every achievement, award, and leadership title instead of picking one moment and going deep. Admissions officers already have your activities list. The essay is your chance to show them how you think, not what you have done. One specific scene beats five accomplishments every time.

**4. Starting with a quote or a dictionary definition.** I know it feels like a safe way to open, but readers have seen "Merriam-Webster defines resilience as..." more times than you can imagine. Start in the middle of the moment instead. Drop the reader right into the scene.

**5. Making the essay about someone else.** This comes up a lot with essays about a grandparent, a coach, or a sibling. It is fine to be inspired by someone, but if that person is doing more of the "acting" in the essay than you are, admissions has no idea who they are actually admitting. Keep the camera on you.

**6. Playing it too safe.** Some students are so worried about sounding arrogant that they undersell real accomplishments, or they are so worried about being too vulnerable that the essay stays surface level. The best essays sit in that uncomfortable middle where you are honest about a struggle or a flaw without turning it into a pity party.

A good check before submitting: if you swapped your name for a classmate's, would the essay still make sense? If yes, it is too generic and needs a more specific, personal moment.

Happy to answer questions if anyone wants a second set of eyes on their brainstorming process!

I need someone to review my common app essay and my extracurriculars

Can someon experienced who understand essay review my personal essay and give opinion please? dm me if you interested

I’m looking for someone to review my essay. Dm if interested