The Only Rule

In my opinion, there’s only one real rule for writing college essays – or any essay, really – and that is: Don’t Be Boring.*

It’s true, of course, that one person’s boring topic is someone else’s deep passion.  Millions of people are obsessed with sports, for example, and millions of other people (or maybe the same people, who knows?) find celebrity gossip completely irresistible.  On the other hand, there are niche fields – the Lascaux cave paintings, for example, or the causes of World War I – that relatively few people follow religiously.

I have my obsessions – as anyone reading this blog has probably figured out by now! – but none of them are mentioned in the last paragraph. That hasn’t stopped me from becoming completely transfixed by books or articles about sports, celebrity gossip, the Lascaux cave paintings and the causes of World War I.  In each case, the author brought something special to the piece, something intriguing, that compels even those uninterested in the subject.  Insight into us as a society (Americans) or insight into us as a species (human beings), for example, extended metaphors that expose the reader to new perspectives, or just the sheer beauty of brilliant writing.  Good essays will be read by people who share the author’s interests and world view.  Really great essays will interest people in the author’s world and world view.  

This doesn’t mean you have to write an application essay so brilliant it could be published in the New York Times or win a Pulitzer Prize.  But it’s worth thinking about how you can write an essay that will spark interest in people who don’t know you, and make those people care about you and your life story.

*Of course there are technical requirements for essay submissions, like ‘no more than 650 words’ and ‘write in English.’  I’m talking about rules that can be broken like ‘Don’t Write About Sports’ or ‘Don’t Mention That You’re Neurodiverse,’ etc.