I thought I would pass along a cool link to another blog entry that features some comments on college essay writing by two admissions officers (one from Kenyon College and one from Yale College). The Yale representative is Jeremiah Quinlan, who has been very involved with the QuestBridge program since Yale joined the College Match a few years ago. Tomorrow I will have another assignment for you all to get us started on the college essay, but for right now it would be a good idea to take a look at the linked blog entry and get a sense of what an admissions reader might be looking for. Having read thousands of college application essays, my QuestBridge colleagues and I have almost always found them to be the most misunderstood aspect of the application. Many students believe the essay is supposed to focus on something specific that they have done or achieved, or that it should be written like a standard, expository high school essay. The key for the college essay is to switch gears a bit and try to think about what topic says the most about you (the writer)! Take a look and enjoy.
http://collegehunt.blogspot.com/2006/11/writing-successful-college-essays_14.html
