Writing an Admissions Essay :: College Admissions Essays

Writing an Admissions EssayThe process of writingand writing admissions essays in finicalinvites a consciously-constructed performance of the self. What I mean by this is that a textany textinevitably conveys some persona and when that text is known as an autobiography or representation of the self, the persona of the text is under even more scrutiny.Andy Warhol, with whom we could never be sure of where the performance ended and where the self started, once said, When I did my self-portrait, I left all the pimples out because you always should. . . . Always omit the blemishestheyre not part of the good picture you want. * This statement has relevancy for any act of self-representation, including admissions essays. Because the essay is an acknowledged representation of the self, the student tries to omit blemishes or whatever material she thinks will make her unattractive to the school. She consciously tries to stray her essay so that it will project the particular kind of persona she thinks the admissions officers want to see. However much they tell you, Just be yourself, thats scarce possible when so much rides on how that self is presented. Even more challenging than the decision of how to frame this self-portrait is the anxiety-producing task of choosing a topic. For example, in a upstart New York Times article, a student lamented the fact that no one had died in her family thus leaving her without anything moving to write about. Admissions essays are an unusual and crotchety exercise, one in which we know the student performs.But the school is performing, too. The University, in particular, is known for its quirky and surprising essay questions. This quirkiness itself is a performance of a kind that seeks to attract a certain type of student, perhaps the creative or quirky.