Longkang Mee's Opinion on US College Application Essays

Recently, a few people have been asking me to proofread their essays for US college applications.  I just have a few things to say about the essay and would like to contribute some stuff to spark your inspiration =)  Of course, this is just my opinion.  I am in no way a professional essay writer nor am I a spy in the admission office or an expert psychologist who happens to know how the admission office thinks.

These tips and opinions are based on my own experience in writing the application essays and feedback I get from other people.  In short, it's just my own collective perspective about the US college essay application.  I hope that after reading this post, you will have the inspiration to write a piece that is one-of-a-kind and truly yours.

I will start my tips with a FAQ style format:-

1.  It's about you.

I feel that an essay should first and foremost describe you as an individual.  If you find yourself describing and explaining about another person (your family member, some professor you admire or some famous movie star) more than yourself, I suggest to take a step back and restructure your essay.  After all, colleges want to admit you and not someone else.  If a stranger can pick up your essay and after reading it, give a 5 minute introduction about you then you know you're good to go.

2.  Uniqueness.

How do you write a non-cliché essay?  After reading your own essay, your first impression should be like "is that really me? That's kinda embarrassing/weird/etc, but it is truly and undoubtedly me".  Don't assume that everyone out there in the world is the same as yourself.  Many people tend to regard their mundane daily routine as normal and feel reluctant to showcase themselves in their genuine form.  It is the things that seem normal to you that might turn out to be the most interesting.  For example, I may find that making bubbles in the bathroom to be normal.  Of course, I would later find out that the movement of the the colors on the surface of the bubble is somehow connected to the weather patterns of other planets.  My point is, try to write about your normal daily life and don't try too hard to portray what you want people to think of you.  There's far too many essays like that--sculptured with hand-picked words to meticulously describe yourself as if you are an object.  After all, the essay is to provide the "human" factor in the application, have fun with it and go with the flow.

3.  Honesty

Honesty is the best policy!  Sometimes, really amazing essays comes from telling a secret.  Something that you wouldn't even tell your best friend or parents.  Some thing like whenever you tell you parents you're going for a jog but actually you went bicycling in the back alleys of your neighborhood that your parents have explicitly told you not to.  And later on, you make friends with the beggars of the streets, the 20-sen-tissue-sellers, the aluminium-tin-can-collector and how those people shed a different perspective about life to you and ultimately taught you to appreciate the life you have.  Or how you actually unconsciously critique people's clothing choices and you secretly want to have your own clothing line because there's just too many people out there who don't know how to wear matching outfits.  Sometimes, plain brute honesty will bring out some of your most interesting traits.

4.  The classic "show, don't tell"

If you have a hard time following this, try to write an essay without using the adjectives you want to describe yourself.  Let's say you want to describe yourself as a hard working, determined and patient person.  Do this by not writing those words in your essay.  That way, you will somehow force yourself to show your characteristics through an incident.  For example, if you want to portray curiosity and innovation.  Don't say "I am curious and innovative because..."; instead, try to show it by writing an essay about drinking Chinese tea.  And when you stir the cup of tea, you observe that the the tea leaves swirl around the cup and will only stop in the center of the cup.  You then take this idea and observation to the next level and invent a water cleaner which uses the same concept.  Well, you get the picture.


With all this things combined, you will ultimately end up with an essay that is unlike any other on the planet.  Who else in this world blow bubbles when their bathing, invents a water cleaner, critiques people's fashion and personally know the alleys of their neighborhood inside out?  The answer is you, and only you can come out with an essay like that.

I hope this post will help all of you to write great college application essays.  Enjoy the application process, it's a time of self-reflection and a process to get to know yourself better.  Take your time, question yourself and most of all have fun!

Wishing all who are applying the best of luck and may the odds be ever in your favor.  And don't forget to proofread your essays!  Hit me up on facebook if you want to just chat or talk about the applications.

Cheers.

US College Application Fit

It's that time again when everyone is busy finishing up their online applications to the many schools they are applying to.  One of the most common questions I observe people asking is, "how do I get into ___ college?" or "what are my chances of getting into ___ university".  One thing US colleges emphasizes is the "fit" of the student in their university.  What exactly is fit?  I don't really have a clear description of "fit" but here's what I imagined it to be like in my mind (don't take my word for it).

*In the admission office of ___ university*

Chief officer: "Ok, we are going to take 500 students for our class of 2018 this year.  Let's get going reading all these profiles."

And then the process goes on something like this:-

"First things first, better get those athletes on board, we need to gear up our rankings this year."
"Ok, take some musicians here and there."
"We need some diversity in here!!"
"International? put her in that pool."

"Build a nuclear reactor in his backyard?  But we already have 5 of them here.  Nah..."
"Look, this guy likes to dance in the shower, take him in!"
"Performed for president, meh....."
"Olympiad medallist right here, we'll take 3 of them, no more."
"Invented a cat-dryer machine?  take her in!"
"Stopping and staring and flowers beside the road? Cool, take him in."
"Want to take over the world?  Well, if he's our alumni, that'll be good. take him in."

.....

"At the last spot goes to the girl who just said she wanted to enter our school just because she loves our mascot!"

Well, my point is, it's really hard to know if you fit a certain school or not and that some school might like you way more than another.  So, I just want to remind everyone to not be afraid of applying to a school that you really like even though you might think that you don't have a shot at it.  After all, there really is no harm in trying--you never know what to expect.  Don't be discourage by score statistics, admission percentage, collegeboard forum admission pages and etc.

Just be yourself, write an essay that is true to yourself and hope that you fall into your fit school like a jigsaw puzzle =)

Cheers.