You have one page, 650 words, to introduce yourself as a potential community member. What do you write about?

For many students, this is an awkward task. It requires looking in a metaphorical mirror and reflecting on what is most important to share about their developing characters and personalities, a heady assignment at any age. 

Identifying Character Traits: Be Specific

After identifying the character traits they want to share, they should find anecdotes and ways to show these characteristics rather than merely state them. For example, a Holderness student might describe their engagement with making food at Snack Bar to raise money for the Bridge House shelter rather than saying, “I care about community service.” Of course, it doesn’t always follow this linear script, sometimes essential character traits are identified after a student describes an experience and thinks about why it mattered to them. 

We also think about the structure of the essay, application readers are moving quickly, so paragraph length, topic, and transition sentences matter. Students may be evaluated on the artistry of their writing, but also should remain true to their voice and avoid an “over-polished” tone. 

This one-page writing assignment is a tall task. 

The Writing Process

As a college counseling team, we start in the winter of the junior year by giving them time in seminars to brainstorm at least 3 topics in response to prompts, then they expand upon one. We share the variety of structures they might consider and ask them to develop a full draft in February and April. Once students have a draft, we share a list of revision questions for students. We developed these with feedback from admissions representatives and revisiting past student essays. The questions aim to encourage students to think critically about their drafts and give them agency in making edits.
 

10 Questions for Your College Essay

1. What is the sentence in the admissions officer’s head after reading the essay? What notes are they writing about your statement? 
    
2. Does this essay show your choices? What agency did you have? What did you do of your own free will? 
    
3. If this is about a struggle, did you show you moved through it? (you don’t have to have it all figured out), but it shouldn’t just be about a challenge.
    
4. Does the essay show what skills, experiences, habits, hobbies, and interests you are going to bring to your next community? If your friends were to read it, could they tell it was you?
    
5. What are the takeaways from the first paragraph and last paragraph? 
    
6. What is your favorite line in the essay–is it featured in a topic sentence or hidden? 
    
7. Is this about another person? If so, how could you ensure that it is centered around how that person impacted you? 
    
8. Are there too many stories? Do the stories connect around central themes? 
    
9. Is your voice still in this essay? Or have edits made it less your voice? Does it sound like a 17-19 year old wrote it? 
    
10. Is this a current story/story relevant to who you are right now? There are no bad topics, the topic is you. 

Ready to write your essay? Download the questions now.
 

About the Author

Kelsey Berry
Director of College Counseling

Kelsey joined the Holderness community in 2011 as a history teacher and coach, after a brief stint away, she returned in 2012. She served as the History Department Chair, then worked for five years as the Director of Teaching and Learning. In 2022, she started leading the College Counseling Office. She lives in the Pichette dorm with her two small children, and her husband, Mike Carrigan. 

kberry@holderness.org, (603) 779-5310