Should You Gamble on your own College Application Essay?
This time of year, a flurry of stories hit the national media about students who enter into most of the Ivy League schools (plus Stanford).
The stories always include scrutiny and speculation about their college application essays.
I need to admit that I’m kind of a sucker for these articles.
There’s such unpredictability with who gets into what schools.
Everyone wants clues as to what works and what doesn’t especially with the essays.
Is it possible to blame them?
Usually, the risk-takers seemed to prevail.
Over the last month we’ve had Ziad and his #BlackLifeMatters essay; the Quadruplet’s package deal; and first-gen Cassandra Hsiao’s piece on her broken English.
Does this mean you should take a risk along with your essay?
The fact is that which works for others most likely won’t do the job.
In fact, it might backfire.
Just how do you know?
(For the record, I really don’t believe the ivies are the end-all in getting a stellar education. But if you should be obsessed, read on…)
Ziad as well as the Quadruplets Took A creative risk with Their Essays And Won!
I loved this article in regards to the quadruplets who teamed up on their applications and essays and got into Yale and Harvard as a package deal.
This was clearly a calculated risk that paid off big time.
‘In a clever stroke, the four brothers wrote essays that will be read separately, yet are supposed to be read together, like four pieces of a puzzle. Each piece is charming and winning on its own, but together, they are even better, and college admissions officers everywhere did actually agree and were unwilling to pull them apart.’ From the Ny Times article.