Accepted! 50 successful college admission essays - Gen Tanabe, Tanabe Kelly 2008
Is this a trick question?
The ingredients of the essay
The director of admission at Harvey Mudd reveals what’s behind his questions
Tell us something about yourself. This fi ve-word question is one of the most common on college applications. It sounds harmless enough, but for many students it’s enough to cause some serious stress. The applicants reason that the colleges wouldn’t ask such a simple, straightforward question. It must be a trick. And even worse, they have no idea how to answer it.
We asked Peter Osgood, the director of admission at Harvey Mudd College and former associate dean of admission at Pomona College, why he asks this question on applications. We also wanted the truth about whether there was a hidden meaning to these types of general questions.
“We ask for two essays and give students a choice of several questions. The most obvious question is a simple tell us about yourself. It’s not a trick question—we really want to know something about you,” explains Osgood.
However, not any old answer will do. As Osgood cautions future applicants, “We don’t want to know something that we can get from your application. It’s too easy and too safe for a student to write an essay that is purely descriptive about what they have done and accomplished. All of that will be evident elsewhere in the application.”
But what happens if students write essays about their achievements without spending the time to go beyond what can be found in their resumes? According to Osgood, this would be a disaster.
“That kind of essay won’t shake us up. It’s not going to tell us anything new. That kind of essay doesn’t help students at all. It’s a lost opportunity,” warns Osgood. When you read a question, don’t get stuck on fi nding a deeper meaning or trying to second-guess the intentions of the college.
Most questions are what they appear to be—just questions. Instead of searching for a hidden message, focus on how you will answer the question, adding something new to how you present yourself to the colleges.
● What things do you think the admission offi ce should look at when deciding whom to accept?
● What does “good character” mean to you?
● If you could develop a specifi c skill what would it be? Why?
● Is there anything unusual you plan to bring to college?
● Is there anything that you would like to tell us that is not in the application?
● If you could hold any government position what would it be and why?
● Write about something that is important to you.
● Include a small picture and describe the signifi cance of the photo to you.
Our favorite question, however, comes from the University of Chicago, which is famous (or infamous depending on how you feel) for coming up with extremely creative essay questions. In one recent year the question asked applicants to create their own TV show called “Chicago Survivor” based on the reality TV show. The contestants, the university suggested, could come from any era of human history.
While most colleges are not as creative (or diabolical) as this, they often give you a choice of questions. Some students stress about picking which one to answer. However, there really is no right question. The truth is that colleges don’t care which question you answer. Remember that more important than your actual answer to the question is what your
answer says about you. Our advice when you are faced with a choice is to pick the question that you can answer most thoughtfully.