By Ava Nicols
Editor-In-Chief
On the Common App, the most commonly used college application portal and the gateway to our futures, the preface to the personal statement writing portion reads: “Choose the option that best helps you answer the question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response.”
To some, 650 words might sound like a lot, but in the context of your whole life, well, 650 words is nothing. As a writer who likes pretty words and long sentences, you can imagine the difficulty this limit has created for me, and all the other English-strong students out there.
I speak for all the seniors of our current academic climate when I explain the complexity and unrealistic expectation to nail “the essay” as the “make or break” portion of your application. While there is truth to this, the reality of capturing oneself entirely, authentically, through an out-of-the-box idea, sounding sophisticated, yet casual, and still meeting the word count, is much easier said than done. To put it simply, this experience was extremely tricky.
How do you pick what to write about? What can I cut out that still makes it sound good? “Cutting out” parts of your life on a Google Doc in order to fit a limit does not align with the “holistic review” we are promised from the representatives that are making the big decisions. And considering all the other advancements in the application process, such as widespread test optional policies, is it really that out of the question to allow students the right to more words?
Through this very challenging experience, I’ve realized that under any “perfect” essay is an imperfect student, like all the others in their school and those around the world they have yet to meet. There is no such thing as a perfect essay, and definitely not one that can be captured in 650 words. My philosophy from the beginning has been that the “perfection” of one’s essay is insignificant when compared to how closely your essay resonates with who you are.
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