Archives for July 2011

Truncate: transitive verb; 1) to shorten by or as if by cutting off; 2) to abbreviate, abridge, curtail, or cut back.

When I was in high school, I lived by the essay-writing philosophy that “More was better.” If a teacher asked for a five-page paper, I wrote ten, proving that my interest in the subject was deep and thorough. A paper that was to be “ten pages or more” became a 15 to 20 page tome. “Be sure to document with five or more sources:” I provided a full page of references to books and articles (No URLS in those days, either). It always worked.

However, things change. In my freshman year of college, I took a course called “The Comic and Satiric Tradition.” My professor assigned the first paper with what I assumed was a suggested length of three pages. Three pages? I had written introductions that were longer. I lovingly crafted a seven-page paper, worried that I hadn’t covered the topic as thoroughly as I should have.

And then, the truncation.

The professor collected the papers. He took the first one in his hands, counted the pages aloud: “One, two, three…,” ripped the remaining pages from their staples, and threw them into the trash can.

Faces pale, stomachs churning, my classmates and I watched in horror as he truncated every paper in the pile. And when he finished, he said, in an appropriately satirical voice, “When I say three pages, I mean three pages.”

We learned quickly that, at least in his class, we would adhere to the page limit.

The college application process has undergone incredible transformations over the decades, moving from handwritten to typewritten statements, emailed Word documents, and now, in an effort to avoid the waste of paper and to streamline the process, applicants upload their essays directly onto an online application. There are word counts and character counts – with and without spaces. Some questions require you to fill in blanks with no more than 20 words. And if you don’t, your words are…truncated.

For many years, the directions for the personal statement on the Common Application suggested “250 words or more.” More could mean 275, 500, 800, or 1000 words. Applicants gloried in the stories of their lives, ethical dilemmas, role models, fictional characters, the importance of diversity, and of course, the “topic of your choice.” One student recently emailed me a document that was 25 pages long.

This year, although the topics have not changed, the word length has. The personal statement is expected to be 250 to 500 words. If you upload a lovely 700-word essay, it will be truncated in the middle of a word in the fifth paragraph. No mercy. RIP to the rest.

So now that brevity truly is required to be the “soul of wit,” you’ll need to adhere to those word and character limits!

Imagine an admissions officer reading hundreds of essays! Your essay is your opportunity to stand out as a person so that the reader wants to place your application at the top of that “admit” pile! Admissions officers want to learn about:

• who you are and that you know yourself
• what you have to offer as a potential member of the incoming class
• how you have grown or what you have learned from an experience
• something that differentiates you from other applicants

The rule of good admissions essay writing is “Show, don’t tell.” And how you write your essay is as important as what you say.

Some of the best essays I have read have included: being too tall or too short, myopic, an only child, or a middle child; being a member of a particular community or a family full of cultural diversity; stories about training pets, attending football camp, losing a loved one, living with a disability or the disability of a family member – all of which were written with a strong lead sentence and opening paragraph, demonstrated good, solid writing skills and sentence structure, and sparkled with personality.

There are very few topics that are truly off limits, although most admissions officers and readers strongly prefer not to read essays of a sexual or suggestive nature. Extremely controversial topics have to be treated very carefully, but if you have a passion about a particular issue, write about it!

Recently, my friend and I were talking about things we’ve kept over the years: drawers and cabinets and bags and boxes full of greeting cards, invitations, bills, comic books, old board games, stuffed animals, projects…The list was endless.

We talked about our parents, our grandparents, places we’d like to go, music we love to sing, responsibilities we’ve had, paths that have been fulfilling and others that were disappointing. I realized as we spent hours on a lovely summer day on the deck of a waterfront restaurant that our stories provided insight into our backgrounds, interests, talents, hopes and dreams.

That’s not very different from sharing a story for an admissions essay.

Take a look at the choices for the Common Application personal statement. There are six very broad questions designed to allow you to write about anything that allows the college admissions officers to learn about who you are and how you express yourself.

I have found that one of the best ways to explore ideas for the essay is to brainstorm with someone else – someone whose judgment and experience you trust. I love to talk to people; I love to find that extraordinary story that’s just waiting to be told!

Much of what we keep may have little or no resale value, but we keep them because they mean something to us: They remind us of family and friends, places we’ve visited, events in which we have taken part, failures and successes –things that make us who we are.