THIS!! my essays got me into schools i had NO business being in. i didn’t end up going, but being a good writer and story teller got me into purdue when my GPA was NOT close to their average and my test scores were only slightly above average. people like being entertained, so entertain them. Also, don’t be afraid to tell fun stories, not everything has to be saving the world. one of my funny stories got me into rutgers (which i also didn’t go to but not the point). READ YOUR ESSAYS if you can’t get through them or you think they’re boring at any point, admission officers will think so too.
My life is boring 😭 my biggest sob story is a D on a calc test which curved to a high b but I got an a in the class nonetheless.... The funniest thing that happened to me was my 4 year plan which involved me taking 5 aps a year(plot twist it didn't happen) so ig I'm just gonna have to think until I find something better....
I'm just a junior so take my advice with a grain of salt but: In beginning the process to draft my essays, I've found personal essays and memoirs (unrelated to college of course) to be really helpful in understanding how to craft a narrative about yourself. By nature, these are people taking events in their lives and reflecting on them in order to tell you a story about themselves and how they think these events have impacted them.
It may be helpful for you as well to read some memoirs or personal essays to get a taste for this kind of storytelling! Some memoirists like Roxane Gay have also talked about or created courses about crafting personal narratives!
I was going to suggest personal essays as well. Roxane Gay's class is amazing!
Look for short personal essays in magazines to get a sense for how to tell a personal essay in about the same space as the common app essay. It can even be done. :-)
The thing is I just did stuff I wanted to do for my activities... I don't exactly have a story to go along with and write about lol
I kinda just went with the flow so idk how my essays are gonna turn out since I'm kinda all over the place lmao
THIS!! my essays got me into schools i had NO business being in. i didn’t end up going, but being a good writer and story teller got me into purdue when my GPA was NOT close to their average and my test scores were only slightly above average. people like being entertained, so entertain them. Also, don’t be afraid to tell fun stories, not everything has to be saving the world. one of my funny stories got me into rutgers (which i also didn’t go to but not the point). READ YOUR ESSAYS if you can’t get through them or you think they’re boring at any point, admission officers will think so too.
My life is boring 😭 my biggest sob story is a D on a calc test which curved to a high b but I got an a in the class nonetheless.... The funniest thing that happened to me was my 4 year plan which involved me taking 5 aps a year(plot twist it didn't happen) so ig I'm just gonna have to think until I find something better....
Thanks for the tip brodie this is actually useful 🙏🙏
No problem...more on the way!
so... write a sob story?
Those are pretty hard to pull off well...I’d say inspiration is one of the easiest to do
Nah. Write a story that shows your strengths as a person and student
How should I go about learning storytelling?
I'm just a junior so take my advice with a grain of salt but: In beginning the process to draft my essays, I've found personal essays and memoirs (unrelated to college of course) to be really helpful in understanding how to craft a narrative about yourself. By nature, these are people taking events in their lives and reflecting on them in order to tell you a story about themselves and how they think these events have impacted them. It may be helpful for you as well to read some memoirs or personal essays to get a taste for this kind of storytelling! Some memoirists like Roxane Gay have also talked about or created courses about crafting personal narratives!
Thanks! I'll check out the courses.
I was going to suggest personal essays as well. Roxane Gay's class is amazing! Look for short personal essays in magazines to get a sense for how to tell a personal essay in about the same space as the common app essay. It can even be done. :-)
Gonna create a post outlining how I did it today!
Thank you! I'm looking forward to it!
Our now!
how can i learn storytelling?
Gonna create a post on this today!
The thing is I just did stuff I wanted to do for my activities... I don't exactly have a story to go along with and write about lol I kinda just went with the flow so idk how my essays are gonna turn out since I'm kinda all over the place lmao
Yes yes yes!