Do I have your attention?

We engage with images and videos every day. Nothing has as much value as getting and keeping attention. Every year, I look forward to helping my students craft Common App essays that tell stories that reveal the personality traits colleges seek. What makes an essay powerful? Grabbing and holding a reader's attention.

Engage admissions readers by drawing them in with drama, description, details, and dialogue. Stories of your your actions and interactions with others show colleges how you behave and the choices you make in all kinds of situations. Conversely, an essay that's mostly a revelation of your deep thoughts and feelings with no action or conflict may be an great journal entry, but can cause the reader to lose focus and begin scanning because the words are too abstract--and they have so many essays to read.

Admissions officers claim to read every essay with positive intentions to admit rather than deny. That being said, a generic essay or one that’s trying too hard to be different doesn’t help a student’s application. Students never have to write a boring or contrived essay once they understand the essay’s purpose and the best way to approach it. The purpose is always to demonstrate how you will become part of a college community if admitted. Many of the images that catch your eye and hold your attention tell stories. Think of how they accomplish that while writing your essays.