Writing an Outstanding College Admission Essay: Tips from a Stanford University Student

Katherine, a Stanford University student, talks about the most stereotypical college admission essays and gives some tips on how to avoid common mistakes. And here is what the Typical Student team will tell you about!

Multicultural Background Essay

Katherine says that cultural identity is the most common thing students write in their admission essays. She adds that it’s a great topic, however, she recommends avoiding clichés and making sure that the emotional experience you are talking about in the essay is very personal, emotional, and authentic.

Struggling to Win a Competition Essay

According to Katherine, these essays are usually about teamwork and how working in a group helped people to overcome all the difficulties and eventually win a competition. Katherine claims that the biggest mistake of such an essay is writing it from the point of view of a leader. So she suggests being more humble while writing such essays in order to show that you can really work in the team and fit in any group.

My Emotional Savior Essay

In this type of essay students usually, write about how such subjects as math can be fun and creative and Katherine says that it’s really great. However, she adds that you want to avoid odd metaphors like “math is a unicorn and I’m a cloud” in this type of essay.

Intense Sport Moments Essays

Katherine says that these narrative essays are not bad, but the most common error students do in such essays is over describing. So she recommends avoiding describing small details because they don’t reveal anything about you.

Rebelling Against the Parents Essay

Struggles with your parents might be a rather good topic for your essay. However, Kathrine says that in these essays students don’t write about themselves and their emotional experiences which is the key point of the college admission essay. So she suggests focusing on yourself in this type of essay.