"Your college essay might be important, but it is not difficult," Holly Thompson said. Thompson is a former Paly mom and also a former admissions reader for Stanford and Harvard.
Speaking in the Haymarket Theater to about 60 Paly seniors and some parents on Wednesday, Thompson gave advice on how to make the college essay writing process a bit more manageable.
Thompson’s daughter, Maggie, graduated from Paly last year and is currently attending Stanford. Thompson came to speak at Paly because of a deal she made with English teacher Kaye Paugh.
"I promised her that as long as she still was teaching at Paly, I would come and give college essay writing workshops," Thompson said.
Thompson read college essays for 34 years at several prestigious universities, and is now currently an English teacher at Castilleja School. Her first job in admissions was as assistant director of admissions at Harvard in 1972.
"Real people read your college essays," Thompson said. "Readers often read 100 applications per day."
Thompson began leading essay-writing workshops around 20 years ago, when she started receiving a lot of questions about "what makes a good essay." Thompson compiled a list of six criteria for "writing an effective college application essay."
While there is admittedly no formula to writing the perfect essay and no basic criteria for a "good" essay, Thompson claimed there are some specific things you can do (or not do) to make your essay sparkle.
The first of her criteria is to "make sure you answer the question," Thompson said. "I’ve always been struck by essays where people are clearly using the essay to specifically show ‘this, this, and this.’"
Thompson’s second, third and fourth criteria were to make sure you tell a story, and do so from your own unique point of view, in your own unique voice.
"Most of the best essays tell a story," she said. "Tell it in a way that makes it yours, and yours alone? remember this is a personal essay, and more than anything the reader wants to hear a personal voice."
Reflection is also vital to a successful college essay, according to Thompson.
"Your story has to have meaning, and it has to have a point," she said. "Don’t be subtle, keep your audience in mind."
Lastly, Thompson conveyed the importance of specific, concrete examples.
"Those little riveting details breathe life into your essay," she said.
By following these guidelines, a college essay is not guaranteed to be perfect, but, according to Thompson, should at least give the reader a better sense of who you are.
Thompson closed the workshop by warning students to proofread their essays and request feedback from parents, teachers, and friends. She compared grammar and spelling mistakes to "spinach in the teeth."
"Someone can look fabulous from far away," Thompson said. "But once you look close and see they’ve got a little bit of spinach stuck in their teeth, you can’t look away. You don’t notice anything else."