How to write a college application essay can be one of the more confusing elements of the college application process. But we think it doesn’t have to be.
So we’re building this post to offer a clear, step-by-step process you can use, followed by tips for how to strengthen your essay (also referred to as a “personal statement”).
Step 0 will be the same for everyone.
Steps 1, 2, and 3 will vary depending on which structural approach you choose in step 0.
Getting started is often the hardest part. Take this a step at a time, and you’ll be good to go.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(click to skip ahead)Step 0: choose a structure
By “structure,” we mean what you’ll use to organize your essay’s content in a way that helps your reader understand clearly and easily.
We’ll talk through two structural options below: “montage” and “narrative.”
Some quick definitions:
A montage uses a few different moments or experiences that are connected by a theme, like three body paragraphs on three different pairs of shoes you’ve owned, and the different sides of you those shoes allow you to talk about.
A narrative is generally chronological, and focuses on what you did to overcome a challenge you’ve faced.
Important note that neither approach is inherently better: admissions officers do not have a preference. Unless they give you a prompt that specifically asks you to write about a challenge you’ve faced, you do not have to write about one—you should make your choice purely based on what allows you to most clearly illustrate some of your core values, insights, interests, qualities, and skills.
If you’ve
faced significant challenges in your life, and
you want to write about them
try a narrative approach. (Skip down to Section 2, below)
If you
haven’t faced significant challenges, or
you have but you don’t want to write about them or be defined by them
try a montage approach. (See Section 1, next)
Section 1—How to draft your montage college application essay
There are virtually infinite things you could use as a theme to connect paragraphs in a montage.
But we’re going to focus on just one, one that we’ve seen work thousands of times for thousands of students to create thousands of unique essays.
In this section, we’ll talk you through steps for how to use some of your different roles and identities to build a montage essay.
If, after reading through these steps, you want to explore other ways you can build a montage by brainstorming other kinds of thematic threads, head to this larger guide on writing college essays.
Take 5-10 minutes to write down different identities or roles that you claim or play in life, based on the chart below.
Useful note: don’t skip over the “other” category—we’ve seen students write about roles and identities like
- Climate protector
- Tinkerer
- Seeker
- Center Finder
- Question-asker
- Bookworm
- And dozens (hundreds) of others like these that don’t necessarily first come to mind with the boxes below
| Domain | My identity/identities |
|---|---|
| Race | |
| Ethnicity, heritage, culture | |
| National origin; birthplace; places lived | |
| First language, language use | |
| Sex, gender, gender expression | |
| Romantic/sexual orientation | |
| Religion, spirituality, faith, ideology | |
| Class, economic background | |
| Ability/disability status (physical, developmental, etc.) | |
| Family identity: roles, birth order, etc. | |
| Physical appearance + body type | |
| Abilities/Talents/Superpowers | |
| Interests | |
| Other |
In a minute, we’ll show you how to turn those identities into a basic outline, and then turn that outline into a draft.
Before we do, we’re going to show you an example essay that uses this approach, so you can see where you’re heading with this. Having a sense of it will make outlining and drafting easier.
My Twitter bio reads: angry brown girl, feminist, singer, meme-lover. You will notice live-tweets of my feminist Pride and Prejudice thoughts, analyses of Hamilton’s power for musical representation, and political memes. Just as my posts bring together seemingly disparate topics, I believe there is a vibrancy that exists at the multidimensional place where my interests intersect.
Growing up as a debater and musician, it was easy to see the two as distinct entities where I had to make unequivocal choices. At the start of my junior year, I decided not to participate in the musical in order to work for Emerge California, an organization that helps Democratic women run for office. There I learned about data science, gender distributions in public office, and how to work with the evil printer. I also halted my voice and piano lessons to focus on building my student-led non-profit, Agents of Change. As someone who has diverted my energy into community activism, I can attest to the power of grassroots movements. It has been so rewarding to measure the impact that my team has had on my community. But even so, I felt that I was losing touch with the music that was such a profound part of me.
I found a new way of being when I started combining my artsy and political sides. I took an intensive class on protest music, where I learned how political movements have been shaped by the music of their time. While in the class, we were asked to compose our own songs. I am not a songwriter, but I am an activist, and I embraced the opportunity to turn music into an outlet for my political beliefs. As a first-generation American, I am dedicated to raising awareness about refugee rights and immigration. My songs about the Syrian Refugee Crisis let me find a way to bring the two sides of me together and gave me a rush that neither music nor politics by themselves would have provided.
This introduction led me to apply to the Telluride Association Protest Poetics program, where I dove deeper into my own identity. I wrote songs about police brutality and the ways that as a non-black person of color I am implicated in instances of subliminal racism. Over the course of the program, as I became more familiar with the visual, literary, and performance art we analyzed, I slowly started to realize that, though I confront colorism, jokes about Indian culture, and intra-community violence in some form every day, my proximity to whiteness still gives me immense amounts of privilege. I have come to know that this means I have a responsibility to both be at the forefront of movements, and conscious of not stepping over the voices of other intersectional identities. I hope that the music I choose to perform and the way I live my life can amplify, not overwrite, any of the struggles that others deal with daily.
Last year, I had another opportunity to use music to pay homage to an issue I care deeply about. In my South Asian community, mental health is an issue that is often papered over. When a member of my school community committed suicide, I was asked to sing “Amazing Grace” for the school to both unify and honor the student. Though I thought that I had really understood the power of music, holding that space for my entire school had a profound resonance that I still don’t fully understand.
My voice is an instrument for change—whether it be through me raising my hand to contribute to a discussion in a classroom, speaking out against gun violence at a rally, or singing at an event of solidarity. I know that someday my voice, in conjunction with many other unique voices and perspectives, will make a difference.
Notice that this essay does its job (showing her core values, insights, qualities, skills, and interests) really well, and essentially all it’s doing is just illustrating those values, insights, etc. through different roles/identities, with each body paragraph demonstrating those roles/identities through specific actions and experiences.
Here’s how you can take the roles/identities you brainstormed above and build a unique personal statement using a similar structural approach:
A.) List out 4-7 of the roles/identities that are most important to you and that you feel can best show a college the values, insights, qualities, interests, and skills you bring to that college. Note that some might fit well together, like they do below.
Here’s what that could look like for the example essay above:
- Community engager/Impacter
- Musician/Activist
- Indian/Ally
- Mental health advocate
B.) Then look at this look at this list of values and add one or two values that are important to you that you want to demonstrate to a college.
Here’s what that could look like for the example essay above:
- Community engager/Impacter—Leadership; Community
- Musician/Activist—Art; Awareness
- Indian/Ally—Social change; Inclusion
- Mental health advocate—Compassion
C.) Then, think about a moment or experience that can potentially illustrate this role/identity + value to your reader.
Here’s what that could look like for the example essay above:
- Community engager/Impacter—Leadership; Community—involvement with Emerge California and leading Agents of Change and importance of grassroots movements
- Musician/Activist—Art; Awareness—protest music class, song about Syrian Refugee Crisis
- Indian/Ally—Social change; Inclusion—Telluride, songs about police brutality, experience as an Indian + responsibility to support others
- Mental health advocate—Compassion—“Amazing Grace” and school coming together
Those bullets are the outline for the body paragraphs of the montage. Each will use specific actions and details to demonstrate core values via the related roles/identities.
For now, you can write a simple placeholder intro, like “I have played many roles in my life. Here are some of the most important ones.” You can play with intros and conclusions later, but as we said up top, often the hardest part of writing your college application essay is starting.
So skip getting stuck thinking about an opening, come back to it later, and focus on building clear, strong body paragraphs that show a reader your core values, insights, qualities, skills, and interests.
Think back to the essay above. The intro and conclusion help, but it’s the body paragraphs that really matter.
Focus on those in your first draft.
How to revise your essay
After you’ve written a first draft of those body paragraphs, if you have time before submission deadlines, it’s great to step away from the essay for a day or two, so you can assess it with fresh eyes.
At minimum, you’ll want to make sure there’s a clear flow and use of language in your essay.That’s easier to do when you haven’t read it for a bit, and can read it more like how a total stranger would.
To get you started, this guide to Revising Your Essay in 5 Steps will help you create clearer logical flow, as will this breakdown of 9 different ways to effectively transition.
Want to build more detailed, illustrative body paragraphs? Check out this guide on how to (mostly) show, not tell with your writing.
Worried about your essay sounding similar to other applicants’ essays? We have resources on how to understand and create “voice” in your work..
Want to build a better intro/opening? Check out a bunch of options to play with for intros here.(we’d recommend experimenting, even if you have something you like—through exploring, you may find something even better).
Want to strengthen the ending of your essay?Here’s a guide to how to build strong essay endings.
Additionally, one of the best general tips we can give you as you revise is to read your essay out loud to yourself. And again, try to read from a total stranger’s perspective. Reading out loud will help you notice problems you might miss when reading it in your mind. And reading from a stranger’s perspective will help ensure you aren’t relying on things in your brain that need to be on the page (but aren’t).
You might also try reading it to a trusted family member, teacher, or friend. They might be able to give you some constructive feedback to make your piece more relatable or accessible for other people. Just keep in mind that some people may have a good sense of what makes for strong writing in general, but not necessarily what makes for a strong college essay specifically.
Section 2—How to draft your narrative college application essay
If you want to write a narrative about a challenge you’ve faced, the Feelings and Needs exercise below will help you develop great bullet points to turn into an essay.
A key thing to keep in mind with narrative (this is so important we’re going to say it multiple times):
Try to split your word count into roughly thirds
1/3rd for the Challenge + Effects
1/3rd (or maybe a bit more) for What I Did About It
1/3rd for What I Learned/How It Changed Me
One of the biggest, most frequent mistakes we see in narratives is to make most of the essay about the challenge itself.
But what really matters to your reader, and what helps them to see the core values, insights, qualities, skills, and interests you bring to a college, are what you did about the challenge and what you learned from your experiences.
Be sure your essay mostly focuses on those things.
The Feelings and Needs Exercise is built to help you develop all the content you’ll need to write a first draft of your narrative college application essay.
Instructions: Click here to watch the Feelings and Needs Exercise and click here to view the accompanying PDF. As you listen, you can complete the exercise below.
| Challenges | Effects | Feelings | Needs | What I Did | What I Learned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Once you’ve done that exercise, and before we show you how to turn it into an outline and draft, we want to give you an example essay that came from this exercise, so you have a concrete sense of the structural direction you’re aiming for.
It was the first Sunday of April. My siblings and I were sitting at the dinner table giggling and spelling out words in our alphabet soup. The phone rang and my mother answered. It was my father; he was calling from prison in Oregon.
My father had been stopped by immigration on his way to Yakima, Washington, where he’d gone in search of work. He wanted to fulfill a promise he’d made to my family of owning our own house with a nice little porch and a dog.
Fortunately, my father was bailed out of prison by a family friend in Yakima. Unfortunately, though, most of our life savings was spent on his bail. We moved into a rented house, and though we did have a porch, it wasn’t ours. My father went from being a costurero (sewing worker) to being a water-filter salesman, mosaic tile maker, lemon deliverer, and butcher.
Money became an issue at home, so I started helping out more. After school I’d rush home to clean up and make dinner. My parents refused to let me have a “real” job, so on Saturday afternoons I’d go to the park with my older brother to collect soda cans. Sundays and summertime were spent cleaning houses with my mother.
I worked twice as hard in school. I helped clean my church, joined the choir, and tutored my younger sister in math. As tensions eased at home, I returned to cheerleading, joined a school club called Step Up, and got involved in my school’s urban farm, where I learned the value of healthy eating. Slowly, life improved. Then I received some life-changing news.
My father’s case was still pending and, due to a form he’d signed when he was released in Yakima, it was not only him that was now in danger of being deported, it was my entire family. My father’s lawyer informed me that I’d have to testify in court and in fact our stay in the US was now dependent on my testimony.
The lawyer had an idea: I had outstanding grades and recommendation letters. If we could show the judge the importance of my family remaining here to support my education, perhaps we had a chance. So I testified.
My father won his case and was granted residency.
Living in a low-income immigrant household has taught me to appreciate all I’ve been given. Testifying in court helped me grow as a person, has made me more open-minded and aware of the problems facing my community. And my involvement in the urban farm has led me to consider a career as a nutritionist.
Though neither of my parents attended college, they understand that college is a key factor to a bright future and therefore have been very supportive. And though we don't yet have the house with the small porch and the dog, we're still holding out hope.
I believe college can help.
Important note: Notice that the essay above covers the Challenge + Effects in about 150 words, then uses 336 words to focus more on the What I Did and What I Learned aspects of the narrative. That’s that ⅓, ⅓, ⅓ split we talked about in the beginning of this section. And it’s a big part of why the essay works so well.
Next, we’ll show you how you can use the content from your Feelings and Needs Exercise to build an outline and rough draft.
Here’s how:
A.)Take the Challenges and Effects boxes and simply put them on top of each other as bullets.
Here’s what that would look like for the example essay above.
Challenges
Effects
B.) Now, add the stuff in the “What I Did About It” box underneath.
Here’s what that would look like for the example essay above.
What I did about it
- Collected soda cans
- Cleaned houses and my church
- Worked harder in school
- Joined Step Up and school’s urban farm
- Testified at my dad’s trial
C.) Now, add the “What I Learned” beneath
Here’s what that would look like for the example essay above.
What I Learned/How It Changed Me:
All those bullets together are the outline for the first draft of your narrative.
For now, you can write a simple placeholder intro, like “My experience facing [X challenge] changed who I am.” You can play with intros and conclusions later, but as we said up top, often the hardest part of writing your college application essay is starting.
So skip getting stuck thinking about an opening, come back to it later, and focus on building clear, strong body paragraphs that show a reader your core values, insights, qualities, skills, and interests.
Think back to the essay above. The intro and conclusion help, but it’s the body paragraphs that really matter.
Focus on those in your first draft.
How to revise your essay
After you’ve written a first draft of those body paragraphs, if you have time before submission deadlines, it’s great to step away from the essay for a day or two, so you can assess it with fresh eyes.
At minimum, you’ll want to make sure there’s a clear flow and use of language in your essay. That’s easier to do when you haven’t read it for a bit, and can read it more like how a total stranger would.
To get you started, this guide to Revising Your Essay in 5 Steps will help you create clearer logical flow, as will this breakdown of 9 different ways to effectively transition.
Want to build more detailed, illustrative body paragraphs? Check out this guide on how to (mostly) show, not tell with your writing.
Worried about your essay sounding similar to other applicants’ essays? We have resources on how to understand and create “voice” in your work..
Want to build a better intro/opening? Check out a bunch of options to play with for intros here.(we’d recommend experimenting, even if you have something you like—through exploring, you may find something even better).
Want to strengthen the ending of your essay? Here’s a guide to how to build strong essay endings.
Additionally, one of the best general tips we can give you as you revise is to read your essay out loud to yourself. And again, try to read from a total stranger’s perspective. Reading out loud will help you notice problems you might miss when reading it in your mind. And reading from a stranger’s perspective will help ensure you aren’t relying on things in your brain that need to be on the page (but aren’t).
You might also try reading it to a trusted family member, teacher, or friend. They might be able to give you some constructive feedback to make your piece more relatable or accessible for other people. Just keep in mind that some people may have a good sense of what makes for strong writing in general, but not necessarily what makes for a strong college essay specifically.
7 Tips for writing your college application essay
The goal of your personal statement is to show the core values, insights, skills, qualities, and interests you’ll bring with you to a college campus.
The goal of your personal statement is to show the core values, insights, skills, qualities, and interests you’ll bring with you to a college campus.
Generally avoid these common personal statement topics: common extracurricular activities (e.g. volleyball), changing schools, bad grades. Why? These topics are really common topics for college essays and may lead you to blending in.
Personal statements on challenges aren’t necessarily “better.” Really. We’ve seen thousands of students write really strong essays that aren’t about facing challenges.
Before you start your draft, create a simple outline to make sure your topic will work. Use the steps above to do so.
Can’t decide between several topics? Ask yourself: “Which of these topics is most likely to show the core values, insights, skills, qualities, and interests I’ll bring with me to a college campus?
Don’t worry so much about having the perfect “hook” (opening) or conclusion when you’re just starting. Instead, focus on building body paragraphs that demonstrate your core values/insights/skills/qualities/interests.
To guide your revisions, read your essay out loud to yourself. And as much as possible, try to read from a total stranger’s perspective. Reading out loud will help you notice problems you might miss when reading silently. And reading from a stranger’s perspective will help ensure you aren’t relying on things in your brain that need to be on the page (but aren’t).
Final thoughts and key takeaways for your college application essay
We’ve said this a ton because we think it provides the clearest, best frame for thinking about your personal statement: the primary purpose of your college application essay is to help a college understand the core values, insights, qualities, skills, and interests you bring to the college/community.
You can show those things through either montage structure, or narrative structure. Neither is inherently better. It’s just a question of which is better for you as an individual.
If you take this a step at a time, you can build a strong essay for your college applications.
So dive in, and have a little fun.
Special thanks to Andrew Simpson for writing this blog post
Andrew Simpson, CEG’s Editorial Director, has worked as an educator, consultant, and curriculum writer for the past 15 years, and earned degrees from Stanford in Political Science and Drama. He feels most at home on mountain tops and in oceans.
Top Values: Insight/Growth | Truth | Integrity
