College Essay Topics | Stanford & Harvard Admissions Advice

[@Admitium]

Enroll for more: Admitium.com/all-courses

[@khamsumwangchuk1399]

Hello Michael. For academic point of excellence, do we really need to have done something exceptional related to our field and do we need to have exceptional knowledge in the field? In one of your videos, you said that college essay writing is basically writing about personal moments, beliefs and events and intellectualizing them with academic topics of your interested field.

[@michaelcshort]

Depends on the school. For places like Stanford with a 3% acceptance rate, one of the better ways to stand out in that exceptionally-talented pool is to have done something exception in your field and have exceptional knowledge. You want to look more advanced and unusual and unlike any other candidate when you're competing at that level, you know? For schools with more sane acceptance rates, that advice is still good to aim for, but won't be as necessary.

[@ausgang9495]

Hi Michael, what about kids who want to write about a character building experience rather than an acadwmic subject. Are you suggesting that the admisssions officers focus more on academic subject oriented essays rather than ones about personal qualities and growth in those?

[@Admitium]

kids with exceptional personal stories should tell them. ime, most kids aiming for top schools can't compete with kids who have the most compelling personal stories: "I was born in prison." "I fought cancer and won." "We fled the revolution in Peru and I helped build my parents budding janitorial business, mopping floors at night and starting my homework at midnight ..." People who "got in" and wrote stories like that are not helpful models for most kids. So in general, i tend to advise students to lean into intellectualizing their personal experiences and making a case for their academic interests instead. in general, i think that gives them a better chance to stand out at schools that take 3%. so my advice is unique to kids taking a shot at top schools who don't have incredible personal stories. but of course, all this depends on the individual student. you can only do so much to give out helpful advice to a general, unknown audience.

[@ausgang9495]

@@Admitium thank you so much for the response to my query. I do understand that the kid who fled Peru has an exceptional personal story (not replicable models for most), just like a kid who started composing music at age 5 has an exceptional IV story (not common either). But your example of the intellectual curiosity of the Bob Dylan kid is not so rare and you beautifully helped flesh out why this essay is superior. Surely there are aspects of character growth and development that are also not so rare as fighting cancer but still make for a compelling story. For example a kid that demonstrates their teamwork, collaboration, listening skills, surely important in the campus environment. Do you believe this is secondary to admissions officers over intellectual vitality? Because that would be my takeout from parsing your feedback. I am not arguing the case for character,I am simply seeking your view whether compelling stories of character for normal kids (teamwork etc) are still less interesting to AOs vs compelling stories on intellectual vitality for normal kids?

[@tylerjohnson4]

@@ausgang9495Perhaps you can connect the two ideas of showing IV and also showing personal growth in your essays? Like maybe you start out your essays relating to IV like the ones admitium was taking about, and then show how that connects to stuff you’ve done and how what you’ve done has given you the skills you’ve developed throughout high school? Idk for sure, that’s just an idea. I’m a junior so next year i’ll have to decide how i’ll write my essays

[@cliffordarhin9185]

@@Admitiumi love this sirrr❤

[@huyennguyenkhai7632]

Does your course advise for master degree admission?