Bringing Back the College Essay for College Applicants
After the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on race and admissions, we should consider bringing back the college essay.
Using multiple sources to write your essay is vital. Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash.
After the Supreme Court’s decision of June 29th, 2023, restricting considerations of race in college admissions, I shared my thoughts on this decision, and you can read about that here. As part of that response, I included recommendations for those of us who work in academia.
One of these recommendations is that we should bring back the college essay. It may come as a surprise to older readers, but today the college essay is no longer required by many colleges, including Arizona State, Georgia State, several CUNY campuses, Clemson, and the entire California State University system. Removing this requirement seems to be a growing trend as colleges and universities are looking to meet growing applicant numbers while also cutting costs.
However, bringing back the college essay as a standard requirement for all applicants is a recommendation that is widely agreed upon, especially by people who work in academia. The college essay would allow applicants to better share their story when they apply. In light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision, the college essay can serve as an effective solution to students being unable to share their race elsewhere in the application. This way, students can make the decision themselves about what they believe makes them unique from the other applicants.
College application counseling is one of the services that I provide through my company, The Colégas Group, I incorporate the writing of the college essay into my program, even if it is not a requirement for every school my students will be applying to. I firmly believe that, in contrast to much of the rest of the application process which is more about checking boxes and filling in short fields, the college essay provides a much more complete picture of the applicant. When written well, the college essay can bring the student’s story to life in the eyes of the admissions reviewer.
The Importance of the College Essay
I have always maintained that a student’s ability to tell their story is where genius lives. K-12 schools must continue to emphasize writing skills so that students are prepared for any essay they have to write. The college essay is becoming once again a consequential part of the college application.
That is where I come in. I have found that within the Colégas Group’s services, pre-college advising is seeing much greater interest. College advising fits into our mission of making college accessible. Because we believe that a college education is an essential part of a person’s life experience, assisting students in being accepted into the college that best meets their needs is a key part of that. And yes, the evidence is irrefutable that a college education benefits a student both personally and materially.
In my work with students, I begin by defining the contours of their story. My goal is to bring their life experiences into their story and this way provide more material from which to pull to write college essays, scholarship essays, and eventually any job cover letter they may need. All of these important essays have their foundation in this story which is their life.
I take college advising seriously because the advice I give impacts the decisions a student and their family make. That is a huge burden and responsibility. Just know that when you become a client, I center the program around your experience and your needs. I charge fair prices because I believe everyone deserves real value for what they pay for.
College completion, even if just to an associate degree, is a must-have in the 21st century. It provides the student with the best options for further college or a career. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you are not “college material”. We all are… and those who work there are available to make sure you succeed. You just need to show up. And that is the most important life lesson you can ever learn: you need to show up.
Conclusion
Pre-college advising is a growing part of the services we offer at the Colégas Group. Even without the college essay as a requirement currently, I have used the writing of one’s story as the foundation for the application process. I feel it is a critical part of telling one’s story to a college, an institute/organization, or even an employer. Therefore, I fully support bringing back the college essay as an integral part of the application process.
This fits right in with the advising I already provide and so for my clients, the essay is already mostly written when they work with me. How they go about writing that essay is the unique service that I provide as a consultant. You can read more about my process, my qualifications, and all the services I offer, including college advising, on my website.