A student once sent me the first draft of his Common App essay.
Academically, he was excellent.
His essay told me about his grades, competitions, internships, leadership positions, volunteering and awards.
Everything was impressive.
But after reading 650 words, I had one question:
“Where are you in this essay?”
He looked surprised.
“Sir, I have written everything I have achieved.”
And that was exactly the problem.
The Common App essay is not meant to be your CV rewritten in paragraphs.
Universities already have other parts of the application to understand your academics, activities and achievements.
The personal essay has a different job.
It should help the reader understand the person behind those achievements.
Sometimes the strongest essay is not about winning a national competition or completing an impressive internship.
It could begin with something surprisingly ordinary.
A conversation with your grandfather.
A mistake you made.
A hobby nobody at school understands.
A difficult decision.
Something you believed at 15 but see differently at 17.
Or even a small incident that changed the way you think.
What matters is not how extraordinary the event sounds.
What matters is what the story reveals about you.
How do you think?
What do you notice?
What makes you curious?
How have you changed?
What matters to you?
This is also why I am cautious when students try too hard to make their essays sound “impressive.”
Big words don't necessarily create a powerful essay.
Neither does trying to guess what Harvard, Stanford or another university “wants to hear.”
A good personal essay should sound like something that particular 17-year-old could have written—and nobody else.
When I work with students, I therefore don't begin by asking:
“What is your biggest achievement?”
I would rather ask:
“Tell me something about yourself that I won't understand from your marksheet or CV.”
That conversation often leads to a much better essay.
Your activities tell universities what you have done.
Your grades show how you have performed.
Your recommendations show how others see you.
But your personal essay has a rare opportunity to show:
how you see yourself and the world around you.
Don't waste those 650 words repeating information the university already has.
Use them to tell the part of your story it doesn't.
BIDYUT
Global Education Advisory
Strategy. Admission. Future.