How to Write a College Essay: The Humble Brag

You’ve got 650 words and maybe seven minutes to “wow” an admissions officer. So naturally you’ll want to pontificate on your greatness. Right?

Wrong.

What you’ve hopefully been taught about proper social media etiquette (or kindness in general) applies to your college essay. And that is: Would you say it to their face?

Let’s pretend you got a chance to meet the admissions officer in person. You’d shake their hand (firm handshake, warm smile, look them in the eyes) and then hopefully you’d have a nice conversation, share something about yourself, maybe laugh a little bit. It’d be one human being talking to another human being. What you would not do is stand in front of them, puff out your chest, and begin to list all of your achievements and the reasons why you would be a great addition to their campus.

I often tell my students, “Imagine meeting your new roommate. Imagine sitting up until the wee hours of the night sharing stories about yourselves. How would you talk about [insert essay topic here]?” My guess is no one would actually use the words “grit,” “determination,” or “leadership.” 

It’d be perfectly fine to share a story that exemplifies these qualities! But you probably don’t want to actually use these words. Show, don’t tell. (Something I am always reminding my students, and a topic for another blog post.) In other words, if you’re not going to say it to someone’s face, don’t say it in your essay.

Thomas Merton – a Trappist monk, poet, theologian, and social activist – said, “Pride makes us artificial; humility makes us real.”

Be real.