The #1 Thing Missing From Most College Essays

In this video, I break down the biggest mistake I see in almost every college essay: repeating what your application already shows instead of revealing something it can’t. If you’re applying to college and writing your Common App essay, personal statement, or supplemental essays, this is the single biggest fix that will make your essay actually stand out to admissions officers. Most write essays that just restate their activities list, GPA, or AP classes in story form, but AOs already have that info. Your essay’s real job is to show who you are, not what you’ve done. In this video, I go through a simple framework for finding what’s actually missing from your essay, the biggest misconceptions students have about being “different” (like forcing quirkiness or manufacturing a hardship), and how to test whether your essay is actually revealing something new. 0:00 Intro 0:57 Illustrative Example 4:01 Point of College Essays 7:17 Implementation Framework 9:56 Misconceptions 11:02 Conclusion Related videos: • Reading My Common App Essay + Personal Statement Tips: https://youtu.be/HNZN6I4QjA0 • 80% of College Admissions Advice Sucks: https://youtu.be/EM9jWa_Q8l8 • US News Rankings Are Rigged. Use This Instead: https://youtu.be/hKVi-NjaYGM Whether you’re a rising senior starting your Common App, working on supplemental essays, or revising a draft before submitting, this framework applies to any prompt. Subscribe for tomorrow’s video :)