Bad college application essays
Anna wulick | dec 20, 2015 9:00:00 as there are noteworthy examples of excellent college essays that admissions offices like to publish, so are there cringe-worthy examples of terrible college essays that end up being described by anonymous admissions officers on reddit discussion i won’t guarantee that your essay will end up in the first category, i will say that you follow my advice in this article, your essay most assuredly won’t end up in the second. Read on to find out what makes an essay bad and to learn which college essay topics to avoid. I'll also explain how to recognize bad college essays – and what to do to if you end up creating one by makes bad college essays exactly happens to turn a college essay terrible? Just as great personal statements combine an unexpected topic with superb execution, flawed personal statements compound problematic subject matter with poor ms with the primary way to screw up a college essay is to flub what the essay is about or how you’ve decided to discuss a particular experience. Badly chosen essay content can easily create an essay that is off-putting in one of a number of ways i’ll discuss in the next essay is the place to let the admissions office of your target college get to know your personality, character, and the talents and skills that aren’t on your transcript. So if you start with a terrible topic, not only will you end up with a bad essay, but you risk ruining the good impression that the rest of your application bad topics show admissions officers that you don’t have a good sense of judgment or maturity, which is a problem since they are building a class of college students who have to be able to handle independent life on bad topics suggest that you are a boring person, or someone who doesn’t process your experience in a colorful or lively way, which is a problem since colleges want to create a dynamic and engaged cohort of other bad topics indicate that you're unaware of or disconnected from the outside world and focused only on yourself, which is a problem since part of the point of college is to engage with new people and new ideas, and admissions officers are looking for people who can do ms with the mes, even if the experiences you discuss could be the foundation of a great personal statement, the way you’ve structured and put together your essay sends up warning flags. This is a problem since college-ready writing is one of the things that’s expected from a high school r way to mess this up is to ignore prompt instructions either for creative or careless reasons. Neither is a good thing, since they are looking for people who are open to receiving new information from professors and not just deciding they know everything ng directions to this degree is not creative, just e essay topics to to know why you're often advised to write about something mundane and everyday for your college essay? In this case, you're trying to make yourself memorable to an admissions officer who has been reading thousands of other essays. The essays you’ve been writing in school where the idea is to analyze something outside of yourself, the main subject of your college essay should be you, your background, your makeup, and your future. Check out our explanation of how to answer topic d of the applytexas application to get some advice on writing about someone else's work while making sure your essay still points back at you write your essay about art, be the guy all the way on the right, looking right at the audience to explain what's happening. If that’s what your essay does, you are demonstrating an inability to communicate successfully with , remember that no college is eager to admit someone who is too close-minded to benefit from being taught by others. This is not the time to question the admissions officer's opinions or life 't make your reader feel like they've suddenly gotten in the ring with e essay execution problems to college essays aren't only caused by bad topics. Sometimes, even if you’re writing about an interesting, relevant topic, you can still seem immature or unready for college life because of the way you present that topic – the way you actually write your personal statement. Check to make sure you haven't made any of the common mistakes on this ions officers are looking for resourcefulness, the ability to be resilient, and an active and optimistic approach to life – these are all qualities that create a thriving college student. Essays that don't show these qualities are usually suffering from whiny or complaining about problems in your life. You are applying to college because you are looking forward to a future of learning, achievement, and self-actualization.
It’s very important to demonstrate your ability to be a detailed observer of the world, since that will be one of your main jobs as a college ng any emotions, and appearing robot-like and cold in the essay. Unlike essays that you've been writing for class, this essay is meant to be a showcase of your authorial voice and personality. Then you’re doing it wrong and need to refocus on your reaction, feelings, understanding, and college essay isn't the place to be ’s some room for creativity here, yes, but a college essay isn’t a free-for-all postmodern art class. But on a standard application, it's better to stick to traditional prose, split into paragraphs, further split into ting anything other than just the materials asked for on your application. This is the one place where you can, should – and really must – get someone who knows all about grammar, punctuation and has a good eye for detail to take a red pencil to your final ise, you look like you either don’t know the basic rules or writing (in which case, are you really ready for college work? Going over the word count points to a lack of self-control, which is not a very attractive feature in a college ing the same word(s) or sentence structure over and over again. This makes your prose monotonous and hard to tion: excellent for mastering the long jump, terrible for keeping a reader's college essay examples – and how to fix beauty of writing is that you get to rewrite. Let’s take a look at some actual college essay drafts to see where the writer is going wrong and how the issue could be #1: the “i am writing this essay as we speak” your childhood home destroyed by a landspout tornado? I know that intro might have given the impression that this college essay will be about withstanding disasters, but the truth is that it isn't about that at my junior year, i always had in mind an image of myself finishing the college essay months before the deadline. But as the weeks dragged on and the deadline drew near, it soon became clear that at the rate things are going i would probably have to make new plans for my october, november and g into my personal wormhole, i sat down with my mom to talk about colleges. Days later i emerged from my room disheveled, but to my dismay, this college essay made me sound like just a guy who can't get over the fact that he'll never take the starfleet academy entrance exam. He suggested students begin their college essay by listing their achievements and letting their essay materialize from there. Finally, i added my personal epiphany to the end of my college essay as the cherry on the vanilla sundae, as the overused saying 3 weeks of figuring myself out, i have converted myself into a piece of writing. Eventually, i submitted to that yelling inner voice and decided that this was not the right essay the middle of a hike through philadelphia's fairmount park, i realized that the college essay was nothing more than an embodiment of my character. The two essays i have written were not right because they have failed to become more than just words on recycled paper. Days later i emerged from my room disheveled, but to my dismay, this college essay made me sound like just a guy who can't get over the fact that he'll never take the starfleet academy entrance exam. Know that intro might have given the impression that this college essay will be about withstanding disasters, but the truth is that it isn't about that at my junior year, i always had in mind an image of myself finishing the college essay months before the deadline.
He suggested students begin their college essay by listing their achievements and letting their essay materialize from in the essay, the author lets someone else tell him what to do. Not only that, but it sounds like both of the “incomplete” essays were dictated by the thoughts of other people and had little to do with his own ideas, experiences, or the rewrite, it would be better to recast both the stark trek and the tree versions of the essay as the author’s own thoughts rather than someone else’s suggestions. This way, the point of the essay – taking apart the idea that a college essay could summarize life experience – is earned by the author’s two failed attempts to write that other kind of 't be a passive panda. Be an active g the insight and meaning out of his the star trek fandom and the tree activism were obviously important life experiences for this author – important enough to be potential college essay topic candidates. College essays have problems either with their topics or their essay is how admissions officers learn about your personality, point of view, and maturity level, so getting the topic right is a key factor in letting them see you as an aware, self-directed, open-minded applicant who is going to thrive in an environment of essay is also how admissions officers learn that you are writing at a ready-for-college level, so screwing up the execution shows that you either don’t know how to write, or don’t care enough to do it main ways college essay topics go wrong is bad taste, bad judgment, and lack of main ways college essays fail in their execution have to do with ignoring format, syntax, and genre to read some excellent college essays now that you've seen some examples of flawed one? Take a look through our roundup of college essay examples published by colleges and then get help with brainstorming your perfect college essay some guidance on other parts of the application process? Check out our detailed, step-by-step guide to college applications for you considering taking the sat or act again before you submit your application? I have always wanted to go there, as i have felt that it is not just another college, but is a university with something definite to offer. To be a "harvard man" is an enviable distinction, and one that i sincerely hope i shall inkembedsavegive gold[–]sickgrof 1761 points1762 points1763 points 2 years ago (67 children)"i would like to go to the same college as my father. And rather well written, assuming it was done intentionally inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (3 replies)load more comments (31 replies)[–]kikanolo 391103911 points3912 points3913 points 2 years ago (256 children)when i was in senior year applying to college, the counselor told us about the worst essay he had this kid really wanted to go to university a. That's a reader grabber right inkembedsaveparentgive gold[–]another_sunnyday 1372 points1373 points1374 points 2 years ago (7 children)his college prep instructor stressed the importance of being memorable and standing out. Must have really not wanted to go inkembedsaveparentload more comments (1 reply)load more comments (5 replies)[–]mrtman327 1462 points1463 points1464 points 2 years ago* (73 children)the opening paragraph of my college essay was similar. Gold[–]steakdinnerwithjesus 85 points86 points87 points 2 years ago (6 children)oh god that would have made it 20 times inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (6 replies)load more comments (13 replies)[–]jatz55 102 points103 points104 points 2 years ago (8 children)someone doesn't like inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (8 replies)load more comments (55 replies)[–]lt-swagmcgee 219302192 points2193 points2194 points 2 years ago (144 children)i used to intern at the admissions office at my university and got to read a couple essays from time to time. Firstly, you won't believe how many of these essays contain a sob story, or a story about how the kid went on a service trip and how it changed their exactly the worst, but i think the most cringe-worthy essay i read was one where this guy talked about how he thought he was more mature than anyone of his age, how he never talked to anyone in school because he thought they were too dumb for him, and how he spends his free time having conversations with scientists on the internet. Mean, his gpa was pretty good and he seemed like a decent kid but fucking hell was that essay hard to inkembedsavegive gold[–]jmloddity 663 points664 points665 points 2 years ago (53 children)i can kind of see how the essays become sob stories. All three of us had to write our college essays on the same prompt: talk about something you struggled with in life but sly you shouldn't make it a pity party, but i can see how some kids could go over the top with it . Mostly i just confirmed the identification numbers on papers/e-docs that were sent in, and entered the applications components onto a sort of checklist on the applicant's profile in the system.
It wasn't my job to read the applications for content, but the job was tedious as hell, so i often did anyway. Or, maybe you shouldn't try to spin it as a demonstration of your enthusiasm about attending said inkembedsavegive gold[–]anaract 1054 points1055 points1056 points 2 years ago* (208 children)the first world problem and special snowflake essays are so awful. I wrote my college essay a few years ago, and my teachers would have us peer review, so i ended up reading a dozen or so. Pretty much no one had a troubled inkembedsaveparentgive gold[–]fullmetal-13 539 points540 points541 points 2 years ago* (107 children)agreed, but that's what high school kids are taught when learning how to write those essays. Be unique" and then all the examples are usually well-written sob 's ironic, though, that you finally get a grasp on how to write a good college essay with a good topic while you're in college (imo, at least). Not ironic that you learn how to write, more so that after your first year of college you usually have a lot of good stories for college inkembedsaveparentgive gold[+][deleted] 2 years ago (94 children)[deleted]. Thought that would be a great way to start adult inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (1 reply)load more comments (45 replies)[–]shadowslayerii 200 points201 points202 points 2 years ago (3 children)til that there is only 1 college admissions officer on inkembedsaveparentgive gold[–]poi_harold-finch 35 points36 points37 points 2 years ago (0 children)well, even if there are others, they can not beat this inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (2 replies)[–]ignorred 1082 points1083 points1084 points 2 years ago (10 children)well guys, that's it. This is the only comment on this inkembedsaveparentgive gold[–]chilledlogic 68 points69 points70 points 2 years ago (4 children)well, dang inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (4 replies)load more comments (1 reply)load more comments (3 replies)load more comments (46 replies)[–]moelester99 5730571 points572 points573 points 2 years ago (14 children)when i was going through the college admissions process, my college counselor showed us a few essays that were examples of what not to write about on our essay. I dropped out of college because my parents are poor and now i have no degree. For those that do not know lu was founded by jerry inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (2 replies)[–]sorjuana81 81 points82 points83 points 2 years ago (0 children)that isn't how they inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (3 replies)[–]longboard001 31 points32 points33 points 2 years ago (17 children)this sounds like wheaton college... Basically they put you in a room and you rate essays out of 5 all day. I didn't know it inkembedsaveparentgive gold[–]spoone 448 points449 points450 points 2 years ago (4 children)tina belcher is a little young to be writing college entry inkembedsaveparentgive gold[–]thrwy3141593 197 points198 points199 points 2 years ago (3 children)and then they touched each other's inkembedsaveparentgive gold[–]bowman_van_oort 106 points107 points108 points 2 years ago (1 child)inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (1 reply)load more comments (1 reply)load more comments (1 reply)load more comments (9 replies)[–]woizard 286 points287 points288 points 2 years ago (2 children)that wasn't written by a person, that was written by a golden inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (2 replies)[–]thekid78 464 points465 points466 points 2 years ago (39 children)someone who is going inkembedsaveparentgive gold[–]ny_rangers 851 points852 points853 points 2 years ago (33 children)not college, but inkembedsaveparentgive gold[–]z_t_o 491 points492 points493 points 2 years ago (27 children)in new shoes!! Goldload more comments (3 replies)[–]boreddragon 29 points30 points31 points 2 years ago (0 children)maybe the kid was training to be lil' inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (61 replies)[–]capri1722[🍰] 164901642 points1643 points1644 points 2 years ago (181 children)not an admissions officer, but when i was applying to colleges, an admissions officer told us about one student who wrote about tomatoes. I can't think of a specific "worst essay," but a lot of them fall into a few broad essays are usually a big list of all the terrible things that happened to a student in hopes that we will admit them because we feel bad. You need to explain how these events shaped you as a human being, what you learned, how you handled adversity and still managed your academics and so are kind of like sympathy essays, only with much more graphic details. I've had some essays where students share intricate descriptions of sexual abuse they have experienced, or abusive relationships they were in with high school girl/boyfriends... This may have been a major experience that shaped you as a human being, but i don't think is appropriate for a college essay.
Also included here are essays where you admit that you didn't try hard in high school or take your academics seriously, but you're going to start in college. Maybe you should start in junior college then, and we'll see how it goes before you get to a four-year written ng errors, grammar mistakes, no formatting... Also, if you're using the same essay for multiple colleges, make sure you change the name of the college referenced in your essay before you send it to that students submit an essay that is about five sentences long and doesn't really say anything. If it takes you more time to attach your essay to the application than it does to write the essay, that is not a good essays are not all that interesting to read, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. You probably didn't enter your freshman year thinking, "i better do some really cool stuff during the next few years so that i can write about it in my college essay. Just do the best you reality, for most students, the essay is the weakest part of the application. We realize that, and so in every office i've worked in, the essay is the least valued part of the application file. These things are all way more inkembedsavegive gold[–][deleted] 493 points494 points495 points 2 years ago (59 children)just reading that took at least 600 lbs off my inkembedsaveparent[–]nonnativetexan 141 points142 points143 points 2 years ago (7 children)not to try to put the weight back on your shoulders or anything, but i think the importance of the essay depends on the type of college you're applying to. For a small selective private college where a lot of applicants are valedictorians with high test scores and awesome extracurriculars, the essay may count much more as a method of differentiating inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (7 replies)[–]thatparanoidpenguin 206 points207 points208 points 2 years ago* (37 children)you're a junior in high school i assume? I was really worried about certain weaknesses i had, but was surprised at what college i was accepted to. If you ever need anyone to help you with the process or look over you application/essay, send me a pm or visit /r/applyingtocollege (i believe that's the sub). They have weekly "rate my chances" treads during application season and are generally nice inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (37 replies)load more comments (13 replies)[–]taeyyy[🍰] 62 points63 points64 points 2 years ago* (19 children). In my country things like essays or extracurricular activities or anything aren't required to start in college, so i always wondered what exactly those extracurricular activities inkembedsaveparentgive gold[–]nonnativetexan 68 points69 points70 points 2 years ago (9 children)extracurricular activities are basically organizations you participate in or things you do outside of classes and academics. Skills like social development, time management, leadership, and so inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (9 replies)load more comments (9 replies)load more comments (32 replies)[–]haephestus 1510149 points150 points151 points 2 years ago (15 children)our office has a notorious essay application asks students to describe a difficult experience they have experienced and how they overcame it. O_inkembedsavegive goldload more comments (15 replies)[–]stephanois 4330432 points433 points434 points 2 years ago (9 children)read essays for a scholarship, not were about mission trips through churches and how much the student had learned. Help out your local : can't spell very inkembedsavegive gold[–]aruen 30 points31 points32 points 2 years ago (0 children)i haven't nuked anyone inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (16 replies)[–]bluelightspcl 377 points378 points379 points 2 years ago (39 children)former admissions counselor here:The worst essays, generally, are not particularly interesting. More comments (1 reply)load more comments (32 replies)[–]disperses 274 points275 points276 points 2 years ago (21 children)a girl in my school wrote about how she thinks the essay portion of applications should be removed because it's degrading to the student.
At the very least it'll make whoever is reading it stand up and take inkembedsaveparentgive gold[–]missuninvited 122 points123 points124 points 2 years ago (15 children)my senior english teacher had an assignment where we had to submit one of our essays and have her grade it, have it peer reviewed, etc. I had already applied and submitted my essays, but had to do it i got mine back, there was a laundry list of everything i did wrong attached. Goldload more comments (5 replies)load more comments (9 replies)load more comments (4 replies)[–]andnothingremains 200 points201 points202 points 2 years ago (11 children)reading all of these stories makes me realize my college admissions essay was actually pretty inkembedsavegive goldload more comments (11 replies)[–]now_in_the_know 45 points46 points47 points 2 years ago (3 children)i used to work in admissions and my boss had pinned an essay up in her cubicle with the name whited-out. That essay was inkembedsavegive goldload more comments (3 replies)[–]jerichoholicbrony 168 points169 points170 points 2 years ago (8 children)not me, but someone i know who used to be a college admission officer. Goldload more comments (4 replies)[–]screwj4ck 183 points184 points185 points 2 years ago (61 children)i knew someone in high school who submitted a hardcore sonicxtails fan fiction to a college. Usually costs between $40 and $inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (17 replies)load more comments (19 replies)load more comments (23 replies)[–]kwarter 546 points547 points548 points 2 years ago (89 children)i'm not a college admission officer, but this essay is hilariously inkembedsavegive gold[–]williamcg 202 points203 points204 points 2 years ago (7 children)he got a 61?!?!?!??!? Inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (48 replies)[–]d4bama 29 points30 points31 points 2 years ago (4 children)i read essays for a scholarship foundation and the worst essay i have ever read was from a girl who wrote that she was a good person and she backed that up by stating that she was a virgin. Gold[–]syntheticgod8 26 points27 points28 points 2 years ago (2 children)clearly someone who thinks virginity is what makes her a good inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (2 replies)load more comments (1 reply)[–]streetfoldsfive 340 points341 points342 points 2 years ago (18 children)aren't all college entrance essays the worst. Went to community inkembedsaveparentgive gold[–]streetfoldsfive 18 points19 points20 points 2 years ago (0 children)i went to community college as well (in fact, i just finished). Piece of advice for all the high school seniors out there: make sure both you and your parents are polite and helpful when dealing with anyone from the college you're attending. We all talk, and if you screw around and make any of us annoyed at you, your opportunities (especially financial aid) will inkembedsavegive goldload more comments (5 replies)[–]h8rsh8 43 points44 points45 points 2 years ago (7 children)not an essay example (i do have one), but i heard of a university (duke, i think) that a kid wanted to get into so badly that he called the admissions office at least six times a day until they finally dropped his application to avoid his phone time: a kid wrote a wonderful 250-500 word essay about how badly he wanted to get into emory university and how much it would mean to him. Course, it was better written than my rendition, but the point was that he copied, pasted, and forgot to remove the last mentioning of didn't get into inkembedsavegive goldload more comments (7 replies)[–]rexroland 19 points20 points21 points 2 years ago (0 children)in college, a philosophy professor of mine told a story about a student who had to write a 2000 word essay about immanuel kant and what he would think about a person 'improving' (implying faking) their cv. I know none of you will believe this, but i'm not inkembedsavegive gold[–][deleted] 97 points98 points99 points 2 years ago (1 child)it's not what you write about; it's how you write inkembedsaveparentload more comments (1 reply)[–]squirrel009 58 points59 points60 points 2 years ago (0 children)can confirm, don't beleive inkembedsaveparentgive goldload more comments (9 replies)[–]17321 34 points35 points36 points 2 years ago (5 children)i'm not with college admissions, but back when i was writing my college applications, i remember one prompt was, "why [insert school here]? I was accepted with a nearly full inkembedsavegive goldload more comments (5 replies)[–]obrienlion 14 points15 points16 points 2 years ago (2 children)i sorted the applications at a university with a bunch of other college students during the winter break. This was a prestigious university and so people sent crazy things in to supplement their essays. We usually didn't sit around reading the essays unless it was a slow day but the "extra" stuff that went in their file was usually short enough to be passed around and giggled the time i was there, one student sent in food (which had to be vetted and couldn't be eaten by anyone because for all we know it's poisoned), one sent in six recommendation letters - one from each other their parents and also a next door neighbor (that one was tough because technically we were only supposed to count the first three given), but my favorite had to be a guy who sent in a coloring book he made was made of construction paper and drawn on with crayons. 00:00 running 2fcf34f country code: kate moriarty in high college that senior year is underway, only one thing stands between you and your totally awesome collegiette years: college applications.
But at the end of the day, the college essay is the best way to show your top schools what you’re all about, so the key is to be unique. Kids are used to trying to doing that [for] a paper for an english class,” says michelle podbelsek, co-owner of college counseling associates, an independent college counseling service for students and their parents. So, hillary, a sophomore at uc berkeley, says that, like most rules, college essay rules are made to be bent. One college distinctly remembered me based off of my essay about coming in last and said that they loved it because it was so unique. There are a million and one crazy ways that high schoolers have worked their way into a college, but in the eternal words of he’s just not that into you, bear in mind: these are the exception, not the rule. Trust us, the last person a college admissions officer wants to admit to their school is a proven , do they really want a bulky flip-flop lying amongst the papers on their desk? You’d be shocked how many students miss this basic concept when submitting their supplemental essays, and we can only imagine how many admissions officers have been tempted to write “smh” in bright red pen across their entire applications. You write your essays—even if they’re for your safety schools—learn as much as you can about the school. Submitting an essay with ’s the easiest way to tick off a college admissions officer? A phrase may sound perfect on paper, but when you speak the words out loud, you might find that you’re way off ’t let college applications drag down the mood of your senior year! Things that don’t matter on your college to do when you don't want to go to your parents' alma to narrow down your college application list so you won’t have regrets. Eating disorder was taking away from my college experience, so i chose ’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll cringe at this awful college application . The daily dot, all rights ’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll cringe at this awful college application essay. Redditor “bedwetter95” went against the “today” portion of the subreddit’s name and posted a college application essay that he’d written last year. His essay is so bad that it might even be a groundbreaking new form of writing—that is, if people couldn’t distinguish between avant garde and really writer’s unnamed college of choice told applicants to write about an experience in high school that affected their decision to pick this particular college. According to bedwetter95, these “were the exact words written on the application” (and we’re assuming the exact formatting, too—one long paragraph):“prodip goldman was a quiet kid in high school, he never had many friends and he never acquired any pussy. Re going to assume that he used the word “baked” loosely here, as it would most likely require some sort of tranquilizer, in a dosage high enough to sedate a medium-sized moose, to write and then actually send this block of text to the college that you hoped would launch your life and what college might that be, anyway?
Prodip could also be an allusion to this company, but that seems this essay is real, and the college was berkeley—or an institution of similar prestige—we can understand why it took a year for bedwetter95 to speak openly about his essay. 95” in his username aligns with the birth year of someone who would have applied to college last year, but we’ll need more hard evidence to prove that this is the all-time worst college application far, the only comment that the throwaway account made was “i appreciate my all of my fans,” in response to the question “are you the product of inbreeding? Next after the break:Tufts university of swag adds “yolo” to its application er when your college application asked you to compare a robert frost poem to a struggle you overcame in life?