Things to Avoid

Don’ts:

• Do NOT mention anything that is already listed elsewhere in your application or supplemental essay. You are wasting valuable space in redundancy.
• Do NOT simply list off all of your accomplishments (It usually comes across as bragging and it is boring).
• Generally, it is NOT a good idea to write about your past illicit activities. Colleges are not big on accepting criminals—even supposedly reformed ones.
• No more stories about sports, please (no more practice makes perfect, or the value of hard work or learning the importance of teamwork or learning the benefits of losing… seriously, they begged me to tell you all this). It’s not that you can’t ever write about sports, but if you do, you need an unexpected lesson or unpredicted insight. If playing sports lead you to music or inspired social change or ecological awareness, that might be interesting.
• Death, Divorce, and Tragic Pet Story have been done to ad nauseam. It is critically important that you a) do NOT depress the admissions’ officers and even more importantly, b) do NOT use your tragic story as an excuse or as a way to make them feel sorry for you. It will not work. They are looking for people who can be success stories, despite or because of their past challenges. There are stories about the above-mentioned topics that can work if they come with unexpected insights–those can be powerful. Just no clichés.
• Do NOT write about incendiary topics (My grandmother used to say never discuss politics or religion at the dinner table). Not writing about religion includes not talking about God unless you have a direct line or know something most people don’t. No proselytizing. However, I have read those off-limit topics in humorous and open-minded ways that have worked, but it’s tricky.
• Humor—this is a hard one for me because I love humor; however, it doesn’t always translate well–especially when using sarcasm–so my best advice is to have people of different ages and backgrounds read your essay. Did everyone smile or chuckle? (I send out dark & twisted annual holiday letters chocked full of outrageous absurdities and it never fails that my mother-in-law will call me, absolutely horrified that our oldest daughter runs a brothel and our youngest is a practicing pyromaniac. Clearly she doesn’t find my deviant sarcasm amusing. Luckily everyone else does). Some of the best essays I’ve ever read were sprinkled with subtle humor and even playful self-deprecation. In the right hands, it works, but use sarcasm sparingly.
• Now, having listed topics that you should avoid, you CAN talk about them if you have unexpected insights or they highlight unusual values not typically associated with the topic. And you are not going to possibly offend or turn off the admissions counselor.