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October 31, 2024

College Admissions: Exploring Your Identity for Your College Essays and Personal Statements

Langston Hughes begins his poem “Theme for English B” in this way:

The instructor said,

Go home and write a page tonight. And let that page come out of you — Then, it will be true.

I wonder if it’s that simple?

“Tell Us about Yourself”

When colleges give you the instruction “Tell us about yourself,” that might sound like a simple task, but it is not. Former Harvard educator Sarah Myers McGinty conducted a study on the college application essay and students’ ability to complete one successfully. She found that admissions officials viewed an applicant’s essay as “somewhat important” in the admissions process, yet students generally felt unprepared to write it. In her article “ The Application Essay ” for the Chronicle of Higher Education , McGinty says, “I knew that students felt comfortable writing about the most significant event in the life of Jay Gatsby. But many felt ill at ease when asked about the most significant event in their own lives.” After all, as many students will attest, they have never had to write anything like it before. Students are rarely asked to write personal narratives.

So how do you tell admissions officers about yourself in a true and convincing way? First, you must mine the various parts of your identity to discover what makes you stand out as an individual . We’re not talking about strip-mining, where you focus on whatever’s on the surface. We’re talking about digging deep to find what’s below the surface. That takes time and commitment, but in the end, you just might strike gold.

The foundation of writing is discovery. You cannot write an essay without first discovering what you have to say. You are setting out to uncover the people, places, experiences, and influences that have made you who you are today. Keep a journal as you explore your past and present. Some of these jottings and written wanderings will ultimately serve as building blocks for your essay. (Others might be valuable points for you to reflect on more generally!)

Nine Key Aspects of Identity

Some areas of your identity to explore include the following:

Here are some ideas for exploring these aspects of yourself in preparation for responding to your target schools’ essay prompts.

Events in a College Essay

The events of your life, whether big or small, successes or failures, shape you as an individual.

In other words, your identity is, in part, formed through a series of events that can be narrated to tell a story that gives the reader a glimpse into who you are. Telling a good story involves strong description (including the colors, sounds, and smells of your life), action (including movement, dialogue, and/or internal monologue), and reflection (including decisions you have made, thoughts or feelings you have had, and your reflection after events).

Bring your reader into your story by showing them what the situation you’re describing was like. And tell the reader what the anecdote says about you as a person.

Which experience should you pick? Looking at a few essay questions might give you some ideas:

The Common Application: Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
Harvard College : The mission of Harvard College is to educate our students to be citizens and citizen-leaders for society. What would you do to contribute to the lives of your classmates in advancing this mission?
Dartmouth College: “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced,” wrote James Baldwin. How does this quote apply to your life experiences?
Columbia University: Columbia students take an active role in improving their community, whether in their residence hall, classes or throughout New York City. Their actions, small or large, work to positively impact the lives of others. Share one contribution that you have made to your family, school, friend group or another community that surrounds you.

The experience you share in your essay does not have to have been massively life-changing (not all of us have had huge turning points in our lives) but can be one of the many little events we experience that make us see ourselves and the world a bit differently – perhaps the time your classmates offered you a stolen test and you refused it, seeing the ocean for the first time at age 15, or learning to drive, ski, or swim. Notice that the essay questions typically ask you to both tell the story of an experience and reflect on the significance or impact of the event.

Passions in a College Essay

Your passion for certain causes or issues, as well as your hobbies and interests, show who you are. How do you spend your free time? What excites you? Concerns you? Enrages you? What have you done to translate this passion, concern, or rage into action? I know a student whose concern over the Middle East conflict led him to distribute, to all of his classmates, bracelets commemorating those who have died as a result of the fighting. His essay on the topic worked because his passion led him to action, and his writing conveyed his passion. Another student explored how his childhood Lego hobby was a springboard to his building robots for national competitions. I taught a young woman whose frustration over male-female relations in her school led her to start a gender issues discussion group. I know people who could write fascinating essays on their obsession with beads, their rock collection, or bike riding. Perhaps you think it’s less-than-admirable to say that you spend every Saturday afternoon watching classic movies, but if you can intelligently reflect on why you love old movies and what that love reveals about you, it could be a worthwhile topic.

People in a College Essay

Begin by listing people in your life who have nurtured your identity. You might list family members, instructors, coaches, mentors, or neighbors. After you have made your list, decide which person or people you could write about most engagingly. Some applications ask you to write about a person, while others leave your options open by asking you to explore a topic of your choice. You might begin your exploration by reflecting on your family and how it has influenced who you have become. Focus on the details of one or two members of your family – their appearance, habits, activities, and interactions with you. Think of a story that encapsulates a relationship. Consider exploring your family’s cultural heritage, traditions, or foods. Bring the people you depict to life, and give them color, personality, and a voice. Provide anecdotes about these family members or other important people in your life.

Places in a College Essay

Perhaps a place has gotten under your skin because you’ve spent so much time there. Maybe, for example, you’ve worked on your grandfather’s farm in Wisconsin every summer since you were ten. Perhaps you attend a school unlike most schools in the nation, one in an unusual setting or with an uncommon philosophy. Maybe you spent a semester on sabbatical with your parents in Zimbabwe, and after you came back, everything looked different. Place can be a character, and you can tell a vivid story about how one in particular has helped shape you . Conversely, you might have spent time in a place only briefly (one night on a camping trip, for example), or the place you visited or lived in might have been lousy: decrepit, dirty, scary, upsetting. All of these options are fair game: the point is to use the experience as a vehicle for writing about who you are and how you experience the world around you.

Religion in a College Essay

For some people, religion is integral to their lives and identities. But you might consider religion a “touchy” subject and fear that the admissions reader won’t like or agree with your religion. Don’t let that fear stop you if you have honest stories and reflections to share that relate to your religious beliefs or experiences. Consider writing a personal statement that reveals your thoughts about religion through a vivid story or series of anecdotes.

Race in a College Essay

For some, their racial identity – and perhaps the persecution they’ve experienced or the minority status they’ve had – is an important part of who they are. Writing about related challenges and what you did to be a leader, to hold your ground, or to educate others can give the reader a glimpse of your strongest qualities. Colleges seek students who come and possess strong characters, so don’t be afraid to let both of those qualities shine through.

Gender in a College Essay

Does your gender identity feel significant to who you are – to your experiences, community, and identity? For some individuals, being a woman, transgender, or genderqueer is essential to who they are and their experiences. You might write an essay about going to an all-girls Catholic school, being the only boy in a household of many sisters, or experimenting with multiple pronouns. Just remember, your essay should be about more than a certain experience; it also needs to be about what your thoughts, decisions, and actions say about who you are and what is important to you.

Disability/Different Abilities in a College Essay

While so often viewed as a setback, your life with a disability – whether you have had it since birth or it is due to an illness or an event later in life – can help distinguish you among a sea of similarly abled peers. How have you embraced, overcome, or given voice to your disability or those of others? What abilities have you cultivated or discovered because of it? How have you both coped and strived with your disability, and what does this say about your character and commitments?

Sexual Orientation in a College Essay

Perhaps your sexual identity has played a role in your life, inspiring you to develop an interest in certain writers or ideas, to work on an inclusive marriage campaign, or to lead your school’s gay-straight alliance. Whether you discuss your identity or that of a loved one, be sure to keep yourself center stage in your essay as you use the idea of sexual orientation to speak to your values, passions, and interests.

This exercise of thinking hard about your essay might help you get into your dream college, but you will also gain in other ways: self-realization as you step across the threshold from childhood to adulthood, a sense of who you are and what has made you that way, and insight into your desires for the future. Enjoy exploring your identity!

If you would like the guidance and support of an experienced college admissions consultant as you explore your identity and develop an application strategy, Accepted is here to help. Schedule a free consultation with an Accepted expert to help you gain admittance to the college of your choice!

Dr. Sundas Ali has more than 15 years of experience teaching and advising students, providing career and admissions advice, reviewing applications, and conducting interviews for the University of Oxford’s undergraduate and graduate programs. In addition, Sundas has worked with students from a wide range of countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, India, Pakistan, China, Japan, and the Middle East. Want Sundas to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

How Personal Is Too Personal In Your Application Essays?
The Diversity Essay: How to Write an Excellent Diversity Essay
Fitting In & Standing Out: The Paradox at the Heart of Admissions , a free guide

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