On Writing: Student Application Personal Statements

Essays About Work and Class That Caught a College’s Eye

from The New York Times, May 21, 2018

Clare Connaughton wrote about shopping at thrift stores.

Of the 1,200 or so undergraduate admission essays that Chris Lanser reads each year at Wesleyan University, maybe 10 are about work.

This is not much of a surprise. Many applicants have never worked. Those with plenty of money may be afraid of calling attention to their good fortune. And writing about social class is difficult, given how mixed up adolescents often are about identity.

Yet it is this very reluctance that makes tackling the topic a risk worth taking at schools where it is hard to stand out from the thousands of other applicants. Financial hardship and triumph, and wants and needs, are the stuff of great literature. Reflecting on them is one excellent way to differentiate yourself in a deeply personal way.

To read the rest of the article click on this.

To read a companion article with students in their own words click on this.

To read four college application personal essays about money by students click on this.

For more tips on writing a college personal statement see Purdue's Online Writing Lab (OWL) and watch this video from the University of California: