Your Essay's Job

What It's For

Your personal essay has a specific job — and it's probably not what you think.

Before we talk about how to write it, take a second: what do you think the purpose of your personal essay is?

If you said something like "to make me look good" or "to show why I deserve to get in" — that's a reasonable guess. But that's not the essay's job.

What It Isn't

Your essay does not have to make you look amazing.

Sit with that for a second. Your essay — a full quarter of your application — doesn't have to make you look amazing. That's not its job.

Think about what's already in your application. Your grades say how you did in school. Your test scores measure certain skills. Your recommendations tell them what other people think of you. Your activities list tells them what you did with your time.

All of that already makes the case that you're a strong candidate. That's what those parts are for.

So if the rest of your application already does that work — what's left for the essay to do?

What It Is

Your essay shows them who you are.

It's the one part of your application where you get to tell them something they can't learn from anywhere else. Your transcript says what you studied — not why it mattered to you. Your recommendations say what others think — not how you see yourself. Your activities list says what you did — not what it meant.

The essay fills that gap. Not your résumé. Not your accomplishments. You — what you care about, how you think, what matters to you.

The Question

One question drives this entire process:

What do you want the person reading your essay to know about you that they can't learn from the rest of your application?

This is the most important question you'll encounter in these lessons. Everything that follows — every technique, every tool — is about helping you find your answer and helping your essay deliver it.

You don't need to have that answer yet. You might not even be close. That's fine.

But take a minute right now. Grab a piece of paper. Write down whatever comes to mind, even if it's messy or incomplete. What matters to you? What would you want someone to understand about you?

Hold on to whatever you wrote. We'll come back to it.

Next lesson: Coming soon