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November 30, 2005 Text Size: Sm | Med | Lg The Importance of Essays Triple Threat A two- sport varsity athlete, senior Amy Cochran is also an academic all- Dec. 1, 1 p.m. star who describes Commemoration: herself as an analytical "Standing on the person, always trying to Shoulders of Our figure out how things Sisters," a service are done. "Life is like a honoring civil rights chess game to me,” she leader Rosa Parks. says. “You want to Ira Allen Chapel. reach your potential in Information: Willi everything you do, but Coleman or Sally how do you do that?" Wales, 656-8818. Peer Pressures On Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m. nearly every playground Concert: UVM Lane Series presents, "My Reading student essays is one of the most time- there’s a child with consuming — and rewarding — parts of the attention-deficit/ Lord Chamberlain's application-evaluation season. hyperactivity disorder Consort - To Drive struggling to gain the Cold Winter acceptance from Away." UVM Recital classmates. Betsy Hoza, Hall. Information: The Phish-heads are fading out, the Red Sox professor of psychology, 656-4455 or Lane nation is in decline, but we’ll always have believes the answers to Series snowboarding — it is as fast and flowing now as many of the social ever. Welcome to the ever-evolving yet strangely problems experienced constant world of the college admissions essay. by children with the Dec. 3, 6 p.m. Play: condition are yet to be UVM Theatre discovered. presents, "The Toys Take Over Christmas." Please bring a new unwrapped toy. Royall Tyler Theatre. Information: 656- 2094 or UVM Theatre UVM in the October News Dec. 6, 3:30 p.m. Lecture: "The Racial Gap in Autonomy at November Trustees Coverage Work," with Elaine McCrate, Economics Department. Old Mill, UVM Names Research Wing for Starbuck Room 221. Family Information: 656- 3064 or Economics Chemistry Seminar Series Continues Dec. 6, Noon. Concert: UVM's Messiah Sing-Along Dec. 6 Catamount Singers will perform holiday and world music including works of Honoring Rosa Parks Robert deCormier and Gwyneth Pizzagalli Gift Will Fund Nursing Walker. Cathedral Scholarships Church of St. Paul, 2 Cherry Street, Burlington. Professors-at-Large Program to Bring Information: 656- 3040 or Catamount Economist, Musician and Singers Environmentalist to Campus Kalkin Family Gift to Fund Fleming Museum Endowment for Exhibitions Talk Discusses Method of Measuring Progress of Democracy Worldwide Flu Shots Available Nov. 17-18 Engineering Sponsors Diverse Outreach Events Staff Council Sponsors Holiday Bazaar Dec. 1 Is the 'Pod Ripe? Prying at Prejudice Student ‘Box City’ Will Dramatize Homelessness Student’s Analysis of State-Level Kyoto Protocol Efforts Appears in 'Nature' Wise Guy The View Homepage | UVM Homepage News Briefs | Events | Notables Print This Issue | Print Past Issues | About Us | RSS | Feedback November 30, 2005 The Importance of Essays They're still key, but not always for the reasons you might Text Size: Sm | Md | Lg expect. Three admissions officers talk about their experiences in the reading season. By Kevin Foley Article published Nov 30, 2005 Triple Threat A two-sport varsity athlete, senior Amy Cochran is also an The Phish-heads are academic all-star who fading out, the Red Sox nation is in decline, but describes herself as an we’ll always have analytical person, always snowboarding — it is as trying to figure out how fast and flowing now as things are done. "Life is ever. like a chess game to me,” she says. “You want to reach your potential in Welcome to the ever- everything you do, but evolving yet strangely constant world of the how do you do that?" college admissions essay, a once-a-year window into the topics Peer Pressures Reading student essays is one of the most time- most on the minds of consuming — and rewarding — parts of the ambitious high school On nearly every application-evaluation season. seniors — and, more playground there’s a child importantly, perhaps with attention-deficit/ the best opportunity for hyperactivity disorder busy admissions officers struggling to gain to look beyond transcripts and apprise the personality of an applicant. acceptance from classmates. Betsy Hoza, “You can’t just crunch numbers. Anything that gives us the sense of the professor of psychology, person is what makes this interesting work,” says Susan Wertheimer, believes the answers to associate director of admissions. “I always look forward to the reading season many of the social — as busy as it is, it’s what keeps me coming back year after year.” problems experienced by children with the Nearly 7,000 early applications have already flooded into admissions, with condition are yet to be thousands more to come with regular deadlines. And so Wertheimer and her discovered. colleagues are reading, reading, reading: about service trips to Costa Rica, about crusty-but-inspiring coaches, about personal triumphs and travails of all kinds, even about the odd blemish. The hours are long, but for Wertheimer — as well as admissions officers Daniel Fredman and Ingrid Fleisher — looking at the essays is one of the best parts of the job. “I like the ones that can really put me in that person’s shoes and perspective, just a really well-written piece that takes you away from what we’re doing here,” Fredman says. “Coming into the position,” Fleisher says, “I was worried about all the reading of applications, but it’s my favorite part now. I get a sense of what students are like today. Some of the stories are fun, others remind me of what I was like in high school.” Ordinary turned extraordinary Which is not to say that Fleisher is equally open to everything. “If I have to read one more essay about the Red Sox winning the World Series or ‘Sweet Caroline,’ I’ll…” She trails off, perhaps still traumatized by last year's Boston deluge. Whether they deal with Neil Diamond or volunteering in Dominica, most student essays are the product of an effort that can feel momentous. High school students, particularly at private schools and in suburban districts, are counseled through a long process of conception and revision only slightly less daunting than launching a Space Shuttle. Consultants vie with guidance counselors and parents to assist, while shady Internet ads promise to expedite exposition for “$6.95 a page.” But the truth of the matter, Wertheimer says, is that at most schools, including UVM, essays are mostly a bonus factor or tiebreaker for applications. Despite this, admissions officers say essays are important, and that great ones frequently inspire them to look harder at student’s academic record. This additional scrutiny could make the difference between acceptance and a decline. An essay can explain a bad grade or even a rough semester, or just point out a hidden passion not immediately obvious on a transcript. But what, exactly, is a great essay? Like Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart and obscenity, Wertheimer knows it when she sees it, but definitions are problematic. Specifying essay boundaries too closely limits creativity and might add excess anxiety to a process that Wertheimer believes is already too emotionally fraught. But she knows this: It’s not just the topic. Some remarkable essays describe tragedy and dislocation — death, disease, fleeing from war. But other essays manage the difficult trick of being both deeply personal and universal, conjuring something resonant out of everyday happenings like flunking a test or saying goodbye to a friend moving away. “Ordinary life events, in the right hands, can be very powerful,” Wertheimer says. Admissions officers say that essays should give them a sense of the applicant as a person, so the field is wide. UVM’s application invites students to “evaluate a significant experience,” discuss an issue of public concern, ruminate on a personally significant individual, describe a fictional character, discuss diversity or take on a topic of their choice. “Students are offered an opportunity to say something about him or herself. The topics are open-ended,” Wertheimer says. That offers plenty of room for happy surprises. (And some flops.) Autobiographical errors For Wertheimer, an essay’s downfall can be too much polish — calculated efforts that almost shimmer from an admissions consultant’s too-vigorous rubdown. For Fredman, it’s the occasional howler error, references like, “I'm looking forward to studying at Cornell.” Fleisher loathes misspellings. A fresh approach helps. “I’ll sometimes start an essay and think, ‘Oh, this one again.’” Fredman says. “Some subjects can be tricky to make interesting again. You know, ‘I love snowboarding.’ Or ‘my experience traveling hundreds of miles to get to Coventry:’ you know, the Phish-head stuff (a dying breed in applications). Summer camp. But sometimes the familiar can be good. It’s OK to go near subjects that have been touched before, but with a new perspective.” But not too fresh. Humor is always welcome, as long as the essay doesn’t cross the line. “I’m someone who enjoys humor — however, in a college essay, you’re not writing for The Onion. If you go the humor route, show it to someone. An adult,” Wertheimer says. “What you consider funny might be disturbing to a middle-aged admission officer.” Some other observations from the reading rooms: Writing by Vermont students is often relatively reticent. Accounts of service trips to other countries are popular. (“My college essay was about a trip to Nicaragua,” Fleisher says somewhat ruefully. “I remember thinking that it was unique, but being here, I’ve read at least three.”) Huge world events — September 11, war in Iraq — are tough to pull off. Sports essays can work, but many approaches to them are familiar.