College Essay Lab | Lesson 5 | How to perfect your college essay
You might have noticed that I have not taken the time to talk about the word count until now. I find the word count is an overemphasized aspect when it comes to the process of writing a college essay—and that the right time to work on the word count is now, towards the end of the process.
I call the “target” length 600 words. The actual maximum, as you likely know, is 650. Before you begin fine-tuning your essay, it’s helpful to know whether you need to err on the side of adding content, getting more concise, or keeping it about the same.
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
TASK: This is going to sound so silly, but trust me: read your essay one sentence at a time. At the end of every sentence, catch up with yourself and make sure that what you’ve just read actually makes sense and communicates what you want it to communicate. If it doesn’t, check for these three things, in order.
Can it be improved by taking words away?
Can it be improved by changing the order of the clauses/phrases? (You’d be amazed how many sentences become readable by swapping the order of their halves.)
Can it be improved by changing the words themselves?
Once you’ve reached the end, read it at least one more time, all the way through, without stopping.
Releasing your college essay
You will need to let go of it at some point.
A good first step is to give it to somebody else to read. The first time somebody reads anything I’ve written, I feel like I’m watching it grow up.
If you can withstand that without rushing back to the draft and swearing that you need to start it all over again, that’s a good sign that it is good enough.
HOMEWORK: Decide it’s done.
This is a personal moment, and only you can do it.
Letting go of your essay may come with feelings of sadness, worry, or uncertainty. This is okay. It means that you care about your story, and you’re aware that the story will play a role in determining your future. It means that you care about these things… and the fact that you care means that you’re doing something right: you approached it with the importance it deserves.
Congratulations. Now all you have to do is write a few dozen supplemental essays.
FEELING STUCK? Schedule a drop-in appointment with me here. Make sure to indicate that you’re working on Lesson 5, and send me your most up-to-date draft.
