Every year toward the end of the summer, the New York Times publishes sample college essays. I assume that they are looking to inspire rising seniors to begin writing their college essays if they haven’t already started; maybe reading others’ work provides a nudge to get going. Other colleges, like Tufts University, Johns Hopkins, and Connecticut College, post essays on their websites from prior application cycles that they have found especially compelling. Honestly, if you were to google “sample college essays,” you would probably find an endless supply of personal stories at your fingertips. Why not take a look for inspiration?
What we have discovered is the very act of reading other essays for inspiration often inhibits a student’s creativity. They consciously or subconsciously replicate what they have seen. It isn’t that they are necessarily copying an idea or plagiarizing text, but they tend to fit their idea into a structure, format, or theme that they have already read. After all, we are often patternmakers. Once we see something, we cannot unsee it. In the admissions process, the last thing you want to be is a carbon copy of anyone else. So, I encourage you to trust your own creativity and turn a blind eye to the “essay that worked.”