Today’s Washington Post brings one of the more revealing – and surprising – articles about college applications essays that I’ve ever read.
The key words are Yale, pizza, and Auburn University. But the main point is that the Yale Admissions Office reads students’ entire applications, whether the prompts are from the Common Application or the supplements. The secondary point is that the 196-word essay about pizza did not get Carolina Williams into Yale on its own. It was combined with the rest of her essays, her academic record, and another salient feature brought out in the article: that she had read 100 books in a year.
For some enlightenment and a surprise ending (about where Carolina Williams decided to go to college), please read the entire piece, “The college admissions essay about Papa John’s Pizza that Yale loved, highlighted edition.”
Once you’re done, have a look at my earlier post on applying to Yale.
Shoot me an email if you’re interested in talking about help with your college application essays: Liz@DontSweatTheEssay.com