Counselor offers seniors tips for writing effective college essays

Thrust into a whirlpool of information, lost, tumbling past a sea of deadlines and all the while sinking closer and closer to the unknown void of decisions in the center. For some seniors, college applications are a completely unknown and quickly approaching territory.

 It’s difficult for some students to even know where to begin when it comes to college essays, but counselor Chris Wood, who was also a former admissions counselor, has some impactful advice to share with the class of 2026. 

First, he emphasized that essays are important. “[College essays] are an opportunity for admissions counselors to see a side of you that they can’t read about in your other academic profile,” Wood said. “They can get a lot of information about you, but they don’t necessarily get to know who you are.” 

He urged students to write about something personal to show off a trait or quality that can’t be found in a transcript, something to make them stand out among the thousands of other essays that cross their chosen school’s admissions desk. 

According to Wood, the first step to showing the counselors a more personal face is finding a theme. He said that while personal stories are good, they have to be done with purpose, or else the meaning can get lost. 

“Some people will share a story and it’s like they’re just rambling and there’s not really a theme,” he said. “Find your theme that you want to share and then craft a story around it.” 

Wood encouraged students to reflect on the past 17 years of their lives to find a lesson they have learned, but he acknowledged that when analyzing their own lives, lessons aren’t always easy for students to find. 

“Not everybody has had a traumatic moment in their life or something that’s held them back,” Wood said, “but admissions counselors just want to get to know you.” 

He also said the essays do not need to be overdramatic.  “Everybody’s always looking for the million dollar essay, the one that everyone’s going to just be blown away by, but really there just needs to be some self reflection.”

Wood said that his biggest advice to college-bound seniors would be to use the resources available to them and that kids don’t realize how much they actually have access to. “Everybody is like, ‘Well, I don’t have any resources.’ You have the entire body of the internet.” 

He highlighted a blogger with the name ‘The College Essay Guy” as a good resource, offering free advice and tips for worried seniors and people applying to colleges for the first time, and on top of that, Wood said he is a kind and insightful person. “I’ve sat in workshops with him, and he’s just good. He does it for the right reasons.”

In the end, Wood said, “The college search process is supposed to be the most rewarding and sometimes frustrating and reflective experience because you’ve spent 17 years doing all this, so take the time to truly sit down and say, ‘What have I learned about myself in the last 17 years?’”