Indicate a person, character
in fiction, an historical figure, or
a creative work (as in art, music, etc.)
who has had a significant influence
on you, and describe that influence.
This type of question attempts
to learn more about you through the
forces that have shaped you. Many students
make the mistake of believing that this
is an essay about a person. They go
on at length, describing the influential
person in detail without making a connection
between it and themselves.
The school doesn’t care
about your uncle, or some fictional
heroine. They care about you. What about
that person made an impression on you
and how. What action did you take to
turn this impression into personal development
and change?
Colleges learn a lot about
your values and standards through your
description of your mentors. It is like
getting to know a person by the people
he chooses to hang out with. If you
are skeptical, consider the different
impression you would have of the candidate
who admires a dynamic, colorful athlete
compared to someone who looks up to
an accomplished but soft-spoken academic.
Neither is better nor worse-just different.
There are no wrong answers
here. Far more important than whom you
choose, though, is how you portray that
person. In other words, do not choose
someone because you think it will impress
the committee. Name-dropping is not
only very obvious, it is very ineffective.
Heed this one word of caution, though.
Applicants very commonly pick one of
their parents. Describing your father
gives you the advantage of knowing your
subject well, however, it also means
doing some extra work to make your essay
stand out from the crowd.
From
ESSAYS THAT WILL GET YOU INTO COLLEGE,
by Amy Burnham, Daniel Kaufman, and
Chris Dowhan.
Copyright 1998 by Dan Kaufman.
Reprinted by arrangement with Barron's
Educational Series, Inc.
Login
name 
Password
