College Application Essay Mistakes Students Make
College application essay writing often fails not because students lack experiences, but because they struggle to describe specific moments.
The most common thing that happens in my Zoom sessions isn’t what you’d expect.
It’s not students struggling with grammar or word count. It’s not even picking a topic.
It’s this: A student tells me they want to write about “learning leadership through basketball,” and when I ask, “Okay, walk me through one specific moment when that happened,” they go completely silent. college admissions essay coaching
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College Application Essay
Here’s what I hear instead:
“Um… well, I was captain and I had to lead the team and make sure everyone worked together and stuff.”
“Can you think of one practice or game where you can remember exactly what you said or did?”
“I mean… I encouraged people a lot?”
This happens in 8 out of 10 first sessions. Smart, accomplished students who can explain calculus suddenly can’t describe their own experiences with any detail.
The real problem isn’t that they don’t have good stories. The problem is they’ve been trained to think in conclusions instead of moments.
They’ve been taught to say:
“I learned the value of hard work”
“This experience taught me perseverance”
“I developed better communication skills”
Instead of:
“The night before districts, our starting point guard quit the team”
“I spent three hours trying to convince Jamie to come back”
“Here’s exactly what I said that made her change her mind”
In my sessions, I’ve started asking different questions:
Instead of “What did you learn?” → “What do you remember thinking in that exact moment?”
Instead of “How did it change you?” → “What did you do differently the next time?”
Instead of “What was the impact?” → “What happened when you walked into school the next day?”
The breakthrough happens when students realize: Your essay isn’t about proving you learned something. It’s about letting the reader experience the moment when you learned it.
If you’re stuck on your essay, try this: Stop asking yourself what you learned. Start asking yourself what you remember. The details you remember are usually the ones worth writing about.
Your assignment: Pick one experience you’re considering for your essay. Set a timer for 10 minutes and write down everything you can remember about one specific moment from that experience. Don’t worry about lessons or themes yet—just focus on what actually happened.
The meaning will become clear once you have the story.