Admissions Essays Research Articles

EJ Update: "Whomp!" in College Admissions Essays: A Response to Elaine Murphy

EJ Update: "Whomp!" in College Admissions Essays: A Response to Elaine Murphy

The Ethics of Admissions Essays

The Ethics of Admissions Essays

Whomp! Real Voices in College Admission Essays

For most of my twenty years of teaching, I have been blessed with bright, perceptive students who dutifully take notes, write, revise, edit, and jump through every hoop set before them-in many ways, an English teacher's dream come true. And yet, as personable and engaging as these students appear in class, for years I dreaded reading their essays: standard products cranked out at will by writing automatons whose favorite writing guides seemed to be Warriner's, Roget, and Turabian. When an essay was mechanically correct and logically structured, they felt it was perfect. these intelligent, college-bound kids had ideas, they delivered them for my inspection hermetically sealed, germ-free, error-free, albeit lifeless, without spark or personality. Although we occasionally took a shot at personal narratives and descriptive essays, the students actually seemed to prefer the less risky, formulaic exercises. Determined to develop my students' writing voices, I waxed enthusiastic over passages from J. D. Salinger, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, even Woody Allen. Sure, this is interesting, the students would concede, but try saying, 'He's a phony, for Chrissake,' in a term paper. Somehow, while they enjoyed these modern writers, the students saw the use of the vernacular as a novel-

Whomp! Real Voices in College Admission Essays

Whomp! Real Voices in College Admission Essays

Your Admission Essay: Making the Grade in 500 Words

Your Admission Essay: Making the Grade in 500 Words