There's a lot of college essay advice floating around online. TikTok. Reddit. Counselors. Parents. Friends of friends who "got into Stanford."
Some of it is fine.
A lot of it is actively hurting students.
Here's the truth: most bad essays aren't badly written — they're built on bad advice. So let's clear a few things up.
1. "Write About Something Unique"
This one sounds helpful. It's not.
Students hear this and panic. They think their essay needs to be about:
- a rare internship
- a traumatic life event
- a once-in-a-lifetime experience
So they either force a story that doesn't fit… or decide they have "nothing interesting" to say.
Admissions officers are not hunting for the most unique event. They're looking for unique thinking.
Two students can write about the same activity. One essay feels generic. The other feels memorable. The difference isn't the topic — it's the reflection.
2. "Your Essay Should Be About Your Biggest Accomplishment"
This advice produces some of the most boring essays I read.
Why? Because resumes already exist.
If your essay just re-explains:
- an award
- a leadership position
- a big achievement
you're wasting space.
The essay isn't asking, "What did you do?"
It's asking, "Who are you when no one is scoring you?"
Often the strongest essays come from:
- small moments
- quiet realizations
- internal shifts
Things that never show up on a resume — but reveal how you think.
3. "Be Vulnerable" (With No Explanation)
Vulnerability without purpose is just oversharing.
Students take this advice and think they need to:
- trauma dump
- expose their deepest insecurity
- write something "raw"
But vulnerability isn't about how emotional something is. It's about insight.
Admissions officers don't reward pain.
They reward growth, awareness, and responsibility.
If your essay shares something difficult, it should also show:
- how you processed it
- what changed in you
- how it shaped your decisions
Otherwise, it doesn't move the application forward.
4. "Show, Don't Tell" (Without Telling You How)
This is the most repeated advice — and the least helpful when left unexplained.
Students are told "show, don't tell" and respond by:
- adding flowery language
- describing scenes that go nowhere
- cutting clarity for creativity
Showing doesn't mean being poetic.
It means providing evidence.
Instead of telling me you're driven, show me the choice you made when it was inconvenient.
Instead of telling me you're curious, show me the question you kept coming back to.
Clarity > cleverness. Always.
5. "Write What You Think Admissions Officers Want to Hear"
This one quietly ruins a lot of good applications.
Students start writing for an imaginary audience:
- trying to sound impressive
- trying to be inspirational
- trying to check boxes
And the essay loses its voice.
Admissions officers read thousands of essays. They can tell when something is performative.
The strongest essays aren't trying to impress — they're trying to communicate.
They sound like a real person who understands themselves and can explain why they make the choices they do.
Final Thought
Good college essays don't come from following every piece of advice you hear.
They come from:
- clarity over impressiveness
- specificity over drama
- reflection over résumé repetition
If an essay helps an admissions officer understand how you think — not just what you've done — it's doing its job.
Most advice won't tell you that.