#26
Posted: 9/4/05 at 8:27pm
I know you've already gotten an earfull, but I feel like I need to commment as my college entry essay was one of the deciding factors that got me in to UCLA, and mine was about theater as well. I'm also now going in to my senior year, and I've always gotten As and Bs on my papers here. I'm actually guest speaking at Cal State Northridge this week on how to write better college level papers.
Anyway, as many people have already pointed out, if your essay was viewed as a show, it would be in the workshop stages. You need to get it ready for a pre-Broadway out-of-town trial and then after some more thought and rewrites put it out there on the Great White Way and pray that it'll be a record-breaking hit.
There are three things you need to pay attention to. The first is the nitpicky stuff. Is your punctuation and grammar correct? Are you using slang? I'll give you a big hint and tell you right now that you are. A 60 year old woman in the admissions department of this school will not want to hear that you thought Wicked had a "killer" cast or that Spamalot almost made you "pee in your pants." Remember your audience and write for them. You're writing for the crowd that would enjoy "Phantom of the Opera," not the type that would see "Avenue Q" or "Naked Boys Singing."
Secondly, answer the following question. Who cares? WHY do you love Broadway? What impact has it had on you? What have you learned or taken away from the theater, and why do you keep coming back time and time again? As my entry essay to the UCLA theater department had a prompt along the lines of "Why do you enjoy theater, why do you want to have a career in it, and why do you wish to go to UCLA to get there," I've had to answer the same thing. Remember that this is the schools way of getting to know you without actually meeting you, so through all that High School English class stuff about not putting yourself in the paper out the window. Here it's necessary. Don't tell them about each show; they're at a college and can look that up themeselves. Instead, focus on one show that ignited or confirmed your love of theater and explain how or why it did.
And finally, stemming off of that last comment, say something cotraversial or different. You have to put yourself apart from the other applicants. Find something to say that you doubt anyone else would say, and if you can't do that, then say the same thing in a different or more interesting way. Your essay will be read in a stack of others, and yours will need to stand out in the mind of the reader.
I'd love to help you even more. If you would like more advice, you can reach me on AIM. My screename is lovemesomedali. I'd love to read your second draft.
Best of luck, and God Bless!
In the slightly paraphrased words of Leo Bloom and Max Bialystock, "You can do it!"
-Jeff
Anyway, as many people have already pointed out, if your essay was viewed as a show, it would be in the workshop stages. You need to get it ready for a pre-Broadway out-of-town trial and then after some more thought and rewrites put it out there on the Great White Way and pray that it'll be a record-breaking hit.
There are three things you need to pay attention to. The first is the nitpicky stuff. Is your punctuation and grammar correct? Are you using slang? I'll give you a big hint and tell you right now that you are. A 60 year old woman in the admissions department of this school will not want to hear that you thought Wicked had a "killer" cast or that Spamalot almost made you "pee in your pants." Remember your audience and write for them. You're writing for the crowd that would enjoy "Phantom of the Opera," not the type that would see "Avenue Q" or "Naked Boys Singing."
Secondly, answer the following question. Who cares? WHY do you love Broadway? What impact has it had on you? What have you learned or taken away from the theater, and why do you keep coming back time and time again? As my entry essay to the UCLA theater department had a prompt along the lines of "Why do you enjoy theater, why do you want to have a career in it, and why do you wish to go to UCLA to get there," I've had to answer the same thing. Remember that this is the schools way of getting to know you without actually meeting you, so through all that High School English class stuff about not putting yourself in the paper out the window. Here it's necessary. Don't tell them about each show; they're at a college and can look that up themeselves. Instead, focus on one show that ignited or confirmed your love of theater and explain how or why it did.
And finally, stemming off of that last comment, say something cotraversial or different. You have to put yourself apart from the other applicants. Find something to say that you doubt anyone else would say, and if you can't do that, then say the same thing in a different or more interesting way. Your essay will be read in a stack of others, and yours will need to stand out in the mind of the reader.
I'd love to help you even more. If you would like more advice, you can reach me on AIM. My screename is lovemesomedali. I'd love to read your second draft.
Best of luck, and God Bless!
In the slightly paraphrased words of Leo Bloom and Max Bialystock, "You can do it!"
-Jeff
