Throughout my life and experiences as a career counselor, if I was asked to identify a skill that is most integral to the application process as a whole, 'writing' would be my foremost. In addition to essays, that have by now become synonymous with the application process, colleges are constantly on the lookout for the voice of an original applicant and constantly derive new methods to assess the same.
An example of the same can be viewed in the UC application process, wherein applicants are asked to not only list their professional accomplishments, but also paraphrase their lived experiences. They are asked to elucidate upon their highs and lows, their ups and downs, their victories, and with equal emphasis, their failures.
Additionally, it can be observed that the nature of most short response essay questions is increasingly personal. They harbor an almost direct association with individual thought, association, and aspirations. Moreover, it must be observed how top schools lay a firm emphasis on diversity.
While constructing a prospective class, they look for students who are individual epitomes of diversity. They look for a class with heterogeneous experience and promise, as opposed to a homogeneous set up. To best determine this diversity, they infuse multiple writing/response aspects into the otherwise straightforward application process. This is a skill directly asked for by top schools that desire human involvement, and cannot be replaced under any cost.
Thus, the active involvement of human presence is undisputed in every regard. Conclusively, we must understand how certain experiences are truly irreplaceable as there is immense emotional quotient involved in the composition of the same, which cannot, under any cost, be replaced by technology.
Let us assume that there is a student who gained a multicultural experience, having spent half of his childhood in the USA and a portion of his teenage years in India. This scenario is increasingly personal and most appropriate for diversity construction. It also comes forth as the best possible essay topic for UCs and other top schools.
Even if we were to approach the topic of college essays strategically, it must be noted that colleges assign quantitative values to qualitative markers. A student who chooses to be vulnerable about their experiences—something that is only possible vis-à-vis true human experiences—has an obvious edge over others who seek to present a pseudo-perfect façade.
No matter how advanced society gets, it’s still built around the same fundamental value systems carved out by our ancestors. It’s been many years since the first Ivy League college garnered its nickname and yet, through its evolution and the evolution of education itself, we have sought to go back to first principles: honesty, vulnerability, humility, kindness, empathy.