Essay Analysis: Brown University 2018-19

October 28, 2018 :: Admissionado Team

“Why are you drawn to the area(s) of study you indicated earlier in this application?”

Here’s a neat trick we like to use at Admissionado:

Try writing TWO drafts, back to back. For the first draft, write it as you want, knowing that an admissions committee is gonna read it. Use smart-sounding sentences, proper English, all that stuff you’ve learned. Be as impressive as you know how. Set it aside for a second. And now that you have ONE potential draft, try another one… “just for fun.” But this time, write it as though you were writing a journal entry. To yourself, to be read only by you. Feel free to say stupid, meaningless things. Feel free to “swear.” Feel free to go off on ridiculous tangents. But no matter what, get “the real, authentic” answer down on paper. What IS your real motivation? Be honest. What genuinely motivates you about an area of study? If you ticked a bunch of boxes because your parents forced you to, indicate that here. No one’s gonna read it, after all. If you ticked those boxes because you think that that’s something the adcom might find impressive, say that here. Whatever you do, be brutally honest. Get it out.

Read more about how to use this trick in our 2018-29 Brown University Essay Analysis.