Who Are You?

What does a college counselor mean when they say “show” the reader who you are in your college admissions essays?

Here’s an example. You might think from my LinkedIn profile that I’m a very analytical, left brain person. Degrees in science, engineering, & business. That’s what your application looks like “on paper”—courses, grades, scores, a list of activities with just a short description.

The goal of your essays is to add personality, like this:

https://bsky.app/profile/dianayr.bsky.social/post/3mgis4ldcgk2z

Unless I “showed” you, you wouldn’t know that I’m a lifelong creator, largely self-taught—fabric arts, needlecrafts, watercolors, photography, even some dabbling in poetic colophons.

And, yes, that was me, choosing to use the em dash … twice. 😱 #NoAIWasUsedForThisPost

#WhatMattersToYou