College essay program alum Sarah Levy speaks to us about the overwhelming college application process and how Write the World helped her essay evolve into something completely different from how it began.
Originally from California, Sarah now lives in the UK and attends the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She majors in English/Creative Writing.
Q: How did you first feel going into the college application process?
I was overwhelmed and rather stressed out. I found it difficult to decide which colleges I wanted to apply to, and I was worried about getting all the essays done on time. At first I struggled with the common application essay questions because they felt vague, and I wasn’t sure how to best portray myself through the essay.
Q: What are you the most proud of in terms of your personal statement (common application essay)?
I’m proud of how much content I was able to work into my essay with the word limit. I feel like I did a good job of showcasing my personal values in my essay and overall I’m really happy with the end result.
Q: How did you choose the topic for your personal statement? How did your personal statement evolve with WtW’s support?
I was not quite sure what I wanted to write about for my personal statement going to the WtW college essay program. I ended up choosing the prompt that I felt I could write the most about, and the WtW program helped me to organize my thoughts and writing, and it helped me get a good idea as to what colleges were looking for with the personal statement. My final draft ended up being completely different from what I started with, and I’m glad that WtW was able to help me through the process.
Q: What aspects of the application process did the WtW college essay program help most with?
The WtW program helped most with getting me to understand what colleges are looking for in the essays, and the program helped me to make good headway into the writing and editing of my personal statement.
Q: What would be your advice for current students going through the application process?
I would advise current students to acknowledge that the application process is stressful and scary, and then to move on from that fact and power through. The hardest part of the application process is starting it, and it feels overwhelming, but it gets easier over time. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there in your essays and make sure to look at the end goal. Take everything one step at a time and the rest will follow. Good luck!
