The One Step Rejected Students Wish They Hadn't Skipped
4 reasons to reflect, reflect, and reflect
Hey friend,
Happy Saturday! Many people are surprised to hear that the strongest essays emerge from a process many students skip entirely: reflection.
Today, I’ll be sharing 4 reasons why reflection is super important (and what happens when you skip this step).
Reason #1: Reflection Is What Makes Your Essay Unique
Colleges read thousands of essays about similar activities and experiences each year: the soccer captain, the persistent dancer, the hospital volunteer.
Without deeper reflection, your experiences will sound like everyone else's. But thoughtful reflection uncovers the specific values, perspectives, and insights that make your experience uniquely yours. This is why two students can write about identical activities, yet one application gets accepted and the other ends up in the rejection pile.
Your unique perspective is your greatest advantage.
Reason #2: The Thinking IS the Heavy Lifting
Writing problems are almost always thinking problems in disguise.
The 80/20 rule applies to college essays too: 80% of an essay's quality comes from the 20% of work that happens before you even start writing. Students who struggle most are those who try to write before they've figured out what they actually want to say. When you've reflected deeply, the writing becomes 10x easier cause you're just translating thoughts rather than trying to think and write at the same time.
The hardest part about writing isn't writing at all - it's knowing what to write.
Reason #3: Early Reflection Prevents Annoying Rewrites
Many students write entire drafts only to realize they've chosen the wrong focus entirely.
Starting with reflection helps you explore different angles before you invest hours in full drafts that miss the mark. It also gives you the chance to flesh out ideas and discover deeper takeaways that wouldn't be obvious in a last-minute writing sprint.
The best time to realize you're writing about the wrong thing is before you've written it.
Reason #4: Reflection Creates Authenticity
Admissions officers can easily distinguish authentic essays from those written to impress (or worse, ones written by AI).
Spending time reflecting helps you identify experiences/stories that have affected you in significant ways. After all, the point of a personal statement is to get personal. When you dig deep into your past, your dreams, your proudest memories and maybe even your most vulnerable moments, what comes to mind?
When it comes to college essays, authenticity is always the best policy.
If you start reflecting in early summer, you'll feel less stressed, gain more clarity, and be the most prepared person in your friend group.
Next week, I'll show you how to use AI in your reflection process with the VIBE framework. In the magical age of ChatGPT/Claude, you'll have the best brainstorming buddy one could wish for. Ugh, I wish I had AI back in the day. I mean, you guys are so lucky.
Till then, remember that the time you spend thinking is never wasted - it's an investment in your future super awesome essay.
As usual, hit reply to let me know if you have any questions.
Cheers,
May
P.S. Missed last week’s issue on your summer essay roadmap? Check it out here.