A Literal Ticket to Apply Texas Essay C
A wild desert hedgehog appears!
Don’t get stung by this tricky prompt. Handled carefully, you can put forward an effective essay by answering the question directly.
I have mentioned before how this topic invites a wide range of responses. One dimension of college essays is how risky your submission is. The more creative or novel your response, the higher chance that it falls flat and doesn’t achieve your desired goal of knocking the socks off your reviewer. I expect a ton of quirky submissions for this topic, and I have seen a few successful ones already.
That doesn’t mean your response needs to be exotic. My own writing style, for example, tends to be more direct and analytical and less descriptive or “flowery.” If I was an 18 year old confronting this topic, I would probably take a direct approach.
I often recommend that students start their essays off with an attention getter or anecdote. Sometimes, it is best to tell your reviewer what you want to tell them. Take for example this first sentence of a thoughtful and effective essay C.
“One reason that the University of Texas is my first choice is because I’d love to meet and take courses with Dr. John Bartholomew in the College of Education.”
Nothing flowery about this. The student goes onto to speak effectively about an experience serving abroad and how they would take their ticket in hand to revisit the place that he has continued working in.
Their essay is also a great example of laying out the case for why they are choosing their desired area of study. It functions, in essence, like a personal statement that would ask why you are choosing X university or Y major.
It goes back to a point I made earlier about essay topics being invitations to write. If you’re not crazy about a particular essay question, make it your own!