by Marie Todd
How Outlines Can Help with Your College Essays
Making an outline for your essay before you begin writing can be extremely helpful in keeping you focused on the details of your story and its most vital elements. Outlines also keep you mindful of the architecture of the story you’re trying to tell: What comes first? What needs to follow? Schools tend to have restrictive word limits for their application essays, and ironically, writing a good short essay is more difficult than writing a good long one. Every sentence matters. Essays that are merely summaries of one’s experiences tend to be too general – and easily forgotten. No matter the length of the essay you’re writing, it must contain specific and colorful details, convey relatable feelings and goals, and offer clear evidence of how you would make a valuable addition to the school’s next incoming class. And following an outline will help you ensure that every word counts.
While your outline doesn’t have to be formal, you do need to generally lay out your core messages and related stories and determine the order in which you will discuss them in your essay.
Unsure of how to start the process of creating an outline? Take another look at a sample essay you liked. Reread the essay, paying close attention to how it is organized and taking note of its beginning, middle, and end. This should help you understand how the essay is structured and give you a better idea of the level of detail and specificity you should aim for in your own essay.
Let’s look at a sample essay together to see how it was probably outlined by the writer. This essay was written in response to a college-specific question about how the applicant had used his education to good advantage.
Hello. Hola. Privet. I am proud to be able to greet you in three languages. I came to this country from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, as a nine-year-old. One year later, at the end of fourth grade, I was fluent in English. Now, I am on my way to fluency and proficiency in Spanish. Being multilingual in Slavic, Germanic, and Latin languages familiarizes me with diverse cultures, opening my mind and allowing me to gain insight into the world.
I continue to speak Russian with family members and friends and read Russian books; I attend Russian theatre productions, ballets, plays, and community events to retain my connection to my roots. I have taken four years of Spanish, going beyond the minimum high school requirement, and I still rush to my Spanish classes eager to gain a new piece of the Spanish language puzzle. I have learned from four different instructors and understand the diversity of the language. I regularly read Spanish books and do Spanish book reports and have made a short movie with Spanish dialogue. I visit museums to learn about the Latin culture.
In college, I plan to continue my Spanish studies and participate in a year abroad program in Spain to better comprehend the culture and become absolutely fluent in the language. Furthermore, I will study French, because the culture’s extensive and dynamic history of rulers, such as Louis XIV, and engaging authors, such as Alexander Dumas, fascinates me. By learning the language, I know I will better appreciate the culture and add even further to my interpretative skills, creating a solid foundation for my career in communication and international and political affairs.
This simple outline demonstrates how this essay is organized:
- Show linguistic ability and explain how it has been developed
- English
- Learned at school after moving from Uzbekistan
- Fluent by end of fourth grade
- Russian
- Speak with family and friends
- Attend theater and community events
- Spanish
- Taken four years of classes
- Read Spanish books, write Spanish book reports
- Made movie with Spanish dialogue
- Visit museums
- French
- Plan to study in college
- Inspired to learn by French rulers and authors
- Experience and studies will help with career goals (communication and foreign diplomacy)
- Increased fluency
- Better appreciation of culture
- Improved interpretive skills
- English
Notice that the writer used narration and how-to, as well as argument and persuasion. Discussing the courses he’s taken and all the other efforts he has made to excel in the different languages provides plenty of evidence that he is sincere and committed to his goal.
The following sample essay was written in response to the “topic of your choice” question for the Common App.
My eighth-grade best friend and I were inseparable until one morning when she told me she had had a fight with her father, who banned her from seeing me. Since he’d already told her to date boys from her background, my parents thought he feared she’d fall into a mixed heritage crowd, as I am of Indian and Jewish descent.
I am proud of my world, and fortunately, a few years ago, my father had his first chance to bring us with him to India. Relatives rushed us from the airport to a welcome party at my grandfather’s house. Everyone gave us huge hugs and kisses as we made our way around the room. Among thirty relatives, I noticed likenesses between our families; we are fun loving, family oriented, argumentative, stubborn, open-minded, and welcoming of other cultures. Whether I was at a picnic, birthday party, or lunch, an amazing family embraced me.
Upon my return, I paid attention to attributes from my mother’s background. She loved religious school, being a Bat Mitzvah, and celebrating the Jewish holidays. While she was pregnant, my father decided to convert from Hinduism to Judaism to foster family cohesiveness. He played an active role in our Jewish community and signed up for Hebrew lessons to help me learn prayers for my Bat Mitzvah and read from the Torah at my service. After this, he wanted to become a Bar Mitzvah. I helped him learn the prayers and his Torah portion.
I then became a teacher’s assistant, helping in classes and tutoring children in Hebrew. Temple was my home away from home and certainly my rock during the time of confusion and discovery following the abrupt loss of my best friend. I was confirmed in tenth grade, receiving the Rabbi’s award for being an active and dedicated participant of the temple. This past summer, I took my Jewish involvement to another level and traveled to Israel, feeling a deep connection when I arrived by ship. I had learned about ancient Jerusalem and the famous Red Sea, and seeing the land sparked me.
Now that I have traveled to India and Israel, I see my heritage shining through daily life. During any Jewish holiday, my mother makes festive food: latkes, Homatashen, and Mandel bread. My father makes Indian food for dinner sometimes, the whole family enjoying a spicy, exotic taste. I use terms from India such as “bus” (enough) and “kem cho?”(how are you?). I use Yiddish words such as “oy veh” and “shlep” without even realizing I am switching languages. My father inspires us with stories of running five miles to school barefoot from a small house with five siblings, and like my mother’s New York family, we enjoy argument and persistence. We often stay up until two AM debating.
I am not jarred when people are surprised by my name, with its boy’s name in the middle and the sounds of two cultures, and when they look at me thinking I am Persian or Mexican. At the university, I will major in Jewish Studies and spend a semester or even a year abroad in Israel. I will join Hillel to meet classmates with a similar religious background to mine, and I will find an organization to deepen my knowledge of my Indian roots, keeping an open mind and an open heart while helping others do so as well.
Here’s an outline of this essay:
- Upsetting incident incited by someone’s judgment about my background
- Best friend wouldn’t talk to me
- Her parents didn’t want her to have a friend with mixed heritage background
- I am of Indian and Jewish descent
- Reaction: pride in background and dedication to learning more about it
- Father’s Indian side
- Traveled to India to meet relatives there
- Welcomed with open arms
- Noticed primary characteristics
- Fun loving
- Family oriented
- Argumentative
- Stubborn
- Open-minded
- Welcoming of other cultures
- Mother’s Jewish Background
- Mother’s love of religious school, being Bat Mitzvah, celebrating Jewish holidays
- Father’s conversion from Hinduism to Judaism
- Active in Jewish community
- Took Hebrew lessons
- Read from Torah at her Bat Mitzvah
- Became Bar Mitzvah
- Own involvement with Judaism
- Helped father prepare for Bar Mitzvah
- Became teacher’s assistant (Hebrew)
- Confirmed in tenth grade
- Received Rabbi’s award
- Traveled to Israel
- Father’s Indian side
- Recognition of effect of mixed heritage
- Both sides represented in holiday celebrations and meals
- Uses phrases from both languages
- Enjoys argument and debate
- Influence on plans for college
- Major in Jewish Studies
- Spend semester or year abroad in Israel
- Join Hillel
- Conclusion: keep heart open and help others do same
We hope these examples have helped inspire and prepare you to create your own outlines!
Marie Todd has been involved in college admissions for more than 20 years. Marie has both counseled applicants to top colleges and evaluated more than 5,000 applications for the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; College of Engineering; School of Kinesiology; School of Nursing; and Taubman College of Architecture. Want Marie to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch.
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