Standing Out: How my love of Anime got me into an Ivy League school

Since the 5th grade, I have been a huge anime lover. I watched all of the classics, the big five, and even the obscure, underrated animes. However, my interest shifted during the pandemic from watching anime to reading light novels. I was bored at home and animes weren’t updating fast enough, so I started reading light novels to keep myself entertained. Before long, I was completely engrossed in the magical world that light novels offered and spent a few hours each day reading them. 

When it came time to write my Common App essay, I didn’t have any idea what to do. My first essay was an argumentative essay about why there needs to be more free speech at universities. Although the essay was decently written, the topic was uninteresting to many reviewers and it felt combative toward the same institutions that I was applying to. 

I decided to pivot from this topic and began reading successful college essays from students at my dream universities. I noticed that an overwhelming percentage of those essays were written in the form of a story. The essays were playful and provided unique insight into their personalities that could not be seen anywhere else on their college application.

For my second attempt at the Common App, I followed this model and wrote a story. I wrote about Bringing The Farm To Live In Another World, a light novel that I was obsessed with at the time. I used a lot of imagery and sensory details to make sure that my essay was fun, enjoyable to read, and memorable to the admission officer. In my essay, I wrote about why I like anime, how it motivates me, and I made sure to relate it to how it makes me a better student. 

​​If you want to get into a competitive university, my best advice for you is to think about how to make yourself stand out to admissions officers. Contrary to popular belief, your grades in high school don’t determine what school you can go to; they are only a small part of it. What matters is strategically developing your application to show that you’re an inquisitive, motivated, and hard-working student that will make the school better. 

Admissions officers are reading thousands of essays and by the time they get to yours, they might be tired or bored. You need to craft your essay so that it's fun, interesting, and memorable to them. Most of all, your essay should answer the following questions: Who are you? What do you care about? How passionate are you? How can this school allow you to further grow and explore your interests?

Admission officers already know that you're a good student -- they have your transcript, test scores, and recommendation letters. However, there are thousands of other applicants that are just as brilliant and impressive as yourself so in order to stand out, you have to display your personality. The Common App essay is the best way for you to do that!

If you have any questions about how to write your Common App, please attend CCRI’s November workshop where we will look over past essays and go over the writing process a little bit more.