DiscoverThe College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions406: Why You Don’t Have to Write about Trauma in Your College Essay to Stand Out—and What You Can Do Instead w/ Tina Yong
406: Why You Don’t Have to Write about Trauma in Your College Essay to Stand Out—and What You Can Do Instead w/ Tina Yong

406: Why You Don’t Have to Write about Trauma in Your College Essay to Stand Out—and What You Can Do Instead w/ Tina Yong

Update: 2023-09-15
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In this episode I sat down with TED speaker Tina Yong to talk about why students don’t have to write about trauma in a college essay to stand out—and what they can do instead.

We discussed, among other things: 

  • Tina’s experience as an immigrant/racialized person feeling the pressure to turn her personal story into a personal statement with a linear, digestible plot—and how she realized how damaging this could be damaging to students of color
  • How Tina believes this is more a systemic issue
  • The recent Supreme Court ruling and how it can be okay to talk about race in the college application, with certain caveats
  • An example personal statement that mentions race but speaks specifically to qualities of character and unique abilities the author would bring to a college campus
  • Other ways students can share their identities in ways that allow them to take ownership of their story
  • Practical exercises students might use to talk about their different identities in their application—identities that include but aren’t limited to race
  • Supplemental essay prompts that ask specifically about challenges
  • Specific advice from Tina for students and for counselors 

 

Play-by-Play

  • 0:00 - Intro
  • 3:45 - Who is Tina Yong?
  • 4:04 - Ethan and Tina’s backstory
  • 7:08 - ICYMI: recap of Tina’s TedX Talk about her experience as an immigrant applying to US universities
  • 9:44 - What inspired Tina to speak on trauma in college essays?
  • 11:11 - How and why Ethan changed his workshop approach
  • 12:32 - What response did Tina get after her TED Talk? What was the impact?
  • 14:29 - What has Tina learned since giving her TED Talk?
  • 17:28 - How will applicants of colors be affected by the recent Supreme Court ruling on race-conscious admissions?
  • 19:46 - Is it okay to discuss race in your application?
  • 22:03 - Ethan & Tina read of a sample personal statement that discusses race
  • 25:03 - Tina’s analysis
  • 27:32 - Ethan’s analysis
  • 30:04 - Three ways that students can share their identity in their personal statements—that don’t focus on a traumatic story with a happy ending
  • 34:55 - How to avoid writing a “sob story”
  • 35:45 - How to structure a challenges-based essay
  • 36:34 - What are colleges looking for in a college essay?
  • 38:15 - Practical brainstorming exercises for finding great personal statement topics
  • 43:04 - Navigating supplemental essay prompts
  • 47:31 - This isn’t the “Vulnerability Olympics”
  • 51:36 - Counselor resources & takeaways
  • 53:11 - Student resources & takeaways
  • 55:47 - Book recommendations from Tina on psychology & trauma
  • 57:21 - Closing thoughts

 

Resources:

 

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406: Why You Don’t Have to Write about Trauma in Your College Essay to Stand Out—and What You Can Do Instead w/ Tina Yong

406: Why You Don’t Have to Write about Trauma in Your College Essay to Stand Out—and What You Can Do Instead w/ Tina Yong

Ethan Sawyer