The Messy Middle: How Holistic Storytelling Will Transform Your College Essay

In my most personal and least edited episode. I dive into holistic storytelling.

In today's highly competitive college admissions landscape, where 4.0 GPAs and 1500 SAT scores are increasingly common, your essay becomes the critical differentiator. The key to standing out isn't using tricks or templates, but crafting an authentic, specific story that reveals how you think, what you value, and how you've grown.

• Avoid clichés like "I broke my leg and learned perseverance" that stay on the surface
• Holistic storytelling shows the messy middle, specific choices, mistakes, and realizations
• Small, specific topics often make better essays than attempting to sound impressive
• The "yellow packaging" example demonstrates how everyday observations can reveal your thinking process
• Practical exercises include creating columns of happy/mad/curious moments and asking "why" five times
• Focus on specific moments rather than general statements about who you are
• Strong academics alone aren't enough anymore in selective admissions pools
• When writing about hardships, focus on growth rather than trauma
• Connect your essay to your intended major by showing your thinking path, not just stating intentions

Subscribe so you don't miss what's next in the series, and share this episode with a student or parent who is tackling college essays.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to College Essay Writing
• 2:51 Understanding Holistic Storytelling
• 4:52 Host's Personal Journey and Growth
• 6:56 Student Success Stories
• 8:42 The Yellow Packaging Example
• 10:48 Practical Exercises for Essay Development
• 12:22 Essay Structure and Common Questions
• 14:23 Key Takeaways and Closing

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:08

Hello and welcome to the East Coast College Admissions Podcast, the show where we break down the college admissions process, share strategies for starters and give students and families the clarity they need to approach this journey with confidence. I am your host, cleopatra, and I'm here to help you navigate the challenges, opportunities and excitement of preparing for college. Today I'm diving deep into one of the most important pieces of your application the essay. Not a formula, not a template your story. I'll share practical strategies. I'll tell a personal story from my own journey that models what I call holistic storytelling, and I'll shout out two of my students who inspire me daily. Call me in detail, let's get into it. Let's start here. In many selective applicant polls today, okay, a 4.0 GPA and a 1500 plus SAT score, sometimes 1540 are increasingly common. Amazing, but also it means that a lot of students look very similar on paper. Admissions officers are used to extra smart students. Nowadays they see academic excellence all day long. So what really breaks the tie? Your voice, which is your essay, your ability to help a reader feel who you are, what you care about, what you've learned and how you think and how you contribute. Listen, there is no magic formula to essay writing. If someone is selling you one. I haven't met them and I would really very much would want you. The differentiator isn't tricks, it's the truth. Today I'm going to dive deep into essay writing and I want to start talking about cliches. You know the ones where a student will say I broke my leg the day of the performance and learned perseverance, or I went on a trip and discovered gratitude. These are fine human moments, but they're overused and often stay on the surface. Okay, so holistic storytelling digs deeper. It's specific, it's layered and it's honest. It doesn't say I overcame. It shows the messy middle, the choices, the mistakes, the realizations and growth that changed you. It connects dots between what happened, why it mattered, and who you are now.

Speaker 1: 3:37

I studied in education very, very, very young. I was a baby in my professional years and I'm still in my professional years still really young and I've now spent over 10 years in this space. I've worked on both sides of the coin Institutionally, with universities, boarding schools, and one-on-one with students. I've visited over 60 plus countries, helping institutions expand multicultural strategies across Africa, middle East, southeast Asia and Europe. I have helped lay students all over the world. I was there when Dubai shifted from tourist destination to global education hub. I've watched institutions attempt international expansion and help build those pipelines by, you know, helping them establish stakeholder relationships all over the world.

Speaker 1: 4:21

So, as a young Black woman, I was often underestimated. A very cliche version of that story would read like people doubted me, but I persevered and triumphed. Right. That is like the cliche. I was a young Black woman. I faced racism. That is very cliche, no-transcript.

Speaker 1: 4:46

I was young and I was inexperienced. I was passionate but I was inexperienced and most often I didn't heed to advice because I thought, because I had a passion, I knew it all, which meant I mishandled client relationships. Sometimes I mismanaged my team. I wasn't the best boss. At times I made financial decisions as step two as if they were already as step 70. Short decisions at step two, as if they're already at step 70. Stretching limited funds the wrong way and maybe sometimes even facing legal and professional consequences that I had to learn from.

Speaker 1: 5:17

What changed me wasn't some glossy win. It was a process Getting humbled, hiring mentors, learning contracts, learning people, learning systems, rebuilding systems, being culturally sensitive and becoming a better business owner and educator. Now, once I walk you through that process, that is holistic storytelling. That is honest contest, specific missteps, hard lessons, concrete truth. Who I am now and how I move differently is different from who I used to be five, seven, three, ten years ago. So that is the how behind the I grew story, and two students embody this beautifully. My ninth grader caught me already building towards an Ivy caliber path in medicine. He loves helping people and when you listen to him speak about healthcare and service you feel the sincerity in his voice. That passion will one day become a powerful story and I will be looking forward to that day, not because he will sound impressive, but because of his story, because I'm going to watch him build that story, go through the process from grade 9 till he reaches grade 12.

Speaker 1: 6:31

And then there is Ditya, one of my newer students. Ditya has an outstanding profile. This girl navigated serious life challenges, but that did not deter her or limit her in any way. Ditya has one of the strongest academic profiles I have seen in the past year. That resilience, paired with reflection, makes for a story that stays with the reader. When I got Ditya's enrollment form and I read her story, I immediately wanted to receive an essay draft from her. So to Ditya and Kami, to the both of you I see you and to anyone listening.

Speaker 1: 7:13

I do not believe in whipping out essay topics because I feel that is not real, and anyone that knows me know that I am not for theatrics, I am for real, I am for process, I am for looking within, to tell your story something that is authentically. You and students often ask me what if my topic doesn't sound big enough, and I'll tell you the reason why. Here is the secret Small, specific, true, can be big and generic at any time. So let's use a quirky example yellow packaging of a product. Maybe you can't stand how certain brands package everything in a hash yellow, odd, odd, right, it's perfect. So let's start there.

Speaker 1: 8:01

Okay, how do you feel? Are you fascinated, annoyed? Why? Why does that yellow packaging of that particular product get you so annoyed or fascinated? What is beneath that feeling? Does the color clash with the brand? Stated values say calm, sustainability, wrapped in loud neon. What questions emerge when you are digging deep into these feelings emerge when you're digging deep into these feelings? Who chooses the color palettes? How do the color, psychology, culture and accessibility factor into why they chose that particular packaging? What impact do you notice? How does it mislead customers? How does it undercut trust? How does it reduce usability for colorblind users?

Speaker 1: 8:49

Right Now, connect those dots to what you want to study and why. Maybe this launches a passion for marketing, brand ethics, ux design, behavioral science or environmental design, assuming that is what you want to study. This is an angle you could take your story from. Perhaps you prototype alternate packaging, a-b test with your community, or study brand value alignment in your IB extended essay or capstone. Suddenly yellow packaging isn't trivial. It's a window into how you think, what you value, how you act on curiosity. That is your essay. So the mini framework is going to look like this how you feel the why, the evidence, the action, the academic link and the impact. Use this for any topic Snakish reselling, bash route, cafeteria waste, community murals, family recipes, tiktok captioning anything at all you can think of, like anything at all that relates to you, how you feel about it. How you think of it. That is your essay.

Speaker 1: 9:55

So here are some quick exercises to help you dig deeper. The first column is happy. Second, mad. Third, curious. Create a rapid, fireless moment or pet peeves. Pick one and ask why. Five times Death lives. In the fifth, why, okay? Number two choose an everyday object Metro card, hair, tie, chess, pawn anything, write what it means in your world, who touches it, who doesn't, and what that says about assets, identity or design.

Speaker 1: 10:29

Number three let's go into timelines. We are going to look into pivoting the tension and the practice, which is basically to say write one moment that changed you, one ongoing friction, one habit you built afterwards. That is a narrative act. And last but not the least, I call it the values inventory. Okay, circle three to five values curiosity, justice, stewardship, audacity, care For each. Write a mini scene where you live that value imperfectly, because imperfection is where growth. What I'm basically trying to say is there is no magic formula anywhere. That is just the truth. Your essay lives in you. You just have to find it. So let me give you, let me wrap this up in a single structure without losing your voice.

Speaker 1: 11:26

You keep it simple and specific. You start with a hook. It's not clickbait, just a concrete, vivid start. You move on to your moments, one or two crips, scenes. You move on to what that means to you, what you realized then, what you realize now. Then you move on to forward motion, what you did next, how you think or act now, which is the growth path. Then we move on to the bridge, a light, authentic link to the academic community you want to join at the particular college that you are applying to. So you edit for clarity, really not for personality. Get feedback from people you trust, but don't let too many hands flatten your voice. But don't let too many hands flatten your voice and also don't get too much into your head, because it's very.

Speaker 1: 12:08

It's becoming increasingly common for students to compare themselves and believe that their story is not big enough. I am yet to meet an admissions officer that do not believe in authentic stories. Actually, that's what moves the needle behind the scenes. I have some quick questions here that I want to provide answers to. A student asks my stats are strong. Shouldn't that be enough? Well, to answer that in many selective pools, lots of students have 4.0, 15, 40.

Speaker 1: 12:33

Your essay is how you become memorable. Strong academics is really not enough anymore at this point because we are seeing the same type of profiles and the same type of majors and interest everywhere. To my next question can I write about hardship? Yes, you can, but you have to focus on growth, not trauma. We are not trying to traumatize that niches offices. We are trying to focus on our story and how we grew from it. Okay, my next question says can I write about something small? Please do something. Small meaning it has to be specific, it has to be reflective, not vague. And, last but not the least, how do I connect my essay to my major? So this is where you show your thinking path, from your story to your academic curiosity. Not, therefore, I will major in, but this is how my mind works and here's why this field pulls me.

Speaker 1: 13:27

Here is your takeaway. In a world where many applicants boast 4.0 GPAs and 1540 SAT scores, your essay is your differentiator, not because of a trick, but because it's the one place only you can write. Be honest, be specific, ask how you feel, whether you're happy, you're sad, you're mad, and the why behind it. Follow that thread. Show the messy, the middle, the growth. Connect it to how you think and what you want to explore next. If this episode helped, please share it with a friend, a student or a parent who is in the thick of writing and subscribe so you don't miss what's next in the seas. I'm Cleopatra. Thank you for listening, and here is to essays that sound like you. Outro Music.