Not every critic is a genius.
As we head into the final weekend before the first of a succession of big college application deadlines across the country (our Early Decision deadline is Nov. 1), this post should give all college applicants—especially those polishing their college essays—some comfort, perhaps even some confidence before they hit “submit.”
“The 13 Worst Reviews of Classic Literature,” compiled by Publisher’s Weekly from the forthcoming Rotten Reviews Redux (release: November 2012), shows us that even the best writers had critics, and that some of those critics—despite having the “authority” of being critics—were, um, occasionally off the mark. Consider this gem:
“Whitman is as unacquainted with art as a hog is with mathematics,” courtesy of The London Critic in 1855 in its review of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.
Like we said: not every critic is a genius. (Read the other 12 off-the-mark reviews to see what we mean.)
So to you college applicants, whether you’re just sitting down to write your essays, or you’re putting the finishing touches on that masterpiece, consider these tidbits:
- Write the essay you want to write, not the essay you think all of us college admissions folks want to read. There are way too many of us out there to please, and not all of us have excellent taste.
- Now is not the time to try on a new writer persona; use that voice you’ve been writing with for your entire life. That’s the one we want to hear.
Write on!