What three words describe you best? This is a classic brainstorming exercise used by college counselors and coaches. It even pops up as a supplemental short-answer question asked by selective schools like Cornell, USC, and Stanford.
You’ll see lots of variations, but here are the most common prompts:
What are your 3 defining qualities?
What three words describe you best?
What are your 3 leading attributes?
Which three words best reflect your personality?
etc, etc…
Sometimes you’re given a list of words to choose from, and you can easily find those lists online. Many “how-to-get-into-college” websites feature those lists… along with terrible, misguided advice.
So how do you capture yourself with just three words? Year after year, I see students FLUB this challenge completely. When I ran this exercise in a college essay workshop last year, this is what the 6 students came up with:
passionate, athletic, inquisitive
intelligent, athletic, family-oriented
passionate, creative, generous
outgoing, tough, passionate
hardworking, studious, athletic
loyal, hardworking, extroverted
YIKES! Do you see the problem? Not only did all 6 students choose generic adjectives, they mostly chose the same generic adjectives — even though I didn’t give them a list! Nobody set themselves apart from the others in the group. Nobody managed to stand out as vibrant or memorable. Reading the descriptions above, are you intrigued or impressed? Do they seem multidimensional or one-of-a-kind? Nope.
So how do you make the most of this prompt? Read on!
How to hack this exercise
1. Get more specific. The prompt isn’t asking for words that describe you, but ones that BEST describe you. Words that DEFINE you.
Let’s say you chose idealistic, creative, and curious. Sure, those words might describe you, but let’s be real — they also describe a lot of your peers. So there’s no way that those 3 terms come close to actually capturing your unique awesomeness. You’ve got to be more specific!
If you chose idealistic… what are your SPECIFIC ideals? Words such as listener, environmentalist, or diplomat might do a better job. And if you’re creative, well… how exactly? If you’re constantly scribbling lyrics or rhymes, what about scribbler, lyrical, or rhythmic? Instead of a vague term, dare to use a specific one.
2. Don’t settle for basic adjectives. If you were given a list, throw it away. You have the freedom to define yourself in ANY words. You can choose nouns, verbs, adverbs… even prepositions. (Why not? I’ve had students who picked outside, another who went with within, and one who chose beside… all unexpected, fascinating choices.)
Instead of 3 adjectives, try 3 verbs. Or try a combination of 1 adjective, 1 noun, and 1 adverb. Forget lists, forget rules, and PLEASE forget those crowd-pleasing positive attributes. Pick words that actually describe what’s distinctive about your way of being in the world.
3. Finally, think beyond single words. If you’re all about robotic arms or belting showtunes, that’s far more defining than just the word “passionate”! Nobody is going to disqualify you for breaking some imaginary “generic-positive-single-adjectives-only” rule if they’re smiling at the unusual terms you chose.
Take inspiration from these examples by my students. They are all vibrant, intriguing descriptions that actually make you wonder about the person who chose them. (Incidentally, it also helped those students figure out their best “defining” college essay topics.)
“novels | novelty | 4:08 AM”
“diplomatic, long-distance, the perfect gift”
“ecology, generosity, and dad jokes”
“celebration | fantasy breakfast | scaredycat”
“train stations – imagination – teatime”
“proactive, peace-making, the precise word”
Do any of those perfectly capture you? Of course not! They’re too specific. They’re wonderfully unexpected. And they’re begging to tell a story. Ideally, every term you choose will have a great story behind it… and that story might be the foundation of a knockout college essay.
I love creative brainstorming that actually works — but brainstorming on your own, without any guidance, can be frustrating. For 1-on-1 support, reach out to me for a free consultation!
