Reading my Ivy League Accepted Essay (Common App Personal Statement)

Summary

Isabella Kerry reads her college application personal statement, then explains how she developed it and what she hopes it conveys.

Main ideas in the essay

• Perfectionism is represented by rectangles. The essay turns rectangles into a recurring, almost supernatural presence. They symbolize rigid expectations, judgment, social pressures, and the feeling that there is no escape from the demand to be perfect.
• The fear begins with a childhood mistake. During a kindergarten entrance exam, the narrator misidentifies a shape. Although she is invited to continue, she fixates on the missed question and interprets it as evidence that she is not good enough.
• Trying to escape perfectionism does not solve it. The narrator runs from the rectangles but ends up facing a movie camera, where the pressure to perform and get things right continues.
• Creativity changes her perspective. While holding a script she cannot perfect, she hears people laughing at jokes she wrote. Seeing actors and filmmakers bring her ideas to life helps her recognize that collaboration and revision can strengthen imperfect work.
• She learns to value imperfection and accept help. The rectangles no longer seem only threatening: they can also be books, tickets, chocolate bars, and canvases. The narrator becomes more willing to make mistakes, explore her imagination, and ask for help.
• The ending looks toward the future. The words on the laptop feel like her own voice encouraging her, while a doorway represents stepping into a future she is eager to discover.

The speaker’s explanation and advice

• The essay is not about a major trauma. It explores the relatable pressure to be perfect through a creative short-story metaphor.
• Kerry blended a real personal struggle with fictional elements, using a story structure to express something genuine.
• She says the essay was about 649 words and that she spent considerable time writing it.
• Several people reviewed the essay, but she kept her creative vision and changed very little in the end.
• The prompt concerned overcoming a difficult moment, though she felt the essay also fit a broader “write about whatever you want” prompt.
• Her general takeaway is that application essays can help applicants stand out when they are creative and sincere.

Speaker

• Isabella Kerry — the sole speaker in the video, reading her essay and commenting on its subject, writing process, and application prompt.