{"id":54266,"date":"2022-03-02T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=54266"},"modified":"2022-02-28T12:34:22","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T19:34:22","slug":"writing-a-lead-that-pops-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/writing-a-lead-that-pops-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing a Lead That Pops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Writing<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

How many times have you wandered through a bookstore or library, opening up a book to read the first few lines only to quickly close it again? How often have you tested a free sample on your Kindle only to decide after a paragraph that you\u2019re glad you didn\u2019t buy it? How often have you watched a movie trailer and quickly decided the movie was or wasn\u2019t worth seeing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The human tendency to rush to judgments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re always just a click away from another, more appealing choice if we\u2019re not hooked right away by whatever is in front of us<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our extremely fast-paced world, we are forced to make quick decisions throughout the day: to read an article or not; choosing among several brands of pasta sauce at the store; which show to watch next. We\u2019re always just an instant away from another, more appealing choice if we\u2019re not hooked right away by whatever is in front of us. If the person who started talking to us at the party bores us, our eyes will scan the room for a more attractive prospect. This may not be fair, but the fact that we have the \u201cburden of overchoice\u201d in our lives simply encourages us to move on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Admissions committee members are human, too, and the pressure of their jobs forces them to also have to make very quick decisions about whose applications they will invest more time in and whose will only merit a cursory review before being deemed unworthy of serious consideration. We can\u2019t blame them\u2013they simply have too many applications to review to allow them more than a few minutes on each one before deciding who deserves a longer, more considered examination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does this mean for you, the essay writer applying to law school<\/a>, b-school<\/a>, med school<\/a>, grad school<\/a>, or college<\/a>? It means that the very first lines of your essay must grab your reader\u2019s attention \u2013 before their attention wanders away. The first sentence must offer a compelling hook into your narrative, with no wasted words. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The challenge of reeling in the essay readers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now, I know this can sound like a lot of pressure, but it\u2019s a challenge that you CAN achieve successfully. Your lead should be compelling and colorful, something that starts the essay off with a punch. Let\u2019s look at a few examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHorns blare as tiny auto-rickshaw and bicycle-powered school buses interweave at impossible close range in the narrow streets of Old Delhi.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter a near disaster during my first week as a case manager at a community center for women and children, I discovered that to succeed in my job, I\u2019d have to restrain my anger at how badly things were run in this place.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy aunt\u2019s cancer had already metastasized throughout her body by the time she was finally diagnosed correctly\u2013too late for any effective treatment. At that moment, my interest in a career as a science researcher became much more personal.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cFrom the age of seven, when I already struggled with simple math problems but aced my spelling tests and was already writing simple stories, I knew I was meant to become a writer.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice that three of the four leads above are personal anecdotes. They offer no details of your GPA or technical facts of what you researched in the lab. The first lead is so colorful and dramatic that we instantly want to know more about the person who observed the scene. In every case, the lead begins a STORY that makes the reader sit up<\/a> and say, \u201cAh! An interesting human being with a voice!\u201d This is your goal: writing an essay that introduces you to the admissions committee. If you want the adcom to take a closer look, this introduction needs to really shine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Components of a good lead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A good lead:<\/p>\n\n\n\n