Should You Start Your College Essay With a Quote?
Short answer: Comparing yourself to someone who is worth quoting puts you at a disadvantage.
Longer answer: AOs have read thousands of essays that open with quotes. It signals immediately that the student didn’t trust their own voice to open the essay. If you don’t trust your voice, why should they?
If you really feel you need a quote, then quote yourself. Yours is the only voice that matters to the AO when they’re in your file.
Fun fact: You’re the world’s leading expert on you. Forget Shakespeare or Churchill.
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