Nedjee is an Admissions Coordinator at NYU’s Stern School of Business, and has been with Stern since 2021. Outside of her role of planning admissions events, she enjoys watching basketball (Miami Heat) as well as spending quality time with her family.
We often get questions from applicants about the Pick 6 essay and how to best use visuals to describe yourself and your experiences. This post should give you the knowledge you need and some insider tips on how this photo essay can help you deliver your story using a series of images.
The basics
Let’s start with logistics. The Pick Six Essay prompts you to introduce yourself to the Admissions Committee and to your future classmates using six images and corresponding captions. Your essay should contain all of the following elements:
- A brief introduction or overview of your “Pick Six” (no more than 3 sentences).
- Six images that help illustrate who you are.
- A one-sentence caption for each of the six images that helps explain why they were selected and are significant to you.
AdCom Tips
Relay a multifaceted, confident story.
Get an idea of what photos you would like to include and why. From your first image to the very last image, you’re creating a visually dynamic story. It’s important to understand what the message behind each photo is so you can capture the narrative in your brief caption.
The “why” means more than the “what”
This essay really gives you the opportunity to show us who you are outside of the other components of the application, so use this space to share aspects about you that we may not see otherwise on your application. This is a great way for us to learn more about what gets you out of bed in the morning, what motivates you, and what experiences have impacted you. This can be a series of connected images, or six totally unrelated images, it’s completely up to you! So whether it is a photo of your dog, favorite vacation spots, or historic landmarks, share things that are meaningful to you so we can learn more about you.
Ask for outside advice.
Share your pick six with someone who you trust and who knows you well. Show them your images and the written description of your overall story, and be open to their honest feedback. If you don’t quite have an idea of what images to include, get advice from the people who know you best, and see how their insight aligns with the message you want to convey. This is your chance to be creative however you see fit, so take advantage of it. Ultimately, you make the final selection on the images that tell your story.
Write brief captions.
Your six images should include brief captions to help describe your visual narrative. The caption should help give the Admissions Committee context about the significance of your images. Remember to keep your captions succinct.
Finally
We know the Pick 6 essay can be a little nerve-wracking to complete but it should be fun to put together! We love reviewing this essay because it helps bring the application, and the applicant to life. So, it is worth saying again – have fun putting this essay together! We can’t wait to get to know the real you!