It is an essay by Seth Allen, the new vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid at Pomona College in California, about, well, the essay. While some of Mr. Allen’s advice about constructing admissions essays is particular to our readers abroad (the last of his seven tips is “When applying to schools in the United States, don’t try to ‘Americanize’ your application by focusing on your trip to the United States”), most of what he suggests is entirely relevant to American readers.