How to structure a college essay about a personal story

RReaders in Stanford's admissions office had a rule that sounds permissive and is actually demanding: you can write about almost anything, as long as you do something smart with it. Most students hear only the first half. They choose a meaningful experience, tell it carefully, and end on what it taught them, and the essay lands on the pile with thousands of others built the same way. The experience was never the problem. A cracked violin, a summer job or a family argument can carry an admit essay, but only when the writing turns it into an argument that the student belongs in a particular department, and that turn follows a pattern any applicant can learn.