Crafting An Unforgettable College Essay

Crafting An Unforgettable College Essay The style and tone of a college essay are very different from most essays and research papers you write in school. So, often students aren’t sure exactly what to aim for when writing their essays. A quick and easy remedy is to read example essays written by successful applicants. College essay writing fills most students with apprehension and dread. Application essays also play a greater role in determining the strength or weakness of an application. An excellent written essay could be a “tipper” factor for a borderline admit student to get accepted. On the other hand, a poorly written essay, with a bad choice of topic, can tip a students’ application into the reject pile. Essays will be more important for smaller schools that are committed to reading holistically. I always suggest that students not worry too much about this limitation to begin with â€" just get your ideas written down . After that, some strategic editing can be done to trim the fat off and get the essay down to the required size. Although this task may seem daunting when you think about it, it inevitably results in a more concise, streamlined presentation of your concept. These smaller colleges want to ensure that the students that they accept would contribute positively to campus life both with their talents, leadership abilities and personal qualities. This should all be apparent in a good college essay. As students write their essays, it might help to keep in mind why colleges ask them for these writing samples in the first place. Pizza, community service, grandmothers, barnacles…you name it, and admissions officers have probably read an essay about it. And given that thousands of students are admitted to colleges each year, I hope we can all agree there is no one “best” topic on which to write yourCommon App essay. What makes a college essay strong isn’t necessary its theme, but the personal and reflective story that emerges from that theme. Tips for writing an effective college admissions essay are essentially the same for all students. How do/did you feel about the topic about which you are writing? In most cases, you will be required to limit the essay to a certain number of characters or words. REMEMBER that everything you write, each essay or short answer will be read and evaluated. Your essays are your only true voice in the application process. Deciding which colleges to apply to is difficult enough, but you add to that the stress of writing a personal essay for each of your applications. Your personal essay is supposed to give college admissions teams a snapshot of who you are as a person and who you hope to become but you don’t have to spill your guts or transcribe your whole life story. To increase your chances of getting accepted, first learn just how important your essay is and then take the time to learn the Dos and Don’ts of college application essays. Besides appearing very careless, these kinds of errors can actually interfere with the ability of the reader to understand your point. It just keeps getting harder to get in, even to “back up” schools. You definitely don’t want to put the readers to sleep! You have surely had certain life experiences which will provide interesting material for your essay â€" even things which you yourself take for granted. Consider how the story you have to tell would be perceived by someone else who has never before heard that story. Write analytically, rather than merely descriptively. Descriptive writing is a factual account of a topic or event, simply telling what happened. Analytical writing will pose or answer questions, make comparisons, or present and defend viewpoints. Rather than just state what happened, an analytical approach will explain and interpret events. What is your interpretation of what transpired? Finally, make sure that the essay does not have glaring errors in spelling, sentence structure, and paragraph formulation. In fact, try to make it as correct as possible.