How to - The College Admissions Essay

Essay TopicThey both offer a different variety of word choices.
From my knowledge and previous experience, a topic3. More is not always better. Be concise and to the
or general prompt will be usually provided. It is muchpoint. Wordiness can cause boredom and lose
more difficult for college admissions staff to compareattention of your reader.
and judge completely dissimilar essays than it is similarFollow The Prompt
essays. Therefore, prompts are given to make the1. Answer the darn question! Don't ramble on and
lives of college admissions staff easier!write an autobiography if the question is "How will
___ College help fulfill your dreams?"
Where Do I Start?Get Assistance
Anywhere! The most difficult portions of essays is1. It is highly encouraged that you ask for a read
often the introduction and conclusion. Once you haveover from, at minimum, your parents and siblings.
your ideas on paper (or your screen), it is muchHaving a teacher or other mentor give their input can
easier to manipulate your existing ideas to form aalso be quite helpful.
solid, logical paper.2. Although I have not personally used an essay
I often have 10 to 20 "mini" paragraphs, which I thenservice, many applicants are using them to receive
form into larger portions and, finally, a cohesive(what some argue) is an unfair advantage. Personally,
essay.I had three high school teachers and my mother read
Writing Tipsmy essays. I was accepted to the University of
Don't Be Boring!Illinois, so I must have done something right...
1.The college admissions staff reads thousands of*If you insist on having a professional opinion, or
papers per day. Your admissions essay is not thewant that extra advantage. I have heard EssayEdge
place to be mundane and typical. Especially if you aredoes a bang-up job. The founder, Geoffrey Cook,
on the border (GPA, class rank, and test score wise),also wrote Yahoo's article on admissions essays.
your essay must be extremely effective and exciting.3. You can never have too many opinions! If you
2. If you can write about an emotional experience,don't agree with what someone suggests, even after
may it be saddening, frightening, or action-packed,an explanation, just smile, nod, and ditch their
please do so! It will capture the readers attention andsuggestion!
give your paper longer than the average minuet orDon't Panic
two.1. Take your time, and get ideas on paper. Like I
3. Convey your feelings to the reader! If you werestated earlier, it does not matter what order or way
crying tears of joy, your goal should be to have thethe information is lied out. Just get it on paper, and
admissions reader excited and jumping out of theiryour life will become much easier!
chair!2. Walk away from your essay and come back in a
Stylecouple hours or a couple days, depending on your
1. As stated in my previous post, have your owntime constraint.
style. You have been writing for about 10 years now,3. Don't wait till the last minute! Get a jump start and
and you should have a definitive, catchy style towork on your essays longer than your competition
your writing. Vary sentence structure and word(other applicants!).
choice.Be an AppliCAN, Not an AppliCAN'T!
2. On the note of word choice: Your essay should*As cheesy as this sounds, I know many peers of
not be the annual gathering of large words! Don'tmine didn't apply themselves, get good grades, apply
hear me wrong, whenever I am writing an essay, Ito top schools, and write solid essays. All because
always have thesaurus up. They are great to find thethey where not confidant and saw themselves as
word on the tip of your tongue or just to add someappliCAN'Ts! You are reading this blog, and by doing
variety.so, you are becoming an appliCAN!
*On a side note, my favorite are MSN Thesaurus and