Sample College Application Essays

Sample College Application Essays They are not general or abstract, the more details the better. The best essays are 20% about the “topic” (the “what”) and 80% about the writer. A great college essay grabs your attention from the first sentence. Make a plan to meet with your college counselor and go over your college list and essays, and ask for feedback on your writing. Your college counselor can provide valuable insight into how to improve your college application essays, so seek feedback on your drafts as soon as possible. School-based counselors have a lot of students to advise and are very busy, so seek guidance early and often. Quite simply, a great college essay helps illuminate who you are. The worst things you can do is write an essay that is generic, one where if your name was replaced by another, the reader could not tell the difference. While it’s important to put considerable effort into all college application components, essays are often the finishing touch and should be treated with great care and consideration. Essay writingis an important part of the college application process. If your essay does not reveal some sense of your best personal qualities are i.e. maturity, leadership or compassion then it has failed. Few things are as eternal as the search for the great college essay. But given the range of factors that go into the decision making process, it is hard to know if the “successful” essays ones really tipped the balance. That being said, the essay is something you can control so you want to make it good. It takes readers into, through, and beyond the story in 500 words or less. A great essay tells a a unique story that communicates key qualities you can offer the college. That is why a great college essay is personal.This great essay is very visual and helps make you become 3-D for the reader. It starts right away with a specific story from running a marathon in the rain to spilling water on customersâ€"twiceâ€" and keeps us engaged from the first word to the last. The people in the admissions office are trying to learn about you and the essay is often the last chance you have to shape their impression and understanding of you. A great college essay is one that makes your reader want to get to know you better, to engage in a conversation with you. Additionally, you might email an admissions counselor at the school with some questions or speak to a current student or alum. (If you don’t know anyone affiliated with the school, try asking your guidance counselor if there are former students from your high school who attend or attended X college.) Peruse a course catalog. These steps will help you develop a list of specific qualities that are unique to the school. The ultimate point of a college essay is to engage and hopefully convince the reader that you would be an asset on that campus. You need the essay to wow them with your personal qualities while sharing an engaging story, perhaps- a snapshot of your life. The tone could be funny or sad, reflective or poignant, but you NEED that reader to like you, so that they would support your application in admissions. It is an essay that makes your reader laugh or cry or think. The best college essays deal with specific examples from the writer’s life. Using the Common Application, you will have to write one major essay, and possibly write a series of smaller essays for each school on their Supplement Forms . You should read a college guide book, methodically review the website, and hopefully, if at all possible, visit the school.