Tips For Writing Your College Essay

Tips For Writing Your College Essay Let’s take a look, then, at why colleges require essays in the first place. To the college essay admissions process I bring skills honed as a television writer, a screenwriter, and a journalist. Entering my ninth year, I have worked with nearly 400 bright, motivated, and exceptional applicants who each year are accepted to T10 colleges and universities. I love what I do and am immeasurably proud of every applicant I work with and their results. I hope that after reading this post you feel a bit more confident in your ability to write your college admissions essay. When you’re responding to the “Why Us” prompt, you’re telling them exactly how an education there will shape your intellectual and professional journey. This essay isn’t just about the college; it’s about you, too. When it comes to college essays, you want to maximize the opportunity to delight, intrigue or amuse your reader….immediately. Writing your college essay can be a daunting task. These 650 words or less â€" your personal statement to colleges â€" will be one of the most important pieces of writing you’ve done in your life up until this point. There's no formula, no trick, no strategy, says Harry Bauld, a former Ivy League admissions officer. When possible, select a topic that engages you and is one you are interested in addressing. It is important that your voice comes through and that the reader feels he or she has had an opportunity to experience a more personal facet of your character and your unique perspective. Avoid cliches at all cost and never write what you think someone wants to hear. When you are finished with the essay, read it out loud and carefully listen to the content, grammar, and pay attention to spelling or word glitches. A great college essay is an essay that is interesting, pithy and well written. You want both to keep the reader’s attention and to make the reader want you to be a member of the next freshman class at the reader’s college. This is your chance to make your application stand out and your one opportunity to have a real voice appear in the file. Tell the reader something about yourself that might not be included in the rest of the application. A great college essay is one in which the student’s voice and though process comes through clearly. It may feel scary and impossible, but with right approach , you can write an essay that showcases your unique personality and impresses admissions officers. Vagueness isn’t a problem unique to admissions essays. It’s something all writers struggle with â€" including myself; I struggled with it while writing this very article. It’s impossible to write an article covering every possible essay prompt you could encounter in the college application process. Ah, college application essays â€" the necessary evil of college-bound high school seniors everywhere. If you’ve just finished your junior year of high school, then these may very well be in your near future. Over the years, students who tell me they absolutely love to write have said they struggle with the application essay. So if you’ve been biting your nails or tearing your hair out even a little, you’re not alone. A good college essay is one that stays with the reader after he or she finishes reading it, maybe even thinking about it later that day, or the next day. It should be consistent with the rest of the application and showcase an aspect of the student not highlighted in the rest of the application. It is also well written and grammatically correct. A more concrete reason for this prompt is that colleges want to have a high yield, the ratio of accepted students who end up attending. In fact, few practiced writers are able to do it on demand. That said, if you can pull it offâ€"if you can produce essays that complement your other credentialsâ€"you will be able to introduce an effective “hook” into your applications. News and World Report and contribute to the overall reputation of the school. This essay is one way for them to gauge how likely you are to attend and help them attain a high yield. If you seem genuinely passionate about the college, then they can assume you’re more likely to matriculate if offered a spot in the freshman class. College admissions committees are looking to build a student body that will contribute to and sustain the community. They want to attract students and eventual alumni who are innovators and creators, and they want to have a hand in shaping those minds. If you find yourself in this situation, you’re not alone. Writing a compelling essay is not an easy task given the high-stakes nature of college admissionâ€"nor should it be.