Dreading Writing Your College Application Essay? Tips From The Pros

Dreading Writing Your College Application Essay? Tips From The Pros We haven’t all pulled babies from burning buildings or sailed around the world in a catamaran. Tell a story from your own life that shows something unique about you. The story that your friends perk up to listen to- that’s the stuff that makes for great app essays. More than anything, officers want to get to know you through your essay. If your study of AP biology conflicts with your religious views, write about that and how you reconciled the two. Don’t be too formal â€" or too reliant on a Thesaurus. After all, this component of the essay is all about your personality. Don’t try to impress the admissions committee with your knowledge or verbiage; impress them with who you are. Don’t write about circumstances and embellish just to have a sad or serious essay. Like great works of fiction, these essays clearly paint a picture in the reader’s mind. The main character is developed with depth and detail. Great essays are memorable because they distinctively portray their subjects without relying on clichés or formulaic topics. A great college essay combines creativity, excellent writing, and honesty. It’s important that your essay be a solid reflection of you as a person and as a student, and that you follow the guidelines provided in terms of topic and word-count. It is well-written with college bound vocabulary and style, but easy to read and somewhat unassuming. Many students use this essay to expound upon activities or interests that are already heavily demonstrated in their application through courses, the activity list, and more. Instead of reinforcing a top activity or interest, instead, write about something that reveals another dimension of your life or personality. If your top activity is swimming, don’t write about the big championship meet. Find something else that reveals something new and that shows you put a lot of thought into your essay. This is one of the most common mistakes that students make. In the pursuit to write the perfect essay, many forget to connect it to the original prompt. You will end up sounding like every other applicant. 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. However, if you have had to struggle with an illness, loss of a loved one or other difficult experience, discuss how you have or are working to overcome it. If you need inspiration, check out this student’s admissions essay. It got him into Harvard, MIT, Yale, Columbia and the University of Virginia. While the Common Application prompts for the main essay are general enough to allow students to write about whatever they choose, it still needs to be clear how that essay addresses the prompt. Check and double check that a clear connection is made between the topic or lesson of your essay, and the question the prompt is asking. The personal statement is your opportunity to reveal something about yourself that can’t be found anywhere else in your application â€" use it! 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. Let’s take a look, then, at why colleges require essays in the first place. They convey on paper a sense of who the writer is as a person. After reading a great essay, I feel as if I have just had an enlivening conversation with the person even though it was entirely on paper.