Writing College Essays

Writing College Essays Colleges look for students who have dealt with adversity, have overcome challenges and continue to grow from their experience. Admitting shortcomings is a sign of maturity and intelligence, so there is no need to portray yourself as a superhero; they will see through it. Choose the prompt that comes closest to something you’d like to write about. Have them give you comments and encourage them to be honest. DON’T try to write an important or scholarly essay. A well-researched essay that shows off your knowledge of a particular academic subject tells the reader nothing about you. I know this sounds absurdly simple, but it really does make a difference to be as relaxed as possible when you sit down to write. Some applications may require one or more essays to be completed, while others make essays optional or supplementary. Essay topics range from very specific to open-ended. An essay where highschoolers have to boast about how awesome they are in order to get into the colleges they want. The harder they boast the more likely they'll get accepted. Combining your larger reasons with the specific details paints a clear picture of why this is the right college for you. Use the details to ground the bigger-picture aspects of your story. For instance, if you’re applying to Cornell’s School of Hotel Management, you might describe how you’ve been collecting hotel brochures since you were a child in the hope of one day opening your own. That, combined with your desire to be on a large, rural campus with deep ties to the surrounding town â€" and work every job possible in a student run hotel â€" made you know Cornell was the school for you. College Gazette is the #1 source on higher education in the US. Every week, we post articles and related media all about the top universities in the world, as well as premium admissions tips and the latest college news. All rankings are simply the opinion of College Gazette and are not to be construed as definitive fact. There are supplementary essays for some schools, in addition to the common app essay, that are just 300 words or less. The purpose of the prompt is to help you reflect on something that matters to you. Your application will be full of information that illuminates dimensions of you and your abilities, but only the essay gives you a vehicle to speak, in your own voice, about something personally significant. Choose something you care about and it will flow more naturally. Allow yourself plenty of time to write the essay. 2.Narrow the list of possible topics.Which topics best reflect who you are and how you want to portray yourself to the colleges? Which topics best help you answer the essay question. Every reader has his own taste in what he wants and what matters to him, and a student sometimes gets lucky. “You have to hope that (the reader’s) taste jives with your sensibility,” Jager-Hyman says. Both Stanford University and University of California Berkeley officials insist they read all essays. There has always been speculation as to the value colleges place on the essay. Once you have a revised draft of your college essay, call in your friends and family to take a look. However, don't make being funny one of your top goals in your college essay. Generally speaking, slang words conjure the feeling of someone being unpolished, uncaring or not that serious. These are three things you don't want your admissions reader thinking about you. Likewise, avoid clichés and overuse of contractions. Be thoughtful in both your topic choice and the tone of your writing. The reader will only suspect that your essay is a recycled term paper. DO write an essay that only you could honestly write. If it’s possible that the reader will read anything similar from another applicant, you need to start another essay. Look on theUndergraduate Admissions website and locate the possible college essay topics. You may see one or two questions that seem easier for you to answer than others. This essay is about your relationship with the school, not solely the school itself. In fact, it’s really more about you than the college â€" how and why you will thrive there. To that end, use the space to explore why you’re a mutual fit. It can be especially helpful to use a story or anecdote (just not, “I’ve had a Yale sweatshirt since I was 10”). Admissions officers can have a sense of humor too, and, when used appropriately, humor can make you stand out.