College Admission Essays
College Admission Essays
The most daunting part of the college application is the personal essay. However, there’s no need to fear! Don’t think of your personal essay as an intimidating barrier, but rather a leverage tool. With these easy guidelines, you can use the personal essay to creatively express your talents.
Use Your Voice!
Remember, this is the way to introduce yourself to the admission officers. Without a face-to-face meeting, your personal essay is the only way to supply a first impression. Your essay reflects your own person style and voice, qualities otherwise lost in monochromatic applications.
You need to seriously consider your personal views of the world, your passions, your experiences with friends and family, and your ambitions in life. These type of considerations will help determine what your essay will be about, and what kind of tone and attitude you will use when approaching the essay.
This is how to generally approach writing a personal essay, but there are also some fundamental elements that need to be addressed.
The Basics of Good Writing
Make sure you answer the essay question and exactly follow the provided instructions.
Your opening paragraph should be strong! Remember, you need to hook the reader immediately.
Don’t get in over your head. Your writing style should be true to your voice. It’s very obvious when someone is writing in a voice that is not their own. The style should be your own, and also suit the subject you’ve chosen to address.
Use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Make sure you know what you want to talk about. Avoid the “Amazing Wandering Premise.” Choose a topic and stick to it throughout your essay.
If you decide to write an essay chockfull of interesting facts, crosscheck your research! If you mention specific events, places, people, and dates, make sure they are correct so as to avoid embarrassing mistakes.
Read your essay to other people. While your essay may be clear and flow nicely to you, other people may find parts confusing or muddled. Reading your essay for other people will help you approach the essay from fresh viewpoints, and provide insight into how other people receive your personal essay.
Be succinct. If the university provided a recommended length for the essay, adhere to the guidelines.
Always type your essay and use black ink.
Remember: this essay is a reflection of YOU. Any typos, messy layouts, or rambling sentences make it seem like you don’t take the essay (or university) seriously.
So What Do I Write About?
Some applications provide prospective students with the topic. However, if the topic is not provided for you, there are literally hundreds of ways to decide what you should write about. Here are a few suggestions:
What are your interests? Think about your favorite after school events, or hobbies you participate in. These are subjects you should consider addressing, since the university application may otherwise neglect these personal interests.
Do you participate in community charity work? Are you an activist? Remember, your passion for certain pursuits will come across in your essay, and possibly spark the interest of the admissions officers. Universities want committed, impassioned students, so don’t be afraid to reflect how strongly you feel about your extracurricular work.
Consider the global events of the time. Officers look for conscientious individuals. If you feel strongly about world events, consider devoting your personal essay to some aspect of global news.
If you feel particularly engaged with a specific school subject, write about! Has this interest caused you to pursue your interests outside of school? Officers want to see that you desire to engage in intellectual prowess during and AFTER classroom hours. Unlike high school, college does not provide its students with strict study time. Students are expected to passionately pursue their own academic learning, so officers want to know you are serious about your education.
Handling the Topic
Oftentimes, an application will ask that you write about a life experience, achievement, or someone who heavily influenced your life. When an application begs this kind of question, the officers want to know the WHY over the WHAT. It’s important to retrace the exact experience, but also consider larger questions. Why did this life experience change who I was? Why is my mother my role model?
Remember: the personal essay is the university’s way to explore who you are as a person, rather than another generic application. Take advantage of the freedom provided in the personal essay. Your personal style can be used as leverage to ensure you stand out in the crowd of other applicants.