Application Essay

Application Essay So you don’t need to have great exotic vacations or heartbreaking stories of community service in some far off land â€" you just need to reveal your point of view about a topic. When you can show the reader a slice of your genuine self â€" you are on your way to a great college essay. The uniqueness of an essay stems not from some external experience, but your internal responses. 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. 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. 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. See how the first relays information in apassivevoice, while the second paints anactivepicture? Feel free to start out by painting a vibrant picture of yourself too! Many college admissions counselors have said that the more unique your essay â€" the content and writing style â€" the more captivating it is to read. 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. 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. It is well-written with college bound vocabulary and style, but easy to read and somewhat unassuming. Like great works of fiction, these essays clearly paint a picture in the reader’s mind. In addition to this, the schools that you’re applying to may have different prompts â€" which could mean having to write multiple essays. This is why we recommend sitting down and coming up with a few different topics to consider. No wonder people feel stressed out about their college essays! A great college essay gives the reader a glimpse of the person behind the page. Lots of counselors tell students to “tell a story only you can tell,” and I definitely agree with that. But sometimes students misinterpret this to mean â€" “tell me about a totally unique experience” â€" and they get totally stressed out because they don’t feel that they have any unique experiences. Telling a story “only you can tell” means that you tell the reader a story from your perspective. Don’t just write what you think the admissions office wants to hear. Very often they are inundated with essays that cater to “what they want to hear,” making such essays exactly what they don’t want to hear. It can be hard to choose what to talk about in your college essays. In other words, your college essay should give the reader a real sense of your unique personality, characteristics, and qualities. Whether you’re prompted to write about a formative experience, why you think you’d be a good fit for the university or about a person who has influenced you greatly, answer the question honestly. 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. (noun, pl.) A completely masturbatory work of high school fiction, used by college admissions officials as psyops tests in order to evaluate your personality. These, on college applications, are better left blank, so long as your GPA, SAT, and other tests are in your advantage. Otherwise, sarcastic embellishment is usually required, in the form of a Hail Mary Pass.