Writing A College Essay

Writing A College Essay You should read a college guide book, methodically review the website, and hopefully, if at all possible, visit the school. Additionally, you might email an admissions counselor at the school with some questions or speak to a current student or alum. (If you don’t know anyone affiliated with the school, try asking your guidance counselor if there are former students from your high school who attend or attended X college.) Peruse a course catalog. Make a plan to meet with your college counselor and go over your college list and essays, and ask for feedback on your writing. Your college counselor can provide valuable insight into how to improve your college application essays, so seek feedback on your drafts as soon as possible. School-based counselors have a lot of students to advise and are very busy, so seek guidance early and often. While it’s important to put considerable effort into all college application components, essays are often the finishing touch and should be treated with great care and consideration. Essay writingis an important part of the college application process. Using the Common Application, you will have to write one major essay, and possibly write a series of smaller essays for each school on their Supplement Forms . This length will be fairly consistent across institutes of higher education whether you are using the Common Application or an individual schools application. You can find some examples of good answers to these essays in the resource section of this module. Reading essay examples can be helpful in guiding you to writing your own good essay. This is true whether you’re writing essays for admission applications or scholarships. Your college counselors are there to help, but they can’t if you don’t ask or wait until the last minute to seek guidance and feedback. For more insights into how we work with students on college essays and applications, check out this TEDx Talk from our co-founder, Eric Karlan. When writing your college essay, avoid creating a list of your activities and accomplishments. Tell the reader something about yourself that isn’t evident in the rest of your application. Think about your best personal trait, your interests, values and goals. Focus on one of these qualities and make it the theme of your essay. The application essay is a common part of the university and college admissions process. The college essay is often the most difficult part of preparing your application. To help you get off to a good start, we’ve put together the following tips and hints. These steps will help you develop a list of specific qualities that are unique to the school. Standing out with your college essay is important. College admission counselors read hundreds and thousands of essays every year. Identify the parts of you that set you apart from others and utilize them to write a unique essay. If you are a strong writer, you might also be able to present your topic in a unique and interesting way. These are comments from our admissions staff who actually read your essays and evaluate them in the admission process. We can’t guarantee results, but this advice might help you get started. You can find some examples of creative essays in the resource section of this module. Again, remember it is important not to plagiarize the ideas of others, but they may help you to get started in writing your essay. A student's essay is usually expected to be between words or 1-2 pages. For example, your best trait might be determination, creativity, or compassion. Tell a story that makes that trait clear to the reader. Provide evidence by citing specific instances from your life. When you write a college essay, BEAR in mind (yes, a Confession Bear joke â€" haha!) you’re going to be considered in comparison to all of the other applicants.