Writing A Strong College Admissions Essay

Writing A Strong College Admissions Essay The best essays are 20% about the “topic” (the “what”) and 80% about the writer. A great college essay grabs your attention from the first sentence. Few things are as eternal as the search for the great college essay. But given the range of factors that go into the decision making process, it is hard to know if the “successful” essays ones really tipped the balance. That being said, the essay is something you can control so you want to make it good. Quite simply, a great college essay helps illuminate who you are. This module can help you to sort through what you need to do to write the best essay you can write. The ultimate point of a college essay is to engage and hopefully convince the reader that you would be an asset on that campus. You need the essay to wow them with your personal qualities while sharing an engaging story, perhaps- a snapshot of your life. The tone could be funny or sad, reflective or poignant, but you NEED that reader to like you, so that they would support your application in admissions. If your essay does not reveal some sense of your best personal qualities are i.e. maturity, leadership or compassion then it has failed. The risks are greater than any benefit you might get by plagiarizing an essay. Do not assume that if someone else writes the essay for you that it will produce a high quality essay. The college essay can feel like the worst part of the application process. Whether writing comes easy or is a struggle for you, writing an essay can be a significant challenge and it can feel like your whole application is riding on that one essay. The worst things you can do is write an essay that is generic, one where if your name was replaced by another, the reader could not tell the difference. The people in the admissions office are trying to learn about you and the essay is often the last chance you have to shape their impression and understanding of you. A great college essay is one that makes your reader want to get to know you better, to engage in a conversation with you. It is an essay that makes your reader laugh or cry or think. However, make sure that the essay is completely original. Never copy an essay from the internet or have someone else write it for you. Nearly all colleges and universities require students to write an essay to supplement their application to attend the institution. Applicants are usually given an essay prompt and a word limit within which to express themselves. It takes readers into, through, and beyond the story in 500 words or less. A great essay tells a a unique story that communicates key qualities you can offer the college. That is why a great college essay is personal.This great essay is very visual and helps make you become 3-D for the reader. It starts right away with a specific story from running a marathon in the rain to spilling water on customersâ€"twiceâ€" and keeps us engaged from the first word to the last. The best college essays deal with specific examples from the writer’s life. They are not general or abstract, the more details the better. The essays usually cover topics relating to the student’s experiences and opinions. The goal of the essay is to provide admission professionals an opportunity to see you, beyond your GPA and test scores, as an individual person with your own unique experiences. One hurdle that you must surmount when planning to go to college is the application process. It can be laborious, time intensive, confusing, and overwhelming.