How To Write An Effective College Admission Essay

How To Write An Effective College Admission Essay Often, students feel pressure to write about a completely unique, never-before-seen essay topic that will help them stand out. When these students can’t think of anything “cool” or “special” enough, they make something up. You may have been advised to take risks with your college application essays, but you don’t want to be too risky. If you do write about someone who influenced your life, make sure that you only briefly describe them. Most of the essays you will ever have to write in your life will fall loosely under these four categories. A great college essay is an essay that is interesting, pithy and well written. You want both to keep the reader’s attention and to make the reader want you to be a member of the next freshman class at the reader’s college. This is your chance to make your application stand out and your one opportunity to have a real voice appear in the file. Tell the reader something about yourself that might not be included in the rest of the application. Example essays focus on one main idea which you prove with several specific, convincing examples. If you're stuck on how to write an example essay, you can follow a few simple steps to dig yourself out of the rut and write an example essay that you can be proud of. I recommend that students try to find an adult other than their parents to help with essay editing. Parents are blinded by love and perhaps perfection. Admissions officers want to get to know applicants. There’s only so much that application readers can deduce from your extracurricular activities, transcripts, test scores, recommendation letters, and other application materials. Many times the best way to get a clear picture of a student’s goals, accomplishments, and character is to hear it directly from the student him or herself. To avoid writing your essay on a topic that might earn you a rejection letter, check out the five topics you should never write about in your college essay below. I think the five paragraphs for an essay is more of a rule-of-thumb number that is easy to teach students when they are first learning to write. Your teacher was just trying to make sure you understood how to write, not give you a rule you had to always obey. EssayJack is an interactive web platform with a patented solution that pre-structures student essays, reduces writing anxiety, and allows educator customization and feedback. Narrative essays also require a clear structure introduction, body and conclusion populated with concise language. Spend most of the essay focusing on yourself and how your personality or choices have been shaped because of this person. Still, it’s best to avoid especially polarizing topics such as religion, abortion, and other hot-button debates. You don’t know who will read your college application essay or what they believe. To a degree, this mystery person holds your future in their hands, and you don’t want to risk offending them. Teachers, guidance counselors, even friends are viable candidates when looking for a second opinion on your writing. When answering this essay question, use specific details. Students should elaborate on campus organizations or programs that fit certain goals, and specific aspects of the campus community that make it a good social and academic fit. Be as detailed as possible, but be sure to relate these details to specific goals and interests. Don’t just rattle off some course names and expect to wow the admissions committee. In fact, it’s important to write in your authentic voice and avoid using “fancy” vocabulary just to impress admissions officers. Remember that the purpose of a college admissions essay is to help admissions officers get to know you. If your essay is filled with lies and exaggerations, then you’ve missed the point entirely. It’s possible that college admissions officers may suspect you’re lying, which is a poor reflection on your ethics and morals. Even if they don’t suspect you’re lying, you’ve missed your chance to showcase the real reasons that you’re a good fit for this school. So it should “sound” like the applicant, revealing personality, interests, quirks, personal style, and voice. Some parents can act as a sounding board without taking over the project, while others cannot. While it is okay to have a parent proof an essay, they are not always the best option. Asking someone who is slightly more removed from the application process may be the wisest route to go. While parents mean well, any constructive feedback may be misinterpreted, creating conflict at what can already be a stressful time. Each student needs to be able to claim authentic ownership of their essays. Mom and Dad may be great help during the brainstorming process of generating essay topics. More than any other element of the application, the essay gives insight into who a student really is.