For years college admission counselors have had to determine which students should be admitted to the college not being essay writers. Many applications look the same: high-grade point average, involvement in extracurricular activities, and outstanding ACT or SAT scores. To individualize the application admission offices now require a college admission essay or personal statement essay.
Choose Your Subject With Care
It’s best to stay away from controversial topics such as politics, abortion, and religion, but if you do choose to write about them, remember to mention counterarguments.
Maybe you could write about a subject you’d like to take in college. For instance, you could show your interest in a subject like astronomy or psychology by writing a college admission essay about how you developed an interest in it.
Begin Your College Admission Essay With a Hook
Hook your reader from your first sentence and keep him reading. Remember that admission officers read up to 100 essays each day. Let your personality and unique point of view shine through. One way to hook your reader is, to begin with, an anecdote, or an interesting insight.
Writing Tips for Students
- Once you’ve picked the subject of your essay, stick to it. If you’re writing about your interest in psychology, don’t write an entire autobiography. Start with the time in your life when you became fascinated with how the mind works.
- Make sure you don’t make grammar and spelling mistakes. Don’t rely on Microsoft Word’s built-in grammar and spell-check. It doesn’t catch everything.
- Write with passion and edit with flair. Weed out anything that doesn’t belong in your essay. In other words, don’t include information about your love for horses when you’re writing about your passion for psychology.
- Keep your vocabulary simple. Big words are not going to impress your reader. Your college admission essay will come across as pompous and superficial. Read some fine prose and you’ll understand the power of simplicity. Simple words are familiar and easy to understand.
- Do your research. Find out about the institution to which you’re applying. Study their website. Find out about their strengths, values, and mission. This will give you a good idea of what would appeal to them.
- Avoid whining about your tragic past. You want to make a positive impression, not be seen as a pitiable person.
- You’ll need a beginning, middle, and end. Begin with an interesting anecdote. Don’t be afraid of trying a humorous angle. Your essay must have point. For example, your proposition may be “Pride goeth before a fall.” You can write about the time you were showing off your skating skills until the ice gave way beneath you.
- The middle of your college admission essay could describe the details of your skating. Appeal to the senses. Describe the sights, smells, and the sensation of the smooth ice. Make your reader feel and see how it was.
- Your middle will rise to a climax where you fall through the ice. And then you do a complete circle by going back to your proposition in the beginning. This will give your essay a sense of completion and finesse. Your ending could be a sentence or an entire paragraph.
The Personal College Admission Essay Format
One aspect that admission offices look for in college admission essays is proper essay format. High school English teachers spend numerous hours teaching this process. Each essay needs to have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The introduction and conclusion usually are a paragraph long while the body can be many paragraphs. Remember that each paragraph needs to have three to four complete sentences.
Correct Usage of the English Language
Grammatical errors complicate the flow of the essay. Readers become sidetracked by the errors instead of understanding the main concept of the essay. Also, the use of slang words can detract the reader. Be sure to have at least two people read the essay for grammatical errors.
Create an Essay Using the Prompt
Colleges will choose an essay prompt to allow the student to differentiate themselves from other applicants. Some prompts may be to write a personal statement, and others may be a variation of it like asking applicants to describe themselves using calculus terms. Whatever the prompt, the college is trying to get the applicant to express who they are and why that specific college is for that student.
The college admission essay should take on the feel of the student’s personality and/or individual experiences. Remember the admission office wants a diverse student body, so students who express individuality will be more likely to gain admission. Be sure to specifically answer the essay prompt within the essay.
Brainstorm the Contents to Add to the Essay
Students should read the prompt/question and immediately begin to write down any words or phrases that come to mind. Taking twenty minutes to complete this activity will provide enough time to fully think of examples. Then students should re-read the words/phrases one at a time. After each word/phrase they can continue to write down more ideas or examples associated with the word/phrase.
Here is an example. The college admission essay prompt is to tell the committee why the student would be a good match for the college. The student can immediately begin to write down individual traits they possess (German Club President, work with the elderly, dedicated to studying, have a goal to become a teacher, etc.). Additionally, the student can record elements of the college that interests them. This can be done by reviewing the college’s website and noting all elements that interest them (Student Council, community service within the city, student teaching in urban areas, studying abroad, etc.)
Upon brainstorming the initial words/phrases, students can begin to marry the individual traits to the school offerings. Here is an example statement. Currently, I am the German Club President at ABC High School. Through this experience, our club has taken two trips to Germany and lived with host families. The German Language is a passion of mine, and I would like to continue studying it at XYZ College. Additionally, I would also like to participate in the semester study abroad option to Germany to study the language and culture to open my mind further to other cultures. Also, I noticed that XYZ does not offer a German Club, so I would be very interested in taking the steps to begin a club with other students who have the same interest in the German Language.
Overall, the college admission essay is a heavy factor for college admission. Students need to create an essay that is both structurally sound and expressive of individuality. The second pair of eyes is needed to review the essay for errors, and critique. Once the essay has gone through a few revisions and has been proofread, then the essay is ready to be submitted.
