Summer means a break from school - swimming, hiking, playing golf, catching up on sleep and most important and enjoyable, getting started on writing your COLLEGE ESSAY! Follow these tips and get going, already!
1. To assist the Admission Committee in evaluating a candidate's writing skills; and
2. To give the Admission Committee additional information about the applicant that is not mentioned in another part of the application or to expand upon something about the candidate that may be referenced elsewhere in the application.
The College Essay:
• Provides the reader with a better sense of something that is important to the applicant.
• Leaves the reader with a clear understanding of why the topic is meaningful to the student.
• Shows the reader
how the student has learned/grown/changed
as a result of the experience or issue described in the essay.
• Is organized in such a way that the writer's main point is clear to the reader before the end of the essay.
• Shows that the student has given serious thought to the topic and has reflected on its meaning in his/her life.
This is NOT the 5 paragraph, analytical essay you’ve been writing your whole life!
Common Mistakes:
• Taking on too much/poor organization - Some students try to say too much in their essay and end up wandering from one point or experience to another, never giving thorough attention to any aspect of the essay. Such essays come across as autobiographies and leave the reader unsure of the author's main point. It is better to deal fully with one issue or experience than to write an essay that is little more than a laundry list of interests and experiences.
• Generalizations without specific examples - An essay that tells about an experience and then ends with a concluding statement that hasn't been introduced at an earlier point in the essay often leaves the reader wondering why the student chose to write about this topic. The main point should be introduced at the beginning of the essay, illuminated by examples in the main body of the text, and then reiterated at the end of the essay.
• READ and ANSWER the WHOLE Prompt, not just one part.
• One size fits all essay - It is easy to tell when a student has taken an essay that was written for College A and made a couple of small changes in an effort to adapt it to College B's essay topic. Such essays do not fully address College B's topic and expose the student as one who has cut corners and has not given full attention to College B's essay.
1. JUST TELL A STORY…But have a POINT
What's the point? - An essay that merely tells a story or describes an experience that the candidate has had leaves the reader wondering what the essay is supposed to be about. If a story is used to address an essay topic such as "Evaluate a significant experience," the writer must pay particular attention to the word "evaluate" or else his/her work will be nothing more than a recounting of an event, not a true essay. In this example, the "point" of the essay should be how and why the significant experience was influential. This is what separates an essay from a story.
Spare me from being BORED to death.
1. Essay Do’s: MAKE ME CARE!!!
Write in your own voice.
• Proof read carefully - spill chuck does nut pack up ever mistake!
• Start early and write multiple drafts - your essay will become better with each rewrite.
• Be careful when you cut and paste; make sure text appears where you want it and is not repeated elsewhere within your essay.
Essay Don’t’s
• Allow someone to correct your essay. The essay should be your work, not someone else's. It is okay to ask someone to give you feedback and suggestions about how to improve the essay, but you must make the changes yourself.
• Use the essay as an opportunity to explain a weakness in your record. This will dilute your topic, resulting in a less effective essay. If you want to explain something about your record, it is better to include a separate statement addressing your concern.
• Use words that are not part of your day to day vocabulary. If you use a thesaurus to find sophisticated words, they will not sound natural and will weaken your essay.
• Ignore the essay topic assigned by a college in favor of another topic that you like better. This will show that you did not follow instructions.