Monday, October 22, 2012

Nailing the College Admission Essay

Planning ahead is one of the most important elements in writing a good college admission essay.  If you allow yourself accurate time for numerous drafts and proofreading, it will allow you to create a unique and expressive introduction letter about you to the admission advisors.
9 Areas to Consider When Writing an Essay.
*      Do Some Soul Searching - What makes you unique? What can you tell the school they   won’t learn from your application? Consider your strengths and weaknesses.  You essay should enhance your overall application and help you stand out as an individual.
*      Don’t Get Stumped – If you feel blocked, asked yourself how you might answer the essay question if you were talking to a close friend. Brainstorm you life experiences and build from there.
*      Show Them You Are Interested – Show the school you have researched them and visit the school and their website.  Schools are more likely to admit a student who has made an effort to learn more about them.
*      Read Through And Analyze – Does your essay make sense.  Make sure it answers the question or topic presented.  The essay should be state the main topic in a concise and effective manner.
*      It’ All About You – If you are asked to write about a role model or event, don’t forget to focus the essay on yourself.  How were you changed? How did the person or event influence you? What did you learn from this journey?
*      Be a  Person Not a List – Do not just list a bunch or awards or activities.  Consider highlighting one or two items and explain how they help shape the person you are today.  Describe the cause and effect and steps you took to accomplish your goals. 
*      Recycle – If you can use portions of one essay for another college application, then do so.  It will allow time management and allow you to focus on other things.  Please make sure the topic is relevant to the other school’s essay question.
*      Proof Read Again And Again – Grammatical errors conveys a lazy person who is not detail oriented.  Presentation counts and you want to be sure you make the right impression.
!!!!!!Get a Second Opinion – Have your teacher or counselor read your essay.  They can assist you with proofreading and often they know type of essay has been successful in the past.  Do not plagiarize someone else’s admission essay.  !!!!!

1 comment:

  1. This is a good article for all seniors to review when applying for scholarships.

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