7 useful tips on how to write a college application essay
When you apply to college, as a part of your application procedure, you will need to write an essay. This is your perfect opportunity to present yourself and impress the admission committee with your writing skills and the experience you have gained.
It is a very time-consuming process - to write an essay that works, it might take you more than a few hours or even days to clear and gather your thoughts. But the thing is, the admission officers spend at most ten minutes to read it. According to Jim Rawlins, director of admissions at the University of Oregon, you may spend weeks on writing the essay but you will have only a few minutes of so-called "fame" to grab readers' attention and lead them through your story. All in all, being very good at writing is a must if you want to make the readers stay until the end of your essay and induce them to make a decision in your favor.
Sounds a bit complicated right? A lot is put at stake: all your academic achievements, your grants - everything you have done needs to be accompanied with "simple essay writing". Thus, you must know that the formula of success usually lies in a simple thing - how to create an essay that works and wrap it up perfectly.
Writing a great college application essay is easier than you think
For starters, we decided to give you some college application essay tips on how to write an essay for a college application and how to start a college application essay in a DO's and DON'T's format.
- Be yourself and let the writing come from your heart. Don't make up a story you don't believe in.
- Start writing your college application essay as early as possible. Don't postpone writing your essay till the very last minute. Do organize your writing, create the time frame for drafts to be edited and keep to it.
- Choose a topic that fits you better. Don't focus on the specifics of a particular college, its pros and the amount of dedication it might take you to study there. Do share your personal thoughts, select a creative approach of presenting the story and highlight its crucial points.
- Narrow the focus down to something personal. Don't try to cover too many topics in your essay. This will make the essay sound like a formal list of things happened to you, and it will not truly reveal anything about you. Do focus on one aspect of your life you find worth sharing so the readers can learn more about what kind of person you are, and what your areas of weakness and strength are.
- Show the examples, don't simply list them all. Don't simply state a fact. For example "I like to surround myself with people with similar interests". Do include some specific details here: real, convincing examples, your personal reasons and so on, like "My friend and I, being members of student scientific society, presented the idea of "a volcano on the table" to young pupils to encourage them to learn chemistry more and join our club of young scientists".
- Ask for a feedback. Don't send your essay without getting a feedback on it. Do ask a teacher or your parents to read it for you. Even your classmates can give you some advice on it, they could also notice some spelling or grammar mistakes you have missed. Also, the person who proofreads your essay might tell if the writing "sounds" like you.
- Write succinctly and stick with your vocabulary. Don't use too many complex words and phrases, it can make your essay oddly stilted. It might create a wrong impression and look grandiloquent or even humorous to the reader despite your initial intentions. Do your writing concisely to show that while having size limitations you can still organize your thoughts well.
How to write a personal essay for college application
The main thing that applicants always worry about is that their essay won't stand out from the rest. It is perfectly normal to have such concerns because usually, highly competitive conditions are prevalent in the education system.
Unfortunately, the majority of college application essays are far from being perfect. In most cases they contain too many cliches, aren't very interesting to read or lack a well-defined structure. It is often hard to find the golden mean and be creative but not too frivolous, keep the natural flow of your story so it won't sound forced and shoddy.
You have probably seen many college application essay samples on the Internet. They can give you an overall impression of the structure or the content, but it doesn't become easier to choose what to write about or the best way to do it. In your writings, you can try being funny, dramatic, optimistic or sardonic, but don't forget that it must be your own story and it must describe your endeavors, successes or failures.
A lot of students have neither the time nor the necessary skills to ensure a hundred percent success of their application essay. In this case, the solution is to order it from professional writing services. By doing so, providing you gave all the necessary information to them, you can rest assured that the result will fully meet all your expectations.
If you have already written an essay but have some doubts about its organization or content related aspects, you still can buy cheap custom essays at professional services that will help you revise or improve it before submitting it to the admission officers.
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