Writing A Strong College Admissions Essay

Writing A Strong College Admissions Essay If you’re applying to a large state institution, and your numbers are strong relative to their average student body, then you’ll get in on the strength of your four years of hard work. The bottom line is that they may be getting 25,000 applications, and they simply don’t have time to sift through essays and recommendations. They’re looking at your essay, recommendations and activities to understand the whole picture of you. It all depends on where you’re applying, your grades and your test scores. Essays on negative life events can be very tricky. Unless enough time has passed since the experience, the essay can be too personal, too much of a rant, or just too hard to read. But make sure it’s still your voice,” Richardson says. While St. Johns College may ask for more in-depth answers, other schools value brevity, challenging students to write concisely. One such example, shared by Tufts, takes the reader from the student’s love of origami to a passion for science in less than 250 words. Cite a wide range of sources in your essay to show the depth of your research. Inzer also encourages students not to stress too much over the essay and put unnecessary weight on it as part of their college application. DEEP WEB RESEARCH. This should be the heart of your essay, as well as the meat and potatoes. Reading the school’s website is not a bad start, as it will give you a basic overview of what’s on offer. While a strong essay may elevate a candidate in a crowded field, she says it doesn’t make or break an application. “The essay really needs to be the student’s work. I encourage students to ask people close to them to read the essay and ask ‘would you know this essay is about me? Keep an eye peeled for course listings, recent news events, maps and descriptions of important campus buildings, student run organizations, and other key terms. Then take those terms and plug them right into Google, Youtube and Linkedin! After reading links on the things that interest you, you’ll understand it almost as well as someone at the school! Statistical websites like College Factual are tremendously helpful here as well, as are blogs from current and former students, Vlogs, Instagram feeds â€" anything and everything is fair game. When my best friend John Smith ‘20 told me about U.Chicago’s diverse campus environment , I was excited, but skeptical â€" diversity can mean different things to different people. So I went to see for myself, visiting on September 9th, 2017. The info session was intimate â€" more so than any other I have attended â€" with a relatively select group of students offered full campus access. Bob Davis ’12, my tour leader, was extraordinarily patient, walking me through U.Chicago’s outstanding array of clubs and societies, including the MSAC Committee. U.Chicago is one of the only schools I am considering that even offers a student-led Diversity Committee, much less one that advises faculty and university management on key outreach issues.Outstanding. There are so many terrific free resources online â€" just google “brainstorming college essay” and you’ll be pleased with what comes up. Also, look at the Common Application essay promptsâ€" one of them will speak to you, but you need to really read them. Kids are quick to eliminate a prompt, but I always ask them to go back and rethink. Ask smaller questions around the prompt to get at exactly what you want to write about. The college essay provides a good opportunity to leave a long-lasting impression on the reader, apart from the interview and an efficient way to let the people in the admission know you closely. A person they like and remember through the college essay is most likely to be selected.