Writing A College Essay

Writing A College Essay That’s okay to start â€" it gets you in the flow of writing. But we want to get that stuff out of the way as quickly as possible so we can move on to the not so obvious. If I had to assign the MVP of the college application essay, it would be the very first sentence. Students often show their essays to teachers, counselors, parents and friends. Your essay should consist of three parts - an introduction , body and a conclusion . Create an outline, decide where to include examples and write your first draft. Don't worry about making it perfect; just let your ideas flow. You can fix mistakes and improve your writing in later drafts. Admission committees will have just read through your application; the last thing they want to do is read another form of your information, achievements and extracurricular involvement. Each person has a different idea about what you “should” write, and before you know it, you’ve lost the heart of the essay. Students often come to our courses with a “topic” they think they should write about, as if they are writing an analytical essay in English class. Instead, you should explore specific moments that reveal your character in action. The college application process is stressful, and the essay can seem like an insurmountable hurdle. Acceptance into college is dependent on your strengths and academic abilities. Focus on your strengths for your college essay. Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. To identify key ingredients of a good college essay. Really, the success of your essay will come down not to what you write about, but how. In general, it’s much easier to stand out on the basis of how you approach your topic than what you say. However, while it’s true that the essay isn’t the only thing that matters to college admissions officers, a great essay can actually compensate for less than stellar grades. On the flip side, abad essaycan overshadow all of your other accomplishments. People think that students who get accepted into top colleges have to be extremely well-rounded and accomplished in multiple areas. There are supplementary essays for some schools, in addition to the common app essay, that are just 300 words or less. If you think about it, that’s only sentences or so. Identify a topic or talk about something that is unique and different Or, breathe life into a mundane subject by approaching it differently. If you’ve never done it before, free writing is just taking a topic and writing anything that comes into your head. Just take a blank document or sheet of paper, set a timer for minutes, and start writing. However, most people don’t have such novel experiences. Don’t think that your life is too “boring” to provide material for a great essay.With the right approach, you can still write an essay that wows. You have to remember that the person reading your essay knows nothing about you, save for a few basic statistics. When free writing about a topic, you may stumble onto an idea even better than your original. It helps you get all the obvious stuff out of your head first. When you begin to write an essay, it’s normal to fall back on clichés. These people will point out things you never would have noticed on your own. John Hopkins University has a page full of essays that worked; one in particular, entitled“Breaking Into Cars”, showcases what the writer learned from his experiences well. This second version isn’t going to win any awards, and it definitely needs more work, but the specificity is there. If the person reading this essay had no idea about marching band or music, this description would give them enough detail to empathize with the writer. With all the knowledge you have of a topic, it can seem that a few simple sentences are enough to do it justice â€" but that’s rarely the case. Once you’ve proofread and edited the essay till you’re sick of it, let a few people you trust look over it. If they’re willing, get one of your English teachers to read it.