By: Marissa Williams
The idea of writing your college essay may be scary, but it doesn’t have to be! Many students find writing their essays to be the hardest part of the entire college application process. As many colleges and universities are going test-optional, it is essential to have a strong essay that showcases your academic achievements and growth. After reading this post, you should be able to create your perfect essay easily!
Brainstorming Ideas
Admission officers read hundreds of college essays a day. In order to stand out, you want to choose a topic that is unique to you, along with a story that showcases your growth and achievements. The story aspect of your essay will allow the admissions office to learn more about who you are as a person, rather than you being another applicant.
Start by creating a list of things that are important to you, things you like/dislike, and things you enjoy participating in. This list can include sports, any clubs you are a part of, someone or something that has taught you an important lesson, a class that has prompted significant growth, etc. After creating this list, you want to think of stories that can go along with these topics. However, these shouldn’t just be any stories; they should include some sort of reflection and or growth. Adding a piece of reflection in your essay will show colleges that you are willing to learn from your experiences and self-aware enough to think about how certain experiences have contributed to who you are as a person today.
Crafting a Draft
Start with an attention-grabbing hook. As stated before, admission officers read hundreds of essays a day, so starting wth an “abnormal” hook is the way to go! Think about starting with a question, an unpopular opinion, or a fact that isn’t common knowledge. Your hook allows you to make a strong first impression and allows your essay to be more memorable. When admission officers read your essay, you want them to be encouraged to continue reading, to get to know more about who you are. With a strong introduction, you can do just that!
Moving on to the body of your essay, remember that you only have 650 words to use.Therefore, you want to make sure every word counts. When telling your story, give your reader some context, meaning describe where you were in the moment, how you were feeling. This allows the reader to imagine your story as they are reading. While you are telling your story, make sure the essay has your authentic voice. It should sound as if this person is listening to you actually tell a story. With this, you want to avoid repeating information that is already included in your application. By the end of your essay, you should’ve highlighted you major accomplishments and strengths. When admissions officers look at your entire application they will be able to see all the other things you have achieved!
Receiving Feedback and Revising
The first draft that you write of your essay wil not be the one that you end up submitting and that is okay! It is important that you ask people that you are sure will give you thoughtful feedback in order for you to make any revisions necessary. While feedback can be a very useful tool when it come to writing, you don’t want to ask too many people for their opinions. Your college essay should be entirely you therefore when you ask many other people for feedback and then try to accept every suggestion, your authentic voice can get lost throughout. Asking 2-3 people to read and suggest feedback on your essay is more than enough!
Read your essay aloud! For any essay that you do before asking for feedback you should read your essay aloud in order to catch any silly mistakes, and to make sure that sentences don’t sound awkward. Doing this before you ask for feedback from others can help them give you more thoughtful advice rather than advice that just fixes grammatical errors.
Don’t Stress
Writing your college essay shouldn’t be something you should be intimidated by. Starting early, brainstorming and asking for help are all useful tools you can use to succeed in this process. Remember that your essay is super essential to your college applications, it is your only chance to showcase what an amazing person and student you are!
Helpful Links!
12 Strategies to Writing the Perfect College Essay – Harvard Summer School
How to Write a College Essay Step-by-Step
Crafting an Unforgettable College Essay | The Princeton Review
Essays that Worked – Tips for a Good College Essay
Ultimate Guide to Writing Your College Essay – BigFuture