The essay you include with your college application serves a variety of purposes in addition to showcasing your writing abilities. Your college essay gives the admissions committee an insight into your voice and personality and shows them why you would be a terrific addition to the school’s student body. Although test results and transcripts are significant, the essay is the only opportunity you will get to address the applicant in person. To make your essay stand out among a sea of applicants, use the advice below.
Begin early
To ensure that you have enough time to plan and research the requirements, start writing as early as possible. Even though the precise timing will ultimately depend on the deadline for submitting applications to the institutions of your choice, you could wish to start as early as your junior year’s spring semester.
Because you might not be as busy during the summer with homework, test preparation, and extracurricular activities, the summer is a fantastic time to concentrate on your essay websites. If the deadlines for applications fall during your senior year, you can concentrate on essay preparation over the summer before you start your senior year.
Conduct research
Take some time to examine the requirements at the institutions to which you wish to apply as each school has its own requirements for application essays. Your application may be turned down if you submit an essay that doesn’t adhere to their requirements or that omits some of the details the admissions committee has asked. You should give yourself enough time before submitting your application to compile any additional writing samples that may be requested by schools and institutions in addition to the primary essay.
Check out the Common App, a tool for online applications that is approved by more than 900 schools, as you conduct your research. You just need to enter your personal information once, and it will be used on all the applications you intend to submit. Both first-time and transfer students can use this application to apply to numerous schools.
Choose a Subject
The next step in writing is choosing a topic when you’ve done your research and have defined criteria for your college essays. The hardest and most intimidating step for many students is selecting a topic for their essays. On the application for each institution, there may be a number of options to pick from, which will help you get started. Instead of attempting to encompass your entire life and personality in one essay, think about how you may focus more narrowly and write about a particular instance or experience.
In the end, you want to figure out what makes you different from all the other applicants to the same school. Ask your friends and family what they think are your differentiators—characteristics that make you stand out—if you’re having problems coming up with a theme. Make sure the subject you select reveals something new about you to the admissions committee members that they wouldn’t have learned simply reading your application.
The following are some examples of the Common Application’s essay questions:
Tell us about a background, hobby, trait, or identity that is particularly relevant to understanding you.
Consider a period when you contested or questioned a notion or precept. What caused this train of thought, and what was the result?
Describe a time in your life when you faced a failure, setback, or hardship, including the influence it had on you and the lessons you learnt from it.
Talk about a problem you’re trying to tackle or one you’ve already solved.
Describe the significance of it to you and the actions you took to come up with a solution.
Provide an example of a notion, idea, or subject that keeps you interested enough that you lose track of time. What aspects of this particular subject intrigue you, and where would you turn to learn more about them?
Describe a moment of personal growth, a realization, an occasion, or an accomplishment that led to a new understanding of yourself and/or others around you.
Think about the Length
While the Common Application has a 650 word restriction for the primary essay, several colleges do not have specific guidelines regarding essay length. Generally, it’s advised to keep longer essays between 600 and 700 words long (but many schools will only allow 400, 250, or even 100 words for extra essays). If your essay is too long, the reader may lose interest, and if it is too short, you might not be able to cover all the information you want to include about yourself.
Utilize several drafts
Your college essay’s initial draft is probably not going to be perfect, but that’s good. Many authors use the first draft as a “brain dump” or an opportunity to put everything they wish to say on paper. Following this action, you may begin reorganizing the information in a more readable manner and trimming any parts that might not be essential to the message. It’s also crucial to keep in mind that the opening phrase of the essay might assist you establish the tone for the whole thing. The first sentence should pique the reader’s interest and act as a hook for the rest of the paragraph.
When reading your essay, admissions officers will be evaluating the facts you give as well as your writing and editing abilities, so be sure to spend time thoroughly revising your draft. Your essay can be reviewed by a proficient editor who will offer recommendations to enhance the flow and get rid of any grammatical or typographical issues. It might occasionally be beneficial to have numerous individuals read over your essay in order to see any informational gaps, places of uncertainty, or errors that need to be fixed.
The college essay is ultimately a crucial component of your application since you want to be sure you’re presenting yourself to your dream school as an attractive candidate for admission. At Spark Admissions, we offer specialized advice and assistance, as well as essay comments, to aid students in getting into their top-choice institutions. Every student we work with will be able to find a package that suits their needs, and our outcomes are unmatched.
