How To Write The College Essay

How To Write The College Essay When asked to write an essay about something meaningful to them, teens suddenly claim no passion for anything. They have passion, but they need to identify it before they can share their story. Admissions officials have seen plenty of overused topics, such as a venerated parent, a game-winning goal or volunteer work in the soup kitchen. Students don’t need to stick to the 5-paragraph model that they’ve used so often in school. You can have a good essay that has 2 or 10 paragraphs, or includes a good amount of dialogue. If you’re ever going to name drop, this is the place to do it. Mention specific names of people, buildings, societies, clubs, and more. The essay itself won’t propel an average student into Harvard, but may indeed make a difference. An essay that is presented in a few long paragraphs is not only hard to readâ€"the resulting word “blocks” can be overwhelming to tired eyesâ€"it effectively obscures the author’s key messages. As always, be as specific as possible, and pay attention to the writing itself, not just the content. This is a story about you and your connection to the school â€" not just a list of reasons. Let’s start with mistakes to avoid when writing your essay. The Common Application has added an additional, special prompt where students can share their COVID experiences if they feel the pandemic has slammed their world in under 250 words. Although they're phrased differently from college to college, certain essay question types appear routinely. How do you process information about yourself and the world around you? Your essay should reveal how and why have they shaped you. You can write about pretty much anything â€" an experience, an inanimate object, a movie, a place, a person â€" as long as your essay reveals how that experience, thing, movie, place, or person made an impact on you. Jager-Hyman uses Mad Libs to help students find their own language to express their thoughts. She highlights issues with their work and helps students learn to express themselves in a more engaging and organic manner. She also pushes them to be more intellectually rigorous, when necessary. Evidently, there is a fear that students who hire coaches won’t be presenting original work, which would be cheating. And rememberâ€"a one line, one sentence paragraph can be more impactful than a 3-4 sentence paragraph. Don’t restate information that can be found elsewhere in your application. This is your opportunity to provide insight and interpretation. Essays that become travelogues or resume narratives have little value to the reader and are wasted space. Admissions officers are seeking students who are purposeful in their pursuits when choosing among highly talented students. What results is often a generic statement that lacks energy or personality. Write the story that you want to express and then choose the prompt with which it best aligns. If all else fails you can default to the last prompt, which is essentially topic of your choice. DON’T rehash information that is already in your application. The goal of your essay should not be something like “to show I’m co-captain of the soccer team.” They already know that; you need to tell them something new. This may be your only chance to address an admissions officer directly. They’re going to turn down lots of highly qualified applicants, so your essay could be critical if the choice comes down to you and another, similarly qualified applicant. That said, your essay probably won’t actually hurt you as long as it’s reasonably literate . These essays can’t work without a personal connection or engaging observations. There has always been speculation as to the value colleges place on the essay. They see a ton of candidates who are drawn by the fame or prestige of their institutionsâ€"who are simply applying to see if they can get in. Such candidates, regardless of their credentials, are not very compelling and are easily dismissed. Admission officers want to get past the facts of your application to better understand how you think.