College

College So you don’t need to have great exotic vacations or heartbreaking stories of community service in some far off land â€" you just need to reveal your point of view about a topic. When you can show the reader a slice of your genuine self â€" you are on your way to a great college essay. The uniqueness of an essay stems not from some external experience, but your internal responses. A great college essay combines creativity, excellent writing, and honesty. Your overall Grade Point Average , college preparation, test results, and the strength of the high school curriculum all outweigh the essay . However, teacher recommendations and extracurricular activities rank below the college essay . Therefore, it is extremely important to submit a well-written college entrance essay. What questions do you have about writing college admissions essays? This is why we recommend sitting down and coming up with a few different topics to consider. No wonder people feel stressed out about their college essays! The college essay is one of the most important parts of your college application, and it’s easy to see why. When reviewing applications, colleges and universities are looking at two main things- who you are as a student, and who you are as a person. Twenty-six percent of college admission offices consider the college entrance exam is of “considerable importance” in the admission process . Some colleges weigh essays higher than other parts of the application. However, the essay is not the most important part of your application when you are applying for college. But sometimes students misinterpret this to mean â€" “tell me about a totally unique experience” â€" and they get totally stressed out because they don’t feel that they have any unique experiences. Telling a story “only you can tell” means that you tell the reader a story from your perspective. It’s important that your essay be a solid reflection of you as a person and as a student, and that you follow the guidelines provided in terms of topic and word-count. It is well-written with college bound vocabulary and style, but easy to read and somewhat unassuming. Like great works of fiction, these essays clearly paint a picture in the reader’s mind. The main character is developed with depth and detail. Great essays are memorable because they distinctively portray their subjects without relying on clichés or formulaic topics. They convey on paper a sense of who the writer is as a person. After reading a great essay, I feel as if I have just had an enlivening conversation with the person even though it was entirely on paper. We haven’t all pulled babies from burning buildings or sailed around the world in a catamaran. Tell a story from your own life that shows something unique about you. The college essay allows you to present yourself both personally and academically to the admissions officer. A great college essay gives the reader a glimpse of the person behind the page. Lots of counselors tell students to “tell a story only you can tell,” and I definitely agree with that. You may want to try outlining your essay in multiple formats or the same format multiple times. You may do pre-writing for several different answers to a topic and then pick the best one to write the actual essay. You might want to plan to do one pre-writing essay, wait a few days, and then do another pre-writing exercise. As mentioned in step 2, writing a college essay takes time, but with enough pre-planning the actual essay writing will be easier. The importance of college essays has increased in the past few years. The story that your friends perk up to listen to- that’s the stuff that makes for great app essays. More than anything, officers want to get to know you through your essay. You will end up sounding like every other applicant. , any other graphic organizer, and/or pre-writing technique that works for you will help you to focus your ideas. It can be hard to choose what to talk about in your college essays. In addition to this, the schools that you’re applying to may have different prompts â€" which could mean having to write multiple essays.