What Information Do You Need To Include In The Essay That You Write For Admission To College?
October 30, 2009 by Rob
Filed under College Admissions
This is for a high school senior who is a good student, has a lot of exracurricular activities and service under her belt and is a good public speaker. She also belonged to several clubs, math club, science club, and etc. She is the President of one such club.
Admission Essay Do’s and Don’ts
As you sit down to write an essay, keep in mind some of the following:
Read the essay QUESTION at least three times to make sure you understand what they want. Tailor your answer to that particular school. An essay for law school will probably not be the same as the essay for music school. This is NOT your full autobiography. Know what to leave out or save for another time.
Make it sound like YOU wrote it, not like you plagiarized it or copied from an encyclopedia. Good vocabulary is important, but you don’t want to overdo it.
Use interesting language and examples.
Try to start with an interesting quotation or visual snapshot that grabs the reader’s attention.
Use show , not tell approach. If you were affected by a long illness and death, somehow get the emotion or feeling across with examples, don’t just say, ” the illness was hard on me. ”
In the first draft, include all important information. In the next few drafts start cutting and combining to make the paper concise and on point. Admissions officers are not impressed with a lot of ” fluff.” Be selective. You may have been in 20 clubs. which three were the most important to you? why?
Try to use formal English, not slang. Also, stick to the active voice (not passive). Avoid cliches and overused words. Vary the sentence type, length, and transition words. Avoid being ” cute” In general ,try not to use lots of poetry, music, illustrations, rhymes etc. Unless you want to go to a very special school, use plain old prose.
Do not plagiarize. Use a quote if it is suitable, but also use quotation marks and credit the original author. Tie the quotation into the essay.
Expect to revise and polish the essay several times before submitting it. Ask your friends, family, teachers etc, to read and honestly critique the essay. Check the length. Does the college want a 100 word essay or a 500 word essay?
The first link below offers editing help, improving the essay that you write. I think the second link does more of the writing for you. I have not used either site, so you will have to decide for yourself if they are appropriate.