When it comes to college admission’s essay writing time, there are generally two camps: Those who pressure themselves into creating a masterpiece, and those who brush the whole thing off. The good news is that there is a healthy middle-ground. You should 100% take college admission’s essays seriously, but you don’t have to make yourself sick over the experience either. These essays are meant as a way to get to know the applicant a little more deeply than the standard applications allow. They might not be able to connect a face to the name on the application, but they can certainly provide valuable insight into your character, integrity, values, and plans to impact the world before you.
Below, is a simple list of do’s and don’ts to put you on the right path to produce a college admission’s essay that will tell your admission’s officer you are a person worth knowing. That, in the end, is about all you can hope for, as the rest is up to your grades, your transcripts, and about a hundred other things outside of your control.
When sitting down to create a one-of-a-kind college admission’s essay…
DO…
- Tell an engaging, memorable story. This doesn’t mean it has to be about life and death or some major event that you’ve experienced. Some of the best stories involve little details, such as the way a certain smell drums up memories of childhood, or the way you and your grandfather almost seemed to switch roles as he grew older and developed dementia. The point is, make it impactful.
- Put the $5 words away and speak from your heart. You’re a teenager, so allow yourself to speak like one. The way to impress admission’s officers is not to write like a bad textbook. It is to speak from your heart and give them a peek into who you are as a person.
- Edit, edit, and edit again! This is your one chance to jump off the page and stand out from the stack of other qualified applicants. Use an editing software program like Grammarly or ProWritingAid, and then show your essay to a few people and get some honest feedback. This is one of the most important essays you’ll ever write, so take it seriously.
- Make yourself the primary focus of the essay. Regardless of how impactful your third-grade science teacher was, the admission’s officer wants to know how that teacher affected YOU. Keep yourself as the main character of your story. The goal is to show how you absorb life lessons from your experiences.
DON’T…
- Focus too heavily on the prompt. Read it, but then set it aside and start writing from your heart. You’ll most likely see that your finished product, though inspired by the prompt, took on a life of its own, and is now a little piece of you for the admission’s officer to use to connect a real person to the application.
- Plagiarize. There are tons of great examples of successful college admission’s essays online. You should definitely check them out, but for goodness’ sake, write your own story! The whole point of the essay is to your admission’s officer can picture what kind of person he or she is letting into their university. Will you possess integrity? Honesty? Perseverance? Will you be a good man in a storm? You can’t highlight your strengths if you steal someone else’s story.
- Don’t pressure yourself to tell the world’s most creative, memorable story! You want it to be good, of course. But, more importantly, you want it to show that you are a real, flesh and blood person who will bring something to the table at this college, that they’d be lucky to have you. You can convey that by telling the story of how you never gave up when you were learning to ride a bike without the training wheels. It’s not the story, as much as it’s the lesson you learned from the experience.
- Don’t let your eagerness trip you up. Make sure if you reference something specific about the school, that you thoroughly fact-check it online. Don’t screw up the school’s spelling, address, or mascot. Either refrain from getting specific, or make sure you do your due diligence and get every detail right.
The bottom line? Don’t pressure yourself into creating the perfect essay, and don’t steal anyone else’s either. Find a good balance by taking some time to think about what experiences impacted you the most in your life and use one of them to show admission’s officers who you are as a real, living, breathing future student who will rock your four years at their university! All the essay really is, is an opportunity for them to get to know you beyond your transcripts. Keep it simple.
