10 College Essay Tips
The entire point is to sell yourself to your college of choice. So many students will put minimal effort in, or downplay their achievements, or admit to being poor students. You very well may be, but you definitely shouldn’t be telling your future school that.
Someone has to sit and read these. And ALOT of them. Imagine you had the job of reading high school senior essays all day every day. Imagine how tiresome it would become reading about how another student overcame getting a D in Chemistry. Then you start reading an essay about how someone took a trip to Iceland, or learned how to juggle fireballs, or posed some insightful question. These would almost automatically stick in this person’s memory, giving you an edge over your “I got a D once peers.” Be interesting.
Don’t Lie. If you don’t have anything interesting that happened to you, don’t worry. This is where you have the chance to get creative. Everyone has experienced SOMETHING, right? A feeling, a memory, a smell. This college essay is widely considered one of the greatest ever, and it’s about a trip to…Costco. Really it’s pretty fantastic. If you have no crazy experiences to speak of, just be genuine, and tell us a story from a place of emotion. People love stories.
Lead with the interesting. I can’t teach you the techniques of grabbing an audience in this blog post, but I can tell you that people lose interest VERY quickly. You probably already have. However, you college essays are important, so pay attention. MAKE them pay attention. Draw them in immediately. Imagine someone reading your essay. Are they bored? Perhaps it’s time to rethink your strategy then.
Get over rewriting. You’re going to have to do it. You aren’t Mark Twain. And even he probably rewrote things. Treat your college essays as long-term projects from the start, so you’re prepared for the inevitable rewrites.
You won’t just be writing one. Nearly every school require several essays. Some long, some short answers. In addition to your Common App and Coalition essays. When brainstorming, start considering multiple ideas and save them. Also, prepare to write a short and long version of the same essays, for your different purposes. No sense in writing a different prompt for every school, unless they’re asking for school specific prompts.
This isn’t a middle school essay. You shouldn’t be writing things like “This is why I would make a good fit for your school.” In fact, never state that you’re trying to persuade them. That’s non-persuasive 101.
Get multiple opinions. You don’t necessarily have to listen to all of their feedback. But sometimes, you do glance over the obvious small things once you’ve gone deep into writing. A misplaced comma, a weirdly phrased sentence, could make all the difference. And you parents, believe it or not, may actually have some insight. Learn to take advice.
Read it out loud. If it doesn’t bore you to read it out loud, you’ve done well! You know when classmates have to read their report in front of everyone, and most students just tune out, and go on their phones to avoid the awkwardness? Don’t be like that student. GRAB THEM. Their attention. Don’t grab the students.
End it on a high note. You’re a wonderful student and you’ve come SO far. You’re so close, don’t give up right at the end. See what I did there? Your intention is to leave a lasting impression. if you start out interesting, and then bore them halfway through, they won’t remember your epic intro. Both parts are equally important.