Your college essay can be one of the most important parts of your application. Beyond your résumé or achievements, the essay gives the college admissions staff a glimpse into your personality and character. From the topic you choose to your grammar and word choices, your application essay is telling a story about who you are and how you think. Given the importance of this component of the application for some schools, your essay shouldn't be just good, it should be great. Learning how to write a great essay may be one of the most important steps of learning how to apply to college. Here are some considerations regarding your choice of topic, drafting your essay and editing your work.
College application essay questions vary in topic and theme. The topic you choose may say quite a bit about you. For example, if you were given the choice between writing about what kind of person you are or writing about your position on a public policy issue, which would you choose? Why? Do you avoid writing about yourself? Or do you enjoy writing about yourself? If you do choose to write about yourself, are you self-congratulatory, or are you introspective and critical? These are all aspects that an application review might examine. Keep in mind, no choice is an incorrect one, but what you do with that choice can help you or work against you depending on the finished piece.
You may encounter a request for a personal statement and find it absolutely necessary to write about yourself. Whether by choice, or as a requirement, the key is to conduct an honest assessment of yourself in the context requested. Don't focus on your achievements. Rather, focus on your personality and mental strengths. Beyond just listing strong attributes, explain how you developed the strength. This type of introspective examination will always work better than unqualified assertions or simply listing accomplishments.
Regardless of the topic, your essay must be focused. In the case of a personal statement, choose one or two qualities about yourself and explore them. If the topic is a “what do you think” type of question, state your general conclusion up front and write to support it. Don't dance around the issue – craft a central proposition and support it with clear and concise reasoning. A laundry list of qualities and attributes or unsubstantiated claims may work against you.
At some point, your planning and outlining will be done and you will have to write. Often, getting started is half the battle. A great way to get a good first draft together is just to start writing. Don't worry about grammar, organization or content – just write. Get your thoughts down on paper. You'll have plenty of time later to go back and edit your work for organization and content. The important part at this stage is getting started.
Your essay should use your own voice, and help the reader understand more about you; things that would not necessarily be obvious by looking over your academic record and your extracurricular activities. Remember that the college essay is a way for the admissions team to find out more about the person you are, so be sure you are writing with words and ideas that reflect your true self.
The college application will provide a general word count or acceptable length in most cases. Of course, follow these directions! Then, begin the editing process by reading through what you have on paper. Don't stop to consider revisions yet, just read through the work. Here, you are considering the flow. Are ideas presented in an order that makes sense? Is the central idea or theme of your essay presented early on, along with supporting ideas? Does the rest of the essay stay on topic? Have you shared something interesting and informative and real about yourself?
The final phase of editing your college essay should be polishing for grammar and sentence structure. Read each sentence carefully. Look for ways to convey the same thought with fewer words; ideas that take too many words to convey meaning can be tiresome to read. Moreover, your meaning may be lost in crowded paragraphs. Writing a compelling essay using fewer words is not easy, but your essay will be better for it. Henry David Thoreau once said, “Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.” Indeed, this may be the most difficult part of the editing process.
Applying to college does not need to be difficult, and neither does writing your college essay. Just follow these basic steps: choose, write and edit. Choose your topic carefully. Understand that even your choice of topic is something that the admissions office will consider. Your writing should be well organized and thoughtful. Don't be patronizing or self-congratulatory as admissions officers will not appreciate either. Finally, edit your writing to avoid mistakes as your grammar, word choice and sentence structure could be scrutinized.
Writing your college essay does not need to be the most difficult part of your application. Follow these simple guidelines, and your college essay will shine.
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