Dear high school senior,
Over the course of the next few months and into the early part of fall, you will be writing your college essay – or multiple college essays most likely. This is an opportunity to stand out and make an impression upon an admissions committee overwhelmed with strong applicants. Students should view this as an important piece in the application process and take advantage of the time they’re given. So here are a few tips for writing a strong college essay.
1) What do you want the reader to learn about you that they couldn’t already tell by reading your application? Remember that the application is most likely going to ask you to list all, or most, of your extra-curricular activities throughout high school, how much time you devoted to each, and what role you played. They’ll obviously see your transcript and, most likely, ACT or SAT scores. So, other than that, what story do you want to tell that will make them want to get to know you further?
2) Avoid cliches at all costs. This should be your own, unique, story. Mission trips are valuable experiences but many students can write something similar. Overcoming injury and helping your team win the state soccer championship is certainly worthy of accolades but is it a unique enough college essay? Probably not. A common mistake many students make is trying to think of some major life altering event to write about and, more often than not, they come up blank. If you’ve been on the receiving end of something tragic that has impacted your life in ways few could imagine, by all means share that story here if you’re comfortable doing so. But it doesn’t have to be, and very rarely is, something that extreme.
3) Your essay shouldn’t read like a research paper for school. It’s a personal narrative. Tell a story – paint a picture. “Sell the sizzle, not the steak”.
4) PROOF READ! Edit. PROOF READ! Edit again. Have someone you trust PROOF READ! Edit again. This is not, or at least should not be, something you can write last minute and expect a good result. Spend time with it and be open to constructive criticism.
5) Read a few sample college essays to hopefully spark some ideas: https://apply.jhu.edu/application-process/essays-that-worked/
https://www.commonapp.org/whats-appening/application-updates/2019-2020-common-app-essay-prompts
Have fun with it! Enjoy the process. There’s no one right way to write a college essay. Just be true to yourself.