College Essay Dos & Donts

College Essay Dos & Don’ts Put down anything you can think of that might work as an essay. The more ideas, the better, as you often find your best ideas only after getting the obvious ones out of the way. I’m not sure how else to put this, but there are some things best left unshared in your college app. From there, get out a piece of paper and start brainstorming ideas for each. A natural understanding of narrative structure â€" not the prefabricated “academic paper” structure â€" and a great story to tell. Don’t worry so much that other people may have “better” stories than you. Everyone’s life is full of story, narrative, and it’s up to you to tell these stories in compelling ways. Do not ever tell other people what they should think. Our mind is created to recall things in stories. You want to be memorable to the counselors who read your app. Sometimes, a sense of humor doesn’t hurt, if it’s applicable to your subject and/or that moment in your life. If you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. icons new College Packing List Show up to your next semester ready for anything. Listen icons new The College Info Geek Podcast Learn how to be a more effective student, even while you're doing your laundry. Proofread this thing more than any essay you’ve ever written. These are just filler words that we lean on for convenience. You’re trying to show who you are and what you’re about. Furthermore, they likely know nothing about the subject of your essay. Even if they do, they certainly don’t have the same knowledge and perspective that you have. To close this gap, you need to be as specific as possible. I believe the main cause of the problem is that there’s a disconnect between what we know in our heads and what we put down on paper. As I mentioned before, it’s best to start with brainstorming. Once you’ve followed the process I described and have a list of, say, topics, I recommend doing a bit of free writing for each. Now, it’s certainlypossiblethat you happen to be that guy, and I definitely encourage you to highlight any uncommon experience you’ve had on your essay. For instance, if you’ve climbed Mt. Everest or visited space or helped cure a rare disease, then yeah, you should probably mention that at some point. It’s great to be engaged in activist work, but show yourself doing the work rather than using your essay as a platform to make your case. “That was the day I learned how important it is to be kind to everyone.” You just stabbed me in the heart with stupor. To craft an outstanding essay you have to get past these overused descriptions. When writing about an experience like this, it can be really easy to get wrapped up in all the cool things that happened. But you can’t forget to talk about what matters. You need to talk about what you learned, about how this experience changed you, and how it helped form who you are today. To do this, you need to get away from simply summarizing events. For instance, let’s say you spent a summer during your high school years doing a homestay in another country while learning a new language. Remember, you’re not Sergeant Joe Friday writing up a police report. And you’re certainly not telling your story just for the heck of it.