How To Write A Winning College Essay

How To Write A Winning College Essay With upwards of 25 or more essays to write for a balanced college list of schools, it’s tempting for students to repurpose essays across applications if the prompts are similar. While students can use the same main essay on the Common App for multiple schools, we always recommend that students tailor their supplemental essays to the individual colleges. Telling Caltech why you want to attend MIT is a quick way to end up in the “no” pile. Take the time to write original responses to all the prompts. It’s a lot of work, but it will pay off in the end. English teachers have the best intentions when helping students with college essays, but they don’t always understand that a great English essay does not always make a great college essay. It is fine to break out of the 5 paragraph mold for a college essay, and it needs to tell about the applicant. College essay writing fills most students with apprehension and dread. So many students think that they “know” what colleges want from an applicant, and this can have a big influence over their essays. You have surely had certain life experiences which will provide interesting material for your essay â€" even things which you yourself take for granted. Consider how the story you have to tell would be perceived by someone else who has never before heard that story. Write analytically, rather than merely descriptively. The college essay often frightens students because they think it has to be about some extraordinary event and they may not have something momentous to write aboutâ€"that is OK. Actually, the best college essays I have read have been about mundane, everyday life. What made them great is that the students showed who they were through their writing. Tips for writing an effective college admissions essay are essentially the same for all students. You definitely don’t want to put the readers to sleep! Students will abuse the thesaurus and write about strange topics in an effort to impress and stand out. Instead of writing what you think the admissions office wants to read, write about what you want them to know. Again, the essay is a great space to reveal something new about you, so stand out by being yourself and showing another side of you as a person or student. Rather than just state what happened, an analytical approach will explain and interpret events. How do/did you feel about the topic about which you are writing? In most cases, you will be required to limit the essay to a certain number of characters or words. I always suggest that students not worry too much about this limitation to begin with â€" just get your ideas written down . After that, some strategic editing can be done to trim the fat off and get the essay down to the required size. The style and tone of a college essay are very different from most essays and research papers you write in school. So, often students aren’t sure exactly what to aim for when writing their essays. A quick and easy remedy is to read example essays written by successful applicants. Descriptive writing is a factual account of a topic or event, simply telling what happened. Analytical writing will pose or answer questions, make comparisons, or present and defend viewpoints. If you don’t have enough time to complete your college essay then essay writing services will help you to complete your homework on time. As students write their essays, it might help to keep in mind why colleges ask them for these writing samples in the first place. It felt so daunting, to summarize the last 18 years of my life into 650 words, all while showcasing my “unique” personality against thousands of other students. Before the whole process even began, I already felt pressured to craft this beautifully written ssay that screamed, “This is who I am! While I was aware that I would be writing countless essays over the next couple months , the Common App college essay felt the most daunting. I felt intimidated, to say the least, especially since I knew that I had to knock it out of the park with my essays if I even dreamed of being admitted to the selective schools on my list. I was terrified of clichés and blending in with thousands of other applicants, and I struggled to look away from “successful” essays, wondering if I could do what they did.