August 10, 2020
Writix.co.uk | How do I write the best college application essay?
Get the best 6 quickly tips:
- Don’t write a Shakespearean essay. Make sure that your essay has perfect grammar and spelling, and you can certainly use some intelligent vocabulary where you see fit. But I am sure that colleges receive thousands of essays that sound as if they have been copied and pasted from a thesaurus. They don’t care how many fancy words you use.
- Your topic doesn’t have to be dramatic or extraordinary. You can write an essay about a very emotional topic, or you can choose to write about more ordinary issues. Either way, try to highlight what is important without feeling the need to make everything poetic. I wrote my personal statement about my passion towards politics, and my supplement by simply explaining my role in an extracurricular activity. I included some personal anecdotes where I found was fit, but most of it was very to-the-point. As long as you tell a meaningful story with a clear vision, there’s nothing wrong with keeping the topic simple.
- Brag without bragging. I found it very difficult to state positive things about myself without sounding as if I saw myself as holier than thou. But after much editing, I found it to be possible. My advice is don’t try to sneak in anything, such as “After I left debate prep -an area in which I won several awards- I headed to cello practice.” Don’t include anything that is irrelevant either. If you talk about debating in your essay, simply write “I was a successful debater, winning several awards.” If debating has no relevance to the topic of your essay, leave it out.
- Research what kind of student that university wants. (This advice only works for supplement writing, since a personal statement has to apply to each university.) If, for example, Harvard prefers a holistic applicant, include multiple different areas of interest in your essay and outline how you have succeeded in different fields. If Princeton wants someone devoted to what they’re passionate about, write in detail about how you came to love engineering and how you pursued that interest in your activities.
- Use your voice. This was an advice I found annoying when it was given to me by my counselor, but I came to understand what it meant. Yes, you should edit your essays to perfection. But don’t calculate every single word and sentence. That would just sound robotic. Write with your heart and with passion. Remember that it is a human being that will read your essay. Make sure that they hear your unique voice and perspective.
- Manage feedback wisely. Don’t get feedback on an essay until you are personally certain of it. And when you do ask for feedback, ask people whose opinions you actually trust. There’s no point in asking twenty various people what they think; ask three or four who you know have an idea about what they’re talking about and will make constructive comments. Once you do receive feedback, decide whether or not you want to use it. This may sound like wrong advice since the conventional wisdom is that more editing makes it better, but don’t change your essay to the point where it’s unrecognizable. At the end of the day, it is your essay.