My College Options

My College Options Quite simply, a great college essay helps illuminate who you are. The worst things you can do is write an essay that is generic, one where if your name was replaced by another, the reader could not tell the difference. The people in the admissions office are trying to learn about you and the essay is often the last chance you have to shape their impression and understanding of you. A great college essay is one that makes your reader want to get to know you better, to engage in a conversation with you. It takes readers into, through, and beyond the story in 500 words or less. A great essay tells a a unique story that communicates key qualities you can offer the college. You can contact me for samples as I collect great essays from the students with whom I work. College Essay Essentials is my go-to resource when working with my students on their college essays. Ethan detailed explanations provides a clear roadmap from start to finish without overwhelming students. His brainstorming exercises uncover lots of material to help students of all ages write essays in their voice. I started using some of Ethan's methods to help students get started on their essays a couple of years ago based on some of the content on his website and a seminar I attended, given by Ethan. Additionally, you might email an admissions counselor at the school with some questions or speak to a current student or alum. (If you don’t know anyone affiliated with the school, try asking your guidance counselor if there are former students from your high school who attend or attended X college.) Peruse a course catalog. These steps will help you develop a list of specific qualities that are unique to the school. The college essay is often the most difficult part of preparing your application. It is an essay that makes your reader laugh or cry or think. The best college essays deal with specific examples from the writer’s life. They are not general or abstract, the more details the better. The best essays are 20% about the “topic” (the “what”) and 80% about the writer. A great college essay grabs your attention from the first sentence. To help you get off to a good start, we’ve put together the following tips and hints. These are comments from our admissions staff who actually read your essays and evaluate them in the admission process. But given the range of factors that go into the decision making process, it is hard to know if the “successful” essays ones really tipped the balance. That being said, the essay is something you can control so you want to make it good. That is why a great college essay is personal.This great essay is very visual and helps make you become 3-D for the reader. It starts right away with a specific story from running a marathon in the rain to spilling water on customersâ€"twiceâ€" and keeps us engaged from the first word to the last. You need the essay to wow them with your personal qualities while sharing an engaging story, perhaps- a snapshot of your life. The tone could be funny or sad, reflective or poignant, but you NEED that reader to like you, so that they would support your application in admissions. If your essay does not reveal some sense of your best personal qualities are i.e. maturity, leadership or compassion then it has failed. Few things are as eternal as the search for the great college essay. We can’t guarantee results, but this advice might help you get started. The ultimate point of a college essay is to engage and hopefully convince the reader that you would be an asset on that campus.