If you could travel through time and interview a prominent figure in the arts, politics, religion or science, whom would you choose and why?
Describe your experience in living in a racially, culturally or ethnically diverse environment; what do you expect to need to know to live successfully in the multi-cultural society of the future?
Make up a question, state it clearly and answer it. Feel free to use your imagination, recognizing that those who read it will not mind being entertained.
Indicate what you consider your best qualities to be and describe how your college education will be of assistance to you in sharing these qualities and your accomplishments with others.
Evaluate a significant experience, achievement or risk that you have taken and its impact on you.
Indicate a person, character in fiction, a historical figure or a creative work (as in art, music, etc.) that has had a significant influence on you and describe that influence.
Why do you want to spend two to six years of your life at a particular college, graduate school or professional school? How is the degree necessary to the fulfillment of your goals?
Use this space to let us know something about you that we might not learn from the rest of your application.
How have you grown and developed over the four years of your high school career?
What is the biggest risk you have ever taken? Explain why you took it and what you learned afterward.
Discuss some issue of personal, local or national concern and why it is important to you.
Write about your favorite book or film and tell why it has influenced you.
Relate the most humorous experience in your life.
You have just finished writing your 300-page autobiography. Please submit page 217.
Essay Mistakes to Avoid from the Get Go
Remember that you want your essay to stand out from the others in the pile on that admission officer’s desk. You want to make a favorable and memorable impression and you want the reader of the essay to feel as if he or she is getting to know you. To make sure that your essay sounds unique and individual, take care to avoid certain pitfalls; for example, don’t respond with the answers that everyone else does. If you are asked to write about a book you have read, don’t pick the one that all high school students were required to read. Pick something unusual or different, a book that tells the admissions personnel something about you for choosing it. It does not matter if the admissions officer has ever heard of it. What matters is how you explain why it was an important book to you.
If you are asked to write about an event in your life, go beyond just describing it. Show how it affected your life and how you are different because of it. The trick here is not writing what everyone else does. Along with Dr. Seuss essays, admissions officers weary of reading essays that focus on the “I’ve seen the light” philosophy. You lost the game, but achieved a goal. Your parents got divorced/took drugs and it taught you a lesson. You had this favorite teacher or coach. It’s one thing to write about something that you learned from the experience, but it’s over the top to write that you’ve found the purpose of life through these experiences. It’s easy to think that you have to be profound and philosophical when you write this essay, but the truth is that admissions officers see more than enough of this approach.
THIS IS YOUR CHANCE!
Quite often, the college application essay is the perfect opportunity to tackle the subject of your less-than-stellar-quality test scores or GPA. Many times you can tie the question you are asked to write about to the subject of your strengths and weaknesses. If you can directly address the issue in your essay, do so. Look back over the list of the most commonly asked questions. Can you see how you could relate your strengths to the topic? For example, “Use this space to let us know something about you that we might not learn from the rest of your application.” You could explain how you have been persistent, dedicated, strong, determined, creative or any other admirable trait through examples. You can show the admissions officers that while your numbers may not be the strongest they have seen, you are a bright, skilled and wonderful student that would be an excellent addition to any college. Think of the essay as your time to shine!
Other things to avoid
Don’t try to be cute by adding poetry or illustrations unless they directly relate to your topic or your specific talent, don’t use unusually fancy paper and never handwrite the essay. While it is okay to be emotional, do not whine, complain or be sarcastic. Avoid using current films, actors or television shows for your examples, and don’t try to sell yourself. Represent the special person you are, but don’t sound like an overzealous salesman working on commission. Don’t use anyone else’s idea even if it is interesting. It won’t sound like you and your support will sound hollow.
Be funny, be enthusiastic, be reflective—but make sure it is not something that you and 4,000 other students wrote about. Go beyond the expected and you will get noticed. The college essay is often the deciding factor in whether you are accepted or rejected. You want your words to push you over the top.
Putting Words on Paper
College essays are typically 250 to 500 words. That is about one to two pages of typing, double spaced. According to the Common Application (www.commonapp.org), that limit is a guideline because colleges do not actually count the words. They won’t mind if it is a little shorter or longer because quality is far more important than quantity. “College admissions officers are far more concerned that the essay is well written, proofread (not just spell-checked), well thought out, etc. Do not get caught up in the ‘micro’ (words, spacing, font size, color of ink),” states the website. “They are looking for the ‘macro’: does the student write well and what can they learn about this person from his/her essay?” Their website has more helpful information on what you will find on many college application forms.
Once you know the question, sit down and brainstorm possible answers. Just let your mind wander around the topic and write it all down without judgment or self-censorship. When you have run out of ideas, start going through what you have. What looks best? Throw out the things you could only write a paragraph about and keep the ideas that you can build into several pages of examples and facts that support a topic sentence. Look for the ones that make you feel emotional; that probably means they impacted your life in some way. Then choose one.
Now, write out an outline, just like you have done for other papers and reports you’ve done in school. What are the main points you want to cover? What details go under each point? For example, imagine that you have been asked to write about something you have read that was significant to you. Some points you might want to cover include these: Why you chose to read the book, how you felt while reading it, what new perspectives or points of view the author taught you, what questions the material raised in your mind, what you learned from the experience.
Once your outline is done, it is time to write your first draft (and yes, that means there will be second, third and more drafts before you’re done). Do not start your essay with any of the following opening sentences:
My name is Kevin Jones and I …
I was born in Los Angeles, California, and …
My college admissions essay is going to be about …
I am writing this because I really want to go to your college …
This is the story of my life so far …
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