Ten Tips To Help You Write your Admissions Essays

By Nick Sanders

A great college entrance essay will present a view of you that is compelling and personal. It will complete the rest of your application and ensure that you stand out from the crowd. Making a great impression is important here, as the entrance essay is a crucial part of your application that you have complete control over.

Keep your focus personal - your essay must prove a single point, which shows you are worthy of a place at your college of choice. The reader must be able to see what you are arguing for and follow it from the beginning through to the end. Let a friend or family member read your introduction to see what they think about the topic which you have written. If they don't know, then try rethinking how you've worded your essay. Remember, you are not telling the committee your life story, you are simply showing them who you are, and using past experiences and achievements to help them choose you as a candidate.

If you struggle to write about personal things in general then you should ask your friends and family members to help you on the positive things that you have achieved. You should decide on the experiences that are closely related to your course of choice and the ones that you care most about.

Use factual information - many students simply don't add enough detail when it is important. You should add relevant facts to your admissions essay when you write about your experiences. Saying that you spent two weeks in a school teaching five year olds English establishes that you were involved in developing patience and empathy; if you simply put that this was an experience and then moved onto something else then it would be a waste of writing. Always backing up what you say with strong facts is a must.

Avoid cliche writing by using specific details - again, saying that you want to be a teacher because you want to help children succeed is okay, but it is much better to say that your own teacher was committed to teaching you in fun ways, such as hatching your own chicks to learn their life cycle, and you wish to give other children a brilliant start to their education too.

Make sure you are telling the truth, and not just writing what you think the committee wants to hear. Wanting to change the world, discover a cure for HIV or stop terrorism are all very common answers, write something new and your essay will stand out.

Don't just rewrite your CV - if you think rewriting your CV, being more specific in place and adding a few details will help you get into college then think again. Mention things that you have done outside your CV such as interesting places you have visited and activities that you had fun doing and learnt a lot about yourself. Anything that shows you are a respected member of the community should also be added.

Use as few words as possible - Keeping your sentences simple is key, as you don't want to make the reader work harder to understand what you are saying. Many students make the mistake of writing complex and long sentences that would have been better to be broken up into two or three different ones. If you are worried about not adding enough words to meet the word count then you should be thinking more about whether you are on the right track.

Always proofread - when you write your essay you won't want to constantly check your work to see if it is correct. You will want to leave some time at the end to proofread and edit your work and not leave it up to your word processor's spell checker to fix all of the errors. It won't spot some and this will mean that your work appears to be sloppily written.

Asking a friend or teacher will also be a good idea. Their input will add a neutral aspect to your thoughts and it may be crucial for you to receive their opinion on your written admissions essay. This will help you produce an overall better piece of writing.

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