Admissions

Admissions You know next to nothing about who will read it, let alone their senses of humor. You don’t want a college to think you are too focused on education and that you can’t have fun. Don’t leave them alone until they’ve told you at least one thing you can improve, or at least specific aspects they liked. Try very hard not to dump your entire life story or all your finer points into the essay. Focus on singular moments or activitiesâ€"pick the ones that stand out. It’s no jokeâ€"you’d be right to think that after working their way through a big pile of essays, the people reading yours could use a good laugh. For help getting started, see our handout on brainstorming. The priority deadline offers students the opportunity to receive their admission decision up to one month earlier. But they also need to know you will be taking your education seriously. One simple joke at the start or end of your essay is more than enough. Eliminate any generalizations or platitudes (“I’m a people person”, “Doctors save lives”, or “Mr. Calleson’s classes changed my life”), or anything that could be cut and pasted into anyone else’s application. Find what is specific to you about the ideas that generated those platitudes and express them more directly. It’s probably much more personal than any of the papers you have written for class because it’s about you, not World War II or planaria. You may want to start by just getting somethingâ€"anythingâ€"on paper. The final grammar and tense check for your college admission essay is done by you reading it out loud. Also, while reading it out loud, check if the paragraphs have a consistency and flow. Since your college admission essay determines whether you get accepted or not, it should be written masterfully and carefully. This article is a guide on how to write a good admission essay, with a number of tips on how to make it even better. Seek professional helpâ€"the problem with spending so much time on what can be a relatively short essay is that you look at it so much it starts to lose its meaning for you. Encourage them to be constructiveâ€"it’s okay if they tell you what you’ve come up with is no good, as long as they can offer some feedback to help make it better. Ask them to judge whether the writing really sounds like you are talking. And don’t let them get away with saying your essay is just “good,” either. The key is to get more than one point of view, and then compare these with your own. Remember, you are the one best equipped to judge how accurately you are representing yourself. For tips on putting this advice to good use, see our handout on getting feedback. Find the most relevant, memorable, concrete statements and focus in on them. So for the same reason you should read your work out loud or backwards, you have to get another pair of eyes and ears working on it, as well. A fresh perspective can make all the difference and keep you from settling for something terrible. A good friend, parent, or better yet, a teacher can read what you’ve written and give you a reality check. Get several people to read it and write their comments down. It is worthwhile to seek out someone in the field, perhaps a professor who has read such essays before. Think about the questions we asked above and the prompt for the essay, and then write for 15 or 30 minutes without stopping. What do you want your audience to know after reading your essay? Don’t worry about grammar, punctuation, organization, or anything else.