3 Common College Essay Mistakes To Avoid

3 Common College Essay Mistakes To Avoid There are any number of formulas out there for writing personal statements for college applications. Some encourage you to stick to the traditionalopening-body-conclusionformula, while others insist you should take a risk to spice up the admission officer’s reading experience. None of them are wrong, but it doesn’t mean they’re right for you. Statistical websites like College Factual are tremendously helpful here as well, as are blogs from current and former students, Vlogs, Instagram feeds â€" anything and everything is fair game. Cite a wide range of sources in your essay to show the depth of your research. Inzer also encourages students not to stress too much over the essay and put unnecessary weight on it as part of their college application. While a strong essay may elevate a candidate in a crowded field, she says it doesn’t make or break an application. “The essay really needs to be the student’s work. As the name implies, writing apersonal statementis apersonalexperience, making it just a little bit different for everyone. Not just the process, but the actual statement itself, too. But the same is true for college essays, as Orwell doubtlessly would have realized if he were reanimated and handed him a sheaf of Common Applications. I encourage students to ask people close to them to read the essay and ask ‘would you know this essay is about me? But make sure it’s still your voice,” Richardson says. While St. Johns College may ask for more in-depth answers, other schools value brevity, challenging students to write concisely. Ask smaller questions around the prompt to get at exactly what you want to write about. DEEP WEB RESEARCH. This should be the heart of your essay, as well as the meat and potatoes. Reading the school’s website is not a bad start, as it will give you a basic overview of what’s on offer. Keep an eye peeled for course listings, recent news events, maps and descriptions of important campus buildings, student run organizations, and other key terms. The sad truth is that most college application essays are not very good. When I say they are “not very good”, I mean they are either boring, impenetrable, melodramatic, or all of the above. This video shows you how to write an effective college admissions essay. Tragedies, ultimately, can be very positive, transformative topics to write about as they often show us who we are under intense pressure. Do not shy away from writing about the bad in life as it is a relatable experience that all people will go through at one point or another. Furthermore, this type of essay invites comparison. Then take those terms and plug them right into Google, Youtube and Linkedin! After reading links on the things that interest you, you’ll understand it almost as well as someone at the school! The bottom line is that they may be getting 25,000 applications, and they simply don’t have time to sift through essays and recommendations. There are so many terrific free resources online â€" just google “brainstorming college essay” and you’ll be pleased with what comes up. One such example, shared by Tufts, takes the reader from the student’s love of origami to a passion for science in less than 250 words. For more expert advice on college essay writing, check out our Application Essay Writing program. My fellow coaches and I will guide you step-by-step through the writing process and help you craft impressive, polished essays. Also, look at the Common Application essay promptsâ€" one of them will speak to you, but you need to really read them. Kids are quick to eliminate a prompt, but I always ask them to go back and rethink.