The College Essay

The College Essay Tell a story that is short, sweet, and narrowly focused on a single event or idea. And never, ever exceed the instructed word count. You might alternately be given a space in which to craft a “personal statement” of your own design. DON’T use the personal statement essay to repeat your resume. Jager-Hyman uses Mad Libs to help students find their own language to express their thoughts. She highlights issues with their work and helps students learn to express themselves in a more engaging and organic manner. Don’t strain for poetic language if you feel more comfortable writing in a straightforward style. Don’t try to be a comedian if you don’t know how to deliver a punchline. Your writing should be sharp, focused, and relevant. The essay itself won’t propel an average student into Harvard, but may indeed make a difference. DON’T rehash information that is already in your application. The goal of your essay should not be something like “to show I’m co-captain of the soccer team.” They already know that; you need to tell them something new. This may be your only chance to address an admissions officer directly. You can have a good essay that has 2 or 10 paragraphs, or includes a good amount of dialogue. Using lofty language and complex sentence structure can make you sound sophisticated, but is that really how you speak? This is the opportunity to show admissions officers who you are, how you express yourself, and what distinctive qualities you’ll add to the student body. Writing an effective persuasive essay requires research, organization, and passion. Our quick tips will help you make a convincing case for your readers. Students don’t need to stick to the 5-paragraph model that they’ve used so often in school. When given this freedom, choose a topic that seems inherently interesting to you. Tell a story that best illustrates who you are and how you can contribute to the unique makeup of a student body. Avoid boasting or merely listing accomplishments. Instead, find an area in which you are naturally confident, and use that area of your life to drive this story. The story will, in turn, provide context for your accomplishments. They’re going to turn down lots of highly qualified applicants, so your essay could be critical if the choice comes down to you and another, similarly qualified applicant. That said, your essay probably won’t actually hurt you as long as it’s reasonably literate . Don’t let your voice get lost in the pursuit to impress readers. Instead, write like you speak â€" keeping in mind that proper grammar and spelling is still important. And of course, whatever you write, make sure it actually addresses the prompt. Make sure you’re answering the question, making the point, or illustrating the feature that you’ve been asked to. She also pushes them to be more intellectually rigorous, when necessary. Evidently, there is a fear that students who hire coaches won’t be presenting original work, which would be cheating. When asked to write an essay about something meaningful to them, teens suddenly claim no passion for anything. They have passion, but they need to identify it before they can share their story. There has always been speculation as to the value colleges place on the essay.