College Application Essay Tips

COLLEGE

ESSAY

B Y N A T E G I L L

Thinking about your personality traits

and defining your strengths is a good

place to begin.

Then think about experiences you've

had that have shaped you or stand

out as significant in your life.

Finally, consider your hopes and goals

for the future. Who or what's inspired

your ambitions? Why are your dreams

important to you?

Don't get worry about the details in

your first draft. Let your words and

ideas come naturally–you'll have plenty

of time to revise and edit your essay

later.

If you're struggling with one essay

question on an application, feel free to

try another! The Common Application,

for example, offers five open-ended

prompts from which to choose, and it's

often a good idea to try your hand at

more than one. You never know what

might unleash your creative spirit!

Once you've got a draft, try to set it aside

for at least a day. It's also a good idea to

share it with a few people–like your

eAdviser–whom you trust to give you

helpful feedback and comments!

The first–and most difficult–step in revising

your college essay is to ask yourself: if it

weren't your essay, would you think it was

interesting? In a stack of hundreds of

college essays, would it stand out? It isn't

easy, but if you're not 100 percent satisfied

with your answers to these questions, or if

someone whom you asked to read your

essay tells you it needs work, you should

keep working on it.

One effective strategy for revision is to look

for interesting or illuminating moments in

your essay and expand on them. Sometimes,

one sentence from a first draft can become

the foundation for an entire second draft!

Remember to show, not just tell, your

readers what you want them to know. Don't

tell the reader your hardworking; instead,

describe the time you worked on a project

every weekend for a month and what

motivated you to do it. That's just an

example–the point is to try to illustrate your

strengths and character through narratives

and examples. Not only does that help you

avoid sounding like you're bragging, it's also

better writing!

Finally, always be sure to proofread your

essay! If you're not completely confident in

your ability to catch grammatical errors, have

a teacher, counselor, or your eAdviser look it

over for you!

Big Future by the College Board: Tips

for Writing an Effective Application

Essay

The Princeton Review: Crafting an

Unforgettable College Essay

The Common Application 2016-2017

Essay Prompts