In this video, James Maroney of www.admissionhook.com interviews Paul Brower, Associate Director of Admission at Nichols College, about the personal statement.  Paul gives examples of his favorite essays as well as some advice on what not to do when writing the college essay.

In this video, James Maroney of AdmissionHook.com interviews Matt Beirne, Director of Admission at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, about the college admission essay.  The cover tips on how to write the essay as well as some examples of Matt’s favorite essays over the past couple of years.

]]> http://www.admissionhook.com/Blog/63/spotlight-essay-advice-with-matt-beirne-of-the-college-of-st-benedict-and-st-johns-university/feed/ 0 http://www.admissionhook.com/Blog/60/choosing-an-essay-topic/ http://www.admissionhook.com/Blog/60/choosing-an-essay-topic/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:08:17 +0000 admin http://www.admissionhook.com/Blog/?p=60

10 percent of Nichols College graduates are either the CEO or President of a business or owns their own business. Win a $1,000 bonus scholarship to Nichols College from CollegeTreasure.com.

You have everything that you need: clean notepads, pencils, pens, and your computer. You’re ready to write yourcollege application essay. Just open Microsoft Word and let your ideas flow.

It’s too bad that writing a college application essay isn’t actually that easy. However, with a few tips, you’ll be able to pick a good topic and smooth-out the process.

Have you ever felt egocentric? If not, you soon will. Your college admission essay should focus on only one person:  you. It can, and probably should, include other characters, but the core of the essay must describe you – your feelings, what you’ve learned, how you view yourself, how you see yourself fitting in the world. Three primary sorts of you-based topics exist: events, routines, and descriptions. Events constitute life-altering experiences. When listing events, don’t think of things that happened during your life; think of those that happened in your life. They should be things that affected you and your future. Routines and descriptions are a bit more complicated. In a routine-type essay, the author writes about a routine or aspect thereof in the same way as he or she would write about an event, describing his or her qualities and values in the process. In a description-type essay, the writer describes an important person or object and uses metaphor to relate it to him or her self.

After you’ve thought about the significant events, relevant routines, and important figures in your life, you can begin to narrow your list of potential topics. First, think about your best qualities, the ones that you want to feature in your application, and select the topics that would best feature them. Next, consider the uniqueness of your topics. Each college admissions officer will read hundreds of essays throughout the spring and will only be able to remember the most interesting few (if you think that it’s easy to remember essays, try to read every entry on this page then summarize them, in order, without peeking). Make especially sure to avoid cliché topics and those conducive to platitudes. Of course, you should stay away from potentially controversial issues unless they truly intersect with your core values. Finally, remember that colleges don’t admit students retroactively. That is, they don’t really want to read about your past unless it has some bearing on the present or future.

If you still have a long list of potential topics, simply begin to write. Finish a few rough drafts, read through them, and figure out which one best represents your qualities and values. Sometimes you just can’t determine how good a topic is until you actually write a draft of the essay.

Wading through the plethora of potential essay topics may seem impossible; however, with a few pointers, anyone can pick a good one.

This article was contributed by Dakota Meyers, who just completed his freshman year at Yale University and is a regular contributor to the CollegeTreasure.comandAdmissionHook.com blogs. He is a 2009 graduate of Hoisington High School in Hoisington, KS. At Hoisington High, he won varsity letters in debate, speech, scholars’ bowl, and band. He won the 2009 3A Kansas State Championship in extemporaneous speech.

At Yale, Dakota intends to major in Economics and Mathematics. He writes for the campus publication Business Sphere and is an active member of the Yale chapter of Nourish International. He also participates in the Yale Political Union as a member of the Independent Party.

As a current college student, Dakota has recent first-hand experience with the college admission process.

Win a Bonus Scholarships from the University of New Haven at CollegeTreasure.com

The essay is the most difficult part of a scholarship application, and it’s often the only thing that separates winners from the rest of the applicant pool. Even the best writers struggle with the scholarship essay because it differs so greatly from academic essays. Scholarship evaluators generally don’t read essays from a technical standpoint (unless, of course, the paper

is riddled with simple, lazy errors); rather, they read in order to get a better idea of the applicant’s personal history, qualities, and aspirations. The essay is meant to give applicants a chance to convey ideas that cannot be expressed in SAT scores or lists of accomplishments.  Everyone has unique characteristics, and with a few simple tips anyone can write a successful  scholarship essay that showcases these qualities.

The first step in beginning the writing process is, quite simply, to begin the writing process. Gather information and construct a rough draft several weeks, maybe a month… or two, before you intend to submit the application. To make choosing a topic easier, write down a list of the personal qualities and goals that you want to emphasize to the scholarship’s evaluators then choose something (probably a personal story) that clearly displays these characteristics. Don’t just write empty, aimless prose and try to fill it in with useful information.  It’s usually best to make an outline before starting the rough draft, but this is not absolutely necessary. Some find it easier to just begin writing, especially when recounting a true story.  However, if you choose the latter method, make sure that you have a specific story and well-defined points of emphasis in mind; again, don’t write aimlessly. Work on the essay a little bit each day. This gives you a chance to review the essay with a clear mind (if you write and revise it all at once, your ideas tend to blend together). After you’ve written a rough draft, begin to revise with an eye toward content. Don’t worry about grammar or prose quality until the final weeks because these errors are easily correctable. Finally, make sure to use your resources throughout the process; these could include English teachers, tutors, your family, and your friends.

Essays can make the scholarship application process difficult. However, no scholarship that’s worth having comes easily, and if you follow the advice above any scholarship essay is doable.

Five Important Tips for Writing Your College Essay

1. Give Them What They’re Asking For – Be sure to answer the essay question given. It’s pretty basic but stick to the topic, develop it, and support it. In addition, be sure to write your essay specifically for that school. Don’t recycle your essays.
2. Be Original – Imagine reading essay after essay. It’s no different from employers scouring resume after resume. Think about what is really significant and powerful to you and about you. If you write from the heart it will immediately draw in your audience. Use your natural style; don’t be overly formal and stilted. The essay reader wants to know what kind of person you are. Take a stand and support your information. A fearful, “trying-to-hard-to-say-what-you-want-to-hear” essay isn’t going to fool anyone. Remember, they read these en masse every year.
3. Make it Easy to Read – Your content doesn’t have to be simplistic, but all readers desire content to be easy to read. No one wants to struggle through your essay. If your structure is poorly planned and executed, your reader may not even make it through to the end. Organization is very important. Always have a thesis and don’t stray from your topic. Support your thesis with interesting and solid information. Again, stick to the topic and don’t run-on, ramble, or take on an idea too wide to cover. Transition smoothly between supporting points and use a pleasing, neat format. Appearances are the first thing that will invite or turn-off your reader.
4. Focus on the Future – Often you’ll have to provide background, like what you’ve learned and where you’ve come from in your essay. It’s all part of who you are. Yet, students often make the mistake of focusing too much on the past. Show that you are a forward-thinker. Discuss your intentions if possible – what you strive to accomplish and why. Admissions really needs to have more confidence about where you are going than where you have been.
5. Prove Your Value – The role of a college’s admissions staff is to select the best from its pool of applicants. You must give your readers a reason to feel you’ll be an asset to the college. Your accomplishments, challenges, and attitudes will all show what kind of potential you have as a student and member of the campus, not to mention what kind of alumnus you will be. The college’s reputation is affected by the students they turn out and the successes they have. The value you bring has a lot to do with the value of the college itself. Don’t leave information up to interpretation, answer your essay with specific information that proves something (or many things) that are positive about you.

Successfully implementing these five steps in your college essay will make your essay one that stands out among the rest. Your original, future-focused, easy-to-read, specific, value-proving essay will need only one more thing – proofreading! After all this hard work, don’t let careless errors ruin your well-crafted essay!

Lynn Mattoon is a Content Editor & Career Writer for CollegeJobBank.com and SalesHeads.com, Beyond.com career communities. You can follow her on Twitter at BeyondCareers.

Choosing the Right College

College Life

While most students are focused on what they hope to do in the new semester, Brett J Callahan presents Five Back-to-School Do NOT’s posted at 2East: The College Living Blog.  Also, back on campus many students are feeling a financial pinch and might be tempted to look for credit cards.  For these students, Jim presents Best Student Credit Cards posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.  In order to save money, many students are considering moving off campus.  Across the country, many new students are just tussling with their first college exams and term papers.  Don’t worry freshman,Carolyn Friedman gives you useful web tools that will help you earn the grades your parent’s will be proud of while you are secretly having the time of your life as a freshman at 75 + Useful Web Tools for Your First Year of College posted at Online Christian Colleges, Tom Tessin gives tips you can use if you’re looking to find an apartment around the college campus in Apartments for College Students ? Finding One posted at FCC Student Blog.  With the recession, many non-traditional students are heading back to school as well.  Read about going back to school at age 40 when softmelon presents Back to School posted at The Den of Psychosis.

Financial Aid

Need-based financial aid deadlines are just around the corner, but there is no time like the present to start researching scholarships.  Chris presents All About the Tylenol Scholarship posted at MJJ Party.  One of the keys to financing a college education is to start saving early.   Patrick @ Cash Money Life presents Open New Ohio 529 Account to Get $200 in Bonuses posted at Cash Money Life, saying, “The Ohio 529 College Savings Plan, CollegeAdvantage, is offering a generous sign up bonus for new accounts. You can easily earn a couple hundred dollars to go toward your college savings.”

Getting Admitted

To ED or not to ED, that is the question.  Mark Montgomery tackles this question in his post Early Decision or Regular Decision in College Admission–Which is Better? posted at Great College Advice, saying, “Students and parents are often confused about whether to use early decision as a strategy for admission. This post clears up that confusion.”  There is a lot of talk about the growing gender gap at America’s college campuses.  Andrew Syrios tackles this issue in Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics: The Female-Male College Gap | SwiftEconomics.com posted at SwiftEconomics.com.

Graduate SchoolsUnfortunately, not every application has a happy ending.  Adam Markus presents A Happy Story of HBS Rejection posted at Adam Markus: Graduate Admissions Guru, saying, “A MBA admissions consultant reflects on The Snowball by Alice Schroeder”

Other Cool StuffCandice Arnold presents AIESEC Internships Foster Understanding and Improve Students’ Marketability : CollegeRecruiter.com Insights by Internship Experts Blog posted at CollegeRecruiter.com.  Lynn Mattoon presents Gearing Up for the Careers of Tomorrow posted at My College Admissions Blog – MyCollegeCalendar.org, saying, “Today’s college students may be preparing for jobs that don’t exist yet!”

Diane Steward presents 25 Excellent “Dot Gov” Tools to Research Any Online School posted at Online University Data, saying, “From search tools to financial aid resources and more, these 25 Web resources from the government will help you in your quest to earn any degree.” Kathy Wilson presents 10 U.S. Presidents Who Got Their Start in Teaching posted at Online Schools.

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carnival of college admission, blog carnival. ]]> http://www.admissionhook.com/Blog/35/october-14-2009-edition-of-carnival-of-college-admission/feed/ 3 http://www.admissionhook.com/Blog/33/what-not-to-write-about-in-the-college-essay/ http://www.admissionhook.com/Blog/33/what-not-to-write-about-in-the-college-essay/#comments Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:12:26 +0000 admin http://www.admissionhook.com/Blog/?p=33 While there is really no topic you can write about that will guarantee your admission to the college of your dreams, there are definitely some things that you shouldn’t write about.  In this post I want to share some examples of essays that should never have been written.  The first example comes from my interview with Bryan Goss, Director of Undergraduate Admission at the University of Bridgeport.  In the interview, Bryan tells about an essay in which a student who was a convicted drug dealer talks about his past without remorse.  While it is ok to talk about past mistakes, you need to show how your learned from the mistake and take responsibility for your actions.  The entire college search process should be about personal growth, so the essay should talk about not just what happened, but what you learned from the event and how you grew.