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.

I realize that it is a very intimidating task to sit down and try to wrap up your life in a nice little bow and between 250 and 500 words. Don’t worry, they aren’t expecting you too. However, you do need to give them a reason to accept you, and just as importantly, do not give them any reasons to reject you. Recently, there was a great guest post on The Choice, a college admissions Blog. I highly recommend reading it. Martha Merrill, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at Connecticut College wrote about what she was looking for in an essay and gave some general tips. One of the most important tips she gave was that there is no formula for a good essay. In fact, since it needs to be your voice coming through, it should be an essay that only you could have written. Another piece of good advice she gave was to pick a mundane topic and bring it to life. Read the full text of her post here.

If you are having trouble getting started, view some of our previous articles on brainstorming the essay and our big list of questions. You will also want to view advice from a former director of admissions and possibly read some sample essays and his comments. Remember, when you are reading the sample essays you are just trying to learn how an admission officer views those essays and not use them as a template for your own essay, since the best essays are intensely personal and you could not just copy the form of another essay. Most importantly, just get started. You need to write something, and then you can revise it and make it in to a good essay. Your first attempt should not be your final attempt. You may want to write a few different essays, and then pick the one that you like the best. Most likely you will need to write a few different essays anyway, as many colleges have supplements where they ask you specific questions or for an additional writing sample.

When you are done with the essay, put it down for a couple of days and then reread it with fresh eyes. Also, be sure to have someone else read it. Do they get a good sense of what you are like as a person? If one of your friends read it, would they say, “Yeah, that’s you.” While it is important to have others help you edit the essay and give you suggestions, ultimately, it is your essay and needs to be in your voice. Accept constructive criticism, but don’t let others rewrite your essay. This fall is going to be a very stressful time. Get started on your essay now. When September and October roll around, you will be glad you did.

The college visit has the potential to be either a very useful fact- and impression-gathering mission, or a colossal waste of time and money. The choice is up to you. Here are seven tips to make sure you get the most out of your visits.

7. Bring an Umbrella. That may sound like frivolous advice, but there are few things more miserable than trekking around a campus in the pouring rain, getting your new tie or skirt drenched before your all-important college interview. Pack an umbrella-you won’t regret it.
6. Do Research Before You Visit. You don’t have to read an entire book on each college, but you should know enough so as not to sound like you just wandered in off the street. For example, if you ask a University of Chicago admissions officer what their in-state/out-of-state tuitions are, you will be embarrassed to hear him say, in front of everybody, that in fact U. of Chicago is a private college and thus their tuition charges are equal for all students who attend, regardless of their home state. Everyone will stare at you. To avoid this ignominious fate, just go to the school’s homepage and look around for thirty minutes, or look up the college’s entry in a college guidebook such as the Fiske Guide to the Colleges.
5. Take a Self-Guided Tour. Every single college you will visit has both downsides and upsides. Yet when you tour them, most of those colleges will, for example, show you only their one new dorm and not the four old ones where you will most likely live during your time there. Therefore, after your official tour is ended, take thirty minutes or so to wander around on your own and check out what the campus is really like, warts and all. Also, if you are thinking of majoring in, say, astronomy, then take a trip to the college’s observatory to see for yourself what condition it is in and whether it is easy to get to. Or, if you are interested in the drama program, head over to the college’s theatre to see if its proscenium arch is still standing. Finally, drive or walk around the immediate area. Does it look new or run-down? Are there restaurants, movie theatres, or retail stores nearby? Is it urban, suburban, or rural? Take the initiative and do some investigating on your own.
4. Introduce Yourself. Many colleges track “demonstrated interest,” which means they take note each time you call, write, or visit, and they often use this statistic to decide between two qualified applicants. Demonstrated interest becomes even more important if you are placed on the waiting list: colleges want to admit people who are likely to attend, because that will increase their percentage yield, which will then increase their ranking in US News & World Report. Therefore they will often choose applicant who seems excited about their college over one who is only lukewarm.

 
3. Visit the College When It Is in Session. This means that, if the college isn’t in session, or if it is filled with summer students, you won’t necessarily get an accurate idea of what the college is usually like. Sometimes campuses that seem dead in the summer are actually vibrant and exciting in the fall and spring. If you visit the school when it is in session, you will also be able to ask current students questions about their school. This can be very instructive, as college students are very candid and will be glad to give you their blunt, uncensored opinions.
2. Ask Lots of Questions. As we said in tip #5, the college visit is a carefully orchestrated succession of images and events all coordinated to create in your mind a favorable impression of the school. The problem is that a pleasant, but superficial, experience does not guarantee that you would be happy or fulfilled there as an actual undergraduate student. There are meatier issues to be discussed, for example, than whether the library’s stacks are really haunted by the ghost of an expelled 19th-century student. So if you are interested in a double major that the school doesn’t offer, ask if it’s possible to create it. If you are worried that all of the students leave on the weekends-called a “suitcase school”-ask your tour guide if that is the case. If you want to know how many of the school’s freshmen return for sophomore year, pipe up! Above all, remember that you might spend four years and over $100,000 at this school, so you must get all of the information and impressions you need to be able to make that decision.

And to keep all of your info and thoughts in coherent order, proceed to tip #1…

1. TAKE NOTES DURING OR IMMEDIATELY AFTER YOUR VISIT!Why is this tip capitalized? Because it’s THAT important. Do NOT wait until a week after your visit to write down your impressions. If you are planning to see a dozen or more colleges in July, there is little chance that you will be able to differentiate between all of those quads, dining halls, libraries, tour guides, professors and admissions officers in October when you begin to think about where to apply. Bring a notepad with you wherever you go, or have your parent bring one, or, if you have to, take notes on the back of your hand. Keeping a journal is important not only as a way to remember the specific attributes of each college, but also more generally as a means of sorting out your impressions and figuring out what you want from four years of college. Do you like big schools or small; urban, suburban, or rural? What about the school’s philosophy: liberal arts, or more professional- or business-oriented? Do you want an intense academic environment, or a more relaxed, social atmosphere? Discovering the answers to these questions is not only important; it is the purpose of the college visit.

1. Don’t Forget to Proofread the Essay.  Remember, just because a word is spelled correctly, it doesn’t mean that it is the right word.  The best example for the applications I recently read, is that one student said he served his church as an “alter server”.  This mistake was picked up by all three members of the committee, as were several others.
2. Don’t Just Copy a Free Sample Scholarship Essay.  While there are many sites that offer sample personal statements, college application essays, and scholarship essays, you should never copy them.  Look at them for ideas, but the best essay is one that is intensely personal and that only you could have written.
3. Don’t Write Just One Paragraph.  Most organizations put considerable effort in to raising the money that they give away, so they want to see that you have put some effort in to your application.  We had several one paragraph essays, and one member of the committee automatically dismissed them from consideration.  We worked hard to be able to give this money away, so we don’t want to see a student who feels like they are entitled.  Scholarships are a reward, not a right.
4. Don’t Forget to Read the Instructions.  If a scholarship says applications are only accepted online, submit your application online.  If it requires financial aid information, make certain that you submit it.  We had several applications that were incomplete, so we did not consider them.
5. Don’t Be Disappointed if You Don’t Win.  Unfortunately, times are tough, and there are more people than ever applying for scholarships.  If you don’t win, it isn’t personal, it is just a numbers game.  There are too many good applicants and not enough money.

In this interview James Maroney of AdmissionHook.com gets great tips from Bryan Gross, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Admission at the University of Bridgeport, on how to write the college essay or personal statement.  They go over some essay topics to avoid and talk about how the essay fits in to the overall admission process.

Don't Stress about your essay, read our tips.

the middle of another essay season: scholarship essays.  While there are many similarities between a good college essay and a good scholarship essay, there are also many differences.  I have helped review scholarship applications for 5 different organizations.  In addition to giving out scholarships through admissionhook.com and collegetresure.com, I am the chair of the Devon Rotary Scholarship committee (we give out over $20,000 in scholarships annually) and helped develop a “scholarship general application” that is used by several of the non-profit organizations in my hometown of Milford, CT.  In this post I am going to share with you some advice on what makes a good scholarship essay.