AdmissionHook College Essay Blog » essay advice

Many Eyes, But Only One Voice

admin — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:32:44 +0000

Recently I was asked to answer a question as part of the Unigo Experts Network. The question was, “Is it OK to have someone proofread your college admissions essay?” Our response is limited to only 100 words, but I thought this was a good question and worthy of a longer article. So, here I am going to expand upon my response.

The short answer is, yes, it is permissible to have others read and edit your college admission essay for you. With that being said, the ideas must be your own, and the voice must remain unmistakably yours. While admissions officers differ on whether or not they are able to determine if a student has actually written the essay, there is no question that a 30 or 40 year old writes with a much different voice than a 17 or 18 year old writes with.

That being said, a college admissions essay should represent a students best work. The best writers are those who rewrite and carefully hone their message. The essay cannot possibly be the best work of a student unless it has moved through a few drafts with steady improvement. Often times, when we write something we become too connected to the writing to be able to objectively edit. Unfortunately, I see this in my own writing, where I will edit a letter and send it out only to realize later that it still had a mistake. However, when I pick up writing for one of my coworkers, I can easily identify the mistakes. Having someone who has no emotional connection to the writing helps to eliminate some common mistakes such as having a word spelled correctly, but it not being the right word and sending the wrong essay to a college (think of an essay finishing with, “…and that is why I want to go to your biggest competitor.).

It is important that you have two different types of people edit your essay: those who know you well and those who don’t know you well. Why is that important? You want someone who knows you to read your essay and finish it and think that the essay accurately portrays you. Further, you want someone who doesn’t know you to finish reading the essay and get the feeling that they do know you. This means you need to start your essay early enough to allow time to have people review your essay for you.

AdmissionHook.com Advice for How to Write the Best College Admission Essay

admin — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:23:59 +0000

AdmissionHook.com Advice on How To Write The Best College Admission Essay

In this video James Maroney and Guy Milone discuss what makes a good college admission essay. Guy gives tips on telling the story and some examples of essays he has read in the past that truly resonated with him.

Spotlight Essay Advice with Paul Brower, Associate Director of Admission at Nichols College

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:41:57 +0000

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.

Spotlight Essay Advice with Matt Beirne of the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:50:27 +0000

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.

Writing the Scholarship Essay

admin — Fri, 07 May 2010 22:23:40 +0000

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.

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.

College Essay Success

admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:38:53 +0000

Congratulations! The fact that you are looking up tips on college essays indicates your desire to write a successful essay. Research is always the best way to start when it comes to targeting your audience. Just think about people in sales jobs – what better way to make that sale than to know what your potential customer wants? It is no different for you as a college applicant. You need to sell your college admissions audience on your potential as a member of their academic community. One of the best ways to do this is to write an interesting and convincing essay.

Five Important Tips for Writing Your College Essay

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.
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.
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.
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.
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

What Not to Write About in the College Essay

admin — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:12:26 +0000

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.

Spotlight Essay Advice with Bryan Gross of the University of Bridgeport

admin — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:19:15 +0000

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.

5 Tips for Writing a Scholarship Essay

admin — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 23:09:18 +0000

While most people have already written their college admissions essay or personal statement by spring, we are now in

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.

Know Your Audience. What is the mission of the organization? Typically, most local scholarships are given by community service organizations, so you will want to highlight your volunteer work in your essay. It is always good to show in the essay that you took the time to research what the group does and that you know a little bit about their good works. Most groups spend the year raising the money to give away, so they would appreciate you acknowledging their efforts. While you don’t want to appear to be a sycophant (I couldn’t help throwing a good SAT word in, in other words a kiss up), perhaps you could draw some parallels between some of your activities and activities that the group partakes in.
Follow directions. For our Rotary club, we evaluate students in 5 areas and one of them is thoroughness of application. Read the directions. Red them again, and give them only what they are looking for. Most of these groups consist of volunteers. This is not their full time job. They do this to help out and give back to their community. That being said, they most likely do a lot of other things as well, so they are short on time. Do not fill your application with an abundance of extra letters of recommendation. Make sure your essay is on topic. Most importantly, make sure you submit your application on time. Following directions is critical.
Give them a reason to give you a scholarship. Most organizations are looking to help out a student. If you have overcome some obstacle, let them know. However, don’t feel you need to make something up or try to make a small problem seem bigger than it really was. If you do not have some extenuating circumstance that you have overcome, then write about what you hope to accomplish and what you expect to give back to your community. Most groups see their scholarships as an investment in the future of their community. Make them see that if they give you the scholarship it will be a wise investment.
Be humble, but don’t be self effacing. You do not want to brag or come across as arrogant, but don’t be afraid to tell them all the things that you have done. If you don’t tell them, who will. In high school I found out afterwards that I didn’t win a few scholarships because after I told my interviewers everything I did, I made it seem like it was no big deal. Be proud of what you have done. Tell them and then let them decide if they feel it is significant, don’t make decisions for them.
Be yourself. While it is great to look through the many sample essays on our site, the best essay is an essay that only you could have written. It has to get across your passion and your accomplishments. Look at sample scholarship essays for ideas, but don’t copy.

Best of luck and feel free to share your tips in the comments section. I am about to begin reviewing applications for this years scholarships, so my next post will be a list of scholarship don’ts.