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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.

Using Essay Examples to Improve Your Personal College Essay

admin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 21:26:35 +0000

Students often think that they have little help writing their college admission
essays because the sample essays and essay examples offered by books and websites don’t seem to assist applicants in developing original, personal stories. However, with proper planning, students can use examples to greatly improve their own essays.

Here are a few tips:
1. Don’t start reading sample essays yet! First, brainstorm about the personal qualities that you want to emphasize to admission officials. Think of your best characteristics, those that make you stand out from the droves of other applicants. These should be deep personal traits, not generalities like “I am nice” or “I play sports.” Next, move on to brainstorming about past personal experiences, and pick one that both showcases your qualities and fits the essay prompt. The best experiences are those in which you learned a lesson or faced a deep personal challenge and prevailed.

2. Now you should peruse through a few sample essays. Don’t let these examples change the story that you picked! Simply use them to get a feel for proper organization; also, take note of how the authors cast themselves, not too flamboyantly (“I am the most qualified applicant you will ever see”) and not too modestly (“I’ll probably don’t deserve to get into this school”).

3. You’re finally ready to write a rough draft of your essay. Make sure to write entirely in your own voice; don’t go out of your way to write like you think admission officers will want you to write. Your essay should be fluid, interesting, and easy to read. SAT and ACT scores will show admission officers how well you can write academic papers. The application essay is a chance for you to catch their attention with your story.

4. Revise this essay multiple times and then compare it to more sample works, taking note of organization and how you portray yourself. Learn from these examples, but do not just copy their style or format.

5. Now you’re in the home stretch. At this point, you should stop and reevaluate the personal characteristics featured in your essay. Do you want to add anything else to the piece? Does it showcase your best, most unique qualities? Set the essay aside, and brainstorm about your personal characteristics again. Are the things that you brainstormed featured in your essay? If not, make necessary changes.

6. Revise the essay several more times (set aside a month or more to do this), enlisting the help of English teachers and counselors. Finally, submit your application.

By following the steps listed above, you can effectively use sample college admission essays to improve your own work.

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.