How To Write A College Application Essay

How To Write A College Application Essay First of all, the very purpose of the college admission essay is to tell a unique story of yours â€" a story that goes beyond academic performance narrative. It’s all about hooking the audience with your traits, passions, interests, plans for the future, and life missions. Such an essay is intended to leave a positive imprint in the admissions officer’s mind and make them feel excited about you as a person. You can also ask someone else to proofread your essay for you. Asking a teacher, parent, or older sibling is probably the best way to go, since they might be more familiar with what's expected from college admissions essays. Students who felt that there was a lack of a Christian presence in their high school might also be looking for a more faith-based environment. Easily avoidable mistakes, like not checking that the entire essay is copied into the application, can harm your application prospects. When an admissions officer doesn't get the whole story or notices a sloppy mistake, it changes how schools perceive you. Sometimes students neglect to copy over their entire essay into an application and only submit a portion of their work. When Warren was asked about haphazard mistakes students make, he recounted one college essay example. The idea behind the essay is for colleges to be able to learn something about the student that they couldn’t have learned through the rest of the application. The essay is where the college can discover what makes this particular student unique and interesting. Sadly, many students tear their ACL each sports season and then have to rehab it. Many students have volunteered in various ways, even in other countries. When you're finished writing your admissions essay, it's important to proofread your material. Running your essay through spell check is important, and having someone you trust read your essay to catch other small mistakes is even better. Admissions officers generally won't dock minor mistakes in punctuation, but grammatical errors always look sloppy. So, I always suggest to them that they start early, but that also, they take their time. If they start in late June, they’ve got plenty of time to get it done before school starts, without dedicating their entire summer to writing. Instead, break the essay into parts â€" brainstorm topics one week, write an opening paragraph the next week. The following week, write the body of the paper, or even start over if the opening paragraph just doesn’t work for them. After writing the rough draft, let the essay sit for a week or so, and then go back to polish it. Find a good envelope and leave it for them to read on their own time and terms. Then, to reiterate, wine and a walkâ€"very important. What experiences have you had so far with the college that have moved you? This could include a positive story from a campus visit or phone conversation with a university staff member. Whatever the reason, students can mention that these values align with their personal values. It’s also a good idea to tie in your own experience with your college. College can be difficult, and one thing that admissions officers might be looking for is evidence that you've overcome obstacles and been able to work through hard situations. The college essay is one piece of the process that you can control so you want to get it right. A good way to tie this into your essay is to focus on your school’s motto. Southeastern University’s motto is “Transforming minds. Engaging culture.” This means that our focus is on educating students to become influential, active members of society and giving them a Christ-centered foundation. Having a Christian college education is important to many students not just because of their personal faith, but can also be an important basis for their future career. The most obvious “do” is to respond to the prompt. Write something that helps them to know you better, but be responsive. Too, be sure that you are giving them a piece of yourself. The worst thing you can do is write an essayâ€"on whatever topicâ€" that is generic, an essay where if your name was replaced by another, the reader could not tell the difference. The essay is an opportunity to share a piece of yourself, to give them a better reason why the school should choose you over the many others who are no less qualified and also seek the spot.