TIPS ON WRITING A SUCCESSFUL

COLLEGE ESSAY

THE COMMON APPLICATION

“This personal statement helps us become acquainted with you in ways different from courses, grades, test scores, and other objective data. It will demonstrate your ability to organize thoughts and express yourself. We are looking for an essay that will help us know you better as a person and as a student. Please write an essay (250-500 words) on a topic of your choice or on one of the options listed below.”

THE COMMON APPLICATION-OLD

1. Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. %

2. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you. %

3. Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence. %

4. Describe a character in fiction, an historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence. %

5. A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences add much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college

THE COMMON APPLICATION-NEW

Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn? Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you? Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

3 QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU EVEN WRITE THE ESSAY

1. Who am I?!

Is this essay about me? Is it reflective?%

Is this essay about me NOW? %

2. Does this resonate?!

What do my activities say about me?%

What will my teachers say about me?%

3. How can I separate myself from the rest of an incredibly talented applicant pool?

PITY THE READER: READING THE SHEER VOLUME OF ESSAYS

At a typical liberal arts college, there may be upwards of 20,000 applications. 14 or 15K have high grade points and strong testing (aka, they could do the work) %

20 readers who will be reading 25 applications a day/ 6 days a week. 50 essays/day- 300 essays/ week. %

What has the potential to separate you out in this incredibly strong applicant pool?%

Personality- from extracurricular activities, recommendations, on-campus interviews and . . . your application essay(s).

DO’S AND DON’T’S

Use personal pronouns and contractions. Adopt a relaxed tone.%

Use specific evocative details. Avoid generalities and lame metaphors.%

Be upbeat, engaging, confident. Come across as a great future college student.%

Don’t try to cast yourself as Gandhi or Mother Teresa.%

Make sure your essay is enjoyable to read, and reflects a process of discovery!

DO’S AND DON’T’S

Don’t write any of the following:%

The Athlete’s Essay, The First Encounter With Death Essay, The College Essay Essay, The Family Essay, The Cosmic Philosopher Essay, The Miss America Essay, The “Let Me Tell You About Myself ” Essay, The Boyfriend/Girlfriend Essay, The Travelogue Essay, The Bridge Builder Essay, The Non-Risky Risk Essay.

Epic Fail!!

Epic Fail!!

% One of the problems that Karl Marx found with the capitalist system was that many people were forced into occupations where they could not have pride in their work and were, because of this, unhappy. I never would have believed that a Marxist theory could have any application to a seventeen-year-old student until this summer, when I had an experience more grueling than the SAT’s, more confusing than James Joyce, more frustrating than a dead car battery in a Minnesota winter: this was the summer I went job hunting.%

. . . . . . . . . %

So what did I learn from this? I learned that it is easier to find a job with a temporary agency because there are fifty people competing for fifty jobs, rather than fifty people competing for one job. I learned that most of my friends who worked at places such as the ones I applied to, got the job through some sort of connections. I learned to find work using the skills and experience I already have. I learned something about working in an office this summer, and about the people who try to make the workplace enjoyable, even if the work itself is tedious. I learned that most people in this kind of low-paying clerical work do not have pride in their work, but that they stick with it because it gives them a purpose, a responsibility, and even a social environment, and that a group of people with a task to do, no matter how mundane, can find a way of having fun. I learned that Marx was maybe a bit of a pessimist.%

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A Winner!

ONE SUCCESSFUL APPROACH TO THE ESSAY

NPR “This I Believe” format:%

Essay Parameters:%

Clear statement of belief%

Story that reveals the discovery of the belief%

Conclusion that reflects on the belief%

Concise (300 word maximum)

STEP ONE

Step One: Brainstorm

Head the paper with “I Believe” and write non-stop for twenty minutes.%

It is all right to repeat, but write for the allotted time.

STEP TWO

Step Two: examine the sheet for your “core” belief – the one that remains constant.

State your belief in a declarative sentence; for example, “I believe in the power of names.”

STEP THREE

Step Three: take the statement of core belief and develop it into one paragraph which defines the belief broadly.

Be certain that your belief is clearly stated and specific.%

Avoid beliefs that are too general (i.e. “I believe in friendship).”

STEP FOUR

Step Four: tell your story. Show the reader through a specific illustration of how you arrived at your core belief.

Begin with a stream of consciousness reflection.%

-- Be certain that the story illustrates the core belief you have stated in the intro.

STEP FIVE

Step Five: write the conclusion that returns the reader to the core belief.

The conclusion need not restate the belief but must concretely connect your story with your introduction.

THE EDITING PROCESS

Step Six: EDIT.

The Editing process is a key to the college essay and is student generated.%

Find a reader who can be brutally honest. This is the time you want someone to tell you the truth. Examples: “This isn’t funny.” “This makes you seem weird.” “you sound like you’re showing off.”