Application Process

Application Process That question can generate a lot of generic responses from students, said Sawyer of “College Essay Guy.” Don’t be generic, he said. Why not take the final candidates and offer them a chance to write an essay or a paragraph when they arrive at an interview? This is similar to the on-the-spot assessments we as teachers often give our students to assess their comprehension of a particular unit. The admissions committee is looking to learn about youâ€"your achievements, your obstacles, your goals, your passions, your personality, your values, and your character. If you are asked to write about an influential person, the college wants to know his or her influence on you. If you can write several paragraphs on each of these topics, and present your essay in this general order, you will have a solid college application essay. If you follow these steps, I believe you will be able to craft a college application essay that will give you an edge in the admissions game. Whatever topic you choose to center your essay around, make sure you shine through. When you start reading through past admission essays, one of the first things you will notice is that nearly all of them tell a story. The best ones tell a specific story about an incident or moment in time that provides an insight into who the author is and how they view the world. Consider setting a time limit for this part of the process, or a limit for the number of sample essays you will read, and then set the examples aside and move on to creating your own masterpiece. In order to write a great college essay, you don't need a committee. Change up the questions and allow the students to produce their work directly in front of you. This would ensure that the words were in fact their own. A perceptive admissions counselor can always sense when something is bold, and when something is just plain reckless, or worse, made up. This is why a two-word essay is a poor choice, much like an essay on genuinely dangerous or illegal conduct. But humans take risks every day, and finding a space to reveal your own risk-taking, in your own words, will keep your application impactful and honest. Colleen works with a student to craft the perfect college essay. And if you’re wondering why Queen Elizabeth appears, it’s because you shouldn’t be formal in college essays. So even if all the revising and nitpicking on the college essay may not help your kid get into college, it will almost certainly make him or her a better writer. Many of the supplemental essay questions from colleges will ask the student why they are choosing to apply to that college in particular. That’s why I am excited to share a three-step method to create a winning college essay. This guest post comes from Janine Robinson, who created Essay Hell, a phenomenal blog that’s stuffed with advice about creating college admission essays. English teachers often don’t know what they’re talking about when it comes to college essays. Besides, trying to get all the members on the same page is a lot like herding cats. The college essay is an important vehicle for telling the admissions committee about yourself, but the academic factors are far more important, even if the essay is worthy of a Pulitzer. While strong academics and social curricula are essential to getting into a top school, for over 300 colleges it is the infamous personal essay that gets them into universities. Admission counselors heavily weigh the heartstrings pulled when presented with a well-written story outlining the applicant’s young life. For many, this will make or break their acceptance to a top-tier school. If a university finds out you lied on an application or essay you will get rejected, almost guaranteed. Plagiarism is always wrong, and schools are getting better at detecting it.