College Application Essay

College Application Essay Your school may ask you “why us” but may not ask specifically about your goals. Use one or two sentences to tell them about your goals for college. We talked about prioritizing extra-curricular activities, such as putting the things you care about most and have the most involvement with, first. While an application may have eight, 10 or 30 lines for involvement, busy admission officers who speed read this section may only get to third on the list. Make them want to keep learning about you by telling them clearly and thoroughly what’s most important to you. Willamette University is offering high school seniors a more affordable way to kick start college. During a time of pain and healing, Katie Lee’s professors and classmates inspired her to make the most of her life. That’s the case at St. John’s College, which has campuses in Maryland and New Mexico, says Benjamin Baum, vice president of enrollment for the St. John’s system. “It’s more about the voice than anything else,” Inzer says, noting an essay that is too clinical can mute a student’s personality. Experts say the essay should give the school a sample of his or her personality. For some essay projects, evaluating the audience is important, but for others, it’s best to follow the general writing strategies you see in mainstream writing, periodicals, and professional literature. You want to use any details that will help the reader identify the topic and the scope of the essay. You want to use focused writing with a consistent tone and diction throughout the essay. This part of an essay is the first presentation of your ideas. Because if you don’t, how are you going to show that you are a good fit on campus? People with dreams need help making their dreams come true. Your goal and your past experience dictate what you need from the school. And you might fool your parents, or even a peer reviewer or two. But you won’t fool the experts, who have to read literally THOUSANDS of these things. But be as specific as you can when it comes to your needs. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, you want to master leadership in college. What aspect of leadership are you looking to develop? By better defining your growth areas, you can focus more precisely on what the school has to offer you. The same thing applies to every discipline you wish to develop â€" precise thinking and precise language will set you apart. If you underestimate how long it will take to write the essay properly, or don’t think it’s that important, it will show. Pay close attention to the essay prompts, try to achieve word economy and eliminate throwaway words like “that” to maximize the word count. There are a number of elements you want to include in your introduction to encourage the reader to continue reading. First of all, you’ll need a “hook” to open your essay. This hook should entice the reader by hinting at the essay’s theme in a way that makes the reader want to read more. The hook can be funny, witty, or a simple hypothesis. Whatever style you choose, be sure it coincides with the overall theme of your essay. The essay is the place to make a great first impression on the reader. They’ll be looking at that before the test scores. You don’t want to address your weaknesses, unless it’s a challenge you’ve overcome that reveals something powerful about your character. The diversity of Washington’s schools and its communities is profoundly interesting â€" but use it as a backdrop to write about you. How to create a college application list that doesn't suck. Choose a topic that reflects you in a unique way and couldn’t be written by the majority of your peers. If you read back over your essay and find it doesn’t reflect your own story, reconsider the topic, Corner said. Richardson says that the appeal of an essay on an atypical topic such as origami showed that the writer was willing to take risks. In some cases though, the school may emphasize the supplemental essay as a top priority.