After graduating high school, students rush for their college admissions. It is quite a gruelling process for a lot of applicants. They have to tackle many stages of selection. One of the hardest stages of the entire application process is writing a killer college essay. It might seem like just an essay, but this single essay has a lot riding on it. This essay is what concerns most students. They try their hardest to produce the best essay possible. Some even take help from an online custom essay writing service.
There are many factors surrounding a good college essay. Here are seven tips for writing a great college application essay:
1. Write About Something That Inspires You
College essays are supposed to reflect a person’s inspirations and aims. The university supervisors look for something unique in a college essay. They do not want generic paragraphs explaining how hard-working a student is. Write something inspiring that catches their attention out of the many college essays they have to look through.
2. Re-Invent the Wheel
Many students have gotten accepted into top-tier colleges and universities by writing excellent college essays. Many have uploaded their examples on the Internet. Current students can take ideas from those revered college essays. They shouldn’t copy the writing styles or content of those essays and turn them into their own. However, they can create their essay taking insight from those essays since those methods have proved to be successful.
3. Don’t Try to Be Funny Unless You’re a Natural
While a formal setup isn’t exactly mandatory for writing a college essay, it should not be too informal and casual. Being overly formal makes the essay sound monotonous, and being too casual can break the immersion from inspecting a college essay. So, bringing in humorous points is not recommended. Unless the student can incorporate funny materials in the essay without taking away from its general theme and making it sound natural, they are advised not to take that route.
4. Research Your Audience and Capture Their Attention
College essays should be about specific audiences. Irrelevant essays will be discarded by the admissions authorities in the first stage. One should get some idea about what the intended university wants in their submitted college essay. For example, a private research university wants something innovative from its candidates. They will discard any college essay that was directed towards a liberal arts college. So, knowing their audience can help in crafting a good essay.
5. Have at Least Three Others Read it
Before submitting or publishing any article or essay, it is highly recommended to get the piece of writing reviewed by other people. This is called “proofreading”. Having at least three other people proofread a college essay can allow one’s perspective to broaden. Any mistakes that might have gone unnoticed the first time will also be revealed through multiple reviews.
6. Try Evoking a Strong Emotion
Applicants should pour their heart and soul into their essays. Admission authorities want to understand the person, not just what their goal is. They look for that strong sense of feeling that drives the student and why they applied to that specific university. These emotions laid out in the text help narrow down the selection process.
7. Write Several Drafts
It is not possible to write a satisfactory college essay in one sitting. It is advised to write, revise, and rewrite a few drafts. Using an online essay writing service can also help in selecting the perfect draft. Having more than one choice can also provide a source of satisfaction. This step also leads to the essay being more thought-out.