The Art of the College Essay
Jan 29 '00
Ah, so you want to know the art of the college application? I say art, because that is exactly what it is. You are forced to describe yourself and your whole life in a small amount of space. And within that space you must also separate yourself from many other applicants who want to attend the same university that you do. Below I will describe some tips that I learned while applying for college, and hopefully, they will help you out as well.
First, to give you some idea of my background, I am a sophomore at Johns Hopkins. That means I went through the whole application process only two years ago and it is still very fresh in my mind. In this Epinion I will describe how to be successful in your application and lead you through all the parts finishing at the dreaded essay.
Background
The overall goal of the application is to paint a picture of yourself to the admission counselor at the university. This is a huge challenge because you have a very limited amount of space, however, with some planning, you can get it done.
First, you want to make your application neat. You have two choices on this subject. You can either type your application or hand-write it. When I applied I had trouble setting up the typewriter so I decided to hand-write my application. I would suggest though that you type your application because it looks more professional and there are even some software programs out there now that help you fill in the applications. I believe the title of one is “Apply.”
Check, recheck, triple check, check again, and then have three other people check your application. This is true for the whole thing, especially the essays. When you submit your application you cannot use the excuse that there was a typo. If you spell a word wrong, or do not use the correct form of the verb, it will count against you. I cannot stress how important it is to check your application. One good way to check is to read everything out loud. Also make sure to have other people read the application.
Activies Section
I am assuming that you know how to fill out the general information section. This simply asks for your name, parents name, high school, has anyone in your family given any money to the school :-) This section should be trivial, but remember to check it. You would hate to have the acceptance letter sent to the wrong place.
When you list your activities, make sure you list the activities that have had an impact on your life. Just because you participated in twenty sports and eighty-seven activities does not prove that you dedicated your time to those activities. You want to show your most important activities, and if you have a chance in your essays, describe why they are so important.
References
I will not go too much into this in this Epinion, but make sure you pick a person that can describe you in a different angle than you have described yourself in. Also, pick a person that likes you.
The Essay
This is the section that makes the student nervous. It could also discourage a person from applying to a school, however, it is not that scary. If you have a choice of essays, select one that shows your creativity and select one that will allow you to paint an accurate picture of yourself in the mind of the reader. Saying that you tutor children so that you can get extra credit in a class is different from saying you tutor children because you enjoy seeing the looks on their faces when you help them to understand material that has confused them for years.
Many applications give you a choice of questions, and often, there are a couple of questions that appear to be more challenging than others. While colleges say one question is not favored over another, you may be able to express your creativity better in one than another. For example a question that asks for an emotional moment in your life is very different that a question that asks you to detail the whereabouts of Elvis using a list of 50 objects (Check out University of Chicago’s Essays). In the latter essay, you are really forced to be creative and develop a story. However, if you have a strong story to tell for the former, tell it. If you have a lot to say for an emotional moment in your life, it is better to write about this issue instead of writing a mediocre essay on the more challenging topic.
Use your imagination. Make sure that you separate yourself from other people and make yourself distinct. Also, edit and check your essay. Make sure it is perfect. Make sure there are spelling errors and that all verb usage is correct.
Conclusion
If you follow these steps, you should be well on your way to creating a strong application. Remember, the goal of the application is to paint a picture of yourself and persuade the admission officers that you are the best person for their school. If you do this, sit back and wait for the acceptance letter to arrive.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Do not procrastinate The admission folks will know if an application is rushed. If they see a rushed application, do not even think about being accepted to their school because all that will demonstrate is that you are not responsible.
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