College Essays

College Essays Remember that most universities receive thousands of applications; top colleges sometimes get more than 75,000 applications in a single year. For admissions officers sifting through thousands of essays, a dynamic introduction makes a lasting impression. A great introduction does not need to be outrageous or sensational, but it should give the admissions committee a good sense of your personality. Many schools do not require an essay, and in cases where it's optional, some applicants skip it. What makes them compelling to read is that the writer tells a good story and uses details and description to captivate the reader’s imagination. That is your mission and by all means, you should choose to accept it. I have been in the business of helping students write killer college essays for the past ten years, and only two of my kids have walked in my door with a great topic. One was a beekeeper and the other was a firefighter. Well, ok then, but for the rest, we had to brainstorm to come up with a topic they could write about with passion and purpose. These admissions officers are so loyal that they want to help select the incoming class, and are looking for applicants who excite them and win their support. One of the primary objectives of the college essay is for you to feature one of your strengths in an interesting way. No one owes you the time to read your essay -- rather, it is your job to grab your reader’s attention and keep it. Assume you are writing a magazine article about your favorite topic -- you. Consider some of the books or magazines you enjoy. On its admissions page, Hamilton lists multiple college essay examples written by students admitted to the school. Though Inzer declined to single out one essay, she says that the examples offer a diverse mix of student voices and backgrounds. The essay excerpted below, with the permission of Hamilton College, shows the student’s personality through a love of fly-fishing. But finding their voice can be a challenge for many students, Inzer notes, because they may have limited life experience. Also, she adds, they have been writing to the instructions of high school teachers up until this point, rather than for themselves. Like everyone else impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, high school juniors are quarantined with a lot of time on their hands. Many have decided to use the extra time to get a head start on college essays â€" after all, applications are due this fall, when they're hoping to be back in high school. Don’t forget the fact that admission officers are inundated. When colleges quote selectivity figures of 6-10%, what they mean is that they read thousands of essays and reject the vast majority of applicants. Making the cut is difficult so the onus is on you to produce something special on the page. One mistake Warren has seen is students who submit the same essay to multiple schools without changing the name of the university in their essay. Your high school English teacher's reminder to use a good hook can help you get started. Finding their voice means students must get to know themselves and write authoritatively, sharing a sense of their lives with admissions officers. Last year I was traveling with a colleague from Yale. It can take some convincing for many kids and parents to believe that when it comes to writing the essays, in particular, college admissions officers care about who students are. The essays should reveal their personalities, passions, dreams, weird talents, favorite foods, sickest playlists, inexplicable loves and undeniable quirks. As he told me, the essays his students â€" who had lived vastly different lives than most mainstream applicants â€" were writing were indistinguishable from those written by applicants in southeastern Connecticut. They were composed of billowing clouds of “my global perspective” and “future potential as a leader” and “desire to leverage my education” to bllllllaurhfhasklafsafdghfalkasf. You must assume that your reader is very different than an English teacher you have had in school. He or she is young, usually years of age in the first round, and is very enthusiastic about the college where he or she works.