Essays

College personnel suggest that you take a lot of time and care to prepare your essay. You are presenting yourself to the colleges on paper like an applicant is going to a job interview. It is all about self- presentation! You must do your homework on the college/university you are applying to BEFORE you write the essay. Download hints for excellent essays.

10 Tips

1. Curiosity - Colleges like to detect a yearning for learning
2. Self-Awareness - Colleges like self- aware students. They want you to know who you are and be able to write about both your good qualities and your shortcomings. They want to know your motives, why you are interested in some things and not others. Colleges want students who have an understanding of others. For instance, they look at qualities like character-why do you do community service work?
3. Complexity - A sense of complexity is highly priced and admission departments are looking for ambiguity and uncertainty that students have for life. You can acknowledge that life does not always make sense.
4. Enthusiasm-Do not write about something that you are not passionate about! Do not “blast out” the volume by overstating facts. Let the reader come to the conclusion of the story.
5. Honesty-Plain and simple, be honest.
6. Character-Find a story about yourself that reveals your character.
7. Discovery-Be able to tell a story that has a point. It is a discovery process. The story must be about “YOU”.
8. Feelings-Include details that make the reader feel like THEY are there and living the same experience.
9. Topic-Do not exaggerate and use hyperboles. Address the topic that has been asked of you.
10. Content-Do not be obsessed with style, rather content.

4 Typical Essays

1. Write about someone who has influence your life (avoid using parents).
2. Write about a personal interest that has an academic or artistic interest.
3. Write about a challenging personal experience.
4. Write about a second culture.