One of the most memorable essays for college admissions counselors Alexis White Working with a student was not about a harrowing personal challenge or a rewarding volunteer experience. “It started with the phrase ‘My hair comes into a room before I do,'” said White, founder and director of consultancy firm Alexis College Expert. “It was just the best. And everyone who read it loved it.
College application essays have a notorious reputation for being one of the most difficult aspects of the application process. But it’s a relic Important ways to share details about your life and interests — a way to differentiate yourself beyond your grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities, Even in the era of ChatGPT (More on this later).
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White says admissions officers are looking for entertainment while reading applications. Of course, students should use their essay to demonstrate their curiosity, character, and perspective, but contrary to popular belief, these personal statements don’t need to describe devastating moments of painful growth. “You can have fun,” White said. “You don’t have to be traumatized.”
There are several essays that students must write as a part of their college application. Over Seven million students Apply to the college through this General appA streamlined platform that allows students to apply to multiple schools simultaneously. There, students write a personal statement, Usually between 500 and 650 wordsA student can choose from seven, focusing on identity, beliefs, achievements and interests request For the 2024-25 application season. A prompt even allows the applicant to write about a topic of their choice. “Write the essay your heart wants to write,” says a college essay coach Cassandra Ciao.
Individual colleges also ask for additional short pieces (About 250 words), also known as the supplemental essay, which may ask applicants to explain why they are applying to this particular school, and Their academic interests and extra-curricular activities.
As with so much writing, students must devote serious time and effort — White suggests at least eight weeks — to crafting interesting and effective essays. Here’s what college essay professionals want applicants to know.
Make sure your essays are unique to you
White says students often put pressure on themselves to come up with some kind of essay topic. There are very few unique ideas, he continues, but what will set you apart is your approach to the essay. Start strong with an attention-grabbing first sentence, experts say, that grabs the reader immediately.
Can’t decide what to write? Try this exercise.
Look around your room or house and pick 10 items that evoke a memory — like a soccer trophy or a painting you made — and write them down. Or describe a typical day in your life in detail, from the music you listen to in the shower to the snacks you eat before bed.
The key, says Brooks, is to focus on things you might think of as humdrum, but you can use to tell a story about yourself.
Don’t leave out the small details when thinking about extracurriculars and accomplishments. “When my kids are stuck, there’s a lot of chatter about things they think doesn’t matter, and then we usually come up with something really cool,” Tyler says.
Another trick is to choose five adjectives that you would use to describe yourself, suggests White. Each expands with an experience or memory.
Focus on developing a unique lens through which to view an event in your life with an original perspective. These can be small moments, says Stacey Brooke, its founder and chief advisor College Essay Advisor. For example, a student she worked with wrote an essay about bonding with her mother while going to gymnastics practice. After the student got his license and no longer had these moments with his mother, he wrote, he felt a sense of loss. “He reflected on what those drives meant to him and what it meant to grow up and achieve things and lose them at the same time,” says Brooke. “It is the smallest moment, the smallest part of life from which you can create an incredible composition.”
Even if you’re writing about a simple topic, like school sports or a lesson learned from an adult in your life, one way to make your essay stand out is to add dialogue, Hsiao says. “It’s in the specificity that only you can write because you’ve been through it,” she says.
Avoid regurgitating your resume, Hsaio continued. Instead, show the reader your growth through a narrative arc. You don’t need to state clearly what you learned from the experience. Instead, use descriptive, scene-setting language — about how excited you were during that big game or how excited you were when you stepped on stage — that shows how you’re different.
Again, you don’t need to share the worst thing that ever happened to you — or try to dramatize your life to make it seem more challenging than it is — but help the reader understand that you’ve tried to close a new club, for example. Hsiao says, “What you did on purpose may be small globally, but because it feels big to you and I care about you as a writer, it will feel big to me.”
Don’t even think about copying from ChatGPT (or other generative AI).
While Brooke understands the appeal of ChatGPT, experts say don’t use it to write your essay. College application reviewers can tell.
The purpose of these pieces is to showcase your personality and writing ability, and bots will never create a unique, personalized piece. These chatbots use a style and tone that is instantly recognizable to readers, full of clichés and an awkward cadence, experts say.
Appropriate uses of generative AI include spelling and grammar checks or thesauruses. “Once you start pulling whole paragraphs, you’re cheating,” says White. “It’s none of your business.”
Tailor supplemental essays to every school
Depending on the school, you may be asked to write One or two short supplementary essays. This prompt may have similar themes about you Academic interest or How you relate to the people around you. For these essays, experts say you can reuse answers for multiple schools — but make sure you revise your answers specifically for each school.
To make sure you’re tackling supplemental essays efficiently, Brooke says to collect all the prompts from the schools you’re applying to and see where they overlap. Hsiao recommends identifying three or four activities, obsessions, or aspects of your life that you know you want to showcase, and trying to match these topics to the essay prompt. This can be anything from curriculum to your favorite TV show. “We’re prioritizing what’s important in our lives and then demonstrating that by mixing and matching each school for supplemental essay questions,” she says. For example, if you plan to write about your future major for a college, tailor that essay to each school. However, make sure you research each university and include details about their specific programs in your piece, says Brooke.
For questions about why you want to attend that particular college, make sure your answers are specific to that school. “‘I love Delaware because I can’t wait to go to football games and pledge to a sorority, and I’m excited about the business school.’ That’s not going [cut it] Because you can say that about Rutgers,” said Kyra TylerA senior director and college admissions consultant at Bright Horizons College Coach. Instead, focus on school traditions, an honors program you hope to join, interesting research opportunities or when you went on a tour (whether in person or virtual), says Tyler.
Tell a vivid story – and show off your writing skills
Your essays must not only provide substance, but also show their style.
Tyler advises students to avoid metaphors: Don’t talk about taking care of your younger sibling in a context bluey Phases – To be straightforward. (“Kids can’t get away [metaphors],” says Tyler, “and what happens is they get stuck under them, and they can’t write.”) You’ll want to write clearly, using concrete examples instead of spelling everything out, says White. For example, if you’re a camp counselor who’s helped a nervous kid come out of their shell, write a scene where the camper is interacting with other kids instead of calling them less reserved.
Write as if you were talking to your best friend, says Tyler. Avoid profanity, but let your personality come through in your writing. Try reading your essay aloud to see if it sounds like you.
Don’t forget about basics like good grammar, correct spelling and word choice (make sure you’re not repeating the same words and phrases). You don’t need to focus on a five-paragraph structure, Hsiao says. Just make sure you’re telling an interesting story. Have a trusted adult, such as a teacher or parent, proofread your essay so you can spot style and structure issues.
After you’ve completed a draft, set it aside for a few days, coming back to it with fresh eyes to revise, says Tyler.
College application essays are your chance to share who you were, who you are, and who you want this university to be, says Hsaio. Focus on the points you want to convey to admissions officers and let your voice and emotion carry the essay.
