Brainstorming

The most important part of your essay is the subject matter.

You should expect to devote about 1-2 weeks simply to brainstorming ideas for your essay. To begin brainstorming a subject idea, consider the following points. From this brainstorming session, you may find a subject you had not considered at first.

Finally, remember that the goal of brainstorming is the development of ideas -- so don't rule anything out at this stage. See if any of these questions help you with developing several ideas for your college essay.

• What are your major accomplishments, and why do you consider them accomplishments? Do not limit yourself to accomplishments you have been formally recognized for since the most interesting essays often are based on accomplishments that may have been trite at the time but become crucial when placed in the context of your life.
• Does any attribute, quality, or skill distinguish you from everyone else? How did you develop this attribute?
• Consider your favorite books, movies, works of art, etc. Have these influenced your life in a meaningful way? Why are they your favorites?
• What was the most difficult time in your life, and why? How did your perspective on life change as a result of the difficulty?
• Have you ever struggled mightily for something and succeeded? What made you successful?
• Have you ever struggled mightily for something and failed? How did you respond?
• Of everything in the world, what would you most like to be doing right now? Where would you most like to be? Who, of everyone living and dead, would you most like to be with? These questions should help you realize what you love most.
• Have you experienced a moment of epiphany, as if your eyes were opened to something you were previously blind to?
• What is your strongest, most unwavering personality trait? Do you maintain strong beliefs or adhere to a philosophy? How would your friends characterize you? What would they write about if they were writing your admissions essay for you?
• What have you done outside of the classroom that demonstrates qualities sought after by universities? Of these, which means the most to you?
• What are your most important extracurricular or community activities? What made you join these activities? What made you continue to contribute to them?
• What are your dreams of the future? When you look back on your life in thirty years, what would it take for you to consider your life successful? What people, things, and accomplishments do you need? How does this particular university fit into your plans for the future?

Writing the Successful College Application Essay

Learn how to write a successful college application essay using the three-step process for writing your personal college admissions essay.
 Gaining entrance to just about any college continues to get harder as more and more applicants are applying for a limited number of spaces. How can you improve your chances to being admitted to the college or university of your choice? By writing a stellar personal essay as part of your college application.

It may be only 500 words, but the admissions essay(s) portion of a college application can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection. How you write your personal essay shows the admissions committee why you are different from everybody else. It provides information about you that test scores, grades, and extracurricular pursuits just cannot.

You can use the essay to describe a favorite activity, to tell a story about yourself, or even a story about your dog, but make sure to really use it -- in a way that captures the readers attention and shows that you are exceptional.

So how do you write a college application essay? Writing the college application essay can be one of the most daunting parts of applying to college. To help you get started take a look at these thoughts on brainstorming ideas, choosing a topic, and how to write an effective and powerful essay.

Step One: Brainstorming
Step Two: Selecting An Essay Topic
Step Three: Writing the Essay, Tips for Success

Memorable Essay Pointers

Now that you've read some true stories how about some other memorable essays:
• What to place in the unusually shaped pockets of my carpenter jeans.
• Why my mother is short and my father is tall.
• How to eat matzo balls with chopsticks.
• Setting free a pet squirrel.

But how about some real tips...
• Focus on a specific incident, encounter, or moment to convey something of who you are, how you see the world, what you consider important.
• Do not use originality as a gimmick.
• A humorous essay is hard to write. Do not do one unless you can pull it off.
• Whatever you write, be sure it is well written. This does not only mean check your grammar and punctuation. Organize your thoughts and make the writing flow.
• Avoid generalizations and repetitions of the same point in different words.

True Stories Part 4

“Miss Nancy. Miss Nancy. I got in trouble today!”

Immediately the dialog format catches the reader’s attention. Nancy writes about her conversation with the playground bully at the school where she worked as a teacher assistant. The boy complains that the teacher punished him when, “I said a bad word and pushed Tommy because he was making fun of me.”

Nancy commiserates saying, “Getting in trouble isn’t much fun.” Later on she shares her own experience, “One day I figured out that if I didn’t let my sister see me get mad, she wouldn’t make fun of me because I wasn’t getting angry.” At another point she suggests, “We are going to have a secret code. Every time you get angry, flip your retainer in your mouth and that will let me know… I will come over and give you three minutes of alone time to calm down…”

Without a boastful word, Nancy’s essay shows her insight, compassion, tact and creativity.

True Stories Part 3

It was a stroke of genius as we were batting around ideas, when Joshua decided to write his essay about Emperor Fabius Maximus, nicknamed Cunctator, The Delayer . Surely college admissions readers would not yawn, having read thousands of essays on this topic!

Beyond catching attention, the topic was strategically a good choice. It reinforced Josh’s A’s and prizes in Latin. Writing playfully about how he and the emperor shared a tendency to delay, Joshua demonstrated wit, introspection, and his talent for finding relevance in ancient texts.

Joshua’s essay enhanced his intellectual and academic stature and certainly set him apart from others with a C average and in the bottom half of the class.