Tips for Writing

Even seemingly boring topics can be made into exceptional college admissions essays with an innovative approach. In writing the essay you must bear in mind your two goals: to persuade the admissions officer that you are extremely worthy of admission and to make the admissions officer aware that you are more than a GPA and a standardized score, that you are a real-life, intriguing personality.

Unfortunately, there is no surefire step-by-step method to writing a good essay. Some editors will remake your essay into an awesome, memorable masterpiece, but every topic requires a different treatment since no two essays are alike. However, we have compiled the following list of tips that you should find useful while writing your admissions essay.

1. Answer the Question. You can follow the next 12 steps, but if you miss the question, you will not be admitted to any institution.

2. Be Original. Even seemingly boring essay topics can sound interesting if creatively approached. If writing about a gymnastics competition you trained for, do not start your essay: "I worked long hours for many weeks to train for XXX competition." Consider an opening like, "Every morning I awoke at 5:00 to sweat, tears, and blood as I trained on the uneven bars hoping to bring the state gymnastics trophy to my hometown."

3. Be Yourself. Admissions officers want to learn about you and your writing ability. Write about something meaningful and describe your feelings, not necessarily your actions. If you do this, your essay will be unique. Many people travel to foreign countries or win competitions, but your feelings during these events are unique to you. Unless a philosophy or societal problem has interested you intensely for years, stay away from grand themes that you have little personal experience with.

4. Don't "Thesaurize" your Composition. For some reason, students continue to think big words make good essays. Big words are fine, but only if they are used in the appropriate contexts with complex styles. Think Hemingway.

5. Use Imagery and Clear, Vivid Prose. If you are not adept with imagery, you can write an excellent essay without it, but it's not easy. The application essay lends itself to imagery since the entire essay requires your experiences as supporting details. Appeal to the five senses of the admissions officers.

6. Spend the Most Time on your Introduction. Expect admissions officers to spend 1-2 minutes reading your essay. You must use your introduction to grab their interest from the beginning. You might even consider completely changing your introduction after writing your body paragraphs.
o Don't Summarize in your Introduction. Ask yourself why a reader would want to read your entire essay after reading your introduction. If you summarize, the admissions officer need not read the rest of your essay.
o Create Mystery or Intrigue in your Introduction. It is not necessary or recommended that your first sentence give away the subject matter. Raise questions in the minds of the admissions officers to force them to read on. Appeal to their emotions to make them relate to your subject matter.

7. Body Paragraphs Must Relate to Introduction. Your introduction can be original, but cannot be silly. The paragraphs that follow must relate to your introduction.

8. Use Transition. Applicants continue to ignore transition to their own detriment. You must use transition within paragraphs and especially between paragraphs to preserve the logical flow of your essay. Transition is not limited to phrases like as a result, in addition, while . . . , since . . . , etc. but includes repeating key words and progressing the idea. Transition provides the intellectual architecture to argument building.

9. Conclusions are Crucial. The conclusion is your last chance to persuade the reader or impress upon them your qualifications. In the conclusion, avoid summary since the essay is rather short to begin with; the reader should not need to be reminded of what you wrote 300 words before. Also do not use stock phrases like in conclusion, in summary, to conclude, etc. You should consider the following conclusions:
o Expand upon the broader implications of your discussion.
o Consider linking your conclusion to your introduction to establish a sense of balance by reiterating introductory phrases.
o Redefine a term used previously in your body paragraphs.
o End with a famous quote that is relevant to your argument. Do not try to do this, as this approach is overdone. This should come naturally.
o Frame your discussion within a larger context or show that your topic has widespread appeal.
o Remember, your essay need not be so tidy that you can answer why your little sister died or why people starve in Africa; you are not writing a sit-com, but should forge some attempt at closure.

10. Do Something Else. Spend a week or so away from your draft to decide if you still consider your topic and approach worthwhile.

11. Give your Draft to Others. Ask editors to read with these questions in mind:
o What is the essay about?
o Have I used active voice verbs wherever possible?
o Is my sentence structure varied or do I use all long or all short sentences?
o Do you detect any cliches?
o Do I use transition appropriately?
o Do I use imagery often and does this make the essay clearer and more vivid?
o What's the best part of the essay?
o What about the essay is memorable?
o What's the worst part of the essay?
o What parts of the essay need elaboration or are unclear?
o What parts of the essay do not support your main argument or are immaterial to your case?
o Is every single sentence crucial to the essay? This MUST be the case.
o What does the essay reveal about your personality?
o Could anyone else have written this essay?
o How would you fill in the following blank based on the essay: "I want to accept you to this college because our college needs more ____________."

12. Revise, Revise, Revise. You only are allowed so many words; use them wisely. If H.D. Thoreau couldn't write a good essay without revision, neither will you. Delete anything in the essay that does not relate to your main argument. Do you use transition? Are your introduction and conclusions more than summaries? Did you find every single grammatical error?
o Allow for the evolution of your main topic. Do not assume your subject must remain fixed and that you can only tweak sentences.
o Editing takes time. Consider reordering your supporting details, delete irrelevant sections, and make clear the broader implications of your experiences. Allow your more important arguments to come to the foreground. Take points that might only be implicit and make them explicit.

Selecting a Topic Part 2

After evaluating your essay topics with the above criteria and asking for the free opinions of your teachers or colleagues, and of your friends, you should have at least 1-2 interesting essay topics. Consider the following guidelines below.

1. Focus on Personal Qualities. If you are planning on writing an essay on how you survived poverty in Russia, your mother's suicide, your father's kidnapping, or your immigration to America from Asia, you should be careful that your main goal is to address your own personal qualities. Just because something sad or horrible has happened to you does not mean that you will be a good college or graduate school student. You don't want to be remembered as the pathetic applicant. You want to be remembered as the applicant who showed impressive qualities under difficult circumstances. It is for this reason that essays relating to this topic are considered among the best. Unless you only use the horrible experience as a lens with which to magnify your own personal characteristics, you will not write a good essay. Graduate and professional school applicants should generally steer clear of this topic altogether unless you can argue that your experience will make you a better business person, doctor, lawyer, or scholar.

2. Essay Fit. Essays should fit in well with the rest of a candidate's application, explaining the unexplained and steering clear of that which is already obvious. For example, if you have a 4.0 GPA and a 1500 SAT, no one doubts your ability to do the academic work and addressing this topic would be ridiculous. However, if you have an 1300 SAT and a 3.9 GPA or a 2250 SAT and a 2.5 GPA, you would be wise to incorporate in your essay an explanation for the apparent contradiction. For example, perhaps you were hospitalized or family concerns prevented your dedication to academics; you would want to mention this in your essay. However, do not make your essay one giant excuse. Simply give a quick, convincing explanation within the framework of your larger essay.

3. Addressing Diversity. Diversity is the biggest buzzword of our times. Every college, professional school, or graduate school wants to increase diversity. For this reason, so many applicants are tempted to declare what makes them diverse. However, simply saying you are a black, lesbian female will not impress admissions officers in the least. While an essay incorporating this information would probably be your best topic idea, you must finesse the issue by addressing your own personal qualities and how you overcame stigma, dealt with social ostracism, etc. If you are a rich student from Beverly Hills whose father is an engineer and whose mother is a lawyer, but you happen to be a minority, an essay about how you dealt with adversity would be unwise. You must demonstrate vividly your personal qualities, interests, motivations, etc. Address specifically how your diversity will contribute to the realm of campus opinion, the academic environment, and social life.

4. First Impressions. Don't mention weaknesses unless you absolutely need to explain them away. You want to make a positive first impression, and telling an admissions officer anything about drinking, drugs, partying, etc. undermines your goal. Some editors have read more essays on ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) than we would ever have imagined. Why admit to weakness when you can instead showcase your strengths?

5. Honesty Matters. Be honest, but not for honesty's sake. Unless you are a truly excellent writer, your best, most passionate writing will be about events that actually occurred. While you might be tempted to invent hardship, it is completely unnecessary. Write an essay about your life that demonstrates your personality.

Selecting a Topic Part 1

Having completed brainstorming in step one, you should now have a rough idea of the elements you wish to include in your college application essay, including your goals, important life experiences, research experience, diversifying features, spectacular nonacademic accomplishments, etc. You should also now have an idea of what impression you want to make on the admissions officers.

You must now confront the underlying problem of the admissions essay. You must now consider topics that will allow you to synthesize your important personal characteristics and experiences into a coherent whole while simultaneously addressing your desire to attend a specific institution. While most admissions essays allow great latitude in topic selection, you must also be sure to answer the questions that were asked of you.

Leaving a lasting impression on someone who reads 50-100 essays a day will not be easy, but we have compiled some guidelines to help you get started. With any luck, one or two topics, with small changes, will allow you to answer application questions for 5-7 different colleges, although admissions officers do appreciate essays that provide convincing evidence of how an applicant will fit into a particular academic environment. You should at least have read the college's webpage, admissions catalog, and have an understanding of the institution's strengths.

Consider the following questions before proceeding:
• Have you selected a topic that describes something of personal importance in your life, with which you can use vivid personal experiences as supporting details?
• Is your topic a gimmick? That is, do you plan to write your essay in iambic pentameter or make it funny. You should be very, very careful if you are planning to do this. We recommend strongly that you do not do this. Almost always, this is done poorly and is not appreciated by the admissions committee. Nothing is worse than not laughing or not being amused at something that was written to be funny or amusing.
• Will your topic only repeat information listed elsewhere on your application? If so, pick a new topic. Don’t mention GPAs or standardized test scores in your essay.
• Can you offer vivid supporting paragraphs to your essay topic? If you cannot easily think of supporting paragraphs with concrete examples, you should probably choose a different essay topic.
• Can you fully answer the question asked of you? Can you address and elaborate on all points within the specified word limit, or will you end up writing a poor summary of something that might be interesting as a report or research paper? If you plan on writing something technical for college admissions, make sure you truly can back up your interest in a topic and are not merely throwing around big scientific words. Unless you convince the reader that you actually have the life experiences to back up your interest in neurobiology, the reader will assume you are trying to impress him/her with shallow tactics. Also, be sure you can write to admissions officers and that you are not writing over their heads.
• Can you keep the reader's interest from the first word. The entire essay must be interesting, considering admissions officers will probably only spend a few minutes reading each essay.
• Is your topic overdone? To ascertain this, peruse through old essays. However, most topics are overdone, and this is not a bad thing. A unique or convincing answer to a classic topic can pay off big.
• Will your topic turnoff a large number of people? If you write on how everyone should worship your God, how wrong or right abortion is, or how you think the Republican or Democratic Party is evil, you will not get into the college of your choice. The only thing worse than not writing a memorable essay is writing an essay that will be remembered negatively. Stay away from specific religions, political doctrines, or controversial opinions. You can still write an essay about Nietzsche's influence on your life, but express understanding that not all intelligent people will agree with Nietzsche's claims. Emphasize instead Nietzsche's influence on your life, and not why you think he was wrong or right in his claims.
• In this vein, if you are presenting a topic that is controversial, you must acknowledge counter arguments without sounding arrogant.
• Will an admissions officer remember your topic after a day of reading hundreds of essays? What will the officer remember about your topic? What will the officer remember about you? What will your lasting impression be?

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?

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.

Picking Colleges

Colleges and universities in the US do not follow a single pattern. You have real choices when picking a college. When you take the time to explore alternatives, you
• Discover exciting options that you never dreamed exist
• Understand better what suits you
• Apply only to schools you know you like
• Become a stronger candidate

Many students and parents are unaware of the richness and range of possibilities. You may think the only major differences among colleges are size, location and how hard they are to get into. Your assumptions can needlessly limit which schools you consider.

For example, do you believe
• Curriculums are basically similar. The first two years you fulfill requirements in subjects such as science, humanities, social science, and then you pick a major.
• It will cost more to go to a private school than a state school.
• State schools are very large.
• With SAT scores below 1500 there is no point applying to an Ivy League school?

Consider this!

• Many colleges have absolutely no required courses or subjects other than your major. You choose whatever you wish from the catalog, as much or as little math or history as you like, or none at all. (Check out Amherst, Vassar, Brown.)
o Some schools go even further to allow each student to design his own education. Students “contract” individual programs of study with faculty mentors. Rather than emphasize preset courses and content, you focus on independent reading, research projects, tutorials, internships or field work. (Check out Hampshire College, New College of South Florida.)

• Many private universities generously assist students from families of low and moderate income. Some provide merit scholarships regardless of financial need. Your tab could be lower than at a public institution.
o A notable example: parents with incomes below $40,000 are no longer expected to contribute to the cost of their child’s education at Harvard.

• Some state schools have fewer than 5,000 undergraduates. Among them are Fort Lewis in Colorado, University of North Carolina, Asheville, Purchase College, State University of New York, Evergreen College in Washington State.

• Admissions officers at selective, private institutions often have more discretion than their state counterparts. Rather than fill entering classes with valedictorians and students with 1600 SAT scores, they look for applicants who distinguish themselves with their accomplishments, commitments and interests, and personal characteristics.
o Your essay, resume, and interview, and recommendations can be decisive.
o Do not necessarily write off a school because 95% of students have SAT scores higher than yours!

Strengthen Your Academic Skills

If you think your skills aren't quite up to speed for college, don't give up. Take time to prepare yourself. There are many ways to get a college degree. You just have to take the path that's right for you. Follow these tips:

• Use test score information to see where you need work. Score information from the ACT®, SAT, PLAN, PSAT can tell you what subjects you need help with and what you can do to raise your skills to the next level. Remember, a low score doesn't necessarily mean you're bad in a subject. It just means you haven't mastered the subject yet.
• Work with a tutor to learn what you don't know yet.
• Take a summer or night school class.
• Check out study aids—books, videotapes, audiotapes and computer programs—at your school library, a public library, or a local bookstore.
• Ask your counselor or a teacher about ways you can build your academic skills.

Key to Success: Unlearn some lessons you learned in school

In school, you probably learned the following (but it's time to unlearn them):

To write as an academic would. The following sentence would please many professors: “The preponderance of the evidence provided in the literature review suggests that the locus of control in most employees lies in externalities.” In the real world, that would be dismissed as jargon-filled gobbledygook. In the real world, clarity is king.

To dabble: In college, every few months, you took four or five disparate courses, from art history to biology to economics. After class, you may have played sports, the guitar, joined clubs, etc. In the real world, all that dabbling rarely works. Few employers will pay you to be a dilettante. What works in the real world: focus, becoming an expert at something.

To procrastinate. Thanks to grade inflation, at most schools and colleges, if you’re reasonably intelligent, you can wait until the last minute to study for that exam or do that term paper and still get a good grade. In most quality workplaces, however, there is no grade inflation--procrastination often turns out to be a career killer.

To refuse to take a job you’re not passionate about. The message conveyed in many college classes is “pursue your passion.” Well, the fact is, pursuing your passion often won’t yield even a bare middle class income. I believe that even if you’re not passionate about your work, doing work that you’re good at, is ethical, and reasonably compensated for is enough. That’s far better than being one of the millions of 20-something college-degree holders who sit on their parents’ sofas contributing nothing, complaining about ‘The System’, and waiting for career passion to descend upon them like manna from heaven.

To disdain Corporate America. The overall message given at many colleges and universities, especially prestigious ones, is that corporations are, at best, a necessary evil. So even graduates who choose to work in Corporate America often approach their jobs and bosses with a measure of disdain. In fact, while corporations have their flaws, it’s unclear that their flaws are lesser than those in government and the non-profit sectors. Both of the latter are typically—compared with Corporate America—inefficient and bureaucratic, with many employees able to remain employed despite minimal work thanks to civil service protections. Corporations are criticized in colleges for not providing security of employment. But fact is, a job, especially one paying a good salary and offering substantial training and resources to perform their work is not an entitlement; it is to be earned. To think otherwise, virtually ensures failure. Don’t let the colleges or headlines shouting examples of corporate excess persuade you that most corporations are evil. Remember that Corporations provide most of the services and products we value, and, for bright, motivated people, they provide worthy careers.