PACT, Inc. - Going To College - The College Essay

Many colleges require that you submit one or more essays or personal statements with your college application. The first and perhaps foremost element that admissions personnel look for in your essay(s) is your ability to communicate your thoughts clearly on paper.

Colleges use your essay to find out more about you as a person. Colleges expect an essay to tell who you are. The questions that colleges ask you on their applications are essentially vehicles to get you to express yourself on paper. Rather than relying solely on grades and test scores, colleges wish to know more about you, how you think and how you feel.

The best advice on how to write a college essay is to be yourself—write in your own style, after giving your subject careful thought. Honest expression and clear writing are the two essential components to an effective college essay. Try to be as concise and specific as possible. Carefully organize your essay around a key theme. The best topics are often close to the heart. If you have the guts to openly discuss a personal problem or obstacle you have overcome, any admissions officer will be impressed. A good essay always shares something real, even though bearing your soul to complete strangers may feel uncomfortable. Don't waste words that aren't essential to your point, and reread the essay several times for word choice and typos.

(Two good books on the subject are The Elements of Style, by William Strunk and E.B. White, and On Writing Well, by William Zinsser.)

Nine Fundamentals of a Successful Essay

Follow the instructions carefully. Write precisely what the college requests.
Pretend that the college has only four spaces left and five identical applications with identical test scores. Write an essay as if you were one of these applicants.
Show, don't tell: A skillful writer lets evidence show that a proposition is true; a clumsy one tells, because his writing is not powerful enough to show.
Use your own experiences: the most interesting essay puts you in the starring role and features real life thoughts and feelings. Anecdotes from your world are always more interesting than abstractions. Give the reader a piece of your mind.
Use the first person.
Begin with a flourish: The most important sentence in any essay is the first one. Good writers often try to hook the reader with a first sentence that surprises or piques. Often, it is an autobiographical anecdote.
Proofread: Nothing is more damaging than an essay full of typos, spelling mistakes, and grammatical errors.
Demonstrate that you (the student) can write on a college level.
Avoid topics that might offend or slight.

Essay Turn-Offs

Trite phrases
Slickness
Cynicism
Life histories
Essays that go on forever; the essay reader will not read more than 2 pages.
The thesaurus syndrome: big words aren't impressive; a clear, direct style is.

The First Draft

Pick a time to write two pages on your topic. Wait a day or two before you go back to the essay, but continue to think about your choice and your idea. Talk to parents, teachers, and counselors about what you've written. Then read your essay again to see if a sense of YOU comes through.

Students usually write their best essays in their second draft. The first seems to be about getting started. The second has the conviction that makes it memorable.

Leave enough time to create a good product. The essay is meant to reflect something about you, but it also shows that you are a careful and clear writer. Put in the extra effort. (McGinty,2000)