Surely you know that college admission processes get more competitive with each passing year. Naturally, you should primarily work on your grades and scores since these are the most significant things every school will explore. However, they receive hundreds of applications, and some of them have similar results.
This is when schools turn to college essays to make the best decision. You can never know for sure the part the paper will play during this process, which is why you have to make sure that it stands out. Students invest a lot of effort into writing a perfect essay, and here are some tips that should make it a bit easier.
1. Go over the prompt
We understand how ridiculous this sounds, but you would be surprised to learn how many students just glance at it. This paper doesn’t only include instructions you need to follow closely when writing an essay, but it also tells you about the topic you have to cover. Many college administrations would tell you that answering the question posed by the prompt is the crucial thing you have to do. Well, since many people don’t read the instructions carefully, they do not write an essay they are expected to. So, doing this vital thing can take you one step closer to standing out from the crowd.
2. Tell your story
Can you imagine how many essays admission officers read every year? The truth is that they forget most of these, and this is something that you need to avoid. The only way to achieve this goal is to write your own story.
Surely, you have had many accomplishments in your past and great stories you can share. Naturally, you don’t have to write about every single detail, but you can still share more than enough information to write a unique story. You can share something regarding a person who has had a significant impact on your life or even a book that changed your perspective. Yes, choosing one can be challenging, and if you don’t possess avid writing skills, you probably feel overwhelmed.
If this is the case, you should ask experts for help, and you can learn how they can help you on https://www.theunitutor.com/.
3. Write drafts
No, you cannot just tell yourself one day that you will write an essay in a few hours and actually do it. Simply put, it doesn’t work that way. Students spend weeks working on it and even longer thinking about what they will write. Make sure to take as much time as you need. No one said writing this essay is easy. You can talk about the topic with your siblings, family, friends, even teachers, and school consultants. Maybe they will give you a fresh perspective or advise you on the best way to analyze a particular subject.
Brainstorm some ideas, discuss them with people around you, and make a list of possible topics you may cover. Then start working on each of them individually, until you understand which one deseverse your full attention. Only then can you start on your first draft, and don’t forget that there will be several of these in the future.
4. Be honest
We know that this is a challenging task for some people, but you can still find a way to show off your personality, traits, and attitudes without sharing too much. Many students try to represent themselves as something they are not. They believe that saying what the schools want to hear will increase their chances of getting in. Nevertheless, this is not true. Admission officers will value your honesty and remember your application because of it.
5. Don’t just recount your story
Now, this is where the challenge lies. At first, you will write an essay on an event or time in your life when something important happened. Regardless of how interesting it may seem to you, mere facts won’t have the same effect on admission officers.
Instead of just retelling the story once again, you need to reflect on it. Explain why the event is so significant to you. How did it make you feel? What did you learn from that experience? How did your attitudes toward important matters change because of the event? The one thing you need to understand is that there is no right or wrong answer. No one can tell you how you should or shouldn’t feel or what you should think about specific topics? You should observe this essay as a perfect opportunity to express your opinions, and most importantly, support each of them with valid arguments.
6. Be positive
Obviously, this will mainly depend on the story you choose to write. Yes, some students go through a lot, and they feel the need to share their journey. It is okay if you feel the same way, and we think you should go through with it. Nevertheless, according to admission officers, you should try to end your essay on a happy note. They will be impressed to learn about how you faced hardships and how you solved all the problems. It will tell them more than enough about your character and problem-solving skills.
7. Have someone do the editing
Once you complete the paper, you need someone else to edit it. No, it is not something you can do on your own. Why? There are two reasons for this. First of all, you cannot be objective, meaning that you probably won’t notice flaws that need to be corrected. Secondly, we can almost guarantee you will miss some spelling and grammar errors. The human brain works in a mysterious way, and it can be difficult to notice mistakes if you are the one who made them.
Because of this, you should ask several people to take some time to read and edit your essay. Clearly, you can ask anyone you want, but your favorite teacher and a school counselor should be on that list. Why? Well, they are more than familiar with all the guidelines your application needs to follow, and it will be easy for them to notice if you made some significant mistakes.
