Find out what schools are looking for in your essay.
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| Writing from the heart will always make for the best college essay. |
By Pat King, Metro
Colleges take many things into consideration when accepting students
into their programs. But one of the most unpredictable and subjective
components of your application process is writing the perfect college
essay. Sometimes you just have to apply the right amount of linguistic
gymnastics in order to tug on the heartstrings of your school’s
admissions to get them in your favor.
[post_ads]It’s a thin tightrope that every applicant has to walk. So there must
be some sort of cheat sheet on how to jump this last hurdle, right?
Well as it turns out, writing from the heart may be the only way to ace
this portion of your application. We spoke with Stacey Brook from College Essay Advisors to see if she could decode the perfect approach to writing a great college essay.
First and foremost, Brook believes that you need to introduce
yourself to the admissions department in a way that sets you apart from
all of the other applicants. Or in other words, “show admissions
something they can't glean from your grades, your test scores or
activities resume”. By writing a well thought out essay that gets down
to the essence of who you are as a person, you will be able to blow them
away with your authenticity and prove to them that you are “not just
another number”.
Show the admissions department that you can bring something to the
table that others can’t. If you can include details and anecdotes that
are “highly specific to you and who you are” with your own unique
perspective, it will show them that you are capable of contributing
something new to campus and they will remember your essay more than
other applicants who are simply coloring within the lines. Basically, if
whoever is reading your essay can “summarize what you’ve written in a
sentence” or give you a nickname based on the story you told, the better
chance you have of being remembered.
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The admissions department will be able to sense it immediately if you
are coming off as disingenuous, so Brook has a great test that will
keep you honest in your writing . “One thing that I ask people to do is
that when you finish your essay, hand it to somebody else and have them
put their name on top of the page. Are the details that you’ve laid out
and anecdotes you’ve written about so specific to you that someone else
cannot say that they wrote your essay?” If you are detailing your own
specific cultural heritage or a niche hobby that you are obsessed with,
there will be no mistaking your experiences for someone else's and you
will demonstrate your value to the culture on campus.
So are there any topics that you should stick to or stay away from
when writing your essay? As Brook sees it, if the topic you chose is
something you are deeply passionate about and will show off a different
side of you then nothing is off limits. Colleges will generally give you
a few different prompt questions to pull these sorts of stories out of
you but chances are, if you choose a topic that is true to who you are
first you will have no providing them with the kind of information they
are looking for.
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