Your high school grades are important components evaluated in the college admissions process, but numbers can only say so much about you.
Because colleges are interested in knowing more about you, they’ll ask you to write a college admissions essay, which you may also have to accompany with a personal statement.
An admissions essay tells more about you in a way your high school certificates simply can’t. It gives colleges a full picture of who you are, so it’s important to write it in a way that allows your personality to shine.
We’ve already tight you how to write an admissions essay. While that guide covers the process step-by-step, it isn’t enough to get you to write a compelling essay.
So in this post, we give you effective tips that you can use to ensure your essay is not only comprehensive but also compelling.
8 College Essay Writing Tips For The Best Application Essay
The following is a list of effective tips to implement to make your college application not only comprehensive but also worth reading.
1. Do Your Research
The number one rule to writing a college application essay is to research the requirements of the school to which you would like to apply. It’s important to do your research properly so you don’t submit an application essay that doesn’t meet the assessment criteria of the admissions committee.
Some colleges and universities require you send the essay along with a personal statement and they’re often clear on the due date of the application.
2. Start Early
Don’t wait until it’s too late to start working on your college application essay.
Even if you are confident that you can write a last minute essay in the shortest time possible, it’s best to start early so that you have enough time to revise and review your work.
We recommend that you start working on the essay at least a week before the application period starts.
You may have to write several drafts and compare them for clarity accuracy, mechanics, and cohesion, but that’s the only way to go about writing a college essay that truly stands out from the many that the admissions committee will lay their hands on.
3. Don’t Hold Back
A college admissions committee wants to know more about you and they won’t appreciate if you hold back the most important information from them.
With admission rates relatively low in many good colleges these days, you had better give the committee the reason to consider you from among the many applicant who wish to enroll in the same institution.
To be clear, not holding back doesn’t mean writing anything and everything you can about yourself.
Even college essays have word limits, which means there’s only so much you can put on paper than you wish to.
Think about the most important details that make you different from any people and include them in the essay. Leave the least significant information for the end section of the essay or don’t include them at all.
4. Start with a Hook
An admission essay isn’t argumentative in form, but it’s still important to start the essay with an effective lead in.
Why is this important?
It’s because the admissions committee has hundreds, or even thousands, of similar applications to review. If yours doesn’t have a strong, compelling introduction, they’ll more than likely not bother to read past the introduction.
Consider writing a hook for the essay instead of a general, boring introduction that doesn’t lead anywhere.
More often than not, essays that start with compelling stories about the applicants tend to grab attention easily. So make sure you take a similar direction.
Say you wish to enroll in a technology course. You can start your essay by illustrating the role technology has played in your life. This is a good way to demonstrate how passionate you are about the course you wish to take.
Never start your essay with a question, as this can easily provoke the admissions committee.
5. Write in Your Own Voice
Just because you can’t start an essay with a personal pronoun doesn’t mean you can’t bend the rules a bit. A college admission essay is a story about you, so it makes no sense not to use a personal pronoun
How else are you going to convince the admission panel that you’re college ready and a good fit for the school in question if you don’t write the essay in your own tone?
Use the first person pronoun to describe your ability for communication, organization, and passion for an education. By writing in your own voice, you can paint a clear picture that presents your case in a more reliable way than you would if you stuck to formal writing all through.
6. Stick to the Suggested Word Count
A college application essay isn’t like an Extended Essay or the Theory of Knowledge Essay that’s often much more than 1,000-words.
Keep in mind that essays that drag on too long tend to be tiresome to read and a reader is more than likely to read interest somewhere along the way.
To keep things simple, your essay should be between 500 and 700 words, even if the college to which you’re applying doesn’t impose strict rules on the word count.
7. Be Honest
College admissions committee read hundreds of essays every year. They have the experience to know if a student isn’t being truthful in their application. Not to mention they can easily tell if students copied essays online.
The best thing to do is to be honest. You know yourself better and only you can tell your story in a way someone else ever can.
So invest your time and resources in writing an impeccable essay that will make you stand out from many other applicants.
8. Don’t Hesitate to Ask for Help
If you feel as if you’ve run out of time to write your college application essay yourself, or you know what to write but have no idea how to put your ideas into words, seek for assistance from Help for Assessment. Click here to learn more.