What Makes A Great College Essay?

What Makes A Great College Essay? A natural understanding of narrative structure â€" not the prefabricated “academic paper” structure â€" and a great story to tell. Don’t worry so much that other people may have “better” stories than you. Everyone’s life is full of story, narrative, and it’s up to you to tell these stories in compelling ways. Begin thinking about answers to the common application questions and review the pre-writing techniques. To identify the first steps to starting an essay. But what’s so wrong with having a wide range of interests? This is inherently not a bad, nay, it’s a good thing for a college applicant. You want to be memorable to the counselors who read your app. Sometimes, a sense of humor doesn’t hurt, if it’s applicable to your subject and/or that moment in your life. Once you’ve followed the process I described and have a list of, say, topics, I recommend doing a bit of free writing for each. Now, it’s certainlypossiblethat you happen to be that guy, and I definitely encourage you to highlight any uncommon experience you’ve had on your essay. For instance, if you’ve climbed Mt. Everest or visited space or helped cure a rare disease, then yeah, you should probably mention that at some point. I’m not sure how else to put this, but there are some things best left unshared in your college app. From there, get out a piece of paper and start brainstorming ideas for each. Put down anything you can think of that might work as an essay. The more ideas, the better, as you often find your best ideas only after getting the obvious ones out of the way. If you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. icons new College Packing List Show up to your next semester ready for anything. If you have shownyour learning, you don’t need to tell them what you learned. Even if you didn’t visit, you can still establish a strong connection to the school. You don’t have to solely focus on academics, although you should make them a main point of your essay. Even if they do, they certainly don’t have the same knowledge and perspective that you have. To close this gap, you need to be as specific as possible. I believe the main cause of the problem is that there’s a disconnect between what we know in our heads and what we put down on paper. As I mentioned before, it’s best to start with brainstorming. Listen icons new The College Info Geek Podcast Learn how to be a more effective student, even while you're doing your laundry. Do not ever tell other people what they should think. It’s great to be engaged in activist work, but show yourself doing the work rather than using your essay as a platform to make your case. “That was the day I learned how important it is to be kind to everyone.” You just stabbed me in the heart with stupor. The “Why this college” or “Why us” prompts are fairly common. Common App has announced that the essay prompts will remain the same as the 2019â€"2020 essay prompts. In fact, the common appsuggested essay word limit is actually just 650 words. You only have 650 words for the Common App essay. You can also include traditions, extracurricular activities, and the campus itself. Prestige and rankings are another topic to avoid. Yes, Yale is very prestigious and consistently ranks among the top three universities in U.S. Your familial connections may also factor in, but they shouldn’t be your sole reason for applying. Finally, if you can find pretty much all the reasons you give through a cursory look at the website or brochure, that’s a sign that it’s time to dive a little deeper.