Tag Archives: college essay tips

admissions, college planning, essays, Uncategorized

5 Things Admissions Officers Look For in the Application Essay

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essayWithin your college application, your personal statement is your one opportunity for the admissions officer to “meet you”, to visualize the person behind the numbers. While no essay can save an unqualified application, an outstanding essay can push an otherwise mediocre application into the “yes” pile.

However, writing a good application essay is hard. Many students write essays that are too cliché or too shallow; others write essays that are impersonal and uninformative; some are even unfortunate enough to write essays that cause their own rejection.

This isn’t surprising. The application essay is drastically different from the typical high school assignment—deeply personal, rather than merely informative.

Well, let me give you a glimpse through the eyes of an admissions officer. Working for the admissions office of a university with single-digit admission rates, I have reviewed numerous applications and “graded” a wide variety of application essays. Here are five things a college admissions officer looks for:

1. Can the applicant write?

The first thing the application essay does is to prove that you can write well. In college, you are going to write, write, write and write—and the application essay allows the admission officer to judge whether you will be able to cope.

On a structural level, your essay should be well organized and coherent. It should have a well-thought-out idea development and be properly paragraphed.

Your writing should be engaging and expressive. A big part of this depends on your personal style, but in general, you should use the active voice and vary your sentence structures. A note though: essays on both ends of the extreme usually don’t work—essays which are too gimmicky and stylized, or too academic, rigid and formal.

Lastly, of course, your essay should be free of grammar and spelling mistakes.

2. What does the essay say about the applicant?

This seems like an obvious point, but many applicants end up writing essays that do not actually shed much light on themselves. No matter how beautiful your descriptions are, or how emotionally moving your content is, if you do not relate these thoughts back to yourself as an individual, your essay will be ineffective.

A strong application essay allows us to visualize the applicant behind the numbers, and to know exactly what type of person you are. The essay should make us feel that we have gotten to know you on a personal level, as if we have met you face-to-face.

3. Are there deep, personal reflections?

To allow the admissions officer to get to know you, your writing needs to include reflections that are deep and personal. Without these reflections, an essay will seem shallow or even generic. Conversely, mature reflections will bring personality and depth to a topic that might seem commonplace at first (for example, community service).

To put it another way, the most important thing in the essay is not the “what”, but the “why”. We have the “what” from the list of your extracurriculars, scores and awards. We now want to know the “why”, the motivations that drive you.

This is also why it is a bad idea to try to cover too much in your essay. To put it yet another way, while the other sections of your application focuses on describing the breadth of your activities, in your personal statement, you should aim to reveal depth in one area.

4. What will the applicant bring to the community?

So what should you highlight about yourself? Well, the admission officer wants to discover what you can contribute to the college. If your application allows the reader to visualize you as an active, contributing and successful member of the community, you are in.

This does not mean that you need to be mind-blowingly unique. The qualities you can most effectively highlight are the genuine ones. A good essay requires a good deal of introspection, to arrive at a keen self-knowledge of what your strong points are, and how to best portray them.

On the flip side, you should avoid topics (and writing tone) that portrays you in a negative light. Be careful of writing about failures that highlight negative characteristics. Stay away from more controversial and potentially offensive topics. Avoid sounding naïve, lacking in self-awareness, or patronizing (a major problem, especially in essays about community service).

5. Do the qualities represented in the essay resonate with the rest of the application?

The advice goes that you should not rehash the rest of your application in your essay. For example, if you have already included multiple debate activities and awards, your essay should not be about debate.

The caveat to this is that while the specific activities should vary, there should be a consistent portrayal of personal qualities. If your essay represents you as a boundary-pushing activist, but the other parts of your application portrays you as respectful and soft-spoken, flags will be raised.

An application is a lens into a single person, so consistency is important. You should thus consider your application holistically, and put some thought into how you want to represent yourself, and what characteristics you want to highlight. Good luck!

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Today’s Guest Blogger 

David works for the admission office of a university with a single-digit acceptance rate. In his spare time, he provides expert coaching to students on their college application essays. Visit his website, www.essayscoach.com to learn more about how to write outstanding essays.

admissions, college planning, essays

5 tips for writing college essays

UnknownSeniors are welcoming offers of admission; high school juniors are gearing up for college applications in the fall. They have begun college visits, crafting a list of colleges they are interested in attending, and looking toward completing those applications.

A key part of the application is the college essay. This task causes much stress among students (and even parents) desiring to craft the best possible essay to make the best possible impression on admissions. As with any task, however, knowing some tips and applying those tips can help relieve some of the stress.

Here are 5 tips for writing college essays:

1. Give yourself plenty of time

This is the number one tip for writing a successful college essay–start now! Waiting until the last minute will cause you to produce shoddy work. Begin early so that you can craft a work you will be proud to attach to your application. Once the essay is out of the way, you can concentrate on the rest of the application.

2. Be truthful

There is no need to embellish your achievements or exaggerate your accomplishments. Honesty is a character trait that admissions officers look for in an applicant. They can spot embellishments easily in an essay and wonder what else you are stretching the truth about.

3. Make it personal

Talk about what you love and find a way to distinguish yourself from other applicants. Admissions officers want to know who you are and what you can contribute to their college student body. The essay is an opportunity for them to see you beyond the test scores and the GPA.

4. Stick to the point

Don’t ramble to increase your word count. Say what you need to say and stick to the point. The longer the essay, the less interested the reader becomes. Remember they have many essays to read and you need to capture their interest and keep it.

5. Proofread and proofread again

This does not mean spellcheck only. Look at your use of punctuation and other good writing mechanics. Spell names properly. Ask teachers, parents and friends to read the essay. Many times they can find errors that you do not see. While you can find sites that offer online essay writing and custom essays, remember this should be YOUR work and presented from YOUR point of view.

Bottom line

The essay is your chance to shine. You should use it as an opportunity to help the college get to know you; and see you apart from the facts, figures and statistics you present about yourself.

Don’t hesitate to read more about online essay writing with EssayLib.com – professional service that is always ready to help students with college essays.

 

college guidance, college planning, essays, Guest Posts

10 Tips to write more competitive college application essays

 

With college admissions season in full swing, students nationwide are beginning to prepare their applications. While many of the academic elements like GPA, class rank and SAT score are set, one part of the application that students still exercise control over are the essays. To help students write competitive essays that will help get them noticed by admissions officers, Veritas Prep, the largest global provider of test prep and admissions consulting services, teamed up with Application Boot Camp®, America’s top college consulting firm, to offer ten tips students should follow as they draft their college application essays:

  1. DO think of your essays as a collection – use each to explore a different layer of who you are and how you would enhance the student body.
  2. DON’T discuss politics or religion, unless you’re coming from an academic perspective – the essays are not the place to take a stand on a personal issue.
  3. DO show, DON’T tell – think hard before you overuse adjectives and adverbs; clearly communicate your strengths without using extraneous language.
  4. DON’T focus on what you want to do, but rather on what you have already done – how have you gone above and beyond? What is your scholarly niche?
  5. DO use an opening hook – start your college essay with something that will capture the admission officer’s attention and show why you stand out.
  6. DON’T be a generalist, be a specialist – colleges and universities aren’t looking for well rounded students, they are looking for a well rounded student body. Show them where you stand out and how you complement the mix they are going for.
  7. DO use details – unsubstantiated statements are quickly dismissed, so be sure to use supporting details to illustrate and elaborate on what you are saying.
  8. DON’T use “SAT words” – admissions officers are unimpressed by those trying to show off their vocabulary, they much prefer clear, concise essays.
  9. DO write “Why Paragraphs” – while they are not required, they are an excellent opportunity to show what you’ll bring and why you belong at a given school.
  10. DON’T use clichés – clichés are the quickest way to come across as inauthentic and unexceptional.

“Each year admission at the top colleges and universities becomes more and more competitive and students need to maximize their applications to highlight the qualities and characteristics that admissions officers are looking for,” said Dr. Michele Hernández, former assistant director of admissions at Dartmouth College and one of the nation’s most sought after private admissions counselors. “Essays are the best way to become a 3D applicant, adding another dimension to what otherwise would be a profile made up of grades, activities and test scores, which are only part of the story. In their essays, students have an opportunity to jump off the page and showcase who they are as an applicant and a person.”

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Nearly a decade ago, Dr. Hernández and award winning author and parenting expert Mimi Doe co-founded Application Boot Camp®, a four-day workshop that provides students with step-by-step advice on their college applications. Recently they partnered with Veritas Prep to launch Application Boot Camp® On Demand, which captures the same guidance and advice from the $14,000 in-person workshop and makes it available as an interactive, online program for only $750.

In addition to twelve self-paced sessions led by Dr. Hernández and Ms. Doe, the program features a library of quizzes and interactive exercises. To learn more about Application Boot Camp® On Demand and Veritas Prep, visit http://www.veritasprep.com/sat/college-application-boot-camp/.

About Veritas Prep
Veritas Prep is the world’s largest provider of test prep and admissions consulting services. It offers industry-leading programs to help applicants improve standardized test scores and gain admission to the world’s most selective universities. Founded in 2002 by graduates of the Yale School of Management, Veritas Prep offers its live classroom GMAT prep course in more than 90 cities worldwide and as an interactive online course available to students everywhere. Its Veritas Prep SAT 2400 course is available as a classroom course, live online, on demand or in private tutoring sessions and features the only zero risk, money back guarantee in the industry. In addition, Veritas Prep offers admissions consulting services for applicants seeking entry into competitive business schools, law schools, medical schools and other graduate programs. For more information, visit veritasprep.com.