writing essay for college application

Ultimate Guide to Writing Your College Essay

Tips for writing an effective college essay.

College admissions essays are an important part of your college application and gives you the chance to show colleges and universities your character and experiences. This guide will give you tips to write an effective college essay.

Want free help with your college essay?

UPchieve connects you with knowledgeable and friendly college advisors—online, 24/7, and completely free. Get 1:1 help brainstorming topics, outlining your essay, revising a draft, or editing grammar.

Writing a strong college admissions essay

Learn about the elements of a solid admissions essay.

Avoiding common admissions essay mistakes

Learn some of the most common mistakes made on college essays

Brainstorming tips for your college essay

Stuck on what to write your college essay about? Here are some exercises to help you get started.

How formal should the tone of your college essay be?

Learn how formal your college essay should be and get tips on how to bring out your natural voice.

Taking your college essay to the next level

Hear an admissions expert discuss the appropriate level of depth necessary in your college essay.

Student Stories

Student Story: Admissions essay about a formative experience

Get the perspective of a current college student on how he approached the admissions essay.

Student Story: Admissions essay about personal identity

Get the perspective of a current college student on how she approached the admissions essay.

Student Story: Admissions essay about community impact

Student story: admissions essay about a past mistake, how to write a college application essay, tips for writing an effective application essay, sample college essay 1 with feedback, sample college essay 2 with feedback.

This content is licensed by Khan Academy and is available for free at www.khanacademy.org.

College Planning

How to Write a College Application Essay

College Board

• January 8, 2020

Are you trying to write your college application essay but don’t know where to start? This post will help you decide what to include in your essay . 

What is a college application essay?

Many colleges require you to submit an essay, written by you, as part of your application. They may ask you to respond to a question or prompt. This application essay is your opportunity to show colleges your personality and how you think. You can use the essay to demonstrate what you can bring to a campus and to stand out from other applicants.

Why do you need a college application essay?

Many colleges require an essay from each applicant. The essay is also required on the Common Application, which is used by more than 800 colleges and universities. Most admissions officers take the college application essay into consideration in deciding which students to admit (of course, each college has its own process).

Colleges see the essay as a way to hear from you directly and to get a sense of who you are in your own words. It’s a great opportunity for you to personalize your application beyond the grades, scores, and other information you’ve provided, and it can make a difference at decision time.

What are colleges looking for in your application essay?

Colleges want to see that you can write well and build a logical argument with supporting ideas. Some colleges also use the essay to help them determine whether an applicant is a good fit.

According to one expert, the best advice for any student writing an essay is to answer the question that was asked and to be yourself—in your own voice.

How do you write a college application essay?

1. just get going..

Staring down a blank page can be the hardest part of writing an essay. So try this exercise to overcome writer’s block: Take 20 minutes to jot down a few quick lists of your proudest accomplishments, worst embarrassments, life-changing moments, strongest memories, favorite people, or any other categories that appeal to you. Don’t overthink your lists. (And don’t worry if, like most people, your best ideas come after that initial 30 minutes is up.) Repeat the exercise once a day for as many days as you need. Soon you’ll discover yourself with one—or more—possible essay topics.

2. Give yourself an early start.

Few people write well under pressure, so give yourself at least a few weeks before the submission deadline. You don’t have to work on your essay every single day, but you do have to give yourself enough time to revise, to edit, and then to show your first draft to a friend for feedback. The sooner that first draft is underway, the better off you’ll be.

3. Avoid a theme that everyone else is using.

Your essay will be easier to write—and more exciting to read—if it’s based on genuine emotion and authentic experience. Don’t try to guess what you think an admissions office wants to read. So if all your friends are writing application essays about the topic of the day, that may be a good reason to stay away from it. Unless, of course, you have a unique angle that you are burning to share.

4. Sound like your best self.

Admissions counselors say that the best essays help them learn something about the student that they would never know from reading the rest of the application. For example, this essay may be the ideal opportunity to draw attention to an achievement, a hobby, or a life experience that’s barely mentioned on your application.

5.Write confidently, but not arrogantly.

Keep a confident tone even if—especially if—you’re not feeling that way. Be on the lookout for words and phrases like “maybe,” “sort of,” and “I think” that might undercut that tone. At the same time, though, make sure to follow application guidelines about format and length. If the essay has a suggested 650-word maximum, your application will stand out—not in a good way—if you turn in 250 words.

6. Proofread, proofread, then proofread again.

As you progress toward your final draft, run the essay through the spell-check on your computer and double-check your word count. Then set it aside and don’t read it for a few days. When you read your essay again with a cold eye, you’ll be more likely to spot typos and awkward phrasing. After that, ask a teacher, parent, or college student to give it a quick read.

7. Put yourself in the place of an admissions counselor.

If you were someone who had to read dozens of college essays every day, would you enjoy reading this one? Does it have a promising beginning? Is it easy to follow? Is it free from distracting typos? Does it have a logical conclusion? Does it make you want to know more about the writer? If you think so, chances are that an admission counselor will too.

Ready to start? Here are some tips to come up with an A+ college application essay:

• You may be asked to write about a personal experience, an achievement, or a person who is significant to you. Go beyond the what or the who and dig into the how and the why.
• If you write about a trip or event, describe how this experience affected you and why it’s meaningful to you.
• If you are writing about a person in your life, be personal and specific, not just sentimental. Explain what this person did and how their actions, words, or example affected you.

Find out how other students successfully tackled their college application essays.

Visit bigfuture.org for more free, comprehensive college planning resources.

Related Posts

How to strengthen your college list, what's a high school transcript.

How to Write Your College Essay: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide

Getting ready to start your college essay? Your essay is very important to your application — especially if you’re applying to selective colleges.

Become a stronger writer by reviewing your peers’ essays and get your essay reviewed as well for free.

We have regular livestreams during which we walk you through how to write your college essay and review essays live.

College Essay Basics

Just getting started on college essays? This section will guide you through how you should think about your college essays before you start.

• Why do essays matter in the college application process?
• What is a college application theme and how do you come up with one?
• How to format and structure your college essay

Before you move to the next section, make sure you understand:

How a college essay fits into your application

What a strong essay does for your chances

How to create an application theme

Learn the Types of College Essays

Next, let’s make sure you understand the different types of college essays. You’ll most likely be writing a Common App or Coalition App essay, and you can also be asked to write supplemental essays for each school. Each essay has a prompt asking a specific question. Each of these prompts falls into one of a few different types. Understanding the types will help you better answer the prompt and structure your essay.

• How to Write a Personal Statement That Wows Colleges
• Personal Statement Essay Examples
• How to Write a Stellar Extracurricular Activity Essay
• Extracurricular Essay Examples
• Tips for Writing a Diversity College Essay
• Diversity Essay Examples
• Tips for Writing a Standout Community Service Essay
• How to Write the “Why This Major” Essay
• How to Write a “Why This Major” Essay if You’re Undecided
• How to write the “Why This College” Essay
• How to Research a College to Write the “Why This College” Essay
• Why This College Essay Examples
• How to Write The Overcoming Challenges Essay
• Overcoming Challenges Essay Examples

Identify how each prompt fits into an essay type

What each type of essay is really asking of you

How to write each essay effectively

The Common App essay

Almost every student will write a Common App essay, which is why it’s important you get this right.

• How to Write the Common App Essay
• Successful Common App Essay Examples
• 5 Awesome College Essay Topics + Sample Essays
• 11 Cliché College Essay Topics + How to Fix Them

How to choose which Common App prompts to answer

How to write a successful Common App essay

What to avoid to stand out to admissions officers

Supplemental Essay Guides

Many schools, especially competitive ones, will ask you to write one or more supplemental essays. This allows a school to learn more about you and how you might fit into their culture.

These essays are extremely important in standing out. We’ve written guides for all the top schools. Follow the link below to find your school and read last year’s essay guides to give you a sense of the essay prompts. We’ll update these in August when schools release their prompts.

See last year’s supplemental essay guides to get a sense of the prompts for your schools.

Essay brainstorming and composition

Now that you’re starting to write your essay, let’s dive into the writing process. Below you’ll find our top articles on the craft of writing an amazing college essay.

• Where to Begin? 3 Personal Essay Brainstorming Exercises
• Creating the First Draft of Your College Application Essay
• How to Get the Perfect Hook for Your College Essay
• What If I Don’t Have Anything Interesting To Write About In My College Essay?
• 8 Do’s and Don’t for Crafting Your College Essay
• Stuck on Your College Essay? 8 Tips for Overcoming Writer’s Block

Understand how to write a great hook for your essay

Complete the first drafts of your essay

Editing and polishing your essay

Have a first draft ready? See our top editing tips below. Also, you may want to submit your essay to our free Essay Peer Review to get quick feedback and join a community of other students working on their essays.

• 11 Tips for Proofreading and Editing Your College Essay
• Getting Help with Your College Essay
• 5 DIY Tips for Editing Your College Essay
• How Long Should Your College Essay Be?
• Essential Grammar Rules for Your College Apps
• College Essay Checklist: Are You Ready to Submit?

Proofread and edited your essay.

Had someone else look through your essay — we recommend submitting it for a peer review.

Make sure your essay meets all requirements — consider signing up for a free account to view our per-prompt checklists to help you understand when you’re really ready to submit.

Advanced College Essay Techniques

Let’s take it one step further and see how we can make your college essay really stand out! We recommend reading through these posts when you have a draft to work with.

• 10 Guidelines for Highly Readable College Essays
• How to Use Literary Devices to Enhance Your Essay
• How to Develop a Personalized Metaphor for Your College Applications

• Ask LitCharts AI
• Discussion Question Generator
• Essay Prompt Generator
• Quiz Question Generator

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How to Write College Application Essays

Use the links below to jump directly to any section of this guide:

College Application Essay Fundamentals 

How to prepare to write your essay , how to approach different essay types, how to structure your essay , how to revise your essay, how to find essay writing help , resources for teaching students how to write a college essay, additional resources (further reading).

Of all the materials in a college application, the essay provides the greatest opportunity for you to set yourself apart. Unlike the transcript or resume, the essay is creative and expressive; in it, you can show the admissions counselors who you are and what you can do (that is, how well you can write!). A good application essay should have a memorable main idea, a cohesive structure, and a strong introduction and conclusion. Although essay topics can vary by college, the most common prompts deal with personal experiences and aspirations for the future. This guide   contains a diverse set of resources to help you orient yourself to the college application essay and, ultimately, to write the most competitive essay possible. 

The college application essay is a requirement for admission to almost all institutions of higher learning. Though in some ways it resembles essays you've written in class or on standardized tests, in other ways it's a unique writing exercises with its own particular requirements. Use the resources below to help you understand how the essay should be structured and what kind of content to include. 

"How Long Should College Application Essays Be?" (Learn.org)

This webpage guides you through some basic tips on writing the college essay—including essay length, sticking to the prompt, and maintaining an original tone. 

"College Application Essay" (College Board)

This webpage from the College Board discusses the different types of application essays, what length you should aim for, and most importantly, why colleges value this aspect of the application so much. 

"College Essays, College Applications" (College Board) 

The College Board's website is a great resource for any student looking to apply to college. This webpage contains several links to helpful resources, including sample essays and genuine student interviews. 

"Timeline for College Applications" (College Essay Guy)

This colorful, one-page guide from a college application specialist offers an illustrated timeline for high school students looking to apply for college. 

Before putting your ideas down on paper, it's important to conceptualize your essay, to craft strategically your tone and style, and,  crucially, to choose a topic that suits you and the school to which you're applying. The resources in this section include writing tips, lists of common mistakes you should avoid, and guides dedicated to the college application essay.

How to Plan Your Essay

"3 Common College Essay Mistakes to Avoid" (CNBC)  

This article from CNBC broadly outlines the most common mistakes students make when writing their college application essays. Although these mistakes may seem obvious, even the most experienced writers can fall into these common traps.

"7 Effective Application Tips" (Peterson's)

This article from Peterson's (a company providing academic materials for test prep, application help, and more) lists seven pieces of advice designed to make your writing pop. 

"The Secret to Show, Don't Tell" ( The Write Practice Blog)  

You've heard it before: show, don't tell. This is a great writing tip, but how do you pull it off? Here, the writing blog  The Write Practice  outlines how you can make your writing more descriptive and effective. 

"Passive Voice" (University of North Carolina)  

Avoiding passive construction is a subtle yet effective way to upgrade any piece of writing. Check out this webpage from a university writing center for some tips on recognizing and avoiding passive voice. 

"Using Appropriate Words in an Academic Essay" (National University of Singapore)

There are many ways to upgrade your vocabulary. Often, words can be replaced with more impressive substitutes, phrases can be shortened or lengthened depending on context, and transitions can be used for a smoother flow. The link above expands on these strategies and offers several others. 

How to Brainstorm Topic Ideas

"Bad College Essays: 10 Mistakes to Avoid" (PrepScholar)

This article from a well-known tutoring service and test prep program describes what to avoid when writing your essay. Essays that are too graphic, too personal, or too overconfident are all problematic, and this article explains why. 

"5 Tricks for Choosing Your College Essay Topic" (CollegeXpress)

Lost on how to choose a topic? This webpage from CollegeXpress outlines five sources of inspiration you can mine for ideas as you're getting started.

"The College Admission Essay: Finding a Topic" (The Choice Blog)

This article from New York Times  blog The Choice  breaks down three essential questions to ask yourself when choosing a topic for your college essay. 

"COLLEGE ESSAY GUIDE: Choosing a Prompt for the Common Application" (YouTube)

In this five-minute video, a Yale student discusses how to choose a college essay prompt and how to approach the essay writing process. His channel is filled with original videos on the college application process. 

"Where to Begin? 3 Personal Essay Brainstorming Exercises" ( CollegeVine Blog)

Approaching the Common App essay prompts can be difficult. This blog post explains several tactics you can use to narrow down your options, such as writing down a list of your greatest convictions.

"Using First Person in an Academic Essay: When Is It Okay?" (WritingCommons.org)

Most high school students are told to avoid using the first person point of view; this can be confusing when writing college essays, which typically ask what  you  think. This article breaks down when (and why) it's acceptable to write in the first person. 

Although all college essays serve the same purpose - articulating why you should get into a college - they come in different kinds. While topics on the Common Application are relatively consistent from year to year, personal statements and so-called "supplemental essays" vary by institution. Each of these essays requires a slightly different approach. The resources in this section will prepare you to answer the various types of essay prompts you're likely to encounter. 

Common Application Essays

CommonApp.org

The Common Application's official website is the best place to start getting acquainted with the service to which the majority of US colleges and universities now subscribe - a service which allows you to streamline your application process and minimize duplication of materials.

"What's App-enning" Blog (Common App)  

The Common App runs a blog with a wealth of information on common application-related news, including periodic updates on common application essay prompts for each application cycle. You can practice brainstorming with old prompts, or even start preparing your application by looking at this year's prompts.

125 College Essay Examples (PrepScholar Blog)

Here, PrepScholar provides a variety of Common App essays that got their respective applicants into their desired schools. Along with the body text of the essays, the website provides analysis on  what  makes the essays so great. 

A Few Essays That Worked (And a Few That Didn't) (NYTimes Blog)

This article analyzes unsuccessful essays, illuminating the ways in which they fell short. Although you should exercise caution and adjust your approach to your specific school, it's always good to pick up on general things to avoid. 

Personal Statements

What Is a Personal Statement? (PrepScholar Blog)

Although personal statements and Common App essays are similar, not all personal statement essays are administered through the Common App. This article from PrepScholar's blog will provide you with everything you need to know about writing a personal statement.

Examples of Successful Statements (Purdue OWL)

The Purdue OWL online writing lab collate links on this page to several successful personal statement. It can be useful to read successful statements and to consider how and why the statements made an impact on their readers. 

Past Threads on Advice for Writing Your College Essay (Reddit Post)

Although not about the personal statement  per se , this Reddit post has links to several past threads that may be of use to any prospective college applicant. 

What 10 Things Should Your Personal Statement Include? (Which University UK)  

This site outlines ten things to consider when writing a personal statement, including outlining what you will bring to the course, not what the course will bring to you. 

Supplemental Essays

How to Write Great Supplemental College Essays (IvyWise Newsletter)

Supplemental essays can often be challenging, asking a range of questions from the mundane to the oddly specific. This article from college application site IvyWise will break down example prompts to make them more approachable. 

Write Your Supplemental Essays (College Essay Guy)

Looking for a comprehensive guide to supplemental essays? Look no further than this page provided by the "College Essay Guy," who breaks down how to write supplemental essays that ask different kinds of questions. 

An Awesome Guide to the UChicago Supplement (Dyad)

Dyad, a college mentoring service, walks you through how to approach UChicago's supplemental essay question. Although the article is specific to UChicago, it contains general tips that are helpful to any college applicant. 

Reading My Yale Supplement Essay (YouTube)

Josh Beasley is back in this short YouTube video, where he reads the supplemental essay that got him into Yale and extrapolates advice for current and prospective applicants. 

A college application essay (like any academic essay) should have an introduction, a conclusion, and body paragraphs. Additionally, it should have overall coherence (that is, it should make a point) and cohesion (that is, it should flow well from paragraph to paragraph). We've collected the most relevant resources here to help you structure your college essay correctly and efficiently. 

How to Make Your Essay Stand Out 

College Essays That Stand Out From the Crowd (NYTimes)

This NYTimes article includes links to several recent essays that caught the eyes of the admissions readers by taking risks. You can even listen to an essay being read aloud by a current Princeton student.

50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays (Gen / Kelly Tanabe)  

If you have some time on your hands, this hefty PDF document contains 50 essays from successful Ivy League applicants. After reading these essays, consider what they have in common and how they might be a model for your own essay.

Make Your Application Essay Stand Out (CampusExplorer.com)

In this article from CampusExplorer, you'll find general tips on how to make your essay more appealing to the admissions readers. The writers include general writing tips as well as more targeted advice for the tone and audience of the application essay.

How to Write a College Application Essay that Stands Out (Boston University)

This short video from BU's own admissions department touches briefly on what impresses their admissions readers, including risk-taking, memorable stories, and honesty. 

Essay Structure (Monash University)

This chart from Monash University visually demonstrates how your content should be organized in order to keep your argument or story on track. 

How to Write an Introduction

How to Start a Personal Statement: The Killer Opening (Which University UK)  

Any good introduction both forecasts what your essay will be about and catches the reader's attention. This page will give you some helpful advice on starting your essay with a bang. 

How to Start a College Essay Perfectly (PrepScholar Blog)

This article from PrepScholar shows you how to "hook" your reader at the start of your application essay with colorful language, a vivid story, and an "insightful pivot" to your main point.

Let Me Introduce Myself (Stanford University)

This article from Stanford U's alumni page details the first-line openings of the essays for some current Stanford undergrads. 

Five Ways to NOT Start Your College Application Essays (PowerScore)

In this article, you'll learn five techniques to avoid, as they typically land a college application essay in the "reject" pile; these include beginning with dictionary definitions or famous quotations. 

How to Write a Conclusion 

Ending the Essay: Conclusions (Harvard University)

Harvard's writing center suggests bringing closure to your essay (that is, wrapping up your argument) while still expanding outward to broader applications or insights in your final paragraph.

Concluding Paragraph (Easybib)  

Although you may have used Easybib to make a bibliography before, did you know they have many resources on how to write a good essay? Check out this page for succinct advice on what your conclusion should entail. 

5 Ways to Powerfully End Your College Essay (College Greenlight)

This blog post instructs you to end with action (that is, a story or anecdote) rather than summary, giving you five ways to do this effectively, including addressing the college directly.

How to Write the Best Conclusion for a College Application Essay and Supplement (Koppelman Group)

The Koppelman Group, a college application consulting firm, warns you, above all, not to end "in conclusion" or "to conclude." They also provide targeted advice for the Common App and Supplement essays, respectively. 

No essay is perfect in its first-draft form; college application essays in particular are limited by word counts that can be difficult to meet. Once you've communicated your ideas, you'll want to edit your essay in order to make sure it's the best it can be. You'll also need to cut or add words to make sure it's within the specifications set by the institution. The resources in this section include tips and tricks for revising your college application essay. 

3 Ways to Increase Word Count (WikiHow)

Complete with illustrations, this WikiHow page outlines several ways you might go about substantively expanding your essay. These tips include clarifying points, reworking your introduction and conclusion, adding new viewpoints and examples, and connecting loose threads. 

Admissions 101: What an Essay Word Limit Really Means (Veritas Prep) 

In this blog post, Veritas Prep's college preparation tutors assure you that being a little over or under the limit is acceptable, recommending ways you can think about the word limit's purpose.

College Essay Word Limit - Going Under? (College Confidential) 

In this College Confidential discussion forum, students discuss the possible ramifications of writing under the word limit for a college essay. 

How to Increase Your Essay Word Count (WordCounter)

This article from WordCounter outlines different ways you might go about meeting word count, including addressing different viewpoints, adding examples, and clarifying statements. 

Hitting the Target Word Count in Your College Admissions Essay (Dummies.com)

This article details how to hit the target word count. Scroll down to the middle of the article for advice on where you should cut words from to meet word count. 

Some Tricks to Reduce Word Count (EastAsiaStudent.net)

This article recommends simplifying your style, deleting adverbs, deleting prepositions, and revisiting connectives and adjectives to reduce word count. 

Advice on Whittling Your Admissions Essay (NYTimes) 

In this New York Times article, Andrew Gelb discusses how to go about cutting down your admissions essay in order to meet the requisite word limit.

How to Shorten an Essay Without Ruining the Content (Quora) 

This Quora post from a concerned student yielded useful community responses on how to effectively shorten an essay without losing the original message. 

Feel like you've hit a wall revising your essay on your own? You're not alone, and there are plentiful resources on the web through which you can connect with fellow college applicants and/or professional tutors. The links in this section will take you to free services for improving your college application essay, as well as two of the top paid writing tutor services.

College Confidential Forums 

College Confidential is a free, public forum in which you can post your essay and receive feedback from current college students, current college applicants, and even teachers or other experienced users. 

/r/CollegeEssays (Reddit)

This subreddit is a great place to look for crowdsourced help on your essay, ask questions about college essays, or even find a private tutor. 

Essayforum.com

Essayforum.com provides another platform for students to share their application essays. Although this link takes you to the site's forum for applicants to undergraduate degree programs, you can submit and review essays in other categories as well.  Varsity Tutors

Varisty Tutors offers tutoring services from freelance tutors based on location. Prices and services vary, but their site is easy to use and there are many tutors available to choose from.

Princeton Review

Princeton Review, one of the largest providers of college preparation tutoring (ranging from standardized test preparation to essay help) offers online essay tutoring services with a free trial period. 

Using in-class time to prepare your students to write college application essays is, of course, rewarding, but can also be challenging. If you're a teacher looking to incorporate the college essay into your curriculum but you're not sure where to start, take a look at the useful resources below.

TeachersPayTeachers

College Essay Writing

This product includes material for more than one full lesson plan, including powerpoint presentations, assessments, and homework on the topic of college essays. 

Narrative Writing Ideas and Prompts

Appealing to students 9th grade and up, this product includes lesson plans, handouts, and homework for developing narrative writing for the college essay process. 

College Essay: Comprehensive 7-Session Workshop Series

This PDF includes entire courses, manuals, and handouts designed to teach students the ins and outs of the college essay process, either in an individual or group setting. 

College Essay Revision Forms & Rubrics

These PDFs provide students with visual organizers and rubrics to assess their own writing and learn how to become better college essay writers. 

Free Resources

Teaching the College Essay (Edutopia) 

Teaching your students about writing the college essay can be incredibly intimidating -- as a teacher, how should you approach the process? This article from Edutopia outlines how to go about introducing the college essay to your students. 

Essay Lesson Plan Ideas for College Applications (EssayHell)

If you're a teacher looking for a concrete lesson plan on college essays, this guide recommends using the first day to discuss the importance of the essay, the second day for brainstorming, and so on. Click on the link above to examine their full guide. 

Help Your Students Write a Killer College Essay (EdWeek Blog)

This blog post goes over various techniques designed to help your students choose an appropriate topic and write their essay with passion. 

The Biggest College Essay Mistakes & How to Fix Them (Talks With Teachers)

Looking to help your students avoid the minefield of mistakes in the college essay field? Check out this post from Talks With Teachers, a journal that shares "inspiring ideas for English teachers." 

Curious to read more about college application essays, or to see fun and unusual examples of what students have written? The articles, blog posts, and books in this section are a good place to start surveying the field.

One Over-the-Top Admissions Essay (Huffington Post)

This piece from the Huffington Post talks about a humorous response to a Stanford supplemental essay topic, the so-called "letter to my future roommate."

College & University - Statistics and Facts (Statista.com) 

In the process of writing your college essay, you may find yourself wondering who exactly goes to college, how many colleges there are in the United States, etc. This site gives the up-to-date statistics for various US demographics, both in aggregate and by university, as well as other information.

Who Made That College Application? (NYTimes)

This piece from the NYTimes outlines the history of the college essay from its origins in the 1800s, to the first "modern" college application, produced by Columbia University in 1919, to the present.  

How They Got Into Harvard (Staff of the Harvard Crimson)

This highly-rated collection of successful Harvard application essays, available on Amazon, is both an entertaining read and an instructive resource for anyone looking for exemplary essays to use as models. 

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How To Write A College Essay: A Step-By-Step Guide

Updated: Mar 28, 2024, 4:13am

Most colleges require prospective students to provide essays—long-form written responses to prompts—when applying for admission . Candidates can use their essays to stand out from other applicants and show schools what makes them unique.

Prospective students wondering how to write a college essay can use this helpful guide to explore common prompts, tips on structuring effective writing and what makes a good college essay. Discover the step-by-step process on how to write a college admission essay, including selecting a topic, outlining, creating a draft and proofreading.

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What Does a College Application Entail?

Here’s what the typical college essay involves.

Common Essay Prompts

The Common App, which allows students to apply to multiple colleges simultaneously, offers several essay prompts for applicants. Most prompts invite the writer to describe a time when they underwent a change or persevered through a struggle. Along with these subjects, applicants can also create their own prompts.

Essay Structure and Length

Check essay structure requirements from each prospective institution. Though most schools allow writers to determine their own essay formats, some may set word count limits or recommendations. Keep their provided range in mind as you write your essay, and dedicate most of your writing to the body of your personal statement, keeping your introduction and conclusion concise.

The Common App sets a word limit of 250 to 650 words. Aim for this range if a school does not specify a word count.

Impact of a Good Essay

Colleges and universities make difficult decisions when admitting new students. If multiple applicants submit similar admission materials—such as strong GPAs, high class ranks, impressive SAT or ACT scores, and well-rounded extracurriculars—a well-written essay can help a candidate stand out to admissions officers.

By crafting a captivating essay that sticks with the reader, you can make a lasting impact to secure your admission.

What Makes a Good College Essay?

Along with adhering to formal, academic standards for grammar, spelling, tone and syntax, a well-written college essay delivers on its premise, grabs the reader’s attention and stays within the word count limit.

At the most basic level, writers should ensure their essays are devoid of basic problems like typographical and grammar issues. College essays should respond directly to the given prompt and expand on the premise with an engrossing narrative or argument.

Most importantly, a good college essay offers compelling insights into its author. Infuse your personality, aspirations and struggles into your essay to illustrate why colleges should consider you for admission.

How To Write a College Admission Essay

When it comes to college essays, a strong writing process is key. Here’s what you should do.

Select an Essay Prompt

Though some institutions may only use one essay prompt, others—including the Common App—offer multiple options. Choose a prompt that lets you draw on your life experiences. If none of the provided prompts spark interest, the Common App allows you to submit an essay that responds to a topic of your own design.

Create an Outline

Before actually writing, create a plan for your essay. Summarize your thoughts with an outline. Include important themes and major points you want to include in the final product.

Write a Rough Draft

When drafting your essay, allow yourself to write and get your ideas down without overthinking. You can revise later. Try to avoid becoming attached to specific concepts or approaches in the early stages of writing, as working through multiple drafts with an open mind can help you develop new understandings about your ideas and find better paths toward the final essay.

Edit and Proofread

Edit your essay, both for content and for proofreading. It can help to print your essay on paper and revise with a pen in hand, as the change in perspective as you shift from a computer screen to a hard copy can make you process your writing differently. Consider using online editing apps, which can offer helpful suggestions for concision and clarity.

Have Others Edit and Proofread

Ask friends, family members, guidance counselors or teachers to read your college essay. Even if these readers lack formal editing experience, a fresh set of eyes can help you find ways to improve. Small-scale issues like typos and larger concerns like unclear themes may be more apparent to someone who did not write the essay.

Revise as Many Times as Needed

Sometimes, you have to delete most—or all—of what you wrote. Do not be afraid to go back to the drawing board. Write your essay as many times as necessary to ensure your ideas are conveyed clearly.

When applying to colleges, candidates need to put their best foot forward on all fronts. While some schools focus more on factors like GPA, class rank and extracurriculars, others evaluate applicants holistically, which means the admissions essay can hold more weight.

Tips for Writing Your Best College Essay

Let’s explore some tips and tricks for making the most of your college essay.

Get Started Early

Start preparing your application materials, including your college essay, in the summer before your senior year of high school. Most schools maintain winter application deadlines, so working on an admission essay several months ahead of that deadline ensures you have given your writing sufficient attention.

Pick a Topic That’s Meaningful to You

Apply the adage “write what you know” to your college essay: Think about what makes you unique, then apply this knowledge to the larger theme of your chosen prompt.

Writing about something meaningful allows your passions and personality to shine through. Because admissions departments often receive thousands of applications and essays each year, choosing a topic where your personal truth is evident can help you stand out among a crowded field of applicants.

Add Analysis to Your Storytelling

Extrapolate the themes of your essay by demonstrating how they apply to your personal story. While you can use abstract subject matter in your essay, linking the motif, structure and central theme of your essay to your own goals and challenges can elevate your writing.

Think “show, don’t tell.” Rather than using your limited space to explain overtly how your essay expresses your individual circumstances, illustrate your themes vividly enough that admissions departments can identify what makes you uniquely you.

Read Your Essay Out Loud

Remember: A person reads your college admission essay. Read your writing aloud—what may have felt great in the writing process may sound unnatural when read aloud. Hearing your writing can also reveal redundancies that may have not have been apparent otherwise.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About How To Write a College Essay

How do you start a college essay.

Start your essay with a “hook” to grab readers’ attention. Aim for a concise introduction that evokes vivid imagery or raises questions you will answer later in your essay.

What is the format for a college essay?

When formatting your college essay, consider your submission method. If the school provides a text box, refrain from using bolded, underlined or italicized text, which may not translate after copying and pasting. When an institution requires an attached document, submit a PDF file using a standard font like Arial, Calibri or Times New Roman, size 12.

What makes a strong college essay?

A strong college essay captivates the reader with an interesting premise and offers insight into what makes you a unique applicant. Strong college essays reveal candidates’ aspirations and challenges.

How do you start off a college essay?

Remember that the person reading your writing will most likely have evaluated dozens or hundreds of other college essays—maybe even on the same day as yours. It’s important to grab their attention from the beginning, so avoid opening with a vague or generic statement and don’t reveal your essay’s conclusion right away. Instead, get specific, choose bold language and vivid imagery, and make your reader curious about how the story ends.

Is it okay to start a college essay with “I”?

Yes—in contrast to expository or argumentative essays you may have written in high school, it’s totally appropriate to write a college application essay from a first-person point of view. In fact, one of the most important functions of a college essay is to give admissions officers an idea of who you are as a person, so don’t hesitate to write from your own point of view.

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Advice for Writing Application Essays

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Advice for Writing Successful Application Essays

When you sit down to write your application essays, there is very little left that you can control. You should have already taken, or retaken, the SAT and ACT, your grades from your first three years of high school are set on your transcript, and your recommenders all have their impressions of you that are unlikely to change before the recommendation deadline. The only thing that left in your control is your writing for the application essay.

As with all things related to your college application, you will need to start drafting your application essay far ahead of the due date. In fact, you should move each school’s deadline up two weeks so that no unexpected events prevent you from completing and submitting your application. The reason that you need so much time to work on your essay is primarily because many schools will ask you to write about similar topics, but to do so in different ways. You will need enough time to draft essays that address each of these questions or prompts for each school to which you are applying.

Don't use boilerplate essays. That is, resist the urge to reuse the exact same essay for different schools if each of them is giving you a slightly different writing prompt. You can, of course, adapt the same essay for similar prompts. Many schools do allow you to use the Common Application essay for admission to several participating schools. For more information on the Common Application and to check which schools participate as members, click here .

Although using the Common Application does simplify the processes, make sure that you review each of the schools’ application requirements. as many of these same schools also request that you submit a second essay along with the Common Application essay. For instance, in addition to answering one of the standard Common Application questions, Amherst College asks that you write an additional essay responding to one of several quotations.

Before you can start writing your essay, you will need to begin by reading the prompts and questions carefully. Even the Common Application has six prompts that you can choose from. Don’t feel as though you must choose one immediately after reading them. You should ask yourself what sticks out the most for you after having read through them. Think about what is most salient for you.

Brainstorm by putting your thoughts on paper. You can free write (writing without stopping or censoring yourself), create word association maps (visually clustering concepts that you feel go together), or keep a journal over the course of several days so that you can collect your thoughts in one place. See the Purdue OWL's PowerPoint on “ Finding your Focus ” for more details on these strategies.

After you have generated several ideas, reflect on where you find the most intensity or excitement in what you were writing. If nothing jumps out at you, keep brainstorming or talk with others about some possible topics until something grabs you.

Once you know what want to write about, put a rough draft on paper. Don’t be afraid of stray thoughts if they lead you to something more interesting than you had set out to write. Just make sure that you eventually come to have a rough draft that is about one thing.

Look over your draft and check for the following.

• Your writing should be personal. After reading your essay, does it seem like anyone could have written this? Make sure that your essay captures who you are.
• You writing should show, not tell, through vivid language. Successful essays relate an experience or analyze a pattern from the writer’s life. It is not enough to make general claims about what impacted your decision to go to college, for instance; you must elaborate by including evidence that answers “how” and “why” when you make your claims.

It is important to note that admissions officers care as much about your structure, style, and insights as they do about your content. That is not meant to add an extra layer of anxiety to your writing process, but to highlight the fact that you don’t necessarily need to have something life-changing to write about in order to write a successful essay. As Dowhan, Dowhan and Kaufman note in Essays that Will Get You into College , “Personal does not have to mean heavy, emotional or even inspiring” (10). In fact, as the authors explain, students might over rely on the significant event that they write about to speak for itself and don’t “explain what it meant to them or give a solid example of how it changed them. In other words, they do not make it personal” (10).

Finally, your writing should be about a sustained topic. You must use vivid description with a purpose. What is it that you learned because of this experience? What message can you decipher from the series of events that you present? What led you to your conclusions?

Once you have completed your rough draft, put it away for a few days. Afterwards, read the question again and look through your essay. Ask yourself if the essay answers the prompt. Is it personal? Does it use vivid language? Is it focused on one topic? Rewrite whatever needs to be strengthened. This is a great time to have other people look through your draft and get their reaction. Make sure that you ask someone early, and that you trust this person’s judgment; they will be putting in a lot of time to help you, so don’t disregard anything that is inconvenient or that you don’t want to hear.

Again, giving yourself plenty of time to work on this essay is vital. You should have enough time to rewrite or restructure your essay based on the feedback that you have received. As you are drafting and revising, feel free to fix any mistakes that you catch in terms of spelling, grammar, and mechanics, but don’t spend too much time editing early on in the writing process. Working on lower-order concerns can give you the impression that the essay is ready to submit prematurely. Instead, use this time to strengthen the main points of your essay.

To supplement the advice offered on this page, you can find a handout on writing the admissions application essay here .

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• College Essay Format & Structure | Example Outlines

College Essay Format & Structure | Example Outlines

Published on September 24, 2021 by Meredith Testa . Revised on May 31, 2023.

There are no set rules for how to structure a college application essay, but you should carefully plan and outline to make sure your essay flows smoothly and logically.

Typical structural choices include

• a series of vignettes with a common theme
• a single story that demonstrates your positive qualities

Table of contents

Formatting your essay, outlining the essay, structures that work: two example outlines, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

You should keep the formatting as simple as possible. Admissions officers need to work very quickly, so fancy formatting, unnecessary flourishes, and unique fonts will come off as more distracting than individual. Keep in mind that, if you’re pasting your essay into a text box, formatting like italics may not transfer.

Your essay will be easier for admissions officers to read if it is 1.5- or double-spaced. If you choose to attach a file, ensure that it is a PDF.

You don’t need a title for your essay, but you can include one, especially if you think it will add something important.

Most importantly, ensure that you stick to the word count. Most successful essays are 500–600 words. Because you’re limited in length, make sure that you write concisely . Say everything that you need to express to get your point across, but don’t use more words than necessary, and don’t repeat yourself.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Once you’ve finished brainstorming topics but before you start writing, think about your writing’s trajectory: how you’ll start the essay , develop it, and end it .

Do you want to organize it chronologically? Would you prefer to make a “sandwich” structure by introducing a topic or idea, moving away from it, and then coming back to it at the end? There’s a variety of options (and a pair of strong examples below), but make sure you consider how you’d like to structure the essay before you start writing.

Although you should organize your thoughts in an outline, you don’t have to stick to it strictly. Once you begin writing, you may find that the structure you’d originally chosen doesn’t quite work. In that case, it’s fine to try something else. Multiple drafts of the same essay are key to a good final product.

Whatever structure you choose, it should be clear and easy to follow, and it should be feasible to keep it within the  word count . Never write in a way that could confuse the reader. Remember, your audience will not be reading your essay closely!

Vignettes with a common theme

The vignette structure discusses several experiences that may seem unrelated, but the author weaves them together and unites them with a common theme.

For example, a student could write an essay exploring various instances of their ability to make the best of bad situations. A rough outline for that essay might look like this:

• In a rehearsal for a school play when a lighting fixture malfunctioned and the set caught fire, I helped extinguish it.
• To help the situation, I improvised fixes for the set and talked with the director about adding lines referencing the “disaster.”
• I didn’t get into my first-choice high school, but I became class president at the school where I ended up.
• When I had ACL surgery, I used the downtime to work on my upper body strength and challenged my friends to pull-up contests.
• How these qualities will serve me in college and in my career

Single story that demonstrates traits

The narrative structure focuses on a single overarching story that shows many aspects of a student’s character.

Some such essays focus on a relatively short event that the author details moment by moment, while others discuss the story of a longer journey, one that may cover months or years.

For example, a student might discuss trying out for a sports team as a middle schooler, high school freshman, and high school senior, using each of those instances to describe an aspect of their personality. A rough outline for that essay might look like this:

• Confident, there to have fun
• Very passionate and in love with the sport
• Little sister was born that day, so I had to go alone with a friend’s parents
• Learned to be independent and less self-centered
• Realized that as much as I love gymnastics, there are more important things
• Gave up first homecoming of high school, had to quit other activities, lost countless hours with friends
• I had to repeat level 9 and didn’t progress quickly
• I had a terrible beam routine at one competition the previous year and still had a mental block
• I got stuck on some skills, and it took over a year to learn them
• Passion from age 7, perspective from age 11, diligence from age 15

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
• Conjunctions

There are no set rules for how to structure a college application essay , but these are two common structures that work:

• A montage structure, a series of vignettes with a common theme.
• A narrative structure, a single story that shows your personal growth or how you overcame a challenge.

Avoid the five-paragraph essay structure that you learned in high school.

Your college essay’s format should be as simple as possible:

• Use a standard, readable font
• Use 1.5 or double spacing
• If attaching a file, save it as a PDF
• Stick to the word count
• Avoid unusual formatting and unnecessary decorative touches

You don’t need a title for your college admissions essay , but you can include one if you think it adds something important.

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The 13 Best College Essay Tips to Craft a Stellar Application

College Essays

In many ways, the most labor-intensive part of your college application process is the essay. It’s not just about forwarding transcripts or entering a list of extracurricular activities—you have to craft something personal and compelling to show the admissions committee who you are beyond your resume.

In this article, we’ll go over our 13 best tips for writing college essays. We’ll give tips for every step of the process including planning, writing, and editing your essay, as well as some quick and easy tips to boost any essays you already have written! With these college essay tips, you’ll be that much closer to the best admissions essay ever!

5 Tips for College Essay Planning

Doing a good job planning makes the college essay process that much easier. These five college essay tips will help you get started and pave the way for a great final product.

#1: Make a Plan of Attack for Your Essays

The first thing you’ll need to do is identify all the essays you’ll need to write and their deadlines. It may help you to make a spreadsheet with the essay guidelines for each school, the word count, the prompts, the due date, and any special instructions. This will help you figure out:

How many essays you’ll need to write, and how long those essays need to be.

Whether you can reuse any essays: In general, you can reuse essays for prompts that are about your life, broadly similar in theme, and have a similar word count. You probably can’t reuse essays that are very specific to the college, like “Why This College” essays .

Which essay you should write first: You’ll probably want to start first on the essay with the earliest application deadline. Alternatively, if you have plenty of time or the deadlines are close together, you could start with the longest essay (which will take the most time) or the essay that will be used for the most schools (like a Common Application essay). Do what you feel most comfortable with.

With all this information gathered, you’ll be able to make a plan of attack for your essays and make sure nothing gets lost in the application shuffle. (In fact, I actually advise keeping track of all necessary components of your application in a spreadsheet for the same reason).

#2: Start Early

You want to start writing way before the deadline. If possible, give yourself at least two months, and maybe even more time if you can. This will make sure that you have enough time to adequately plan your essay, draft it, and edit it.  

And, of course, the more essays you have to write, the earlier you should start!

#3: Choose the Right Topic

Choosing the right topic has two facets: first, choosing the right prompt (if there’s a choice) and second, choosing the right topic to write about for that prompt.

The Right Prompt

If there’s a choice of prompts, you may want to actually start by brainstorming the specific topic or thing in your life that you want to write about, and then reverse-engineer back to the most appropriate prompt. Most college essay prompts are pretty vague, so a broad range of topics and issues can be applied.

You can also use prompts to help you brainstorm if you’re having a hard time figuring out what to write about. Think about the prompt that seems most appealing to you at first. What intrigues you about it? What do you think you could communicate about yourself through that question?

Here’s some tailored guidance on some of the most common college essay prompt types . And if you’re writing a Common Application essay, here’s advice on how to choose the right Common App prompt for you .

The Right Topic

When you’re trying to choose something about your life to write about, consider the following:

What are you excited to write about? A good college essay can be about a wide variety of topics, but it should show that you’re passionate about something. This could be anything from a hobby you have to your favorite book or even your most beloved stuffed animal, just so long as you can make it memorable and positive. Also, your writing will be a lot better if you are writing about something you care about and are interested in!

Whatever you write about should be primarily about you. You should be the focal point. Even if you’re writing about someone who has influenced you, for example, you need to relate it back to yourself. What does this tell admission officers about you?

What makes you stand out? This should be something that goes beyond what’s in the rest of your application. Your test scores and GPA are already there. What really shows something unique about you?

Choose a topic you can be honest about . If you’re not being genuine, it will end up coming through in your writing. So don’t write about how much your membership in Youth Group meant to you if you only went to make your mom happy and you actually didn’t care that much.

In general, you should avoid topics that are overly controversial, like things that are politically charged, doing things that are illegal, or anything involving graphic descriptions of any bodily function. So if you’re going to write about recovering from hip surgery, probably leave out the gory details of you being constipated and your oozy scars.

Check out our 35 brainstorming techniques for college essays for even more help coming up with a topic!

If you’re really stumped, consider asking your friends and family what they think could be good topics. They may help you figure out something memorable and interesting. But also, don’t feel like you have to write about a topic just because someone else thinks it would be great. You need to be genuinely interested in what you’re writing about to write an engaging essay!

#4: Decide on Your Approach

In general, there are two main approaches you might take to write your essay. It might primarily take a narrative format, or it might take a thematic format.

In a narrative format, you’ll be relating a particular anecdote or experience and what it means to you. In a thematic format, you’ll present a particular theme—say, your love of parakeets or your secret talent for balancing books on your head—and expound on that theme in a descriptive way to reveal more about you and your personality.

Sometimes your approach will be determined by the prompt or topic that you choose. For example, if a prompt says to relate a particular event or anecdote, you’ll probably use a narrative approach. By contrast, if you want to write about how your favorite book changed your life, that will probably be a thematic essay.

#5: Write an Outline

Doing a little bit of outlining before you put fingertips to keyboard to write your essay is always a good idea. You don’t necessarily need to make a super-detailed plan before you starting writing, but a general idea of where you are going and the points you want to make will be very helpful when you start drafting. Otherwise, you may find yourself spending a lot of time staring at a blank Word document.

Yes, good, very detailed essay plan. 

4 Top College Essay Writing Tips

Here are four tips for writing college essays and making sure your work  stands out in a good way:

#6: Use Specific Details

The more details you use, the more your writing will come alive. Try to use words that are vivid and specific, instead of ones that are vague like “nice,” “good,” and so on. This will really flesh out the scene and help the reader picture what’s going on.

So take something like this:

One of my biggest accomplishments in life was teaching my little brother to ride a bicycle. I encouraged him to keep going when he fell down. Now he’s a great cyclist!

To something more like this:

One of my biggest accomplishments in life was teaching my eight-year-old brother to ride the racy red bicycle he got for his birthday. He wanted to give up when he took a tumble and skidded across the sidewalk. But while I bandaged up his knees with Batman band-aids, I convinced him to give it another try. I told him to think about how he would be able to bike all around the neighborhood exploring. Now I smile whenever I see him zooming down our street—wearing his helmet, of course!

See the difference? Wouldn’t you rather read the second one?

#7: Be Genuine

It’s important to get beyond the superficial in your personal statement. You should be writing about something that’s genuinely important or significant to you, so try to get beyond the surface. Instead of writing vague platitudes about how you really like the violin but it’s hard, really get at the meat: did you ever think about quitting? What’s frustrated you the most? What really keeps you going?

This means you shouldn’t try to write about things where it’s too painful to be honest. So if your parents got a divorce last year, it may be too raw to write about, which is perfectly fine. If, however, they got divorced when you were 5 and you can honestly reflect on how it changed your life, go for it.

Of course, you want to be honest in a reasonable and appropriate way. If you overshare, it will make it seem like you have bad judgment or don’t understand social norms—not good impressions to give the admissions committee. So probably don’t write about how much you despise your mother and think she is evil since she had an affair with your school librarian. It’s fine to feel how you feel, but there are some things that are a little too charged to write in your college essay.

#8: Be Unique, but Not Bizarre

You definitely want your writing to set you apart—but you want it to set you apart in a good way. This means you want high-quality writing about unique experiences and qualities you bring to the table that aren’t covered elsewhere in your application.

This does not mean you should get really avant-garde with your essay formatting. Don’t send in a piece of art instead of an essay, or make a video, or write a poem instead of an essay, unless those things are explicitly allowed.

Similarly, while your essay doesn’t have to be 100% deadly serious in tone, you should be careful with humor. This doesn’t mean absolutely no jokes or tongue-in-cheek moments or that your essay should read like an 18th-century book of sermons. But if your essay relies too much on humor, you’ve got a lot riding on whether or not the person reading your essay “gets” it. They may well be annoyed. So deploy humor carefully and selectively.

#9: Avoid Cliches and Platitudes

The more cliches you use in your writing, the more boring and less insightful your essay will be. Cliches are phrases that are so overused that they are essentially meaningless, and they are likely to make any reader roll their eyes. Phrases like “a dime a dozen,” “outside the box,” “cold as ice,” “dirt cheap,” “flash in the pan,” and so on are frequently deployed in conversation because they convey a common idea quickly. But you don’t want your essay to be common, so avoid cliches. Try to think about how you can communicate the same idea in a more specific and interesting way.

Here’s a list of over 600 cliches . But for the most part, you won’t need a list; you’ll know something is a cliche because you will have heard it a million times already.

You should also avoid platitudes or sweeping generalizations about life. These are statements that are so broad and far-reaching as to be both obvious and completely uninsightful.

So avoid making statements like “And that’s how I learned that hard work pays off,” or “There’s no ‘I’ in team.” You may think you sound sage or wise, but the truth is, platitudes are going to sound immature and poorly-formed to the reader. Similarly, don’t say things that sound like they could come from an inspirational quote account on Instagram. (See, ahem, “You miss 100% of the shots you never take,” “Shoot for the moon,” and so on.)

How do you avoid the platitude problem? Try to keep what you’re saying specific to you. So instead of saying “And that’s how I learned that hard work pays off,” try, “This experience helped me to realize that when I put concentrated effort into something that’s important to me, I can accomplish it even when there are roadblocks.” Keep the focus on what you can and will do in your own life.

Avoid  trite sayings like this one.

2 Tips for Editing Your College Essay

You may think that once you’ve gotten a draft done that you’re good to go. Not so! Editing is one of the most important parts of writing the best college essay possible, and here are two essential college essay tips for editing.

Tip #10: Ask for Help

It’s always wise to get another set of eyes on your college essays. In fact, several sets of eyes is even better! Other people can help you make sure your essay flows, you have enough detail, that everything is relevant, and that you sound as engaging and interesting as you really are! They can also help you catch typos and other minor errors—although you’ll want to double and triple-check for that yourself before submitting.

Here’s advice on how to ask for help with all parts of the college essay process , including editing.

Tip #11: Be Prepared to Cut a Lot

Brace yourself for cutting up your initial draft into tiny little ribbons and rearranging the remaining pieces Frankenstein-style. A first draft is really just a starting place to get your ideas down before you revamp the entire thing into a more streamlined, better organized, highly polished version. So you have to be ready to let go of pieces of your essay, no matter how much you love a particular turn of phrase or analogy. The ultimate goal is to turn the rough stone of your first draft into a polished and clear piece of writing—and that’s going to take a lot of chipping and sanding!

2 Final Tips for College Essay Success

Here are two quick but essential college essay tips you can implement easily.

Tip #12: Have a Standout First Sentence

One thing you can do to give any essay a boost is to make sure that your first sentence is attention-grabbing. If you can pique the interest of the admissions counselor right away, you’ll help keep their attention throughout your essay.

Here’s our guide to getting that perfect first sentence!

Tip #13: Triple-check for Typos and Errors

The most important quick thing you can do for your essay is to make sure there are no typos or grammatical errors. It will make your essay look sloppy and unfinished, and that’s the last thing you want! College admissions officers expect a polished product, and there’s nothing less polished than misspelled words and comma splices.

13 College Essay Tips: Key Takeaways for a Great College Essay

To recap, here’s our 13 tips for the best college essay ever:

College Essay Planning Tips:

• Create a plan of attack for all of your essays so you can keep track of everything.
• Start early—at least two months before the due date, if not more.
• Choose the right prompt and topic for you.
• Decide between a narrative or a thematic approach to the topic.
• Outline before you start writing!

College Essay Writing Tips:

• Use vivid, specific details.
• Be genuine—get beyond the superficial.
• Be unique, but not bizarre.
• Avoid cliches and platitudes; they are boring and unimaginative.

College Essay Editing Tips:

• Get other people to look at your essay.
• Be prepared to change, cut, and rearrange a lot!

Final Tips for College Essays:

• Make sure your first sentence is stellar.
• Triple check for typos and grammatical errors!

What’s Next?

You’ve read our tips for success—now see 10 college essay mistakes to avoid .

Looking for some college essay examples? See 133 essay examples and expert analysis here , along with 11 more places to find great college essay examples .  

Check out our complete guides to ApplyTexas essays , UC Personal Insight questions , and the Common Application essay !

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Ellen has extensive education mentorship experience and is deeply committed to helping students succeed in all areas of life. She received a BA from Harvard in Folklore and Mythology and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University.

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How to Write a Synthesis Essay: Tips + Examples

By Eric Eng

A 2019 study found that over 70% of students struggle with academic writing, and synthesis essays are no exception. If you’re having trouble thinking of how to write a synthesis essay, think of it like making a pizza. You can have all the ingredients separately, but combining them creates something that’s even more awesome. A synthesis essay blends different sources to build a strong, unified argument or analysis. When done right, the result is cohesive and compelling.

In this blog, you’ll discover a step-by-step guide on how to write a synthesis essay, complete with tips and tricks to make the process easier. By the end, you’ll have the skills and confidence to tackle any synthesis essay confidently.

What Is a Synthesis Essay?

How to start a synthesis essay, how to write a synthesis paragraph, synthesis essay example, tips for writing a killer synthesis essay, frequently asked questions.

A synthesis essay is a type of writing where you take information from different sources and use it to support a central idea or argument. The goal is to combine facts, data, and viewpoints from these sources to show how they connect and build a stronger case for your own perspective. Instead of just summarizing what each source says, you analyze and pull everything together to form a clear, unified argument.

A successful synthesis essay will:

• Present a clear thesis that states your main argument or claim.
• Use information from multiple sources to support that argument.
• Show how these sources connect and relate to one another.

The biggest challenge for many students? Getting started. Once you know how to begin, the rest falls into place! Here’s a foolproof guide to nailing your intro.

1. Begin with a hook.

Your first sentence should grab attention. Think of something surprising, thought-provoking, or intriguing. This could be an interesting statistic, a bold claim, or even a rhetorical question. The idea is to pique the reader’s interest so they feel compelled to keep reading.

Example of a hook:

“ Did you know that 60% of today’s workforce prefers remote work over traditional office settings? That statistic may surprise you, but it reflects a major shift in how we think about work in the 21st century. “

2. Introduce the topic.

After your hook, you’ll want to ease into your topic. Give a bit of background information so your readers understand what the essay is going to be about. This is where you can introduce the main sources or themes you’ll be synthesizing.

3. End with a thesis.

Your thesis statement is the backbone of your essay. It should clearly tell the reader what your essay will argue. Think of it as the roadmap for your paper. Without it, your reader will be lost!

Example of a thesis:

“ While both traditional office work and remote work offer their own advantages, a hybrid model that blends both approaches is the most effective in promoting productivity and work-life balance. “

The hook grabs attention, the topic is introduced, and the thesis makes it clear what the essay will argue. Having a hook is important because it grabs the reader’s attention right away, making them want to keep reading. It sets the tone for your essay and gives the reader a reason to stay engaged.

The body of your essay is where you’ll really dig into your argument, using your sources to back up your points. Each paragraph should be well-structured so your essay doesn’t feel like a random collection of facts. Here’s a simple breakdown for writing a strong synthesis paragraph:

1. Start with a topic sentence.

This sentence should introduce the main point of the paragraph. It acts as a mini-thesis for that section.

2. Provide evidence from your sources.

Now, it’s time to bring in the sources you’ve found during your research. Ideally, you’ll want to use at least two sources per paragraph to show how different authors or experts agree (or disagree) on your point. Always remember to properly cite your sources!

3. Analyze and synthesize.

The key to a synthesis essay is not just throwing in a bunch of quotes but showing your readers how these sources connect. How does one source support the other? Are they offering different perspectives that, when combined, give a fuller picture of your argument?

4. Conclude the paragraph.

Wrap up the paragraph by linking back to your main thesis. This reinforces how this particular point supports your overall argument.

Now that you’ve got the basics of a synthesis essay down, jump into some examples to see them in action. Use these examples to help you nail a strong introduction and a killer conclusion, so you can ace your AP Lit class!

The benefits of joining a sorority in college

Topic sentence

“ One of the key benefits of joining a sorority is the strong sense of community and support it provides. “

Evidence from sources

“ A 2021 study by the National Association of Student Affairs Professionals found that students involved in Greek life, particularly sororities, reported higher levels of social support and belonging compared to their non-Greek peers (Johnson, 2021). Additionally, research from the University of Southern California showed that sorority members were 25% more likely to graduate on time, citing strong mentorship and academic support within the organization (Davis, 2020). “

“ These studies demonstrate that sororities offer a built-in network of friends and mentors, which helps members navigate the challenges of college life. From emotional support to academic guidance, the sense of community within sororities fosters personal growth and success. “

Concluding sentence

“ Thus, joining a sorority can provide valuable resources and a strong support system, contributing to both academic achievement and personal development. “

Why the example works

This is a good example since it follows the structure of a strong paragraph while effectively supporting the argument. The topic sentence about how sororities provide a strong sense of community and support introduces the main idea and sets up the discussion.

Evidence from sources strengthens the claim by citing credible research, such as the study from the National Association of Student Affairs Professionals and the University of Southern California. These studies provide concrete data demonstrating how sorority members benefit academically and socially. 

The analysis explains the connection between the evidence and the main argument and shows how the support system in sororities can help members succeed. The concluding sentence ties everything together and reinforces that joining a sorority can benefit academic and personal growth. This example flows well, uses reliable sources, and clearly supports the thesis.

Now that we’ve walked through the process, here are some tips to make sure your essay stands out :

1. Choose credible sources.

When you’re writing a synthesis essay, choosing reliable sources is crucial. Stick to reputable sources like academic articles, peer-reviewed studies, and books written by experts in the field. 

Suppose you’re writing about the effects of climate change,  in that case, an article from a scientific journal or a report from an organization like the EPA will carry much more weight than a random blog post or a website without proper credentials. 

Think of your sources as the foundation of your essay. If they’re shaky or unverified, your argument won’t be as convincing. Avoid websites that don’t provide the author’s credentials or have questionable information. Trustworthy sources help build your credibility and make sure your essay is based on facts, not opinions or unreliable data.

If you’re looking for credible sources for your research, there are a bunch of great online tools you can use. Google Scholar is a reliable source of tons of academic articles, and JSTOR gives you access to journals and primary sources. For access to free, peer-reviewed articles in all sorts of fields, check out the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

2. Stay organized.

Working with multiple sources can get messy fast, especially when you’re juggling facts, quotes, and different perspectives. A great way to stay on top of things is to organize your sources by the sections of your essay. 

For example, if you’re writing a paragraph about the benefits of online learning, make a note of which studies or articles you’ll pull from to support that point. You could use a digital tool like Google Docs or Evernote, or even just a notebook, to track your sources. 

Jot down key facts and which source they came from so you’re not scrambling later. Staying organized helps ensure you don’t accidentally misattribute information or lose track of key data, making your writing process smoother and your essay more cohesive.

3. Be clear and concise.

It’s easy to get excited about all the interesting facts you find during your research, but remember that less is more. Every piece of information you include should directly support your thesis. 

Let’s say you’re writing about the impact of technology on education. Instead of throwing in every statistic you come across, focus on the ones that strengthen your argument, like a study showing how virtual classrooms increase student engagement. 

Resist the urge to overload your readers with too much information or veer off-topic. Keep it simple, and only include facts that are directly relevant to the point you’re trying to make. Your readers will thank you for staying on track, and your essay will be much more focused and persuasive.

4. Don’t forget to synthesize.

The key to a great synthesis essay is smoothly blending your sources into one cohesive argument. You don’t want your essay to feel like a random list of summaries or unrelated ideas. Instead, treat it like your sources are having a conversation.

Think of it this way, if one source talks about how social media is great for networking and another points out its negative impact on mental health, don’t just list them separately. Show how they’re connected.

You can do this by discussing how social media has its perks while also presenting the downsides that people need to balance. This approach helps your essay feel more connected and shows that you really understand the different perspectives. In a synthesis essay, it’s all about making those connections, not just throwing out facts.

1. How do I choose sources for a synthesis essay?

Select sources that are credible and relevant to your topic. Look for a mix of perspectives, such as scholarly articles, books, and reliable websites. The key is to find sources that provide valuable information to support your argument.

2. What is the best way to structure a synthesis essay?

A synthesis essay typically follows a standard structure. It has an introduction with a thesis statement, body paragraphs that integrate and analyze your sources, and a conclusion that summarizes your main points and restates the thesis.

3. How do I write a strong thesis statement for a synthesis essay?

Your thesis should clearly present the main argument or point of view you’ve formed after analyzing your sources. It should reflect the central theme of your essay and guide the reader on what to expect from your synthesis.

4. How can I avoid summarizing sources instead of synthesizing them?

Instead of just restating what each source says, focus on finding connections between them. Compare and contrast the viewpoints, and discuss how they complement or contradict each other to build your own argument.

• A synthesis essay combines information from different sources to support a central argument or analysis. It’s not about summarizing sources but about connecting them to form a unified point of view.
• Start with a compelling hook to grab attention, introduce your topic clearly, and end with a solid thesis statement that outlines your main argument.
• Each paragraph should have a clear topic sentence, use evidence from multiple sources, and synthesize those sources by showing how they relate to and support your argument.
• Use reputable, relevant sources, and keep your essay well-organized and concise, always linking back to your thesis. The key is synthesizing, not just summarizing.
• Need help with writing your synthesis essay? You can seek the help of a private consultant to give you feedback on your work.

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How to Edit a College Essay: A Guide in 10 Steps

Sana rahman.

• Last Updated on September 23, 2024

Table of Contents

Once you complete the first draft of your Common App personal statement , you should give yourself a big round of applause. It’s no easy task to get it all down on paper, so congratulations on getting to this part of the process! Unfortunately, no one’s first draft is perfect, so I’m here to guide you through the next step and explain how to edit a college essay. 

How to Edit a College Essay

There are lots of individualized tips that I could give you to explain how to edit a college essay, but I want to make sure you hit on every one to ensure that your essay is in the best shape possible. To make sure we’re on this journey together, I want you to imagine this process like you’re preparing for a road trip. Remember, this stuff takes time, so feel free (and a little obligated) to take a break as you’re learning how to edit a college essay. 

Stage One: Mapping it Out

Before we go anywhere, we need to know where we want to go. Is our map pointing us in the right direction?

Step 1: Read Your Draft

Acting as an objective reader, give your first draft a read. When writing your college essay, one of your main goals is to make your admissions reader root for you. So when you read this, are you rooting for you? Are you convinced of what you’re arguing? Are you staying on topic with the prompt you chose in the first place? If not, you’ll be able to tell where your essay is falling flat through this initial read. Note the places where you find yourself losing attention—those will be places to check back on when you edit your essay on the paragraph and sentence level. 

Step 2: Re-Outline the Essay

Here is where we’ll map out our route and detect with certainty any bumps along the way with an outline. Identify and isolate your thesis statement and the intros and conclusions of each paragraph, then list them in the form of a skeletal outline. Does it makes sense to you? Is the essay following chronologically? Thematically? If it is, the essay’s in a good place to move on to stage two. If not, this is the time to see where things went wrong. Use this outline as a skeleton to rewrite the parts that don’t work so that they better connect to the overall story.

Step 3: Re-Evaluate Your Outline

Now that you have your outline (or your map) in front of you—do you like what your thesis says about you? Is it arguing for the traits that you hope to demonstrate to college admissions? Is it representative of who you are? If it’s not, that’s okay! This is the time to catch the big issues. If you don’t like where you’re going, it’s okay to scrap the map and start again.  

Stage 2: Prepping the Car

For our car (essay) to get us across the country (into your Common App portal), it has to be in running condition. Do we have enough gas to get there? Has the oil been checked?

Step 4: Asses Your “Hook”

The first thing you want to check is your introductory hook. This is the one sentence of your essay that’s going to do the most heavy lifting. The hook of your essay should draw the reader in, and there are a few very effective ways to do it. I recommend using lots of sensory language and present tense, but a grabbing rhetorical question may work just as well. This is a great part of your essay to workshop with others to make sure it’s reading effectively from someone else’s perspective. For more creative ideas on how to write an attention-grabbing opening, check out our blog post on writing a great essay hook .

Step 5: Examine Your Paragraphs

Your essay should be divided into paragraphs, and while there’s no rule about having exactly three body paragraphs sandwiched between an introduction and conclusion, there should be a purpose to each paragraph. In each section, you should introduce a new event or defend the themes in your introduction. It’s very easy to just list what you want to say per paragraph, but there’s an extra step you need to take to defend your statements in each paragraph. Just saying that you developed a great work ethic during your track season freshman year is much different than explaining how. 

Step 6: Check for Authenticity

Once your hook and paragraphs are in good working order, it’s time to do yet another read through and make sure that your essay sounds like you! College admissions readers are expecting to hear from smart, well-rounded, passionate students. Emphasizing that last part, they’re expecting to hear from students. Using vocabulary outside of your usual domain will be awkwardly noticeable to an admissions reader, and it won’t help your application in the slightest. If it feels like you’re reading a thesaurus more than you’re reading yourself, make the appropriate changes.  

Stage Three: Packing the Bags

Before we can race off into the sunset, we have to make sure that we have everything in the car for the long journey ahead. Snacks? Luggage? Immaculate grammar?

Step 7: Vary Sentence Structure

As you start to think about how to edit a college essay at the sentence level, the first thing you’ll want to check on is variation in your sentence structure. This is basically to say, you don’t want your sentences to be of the same length throughout. Though correct usage of colons, em dashes, and commas can be impressive in a long, drawn-out sentence, you’ll end up losing your reader’s attention if every sentence looks the same. You need to change it up. Every once in a while, see if you can put in a short sentence to break the monotony and make sure the reader is still with you.

Step 8: Check the Word Count

Your college essay prompt is, more often than not, going to supply you with a very strict word count. This is not a suggestion, and if you go over the word count, it is very possible that your admissions reader will simply stop reading. So much for your beautiful conclusion! This isn’t a comprehensive list, but to slim your essay down, try these tricks:

Being able to do something and doing something usually mean the same thing:

• Long: I was able to bring my grades up.
• Short: I brought my grades up.

Contractions are always your friend, make use of them:

• Long: I would go to the computer lab after school.
• Short: I’d go to the computer lab after school .

Time frames will become contextually evident, you don’t have to spell it out:

• Long: During my high school career… // As a child growing up…
• Short: In high school… // Growing up…

If a clause is using too much word count, turn it into an adjective:

• Long: At the dance at the end of the school year last year…
• Short: At last year’s dance…

Confident writing is good writing, cut ‘I believe’ or ‘I think’ wherever you can:

• Long: I believe participating in clubs will help me build a community.
• Short: Participating in clubs will help me build a community .

If you find yourself in the rare position of being under word count, try to get within 150 words of the maximum amount. 

Step 9: Perfect Your Grammar

The last thing to do on the sentence level is to ensure that your grammar is spotless. This is a short checklist of things I’d like you to look out for:

• Subject-verb agreement. As you’re reading, you may find that there are three or four verbs in a sentence, but you only want your reader to focus on one important one. Make sure this appears as early in the sentence as possible so your reader is clued into what’s going on, and create a new sentence for the other verbs if you have to. This may even help vary your sentence structure. 
• Colons and semicolons. These are perfectly fair game to use, but it’s imperative that they’re used correctly. As a general rule of thumb: colons are used to introduce something, like a list, a quotation, or a related sentence. A semicolon is used to separate two clauses; it usually takes the place of a conjunction. 
• Typos. Most software will not always catch your typos if nothing is misspelled. If you meant to write ‘is’ but wrote ‘it’ instead, Google Docs will not let you know! Make sure you do an honest read-through to ensure these glaring errors are gone.
• Tense issues. When you’re writing in the present tense for one paragraph, it’s difficult to get back into the past tense with complete seamlessness. Make sure your verb tenses agree all the way through each sentence.

Stage 4: Rest Stop

On your way to your destination, you’re going to want to take a few breaks. When you stop, consider making conversations with fellow drivers. 

Step 10: Seek Feedback

The last step in the editing process is to get feedback. Though you can definitely do this throughout the editing process, you may feel more comfortable giving your essay to others once you’re proud of the finished product. Getting feedback is a vital part of the editing process and is made to ensure that your essay is reading the way you want to others.

While it’s very important to get a second opinion, be cautious of seeking too many. When there’s an influx of opinions, you may forget the message you wanted to convey in the first place. Do your best to limit your number of readers to about five people. And for more focused feedback and editing suggestions, consider the help of a professional College Essay Coach .

While this advice is specifically for the Common App personal statement, these steps are applicable to all of your college essay. I will say though, supplemental essays are usually meant for you to answer straightforward questions.

Regardless of the type of essay, the key is to be intentional in your writing and editing. Editing is not just about correcting grammar or polishing sentences; it’s about refining your voice and ensuring that your narrative aligns with your goals.

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How to Start a Scholarship Essay That Gets Noticed

Starting a college scholarship essay can feel like a big deal, and it is! Your words are the first thing standing between you and the chance to graduate without student debt. In fact, research shows that students who win scholarships are 40% more likely to graduate debt-free. That’s a huge weight lifted off your shoulders. 

But here’s the thing: your introduction paragraph isn’t just about making a good impression — it’s about standing out in a pile of applications.

To help you out, this article will break down an example of how to start a scholarship essay that grabs scholarship provider attention right from the first sentence. We'll show you the strategies for opening with impact, setting the tone for your essay, and aligning your story with what scholarship committees care about.

And look, if after all this you’re still not sure how to hit that perfect note, DoMyEssay is always ready to step in and help. No messy drafts, no pulling your hair out. Just clear writing that does the heavy lifting for you.

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Your story, our words — let’s create an essay that demands attention!

Understanding the Prompt

First things first: don’t rush past the scholarship essays prompt. It’s easy to think you know what the scholarship committee is looking for, but really reading it carefully makes all the difference. Missing a small detail could mean crafting an essay that doesn’t even answer what they’re asking.

Break the prompt down and look closely at what the committee is asking for. Do they want to hear about your leadership experience? Your career goals for the future? Maybe how you’ve dealt with tough situations? Whatever it is, your essay should focus on that. Think of the prompt as a checklist of what the committee wants to see. If you stick to it, you’re already ahead.

If you’re not sure how to organize your thoughts, check out this essay structure guide to help keep everything on track and make sure you’re hitting all the important points.

Brainstorming Ideas

Before you even think about writing, it’s helpful to spend some time brainstorming and just getting all your thoughts out so you have something to work with. Trust me, it’s way easier to start writing when you’ve got a bunch of ideas ready rather than staring at a blank page hoping inspiration will strike.

Here are a few simple ways you can do it:

• Mind mapping : Grab a pen and paper, put your main idea in the middle, and start branching off with related thoughts or stories. It’s a quick and easy way to organize everything visually.
• Free writing : Set a timer for 10 minutes and just write. Don’t worry about making sense or grammar, just write whatever comes to mind. You’ll be surprised at what you can come up with when you stop overthinking.
• Make a list : Sometimes the simplest way works best. Write a quick list of anything relevant to the topic: stories, achievements, challenges. This helps you see what you’ve got and what could be useful.

Crafting a Strong Hook

The hook is the first sentence of your college scholarship essay, and it’s important because it pulls the reader in right from the start. You want them to be curious, interested, and ready to learn more about you. A strong hook sets the tone and gets the reader wanting to read further.

Here are 5 examples of different types of hooks you could use:

• Personal anecdote : “I never thought a broken bicycle could teach me so much about persistence, but that’s exactly what happened one summer afternoon.”
• Bold statement : “I’ve failed more times than I can count, but every failure has led me to where I am today.”
• Surprising fact : “Only 3% of foster kids go on to graduate from college. I’m determined to be part of that 3%.”
• Question that makes them think : “What would you do if you had to choose between paying rent or buying textbooks?”
• Quote : “‘The best way to predict the future is to create it,’ said Abraham Lincoln, and that’s the mindset I’ve carried through every challenge.”

Whatever hook you choose, make sure it connects with the main idea of your essay. It should lead naturally into your story or the point you’re going to make, setting up the rest of your essay with a strong start.

Introducing Yourself

When introducing yourself in a college scholarship application or essay, first impressions matter. You want to stand out in a way that makes the reader remember you. It’s all about finding the right balance between sharing personal stories and showcasing your achievements. Too much focus on one or the other can make your essay feel incomplete.

For example, if you’ve led a community project, don’t just list it. Talk about why it mattered to you and how it shaped who you are. Instead of saying, “I’m hardworking,” show it through a story, like how you worked two jobs while maintaining a top GPA. This way, the committee sees both your personality and your qualifications in action.

And keep the tone in mind as well. You want to come across as authentic and confident, without sounding overly formal or casual. 

Aligning with the Scholarship’s Mission

When writing a college scholarship essay, it’s super important to know who’s giving you the scholarship and what they stand for. Every organization has its own values and goals, and they want to support students who align with that. So, before you start writing scholarship essays, do a little research on the organization to understand what matters most to them.

Once you know their values, tweak your essay intro paragraph to reflect that. If they care about leadership, show how you’ve led. If they focus on community service, talk about your volunteer work. The goal is to subtly weave their mission into your story — without overdoing it.

Here’s how you can connect your intro to the scholarship’s values:

Developing a Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is basically the main point of your essay wrapped up in one sentence. It tells the reader what your essay is really about and gives them an idea of where you’re going with your story. 

In a college scholarship essay, the thesis should clearly show your goal and how it connects to the scholarship program's mission. Here’s how to keep it simple:

• Focus on your main message.
• Be specific: don’t just say “I want to help people.” Say how and why .
• Make sure it ties directly to the prompt or what the scholarship values.

Here are some examples of clear, strong thesis statements:

• “My goal is to become a first-generation college graduate and use my degree to open doors for underrepresented students like me.”
• “Growing up in a small rural community taught me the value of access to healthcare, and I’m determined to become a doctor who serves similar communities.”
• “Through my experience leading environmental clean-up efforts, I’ve realized my passion for sustainability and plan to pursue a career in environmental policy.”

Mistakes to Avoid in the Introduction

Your introduction matters. It’s your first chance to grab the reader’s attention, and starting off on the wrong foot can hurt your chances. 

Let’s talk about some common mistakes students make and how you can avoid them by being clear, using specific examples, and using active voice.

Being Too Generic

Starting with something like, “I’ve always wanted to help people ” or “I’m dedicated” is just toooo broad. It doesn’t tell the reader anything unique about you. Instead, get specific and personal. Share a moment that shaped you — something only you could say.

• Weak Example : "I’m passionate about making a difference."
• Stronger Example : "Helping my elderly neighbor fix his roof after a storm made me realize how much small acts of kindness can impact a community."

Using Clichés

Clichés like “I want to change the world” or “I’ve always loved learning” can make your article sound like everyone else’s. The reader has seen it all before. Be original and avoid overused phrases by focusing on your real, specific life experiences.

• Weak Example : "I want to change the world."
• Stronger Example : "After tutoring kids in my neighborhood, I realized how much a little guidance can change someone’s entire academic path."

Starting with a Boring Fact or Statement

Avoid starting a great essay with something dry like, “My name is Sarah, and I’m applying for this scholarship.” This isn’t a form. Your essay should grab attention right from the start. Begin with a personal story, a strong statement, or something that makes the reader curious about you.

• Weak Example : "I’m applying for this scholarship because I need financial aid."
• Stronger Example : "Working two part-time jobs in high school taught me how to balance responsibility and ambition, and now I’m ready to take that to the next level in college."

Finally, don’t overlook the power of proper punctuation ! Using it correctly can make your writing clearer and more impactful. 

Bring Your Ideas to Life

Turn your ideas into a powerful scholarship essay. We make it easy!

Scholarship Essay Introduction Example

Here’s an example of how to start a college scholarship application essay that feels real, gets attention, and flows naturally:

• Start with a personal, real-life hook : "When my little brother was diagnosed with autism, our whole family had to learn how to live in a completely different way. I didn’t really get it at first — why he couldn’t just communicate like the rest of us — but over time, I became the one who helped him in a world that wasn’t built for him."
• Explain how this shaped you : "Taking on this role made me see the gaps in how we treat people with disabilities. It wasn’t just about my brother — it was about everyone like him. I became his biggest advocate, not just because he’s my brother, but because I knew kids like him deserved more."
• End with a strong, clear thesis : "This scholarship for the Speech and Language Pathology program will give me the chance to study special education so I can help kids like my brother get the support they need, and make sure they don’t have to face the same struggles alone."

This way, the introduction now clearly ties the story to the specific program you’re applying for.

Let’s Bring It Home

Alright, you’ve got everything you need to write a strong college scholarship essay. Start with a hook that grabs attention, tie it to your personal story, and end with a clear thesis that connects your future goals with the scholarship’s mission. Follow those steps, and you’re setting yourself up for success.

But if you still need some extra help, DoMyEssay’s scholarship essay writing service is here to make the process of college admissions even easier. Less stress, more results!

How Do You Write a Good Introduction for a Scholarship Essay?

What is a good hook for a scholarship essay.

• The College Investor. (n.d.). How to graduate college without student loan debt . The College Investor. https://thecollegeinvestor.com/38787/graduate-college-no-student-loan-debt/
• Children's Rights. (n.d.). College graduation: A bittersweet success for former foster youth . Children's Rights. https://www.childrensrights.org/news-voices/college-graduation-a-bittersweet-success-for-former-foster-youth

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When you write an essay, do you read and reread it to ensure your content is impressive before finally submitting it for grading? What this means is that you prefer to review your college essays thoroughly before your teacher or instructor peruses them. 

However, this task may become overwhelming at times. Don’t worry. We have a solution that will streamline essay reviewing for you. 

In this article, we will discuss how to review your college essay step by step and ensure that you do not miss verifying the effectiveness of any aspect of your essay. So, let’s begin! 

Need help with essay reviews? Explore our essay editing services. Learn more

How to review a college essay: A step-by-step guide

College essay reviews can be simple to execute if a defined process is followed. A structured process ensures that the output is superior in terms of relevance, information, and overall quality. 

By evaluating your work in advance, you can identify and correct mistakes that could potentially harm your essay score. Editing and proofreading your essays will help polish them to a great extent, bringing them closer to perfection in that instance. 

Here are the points you can follow to edit, proofread, and review your college essays:

1. Understand the essay prompts and requirements

The prompt that your college or teacher has asked you to work with must be carefully studied and understood. Take the key objectives and expectations into account before finalizing the essay outline. Also, ensure that you keep the essay writing and submission requirements in view. 

2. Check the essay outline

Precisely interpreting the meaning of the topic is key to generating an essay outline. This outline should guide you in organizing your points logically, ensuring that the content flows smoothly and remains relevant throughout.

3. Evaluate the essay structure and flow

If the essay outline seems apt, checking whether the final structure upon adding content is effective goes a long way in making your essay interesting and informative. Assess whether the information is presented logically and whether the transitions between paragraphs are smooth. A well-structured essay keeps the reader engaged and makes your arguments more compelling.

4. Run content checks

Read the content to catch errors and verify the factual accuracy of your essay. Ensure that your arguments are logically sound and well-supported by evidence. This step is crucial in making your essay both informative and persuasive.

5. Check grammar, spelling, and punctuation

Incorrect grammar can make your content difficult to understand, and spelling mistakes are simply exhausting. Grammar and spelling play a key role in ensuring that readers remain focused on your message.

6. Revisit the tone and style

Examine the tone and writing style to ensure they are appropriate for the audience and purpose of your essay. Additionally, verify that the formatting style adheres to your university’s guidelines. Consistency in tone and style helps convey your ideas more effectively.

7. Ensure clarity and coherence

Analyze your essay to check whether your ideas are clearly expressed and logically connected. Each paragraph should build upon the previous one, making for a cohesive argument throughout. Avoid ambiguity and ensure that your essay communicates your message effectively.

8. Analyze the content for originality and depth

You can use free plagiarism checkers available online to check if your content gets flagged for plagiarism. This step helps you avoid any potential plagiarism issues before submission. Additionally, review your essay for depth, making sure that your analysis and arguments are insightful and contribute meaningfully to the topic.

Why reviewing a college essay is crucial?

A college essay that undergoes a detailed review has a higher chance of being graded better than one that has not been evaluated a second time. A thoroughly reviewed college essay directly impacts the quality of your submission. 

Such an essay goes beyond just meeting your college or teacher’s essay writing requirements. It ensures your content is clear and coherent. It also increases the effectiveness of your essay and makes it sound more compelling. 

Through reviews, you can identify and correct errors, refine your arguments, and enhance your essay’s overall structure and flow. This process helps you present ideas more effectively. 

Moreover, you can assess whether your work is original. Unintentional plagiarism is a possibility, and reviewing college essays allows you to double-check whether your work offers fresh insights. An in-depth review converts a good essay into an exceptional one. 

If you are worried about reviewing important essays, particularly college admissions essays , seeking college essay editing services might prove to be a good decision. 

Common mistakes to avoid during essay review

While reviewing the content of a college essay, you might inadvertently overlook certain mistakes that can negatively impact your grade. That is why free online essay checkers and grammar checkers come in handy during a college essay review.

To simplify the college essay review process, we have outlined some common mistakes you should try (as far as possible) to avoid during college essay reviews:

• Undertaking speedy reviews: You must allow yourself adequate time to review your work. Taking a break from the essay content and returning with fresh eyes is important.
• Ignoring thesis or topic checks: Verify the clarity and strength of your topic sentence or thesis statement to ensure the content is relevant. A clear and specific statement or prompt gives the right direction to the rest of the content.
• Missing sentence structure checks: Complex, lengthy, or awkward sentence structures can confuse readers, introduce redundancies, and make your message unintelligible. To strengthen your arguments, sentence structure checks are unavoidable.
• Disregarding aspects other than grammar and spelling: Grammar and spelling must be taken care of, there is no doubt about it. However, ignoring the soundness of arguments or the coherence of the ideas in your essay can prove to be detrimental.
• Failing to fact-check: If you do not verify the accuracy of facts or statistics and corroborate them with the right sources, your teacher will end up doing it for you during essay grading. Inaccurate information can result in a low grade.
• Dismissing tone and style issues: Tone and writing style are important aspects of any writing endeavor. Check whether they match the essay’s purpose and audience. Inconsistent tone and/or style can impact your standing as a student.
• Leaving transitions unchecked: If you want the content to flow smoothly, checking transitions between paragraphs and sentences is crucial. They help maintain the flow. An unconnected or irrelevant thought or idea can make your essay difficult to follow.
• Brushing aside plagiarism checks: We cannot stress the importance of using plagiarism detection tools to ensure your content is original and properly cited. This is a non-negotiable step!
• Not seeking feedback: Conducting a review but not asking peers or mentors to read your work might lead to a biased assessment. Hence, you should seek feedback from others to identify if any areas need improvement.

Some examples of college essays 

Here are some college essay examples for your reference. Note that these can be further reviewed and edited if needed. 

Example 1: Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

In my sophomore year, I was part of a debate team where we discussed the merits of mandatory volunteerism. I initially believed that forcing people to volunteer was counterproductive. However, after conducting research and hearing opposing views, I found myself questioning my stance. 

During the debate, I decided to argue in favor of mandatory volunteerism, emphasizing the long-term benefits it could bring to society. This experience taught me the importance of being open to changing my perspective when presented with new evidence.

Example 2: Describe an extracurricular activity that has been meaningful to you.

As the president of the Robotics Club, I had the opportunity to lead a team of passionate students in designing and building robots for regional competitions. This experience has not only honed my technical skills but also taught me the value of teamwork, problem-solving, and perseverance. 

One of our proudest achievements was winning the Innovation Award at the state championship, a moment that validated our countless hours of hard work. Being part of this club has solidified my desire to pursue a career in engineering.

Utilize tools and resources for college essay reviews

Before you begin writing a college essay, using essay outline generators can help create relevant points for your essay. Once your essay is ready, reviews are essential. Let us discuss this further.

Essay checkers and essay graders are useful tools for essay reviews. Similarly, grammar checkers and spell checkers are also important. Additionally, you can look for college essay editing and essay proofreading services for essays that can make or break your academic journey. 

Here are some tools and resources for college essay reviews:

• Essay checkers: Using essay checkers like Grammarly, QuillBot, PaperRater, etc., can help you understand how effective your essay is and correct it before submission. 
• Essay graders: Several free and paid essay graders are available today. You can look for a suitable essay grader and secure feedback for essay revision. Some popular ones include Perfect Essay Writer, Essay-Grader AI, My Essay Writer, etc. 
• Grammar checkers: They help you correct grammar mistakes and fix sentences wherever required. Popular grammar checkers include Grammar Check, Reverso, etc. 
• Spell checkers: Many grammar checkers have integrated spell checks in their tools. However, a separate spell check is always recommended. You can use tools like Grammarly, LanguageTool, etc. 
• College essay editing services: Hiring college essay editing services like PaperTrue is advisable if your essay is the deciding factor in what happens next in your academics. 
• College essay proofreading services: These services provide similar support in terms of correction and feedback as college essay editing services. PaperTrue, a renowned name in the editing industry, offers both essay editing and proofreading . 
• Books and essay writing guides: Books are timeless! You can always rely on books and essay editing guides, both online and in print, to write a good essay and verify its relevance and effectiveness. 

College essay reviews can only enhance your essay and polish it, making it an interesting read. It is an essential step that you should not ignore or avoid. By following a structured review process that also includes relying on tools and resources to get the best results, you will likely earn a high score. 

Professional college essay editing services can further streamline the college essay review process and help you achieve your academic goals. A well-reviewed essay not only meets academic requirements but also showcases your ability to communicate skillfully. 

For more articles on essays, grammar, and sentence structure, refer to the links below: 

• 100 Best College Essay Topics & How to Pick the Perfect One!
• What Is a Subject of a Sentence? Meaning, Examples & Types
• What are the Parts of a Sentence? An Easy-to-Learn Guide
• Academic Writing in 2024: 5 Key Dos & Don’ts + Examples

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is it important to review a college essay before submission, how important is it to get feedback from peers or teachers on my essay, how can i evaluate the structure and flow of my college essay effectively, how do i ensure my essay meets the requirements of the prompt.

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หน้าแรก > บล็อก > วิธีเขียนเรียงความสำหรับวิทยาลัย: เคล็ดลับและกลยุทธ์ดีๆ

วิธีเขียนเรียงความสำหรับวิทยาลัย: เคล็ดลับและกลยุทธ์ดีๆ

• ทีมบรรณาธิการ Smodin
• Updated: September 24, 2024
• คำแนะนำทีละขั้นตอนสำหรับการเขียน

การเขียนเรียงความเพื่อเข้าเรียนมหาวิทยาลัยอาจดูเป็นเรื่องท้าทาย แต่เป็นโอกาสของคุณที่จะโดดเด่นกว่าผู้สมัครคนอื่นๆ คำแนะนำนี้จะแนะนำคุณเกี่ยวกับขั้นตอนต่างๆ ในการเขียนเรียงความที่น่าสนใจและน่าจดจำซึ่งแสดงถึงคุณสมบัติเฉพาะตัวของคุณ

เราจะครอบคลุมทุกอย่างตั้งแต่การระดมความคิดไปจนถึงการตรวจทานขั้นสุดท้าย คุณจะได้เรียนรู้วิธีหลีกเลี่ยงข้อผิดพลาดทั่วไปและมุ่งเน้นที่คำชี้แจง นอกจากนี้ เรายังจะให้เคล็ดลับเกี่ยวกับ การใช้เครื่องมือออนไลน์เพื่อช่วยให้คุณปรับปรุงเรียงความของคุณให้สมบูรณ์แบบ .

ปฏิบัติตามขั้นตอนเหล่านี้เพื่อเขียนเรียงความสำหรับเข้ามหาวิทยาลัย เรียงความเหล่านี้จะช่วยให้คุณเขียนเรียงความที่สะท้อนถึงตัวตนของคุณและแสดงให้เห็นว่าเหตุใดคุณจึงเหมาะสมกับมหาวิทยาลัยที่คุณเลือก!

วิธีเขียนบทนำที่ดีสำหรับเรียงความในวิทยาลัย

เรียนรู้วิธีการ เขียนบทนำที่ดีสำหรับเรียงความในวิทยาลัย เป็นสิ่งสำคัญ เนื่องจากจุดดึงดูดที่ดีสามารถดึงดูดความสนใจของผู้อ่านได้ตั้งแต่เริ่มต้น

เริ่มต้นด้วยคำพูดที่ชัดเจน คำถามที่ชวนคิด หรือฉากที่ชวนติดตาม เป้าหมายคือเพื่อดึงดูดใจผู้อ่านและทำให้พวกเขาอยากอ่านต่อ

เคล็ดลับ: ทบทวนจุดดึงดูดใจหลังจากเขียนเรียงความเพื่อให้แน่ใจว่าเชื่อมโยงกับเรื่องราวส่วนที่เหลือได้อย่างลงตัว

ทำความเข้าใจจุดประสงค์ของเรียงความในวิทยาลัย

เรียงความสำหรับเข้ามหาวิทยาลัยช่วยให้เจ้าหน้าที่ฝ่ายรับสมัครเข้าใจว่าคุณเป็นใครนอกเหนือจากเกรดและคะแนนสอบ นี่คือโอกาสของคุณที่จะแสดงทักษะการเขียน บุคลิกภาพ และสิ่งที่คุณจะนำเสนอต่อชุมชนในมหาวิทยาลัย ลองนึกถึงเรียงความดังกล่าวว่าเป็นคำชี้แจงส่วนตัวที่เน้นย้ำถึงจุดแข็งและประสบการณ์ของคุณ

เคล็ดลับ: ไตร่ตรองถึงสิ่งที่ทำให้คุณโดดเด่น และคุณสามารถมีส่วนสนับสนุนชุมชนวิทยาลัยได้อย่างไร

6 ขั้นตอนหลักของกระบวนการเขียนเรียงความ

การเขียนเรียงความสำหรับเข้ามหาวิทยาลัยมีหลายขั้นตอนเพื่อให้แน่ใจว่างานเขียนชิ้นสุดท้ายของคุณสมบูรณ์แบบและทรงพลัง มาดูสิ่งสำคัญบางประการที่จะช่วยให้คุณเขียนเรียงความที่มีโครงสร้างที่ดีและน่าสนใจกันดีกว่า

1. ระดมความคิด

เริ่มต้นด้วยการระดมความคิดหัวข้อเรียงความสำหรับวิทยาลัยที่สะท้อนถึงประสบการณ์และค่านิยมของคุณ พิจารณาช่วงเวลาแห่งการเติบโตส่วนบุคคล ความท้าทายที่คุณเอาชนะได้ หรือกิจกรรมที่เป็นตัวคุณ เขียนแนวคิดต่างๆ ลงไปหลายๆ แนวคิดและเลือกแนวคิดที่สะท้อนถึงตัวคุณมากที่สุด

เคล็ดลับ: หารือแนวคิดของคุณกับสมาชิกในครอบครัวหรือเพื่อนเพื่อรับมุมมองที่แตกต่างกัน

2. สร้างเค้าร่าง

คุณจำเป็นต้อง ร่างโครงร่าง สำหรับเรียงความของคุณ เพราะสิ่งนี้จะช่วยให้คุณจัดระเบียบความคิดและทำให้เรียงความของคุณมีโครงสร้างที่ชัดเจน แบ่งเรียงความของคุณออกเป็นบทนำ เนื้อเรื่อง และบทสรุป ร่างประเด็นหลักที่คุณต้องการครอบคลุมในแต่ละหัวข้อ

เคล็ดลับ: ให้โครงร่างของคุณมีความยืดหยุ่น คุณอาจพบไอเดียใหม่ๆ เมื่อเริ่มเขียน

3. เขียนร่างแรก

เริ่มเขียนร่างแรกของคุณโดยไม่ต้องกังวลเรื่องความสมบูรณ์แบบ เน้นที่การถ่ายทอดแนวคิดของคุณลงบนกระดาษ เริ่มต้นด้วยจุดดึงดูดและทำตามโครงร่างเพื่อพัฒนาเรื่องราวของคุณ

เคล็ดลับ: อย่าเครียดเรื่องจำนวนคำในร่างแรก คุณสามารถตัดหรือขยายความในภายหลังได้

4. แก้ไขและแก้ไข

หลังจากร่างแรกของคุณเสร็จแล้ว ให้พักไว้สักสองสามวัน กลับมาอ่านด้วยสายตาที่สดชื่น และแก้ไขเพื่อความชัดเจนและไหลลื่น ใส่ใจกับไวยากรณ์ เครื่องหมายวรรคตอน และการเลือกใช้คำ ตรวจสอบให้แน่ใจว่าเรียงความของคุณสะท้อนถึงน้ำเสียงและบุคลิกภาพของคุณ

เคล็ดลับ: การอ่านเรียงความออกเสียงสามารถช่วยจับวลีและข้อผิดพลาดที่ไม่เหมาะสมได้

5. ขอคำติชม

ขอให้ผู้อื่นอ่านเรียงความของคุณและให้ข้อเสนอแนะ เลือกคนที่รู้จักคุณดีและสามารถให้คำวิจารณ์ที่สร้างสรรค์ได้ พิจารณาข้อเสนอแนะของพวกเขา แต่ต้องแน่ใจว่าเรียงความฉบับสุดท้ายสะท้อนถึงความคิดเห็นของคุณ

เคล็ดลับ: เปิดรับคำติชมแต่ต้องซื่อสัตย์กับเรื่องราวของคุณ

6. เขียนร่างสุดท้ายของคุณ

หลังจากแก้ไขตามคำติชมแล้ว ให้เขียนร่างสุดท้ายของคุณ ตรวจสอบให้แน่ใจว่าร่างสุดท้ายของคุณตรงตามข้อกำหนดเฉพาะ เช่น จำนวนคำจำกัดหรือหัวข้อเรียงความ ร่างสุดท้ายของคุณควรได้รับการขัดเกลาและไม่มีข้อผิดพลาด

เคล็ดลับ: ตรวจสอบอีกครั้งว่ามีการพิมพ์ผิดและปัญหาการจัดรูปแบบหรือไม่ก่อนส่ง

อะไรทำให้เรียงความในวิทยาลัยดี

เรียงความที่ดีจะต้องมีเนื้อหาที่มากกว่าแค่รายการความสำเร็จเท่านั้น แต่ยังต้องเจาะลึกถึงแง่มุมที่ลึกซึ้งกว่าเกี่ยวกับบุคลิกภาพและประสบการณ์ของคุณอีกด้วย มาสำรวจวิธีการเขียนเรียงความที่น่าสนใจและมีเอกลักษณ์ที่โดดเด่นกันดีกว่า

แสดง ไม่บอก

แทนที่จะแสดงรายการความสำเร็จ ให้แสดงให้เห็นว่าความสำเร็จเหล่านั้นส่งผลต่อคุณอย่างไร ใช้เกร็ดเล็กเกร็ดน้อยและรายละเอียดที่ชัดเจนเพื่ออธิบายประเด็นของคุณ วิธีนี้จะทำให้เรียงความของคุณน่าสนใจและน่าจดจำมากขึ้น

เน้นไปที่หัวข้อที่ลึกซึ้งยิ่งขึ้น

เจ้าหน้าที่ฝ่ายรับสมัครต้องการทำความเข้าใจว่าอะไรเป็นแรงผลักดันคุณ ให้เน้นที่ประเด็นที่ลึกซึ้งกว่า เช่น การเติบโตส่วนบุคคล ความยืดหยุ่น และค่านิยม อธิบายว่าประสบการณ์ของคุณหล่อหลอมให้คุณเป็นคุณในปัจจุบันอย่างไร

เขียนด้วยน้ำเสียงของคุณเองและหลีกเลี่ยงการพยายามสร้างความประทับใจด้วยคำศัพท์ที่ยากหรือประโยคที่ซับซ้อน ความแท้จริงสะท้อนให้เห็นมากกว่าภาพลักษณ์ที่ดูดีในทุก ๆ ประเภทของเรียงความ เจ้าหน้าที่ฝ่ายรับสมัครต้องการพบตัวจริงของคุณ

เน้นความสำเร็จส่วนตัว

แม้ว่าการถ่อมตัวจะเป็นสิ่งสำคัญ แต่ก็อย่าอายที่จะเน้นย้ำถึงความสำเร็จของคุณ อธิบายว่าความสำเร็จเหล่านี้สะท้อนถึงจุดแข็งและศักยภาพของคุณอย่างไร

เคล็ดลับ: เชื่อมโยงความสำเร็จของคุณกับเป้าหมายในอนาคตและวิธีที่วิทยาลัยสามารถช่วยให้คุณบรรลุเป้าหมายเหล่านั้นได้

วิธีการเขียนเรียงความเกี่ยวกับตัวเองในวิทยาลัย

หากคุณไม่แน่ใจว่าจะเขียนเรียงความเกี่ยวกับตัวเองอย่างไร โปรดจำไว้ว่าคุณไม่ได้เป็นคนเดียว! การเขียนเรียงความเกี่ยวกับตัวเองอาจดูแปลก แต่การแสดงให้เจ้าหน้าที่ฝ่ายรับสมัครเข้าเรียนมหาวิทยาลัยเห็นอย่างชัดเจนว่าคุณเป็นใครนั้นถือเป็นสิ่งสำคัญ นี่คือโอกาสที่คุณจะนำคะแนนของคุณออกจากกระดาษและสร้างภาพลักษณ์ที่เป็นองค์รวมมากขึ้นเกี่ยวกับตัวคุณ

เริ่มต้นการเขียนเรียงความของคุณ ด้วยเรื่องราวหรือประสบการณ์ที่ชัดเจนซึ่งเน้นย้ำถึงบุคลิกภาพและค่านิยมของคุณ ใช้รายละเอียดที่ชัดเจนเพื่อวาดภาพชีวิตของคุณ จงซื่อสัตย์และจริงใจ—คณะกรรมการรับสมัครต้องการเห็นตัวตนที่แท้จริงของคุณ

เคล็ดลับ: ใช้ตัวอย่างเฉพาะเจาะจงจากชีวิตของคุณเพื่ออธิบายประเด็นของคุณ แทนที่จะพูดว่า "ฉันทำงานหนัก" ให้บรรยายถึงช่วงเวลาที่คุณทำงานหนักเพื่อบรรลุเป้าหมาย

วิธีการเขียนเรียงความเรื่อง “ทำไมถึงเลือกเรียนวิทยาลัยนี้”

การทำความเข้าใจถึงวิธีการเขียนเรียงความ “ทำไมถึงเลือกเรียนมหาวิทยาลัยแห่งนี้” จะช่วยปรับปรุงการสมัครเรียนมหาวิทยาลัยของคุณได้อย่างมาก และทำให้คุณโดดเด่นกว่าใคร เมื่อเขียนเกี่ยวกับเหตุผลที่คุณอยากเข้าเรียนมหาวิทยาลัยแห่งใดแห่งหนึ่ง ให้ค้นคว้าข้อมูลให้ดี

ระบุโปรแกรม อาจารย์ หรือองค์ประกอบทางวัฒนธรรมของมหาวิทยาลัยที่คุณสนใจ อธิบายว่าองค์ประกอบเหล่านี้สอดคล้องกับเป้าหมายทางวิชาการและอาชีพของคุณอย่างไร

เคล็ดลับ: หลีกเลี่ยงคำพูดทั่วไป เช่น “ฉันชอบมหาวิทยาลัย” ให้เจาะจงเกี่ยวกับสิ่งที่ทำให้คุณรู้สึกตื่นเต้นเกี่ยวกับมหาวิทยาลัยและว่ามันตรงกับความปรารถนาของคุณหรือเปล่า

4 ข้อผิดพลาดทั่วไปที่ควรหลีกเลี่ยงเมื่อเขียนเรียงความ

หากคุณต้องการเขียนเรียงความเพื่อเข้ามหาวิทยาลัยที่ดีที่สุด คุณต้องหลีกเลี่ยงข้อผิดพลาดทั่วไปที่อาจทำให้ใบสมัครของคุณอ่อนแอลง ต่อไปนี้คือข้อผิดพลาดสำคัญบางประการที่ควรระวัง

1. เป็นคนธรรมดาเกินไป

หลีกเลี่ยงคำพูดคลุมเครือที่อาจใช้ได้กับทุกคน ให้ระบุประสบการณ์และแรงบันดาลใจของคุณอย่างชัดเจน ตัวอย่างเช่น แทนที่จะพูดว่า "ฉันชอบช่วยเหลือผู้อื่น" ให้บรรยายถึงช่วงเวลาที่คุณทำงานอาสาสมัครที่สถานสงเคราะห์ในท้องถิ่น วิธีนี้แสดงให้เห็นถึงประสบการณ์เฉพาะตัวและการเติบโตส่วนบุคคลของคุณ

เจ้าหน้าที่ฝ่ายรับสมัครต้องการเห็นความเป็นเอกลักษณ์และความมุ่งมั่นที่แท้จริงของคุณ เรื่องราวเฉพาะเจาะจงจะประทับใจไม่รู้ลืมและทำให้เรียงความของคุณน่าจดจำ ใช้ตัวอย่างโดยละเอียดเพื่ออธิบายประเด็นของคุณและทำให้เรียงความของคุณโดดเด่น

2. การละเลยคำเตือน

ตรวจสอบให้แน่ใจว่าคุณตอบคำถามในเรียงความโดยตรง ปรับแต่งเรียงความของคุณให้ตรงตามข้อกำหนดและคำถามเฉพาะที่วิทยาลัยตั้งขึ้น อ่านโจทย์อย่างละเอียดและตอบคำถามทุกส่วน หลีกเลี่ยงการเขียนเรียงความทั่วไปที่ไม่ตรงกับโจทย์ วิทยาลัยต้องการดูว่าคุณสามารถปฏิบัติตามคำแนะนำและตอบคำถามของพวกเขาได้ดีเพียงใด

การตอบสนองต่อคำชี้แจงโดยตรงถือเป็นการแสดงความใส่ใจต่อรายละเอียดและเคารพต่อกระบวนการสมัคร นอกจากนี้ยังช่วยให้มั่นใจได้ว่าเรียงความของคุณมีความเกี่ยวข้องและตรงประเด็น

3. การใส่ข้อมูลลงในเรียงความมากเกินไป

ยึดตามแนวคิดหลักหนึ่งหรือสองแนวคิดและพัฒนาอย่างถี่ถ้วน เรียงความที่ใช้คำมากเกินไปอาจทำให้ผู้อ่านเสียความสนใจได้ เน้นที่คุณภาพมากกว่าปริมาณในการเขียนของคุณ แนวคิดมากเกินไปอาจทำให้เรียงความของคุณดูกระจัดกระจายและสับสน เลือกเรื่องราวที่น่าสนใจที่สุดและสำรวจเรื่องราวเหล่านั้นอย่างละเอียด

แนวทางนี้ช่วยรักษาเนื้อหาให้ชัดเจนและน่าสนใจ เจ้าหน้าที่ฝ่ายรับสมัครจะชื่นชอบเรียงความที่กระชับและจัดระบบได้ดี การเขียนที่ชัดเจนสะท้อนให้เห็นการคิดที่ชัดเจน ซึ่งเป็นสิ่งสำคัญในเรียงความสำหรับเข้าเรียนมหาวิทยาลัย

4. ลืมตรวจทาน

ข้อผิดพลาดด้านการสะกดคำและไวยากรณ์อาจทำให้ข้อความของคุณเสียสมาธิได้ ควรตรวจทานเรียงความของคุณหลายๆ ครั้งเสมอ และพิจารณาใช้เครื่องมือ เช่น เกรดเรียงความ AI ของ Smodin เพื่อหาข้อผิดพลาด ข้อผิดพลาดอาจทำให้เรียงความของคุณดูไม่ใส่ใจและไม่เรียบร้อย เรียงความที่ผ่านการตรวจทานอย่างดีจะแสดงให้เห็นถึงความใส่ใจในรายละเอียดและความมุ่งมั่นในคุณภาพ

การอ่านเรียงความออกเสียงอาจช่วยจับผิดวลีและข้อผิดพลาดที่ไม่เหมาะสมได้ ขอให้เพื่อนหรือครอบครัวช่วยตรวจทานเรียงความของคุณด้วย ผู้ที่มีความรู้ใหม่สามารถสังเกตเห็นข้อผิดพลาดที่คุณอาจมองข้ามไปได้ การใช้เครื่องมือตรวจเรียงความด้วย AI จะให้ข้อมูลเชิงลึกและการแก้ไขเพิ่มเติม

คำถามที่พบบ่อย

ฉันควรเขียนอะไรในเรียงความของวิทยาลัยของฉัน.

เขียนเกี่ยวกับหัวข้อที่มีความหมายต่อคุณและสะท้อนถึงบุคลิกภาพและค่านิยมของคุณ เลือกประสบการณ์ที่หล่อหลอมให้คุณเป็นคุณในทุกวันนี้

เรียงความของวิทยาลัยของฉันควรยาวแค่ไหน?

เรียงความสำหรับวิทยาลัยส่วนใหญ่มักมีความยาวประมาณ 500-650 คำ ตรวจสอบข้อกำหนดเฉพาะสำหรับวิทยาลัยแต่ละแห่งที่คุณสมัครเข้าเรียน

เรียงความในวิทยาลัยมีความสำคัญแค่ไหน?

ความสำคัญของเรียงความสำหรับเข้ามหาวิทยาลัยนั้นแตกต่างกันไปในแต่ละโรงเรียน สำหรับมหาวิทยาลัยที่มีการคัดเลือกอย่างเข้มงวด เรียงความอาจเป็นองค์ประกอบสำคัญของใบสมัครของคุณ สำหรับมหาวิทยาลัยอื่นๆ เรียงความอาจมีความสำคัญน้อยกว่า

ฉันสามารถใช้เรียงความเดียวกันสำหรับหลาย ๆ วิทยาลัยได้ไหม

คุณสามารถใช้เรียงความแกนหลักชุดเดียวกันได้ แต่ต้องแน่ใจว่าปรับให้เหมาะสมกับหัวข้อและข้อกำหนดเฉพาะของแต่ละวิทยาลัย

ฉันจะทำให้เรียงความของฉันโดดเด่นได้อย่างไร

เป็นตัวของตัวเอง แสดงมุมมองที่เป็นเอกลักษณ์ และเน้นที่ประเด็นที่ลึกซึ้งกว่า ใช้รายละเอียดที่ชัดเจนและเกร็ดเล็กเกร็ดน้อยเพื่อทำให้เรื่องราวของคุณมีชีวิตชีวา

ปรับปรุงการเขียนเรียงความในวิทยาลัยของคุณด้วย Smodin.io

การเขียนเรียงความสำหรับเข้ามหาวิทยาลัยอาจเป็นเรื่องท้าทาย แต่เป็นโอกาสที่จะได้แสดงคุณสมบัติพิเศษของคุณ หากปฏิบัติตามขั้นตอนต่อไปนี้ในการเขียนเรียงความสำหรับเข้ามหาวิทยาลัย คุณก็สามารถสร้างงานเขียนที่น่าสนใจและน่าจดจำได้ อย่าลืมเขียนให้เป็นธรรมชาติ เน้นที่หัวข้อที่ลึกซึ้งกว่า และตรวจสอบอย่างละเอียด

พร้อมที่จะเขียนเรียงความสำหรับวิทยาลัยของคุณหรือยัง? พัฒนาทักษะการเขียนของคุณและสร้างเรียงความที่น่าสนใจด้วยเครื่องมือเขียน AI ของ Smodin ด้วยคุณสมบัติขั้นสูง คุณจะสามารถสร้างเรียงความสำหรับวิทยาลัยที่ยอดเยี่ยมและมีโอกาสได้รับการพิจารณาแม้ในวิทยาลัยที่มีการคัดเลือกอย่างเข้มงวดที่สุด

เข้าร่วมตอนนี้ที่ สโมดิน.io และก้าวไปข้างหน้าเหนือนักเรียนคนอื่นๆ ด้วยการพัฒนาการเขียนเรียงความของคุณไปสู่อีกระดับ

• Brian Dickerson
• Nancy Kaffer
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Opinion: Stop telling Black kids to write about trauma in college admissions essays

Larry was raised by his mother and grandmother on Chicago's west side. Although his family faced financial challenges, he enjoyed playing video games, and spending quality time with the most important women in his life. Video games allowed Larry to role play, embracing new possibilities and different experiences. His passion for gaming was so contagious that his grandmother joined him on Saturday mornings. That’s what Larry wanted to write about in his college admissions essay: the power of games, imagination and family.

But when he shared a draft with his high school college counselor, Larry got a response he wasn’t expecting: Write a “more traditional” essay, about the trauma and challenges of growing up as a Black teenager in Chicago.

I study Black students’ trauma narratives in college admissions essays. Larry is one of the many students I’ve interviewed over the course of my research.

When I tell people about my work, I’m often met with one of two responses — praise for exploring such an important and salient topic, or a barrage of questions that suggest people fear calling out the practice will limit opportunities for the students they serve, especially in the wake of last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision on race-conscious admissions.

I’ve worked in college admissions for a decade, and I’ve spoken to thousands of high school students about navigating the process. For the past six years, in addition to my professional experience, I have researched the college admissions essay for my dissertation, studying how Black students learn about and respond to expectations to talk about their identities and backgrounds. 

Students lean on educators, parents and mentors for support in the constantly changing college admissions process. 

Yet it is the advice of some of their most trusted advisors that writing about trauma can make them stand out. 

Or even worse, that their trauma is all they have to offer.

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Black kids know more than trauma

Another attendee at a networking event with Detroit-based nonprofits and educators told me exactly that — he believed that trauma was the only thing Black students knew. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard that from someone who worked with Black youth on their college applications.

But it was the first time I suggested reframing the exercise: “Do you ever ask them to start their essay writing process by discussing what they love about themselves?” He had not. 

In my research, I’ve learned from my students that despite enjoying diverse experiences such as playing in their high school bands, running for class office, working at a local shoe store, or designing computer games, there was perceived pressure to frame their narratives through a lens of hardship. Those students who chose to disclose intimately painful experiences believed it was what admissions officers wanted to hear, and the stories they felt were most important to tell about their lives at the time. 

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'Beating the odds'

I don't fault them.

I, too, have felt that stories about overcoming adversity so easily framed how I “beat the odds.” 

But what does it mean to reduce or contort the colorful lives that Black students live into the anti-Black fantasies of others? Why do we teach Black students to be resilient, and not free? 

The Black experience isn’t singularly one of pain, trauma and suffering. And educators, college access programs and all those who operate within the sphere of influence for young people should not explicitly or implicitly tell students that to be seen, they must write about their most traumatic experiences. 

If anything, we should encourage Black students to write about their gifts, what they bring and their visions for their futures. These counternarratives are equally valuable, and can highlight the contributions students will make on campus and post-graduation, and, more importantly, promote self-actualization.

The pushback I receive from those working in college access is that stories about overcoming struggle and hardship represent critical moments of transformation and growth in students’ lives. 

In some cases, college essays that discuss inequality serve as critiques of social systems and policies that have created the social conditions that have contributed to their suffering. Also, the reality for Black students and Black people growing up in Detroit and the U.S. more broadly is that racism permeates every social institution. 

This reality, coupled with the 2023 Supreme Court ruling on race-conscious admissions that placed limitations on admissions practices, also meant that the college essay could be one of the few opportunities where Black and other racially minoritized and historically underrepresented students could make their race and the struggles endured known.  

Pain on display

Let’s be clear — there’s a lot of blame to go around. An essay question on the Common App, the free online application platform that allows students to submit one application to thousands of schools, invites students to recall a time they “faced a challenge, setback, or failure” and reflect on lessons learned. Local scholarship competitions solicit essays with similar topics and name overcoming obstacles as a criterion or an important factor of consideration. 

These prompts signal to parents, educators and college counselors that universities and funding bodies expect students to write about their pain. 

College essays about trauma are not a requirement. All of the students I interviewed for my dissertation were currently enrolled undergraduate students — while some chose to write experiences they deemed traumatic, most did not. And they were still accepted.

As a first-generation college student raised in the Dexter-Linwood area in Detroit, I understand this all too well. I know what it means to write a college essay representing “the perfect presentation of the traumatic parts of my life,” to quote one of the Black undergraduate students I interviewed for my dissertation. 

I also know what it means to feel like I have to serve my trauma on a platter to be competitive for admissions, scholarships and fellowships, and so do many of the young people I encounter in college storytelling workshops and interviews for my research.

Educators trying to discern how best to support their students in college essays often ask me whether discouraging students from writing about trauma would place them at a disadvantage in the admissions process, especially students who identify as first-generation college or low-income students. 

They’re asking the wrong question. 

The choice should be theirs

The more important question is whether or not students truly desire to share the time they faced food or housing insecurity, or assumed adult roles after the sudden death of a parent — or if they feel forced to perform their trauma to be deemed worthy of admission. 

The choice should be theirs, and educators should be mindful of encouraging students to put their trauma on display for college admissions or funding opportunities. 

The college essay is not a diary. Students should not be encouraged to divulge painful moments about their lives for a room of strangers to evaluate and consume. 

Black students are more than their pain, and telling them they are more worthy of opportunity when writing about trauma signals that we believe trauma is the most important part of their identities. 

We tell students trauma should be their introduction to admissions officers when, in many cases, it’s a footnote. I hope college advisors and counselors encourage students to write about what they love about themselves, their identities and their communities. And stop telling Black students they must write about trauma in their college admissions essays.

Aya M. Waller-Bey studies race and identity in college admissions essays and higher education. She is a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Michigan's Department of Sociology.