How To Write An Excellent Essay For College Application
Getting in college is hard enough with all those expenses to save up for, accommodation to sort out, frat parties to dream of. So don’t make life any harder on yourself by panicking on your college application essay. Follow these simple tips and you’ll woo those readers in no time.
- Who Are You?
- Keep It Positive
- Be Funny
- Mind Your Tone
- Proofread, Proofread, Proofread
Your college essay should give a description of the person you are. Do you like helping old ladies with their shopping? Volunteer at a youth centre? Love to travel and play guitar? Write it all down. There’s no point being a drone and putting in bullet point facts about your grades and what you want to be when you grow up. The reader wants to know who you are as a person and it’s up to you to tell them.
Of course, when you’re telling them about your life, try to keep it upbeat. If you have had a hard life, make this into an obstacle you overcame and further proof of your acceptability to the college. Don’t drown the paper in whiney, angsty drivel. Keep it light, and if it does get dark use it to your advantage.
Some people aren’t funny. That’s ok. Get a funny friend to help you, or a teacher with humorous know-how. You don’t have to have a laugh-a-minute or win the Oscars for Best script, but you should give your reader the odd chuckle. They’ll appreciate it, and you’ll stand out in their mind as someone interesting and fun, someone suitable.
This is where it gets a little complicated. You should be positive, and you should be funny, but you can’t be childish. The tone of your essay should be personal and interesting, not childlike and stupid. There’s a fine line between being coy and being a smart-ass. Make sure yours reads eloquently and not like some kid is trying to impress the older girl next door. Remember, this is for college, they like prestige and professionalism and intellect, so use that.
Double check your double checks. Get friends to correct friends. Have a teacher or twenty take a look at it. Hire an outside editor. Make your dog read though it. Just for the love of all things good, don’t send off something poorly written with spelling and grammar mistakes all over it. Nothing says you don’t care like misspelling the name of the college. So get out your magnifying glass and prune those errors.