sample college admission essays

Your admission essay can be your ticket to college. You must take this chance to stand out from other candidates who might have the same qualifications as you do. To make sure that your college admission essay will come out unique and persuasive enough, here are some pointers for acceptable personal statements:

A good personal statement should exude confidence the right way

Whatever you say on your essay might reflect your personality. If you’re reluctant and don’t seem to have a clear purpose for your college education, then it will easily show in the way you write your personal statement. Hence, you must take time to reflect on your goals and purpose. Your admission essay can easily create a good or bad impression even prior to the interview. You must of course highlight your achievements to show what makes you a perfect match for the program and that you are likely to succeed. However, try not to sound like you’re bragging. Use your experiences to show the real you and not to mold a perfect candidate for college admission. Admissions officers can easily spot fakes and see through lies. Be confident when discussing your goals or any personal achievement, but don’t overdo it that your essay will sound like you’re too full of yourself.

An effective admission essay should answer the essay prompt conclusion

The conclusion of your admission essay should be kept short but effective enough for readers to set you apart from other applicants. The conclusion should sum up your purpose for application and what makes you a good fit for the chosen school. Do your best to create a perfect ending to a well-crafted essay.

Instead of trying too hard to impress your readers, speak from the heart. Keep it honest and sincere so your readers can fully assess your qualifications and decide to welcome you as a new member of their community.

Related questions:

1. How does confidence affect admission essay writing?
2. How can you highlight your achievements without sounding like a braggart?
3. What constitutes a good essay conclusion?

Nobody wants a truly boring essay, one that reads like a phone directory or a trigonometric table book. However, going to the other extreme is just as bad. An essay that is too rich with theatrics may put off typical admissions officers. Here are the things you need to be aware of:

Unrealistic admission essays are a big no-no

There’s nothing wrong with ambitious applicants. In many cases, the admissions committee might be impressed with an applicant who seems to know where he or she is headed. However, you should keep your goals realistic. Realistic goals show that you are fully aware of the challenges of the real world and that you’re not just any dreamer who can’t put things into action. Your goals should be achievable; otherwise, you may only open yourself up to failure. College education should be able to harness your full potential, but this will only be possible if you have a good sense of success, failure, and challenges. Don’t turn in an admission essay that simply enumerates your achievements, but focus on your need for college education.

Tips to avoid too much drama in your application essays conclusion

By all means, you should create a very interesting intro and a conclusion that persuades your readers further. However, don’t resort to overly dramatic writing styles fit for a poet or fiction writer. Be honest and sincere with your tone. Put a curb on your creativity to make sure that it won’t get in the way of persuasive writing based on solid arguments and reasons. An essay that has too much style in it may be deemed inappropriate by your readers. Avoid the use of too much imagery or figures of speech that can easily create confusion and make you miss the whole point of submitting an application essay.

Look for interesting angles to discuss a topic in your essay. Make sure that you keep your intros concise but still very catchy. Best of all, make sure that your conclusion is not just a rehash of what you’ve discussed in the body of your essay, but make it memorable for your readers.

Related questions:

1. What is wrong with unrealistic claims on the admissions essay?
2. Is an ambitious tone acceptable to admissions reviewers?
3. What kind of conclusion should you write for the application essay?

Some colleges and universities give specific questions to be answered through application essays. With standard questions, these help them gauge the qualifications of their applicants based on their critical thinking and effective communication skills. In these questions, the admissions committee can assess whether the applicant has good reasons to be part of the studentry or if they embody the tradition of the school. How you tackle these questions in your admission essay can affect the outcome of your application, in a negative or positive way. Here’s a short guide.

Evaluating an experience in your admission essay

It does not have to be a recent one, it could even be an event that happened when you were still in primary school. Don’t use the first experience that you can think of. It may be your most memorable experience, but it is not necessarily the most pivotal event. Choose an event that has helped mold your character and made you surpass a challenge. These experiences can show traits that can help you succeed in life or have influenced you in a positive way. Whatever experience you choose to discuss, make sure that it is relevant to your application. Take time to reflect on your own personal experiences, so you can make a connection between your experience and your admission to college..

Describing a fictional or historical character in your admission essays

Whether it’s a historical figure like Benjamin Franklin or a fictional character, make sure that you specify the good traits that you like about the character. Tell your readers what made him or her your role model or what traits you have in common. How did that character influence or motivate you in a positive way? If you can somehow narrate this character’s personality to your own attributes and link it to any of your passion, then you would be turning in a truly insighful admission essay.

When given specific questions for your admission essay, take time to reflect on them. Don’t just satisfy your readers’ curiosity, but make sure that you give them some insights about yourself and use the questions to better express your personality and goals.

Related questions:

1. Are fictional characters allowed to be discussed on the admission essay?
2. Who is one good example of a real person used as a theme on the admission essay?
3. What kind of experiences should be used on the application essays?

A successfully written paragraph should always contain the main idea along with the topic sentences. These should be complemented by the supporting details such as facts, quotations, statistics or numbers, and even examples. Make sure that your essay contains a clear and focused topic sentence, along with the other details supporting the paragraph. Your topic sentence should focus on the main idea and outline what you want to talk about in your essay.

Your essay’s supporting statements as important parts

Writing an essay entails always having a certain idea or concept. There are details of information that back it up, and these are called the supporting statements. Supporting statements are very important since they give the supplemental details to the main theme or topic. Without them, the main topic would be left alone with no details to back it up. It always follows a pattern of, first, an introductory paragraph, the body or the main support, and the conclusion, which is the summary of all the statements.

Tips in coming up with supporting paragraphs for your essay

The very first step in coming up with the needed supporting paragraphs for your essay is brainstorming. Here, you pour out all you know and everything you need to share about the most important part of your essay, which is the topic. You must identify your goals, strengths, and other vital character traits.

Other tips in proofreading your essay

One very good tip in proofreading your essay is by proofreading backwards. Doing so would eliminate the possibility of having biases on the underlying meaning of the essay. If you read forward, reading one sentence at a time, it will make you focus on the essay?s true meaning and content rather than just the sentences.

Another good tip would be to use a ruler when doing your proofreading. This will allow your eyes to proofread only a certain number of texts to read. Or, you may proofread one kind of error at one time and proofread again for another kind of error.

Related links:

Effective college essays – About effective college admission essays
Admission essay tips – About writing a winning college admission essay
Admission essay tips – About the use of passive and active voice in your essay
College admissions counselors – Tips from college admissions counselors
College application essay – About writing college application essays

When writing your college application essay, it is very important for you to be on the lookout for possible problems in your writing techniques. Find out how you can correct them. Learn the art of evaluating your own writing style, not having to wait for another person to be a critic of your work.

Check if your written essay appears too wordy or passive. There are times when your sentences would appear longer but ineffective, or shorter but effective, or stronger than necessary. Sometimes, you think your writing is perfect already, not knowing that your reader cannot actually understand your point. Writing an essay is not purely having to write with correct grammar and punctuations. It actually has to do with putting together a sentence or group of sentences to make one coherent thought.

Determining your own writing style

Determining your own writing style is very much a requirement when writing your personal statement. Why? Simply because readers have different ways of looking at one’s writing style. Establish a reputation that you are the type of writer who will only say what you mean. Remember, what the admission officers are looking for is not how intelligent or academically proficient you are, but how you intelligently convey your message.

Evaluating your writing style

If you know how to evaluate your own writing style, then you will gain better control of your writing. You should always check for wordiness, when you tend to use more words than necessary and write so many things when there is no need to say something anymore.

Tips in improving your writing style

There are so many things that you can do as a writer to improve your writing style. The best way to start is by writing things in a very appropriate tone. Another is avoid word stuffing, or the common practice of ineffective writers where they use filler words, thereby, making the reader confused as to the real message of the essay.

If you are guilty of wordiness in your essay, check for any uncertainty in your topic. Your essay might be lacking in argument, or perhaps lacking in evidence to support your essay?s main theme. If this happens, take time out to redeem yourself and know which topic you are writing about, why you are going for it, and whether you have evidences to support your belief or not.

Related links:

Connecting to readers – About how to connect to your readers
Personal statements – All about writing personal statements
Effective college essays – About effective college admission essays
Admission essay tips – About writing a winning college admission essay
Common writing mistakes – Common mistakes to avoid when writing your personal statement

If you are writing a personal statement for college admission, one of your objectives is to outshine other applicants who are lining up for the same, limited slot. Your college admission essay can break or make your application, so never use the same essay for more than a few applications. Doing so may save you time, but you won’t be able to tailor-fit your achievements and capabilities with the profile of the school.

Your college essay as a tool to market yourself

The personal statement you write for the admissions officers is a good opportunity for you to sell or market yourself. But first, make sure that you know your prospective school?s academic programs to align your credentials and personal strengths with them. That way, you can gauge if you have good chances of being chosen by the school.

Tips on how to shine through your college essay

Here are some tips on how you can make your essay stand out among the rest. First, identify what audience you have so you will know what *approach you will use on tackling your essay. Then, come up with eye-catching and attention-grabbing opening statement to hold the interest of the admissions officers. Focus the essay on yourself and discuss things that are very significant to how you have developed as an individual. The key here is to be concise but coherent all through out the essay.

What to keep in mind when selling yourself through your essay

Remember to carefully and effectively sell your self through the chosen words you use in your essay. Wrap up your essay with the uniqueness of your personality by sharing some meaningful experiences in your life and how you have successfully overcome some challenges despite the circumstances. Highlight them as something that had great impact on your life, which have dramatically helped you develop as a person. You may also list down your extra-curricular activities and your academic accomplishments by writing them creatively, enabling your word prowess. Surely, these will make reading your essay light and fun for your audience.

Related links:

College prestige – About the impact of college prestige on your future
Admission essay tips – About the use of passive and active voice in your essay
Sample admission essays – About using sample admission essays when writing your own
College admissions counselors – Tips from college admissions counselors
Effective personal statements – How to make your personal statements shine

There are various styles of writing. If you are a student writing a personal statement for school admission, you might be thinking of extreme topics to write about. Outrageous admission essays can pique the interest of the admissions panel. They can give writers extra points for creativity and diversity. However, writing an outrageous and unique personal statement is not in itself a guarantee of school acceptance or admission. It still depends on how you will make a connection to your readers.

Examples of outrageous admission essays

One of the most popular examples of outrageous personal statements was that of Hugh Gallagher. It is a classic example of a satirical essay that made it through the admissions panel. This essay ought to remind students that the admissions officers do not want to go through a list of academic achievements alone. They also want to have fun while doing their work, reading your essays.

Pros and cons of taking risks when writing your essays

Before you start writing your essay, make sure that you stick to the instructions. However, it also pays to take calculated risks when writing your personal statements. There are pros and cons in doing it. But if you think the pros outweigh the disadvantages, perhaps it’s worth the risk. Look at Gallagher?s outrageous essay, although he did not actually use it as an essay for school application, he managed to use it to his advantage.

Choosing a style that works best for you

As we know, application essays have very critical effects on your acceptance to your chosen school or university. Therefore, you should exert more time and effort on it. A very good writing style to use could be one where you have to highlight your professional goals and ambitions, at the same time balancing it with why you think their program is ideal for you. Also, always start way ahead the deadline. Otherwise, it may just be one of those deadline tasks that ineffective writers make. Write a draft, read, and rewrite it. Ask someone to read it for you, and make the necessary revisions until the essay has finally become clear, concise, and very coherent.

Related links:

Writing about disabilities – Tips on discussing disabilities in admission essays
College prestige – About the impact of college prestige on your future
Admission essay topics – Writing about rising from adversities in your college essay
College application essay – About writing college application essays
Writing college essays – Tips on writing a winning application essay

When writing a personal statement for college admission, it is important to gather a lot of examples as well as details that will support the main theme of your essay. Gathering supporting evidence is necessary to convince the admissions panel that you are what they are looking for. You may write in detail how you achieved or finished a difficult task despite the unfavorable circumstances. Manage to elaborate how you dealt with it and how it has affected you as a person later on in your life.

Your admission essay as a tool to persuade your readers

You may be required to write an essay of about 500 words, but bear in mind that these 500 words can lead to your admission or rejection. When writing your personal statement, make sure that you lead the admissions officers into thinking that you definitely stand out among the other candidates, and that you are deserving of the limited slot. Aside from your scholastic achievements and extra-curricular activities, never fail to emphasize how your strengths including your persistence, motivation, and determination play significant parts in your life. These can help persuade the readers. Talk to them about your ambitions, goals, and personal views in life. Let them know how much you value college education and how this can fulfill your dreams.

Other persuasive college essay writing tips

If you are writing your college personal statement, there is only one thing to remember at all times. Always use a friendly, conversational tone. Make your essay engaging enough to pique the interest of your readers. Coherence is also one element of an essay that should never be forgotten. If there is coherence in your essay, you will be able to bargain more for persuasion. Your readers won’t get lost with transitions and will find it easy to finish reading the whole essay without feeling the strain.

Related links:

Admission essay tips – About the use of passive and active voice in your essay
Sample admission essays – About using sample admission essays when writing your own
Writing about experiences – Using personal experiences as one of the essay themes
Winning college essays – Discussions about writing a winning college essay
Best application essays – Discussions about the best application essays

The passive voice is often used in formal types of writing because it often sounds more objective.  It detaches from the doer of the action but gives emphasis on the subject.  For essay writing, web content, and copywriting, however, the active voice is often used and preferred.  They say that just by focusing on the doer of the action, the active voice makes the article seem more personal and engaging.  You also get to save on space and shorten the sentences, thereby, improving its readability.

A common misconception is that you should use the active voice all the time and that switching to the passive voice is tantamount to a grammatical error.  This is not always the case.  Using both voices are essential for sentence variety and smooth flow of ideas.  Here’s what you need to know about the passive and active voice.

Pros and cons of passive voice

Let’s start with the pros.

The passive voice is preferred when emphasis should be on the object rather than on the doer.  In cases when the doer of the action is irrelevant or unknown, you can just switch to the passive voice and save yourself the trouble.

Of course, you shouldn’t stick to elementary style of writing and use simple sentences all the time.  Compound and complex sentence structures will definitely improve clarity and coherence, as well as add variety.  The passive voice can be used to emphasize the more important elements of the paragraph or the theme.  You can use this style to break free from monotonous sentences.

Now for the cons.

The passive voice often makes the sentence long and wordy.  In some instances, it also compromises clarity and meaning.  With longer sentences, it may be more difficult for some to easily understand what you’re trying to convey.

Pros and cons of active voice

Basically, the active voice requires fewer words.  It is more direct and clear since the doer of the action is established.  This stylistic approach fits copywriting well.  Most essay writers use the active voice to easily connect to their audience and stress main points.

Although the active voice is preferred, you should also try to vary your sentences, as much as you shouldn’t stick to just one style of writing,

Why the active voice is more effective

Using the passive voice is not a grammatical error but a style issue.  The active voice is preferred because it’s clearer and, therefore, more effective when relaying messages to the reader or audience.  It’s reader-friendly.

To learn more about the proper use of the active and passive voice, use sample college admission essays as guide when writing your own personal statement.

How to Effectively Support Your Essay Thesis with the Help of Sample College Admission Essays

Writing is an inevitable part of life.  Writing usually becomes persuasive, convincing others that you have a valid, logical point of view on a particular subject.  Like in college, students are often asked to present an academic argument, or a persuasive case done in writing, with the objective of convincing your reader of your viewpoint.  After a short introduction of your topic, you state your points of view, also known as the “thesis statement,” which is usually in a single sentence.  It serves as the road map of the argument you’ll be making till the end of your paper.

How strong is your thesis statement?

When you are aked to write about something requiring your analysis, interpretation, demonstration of cause and effect, or merely to take a position on an issue, you are being asked for an essay thesis statement. The very first thing you should do is gather all evidence related to your topic, then start formulating a working thesis, based on the relevance and interrelationships of the evidence you gathered. Then, analyze how strong your thesis is, since you’re also the one who is going to argue for it later on in your paper.

Evaluating your thesis

Review your first set of drafts and answer the question as to whether you have taken a position that your reader might be antagonistic about, or whether you simply stated facts or gathered other people’s opinions, putting you in a safe place of no arguments.  Sometimes, you unconsciously forget to make an argument; you just merely provide a summary.

Supporting your thesis

Check if all your arguments are relevant to the thesis statement, because even if you plenty of arguments but they are not relevant to your thesis statement, they don’t make sense at all.  They are just a waste of time, not only for you, but for the reader as well.  Make sure you incorporate adequate strong evidence at all times, also providing sufficient main ideas to fully support the statement.  One tip to really make your essay thesis heavily supported is to be specific in explaining each main topic or argument. You can add on some specific examples and accurate explanations to effectively support your essay thesis.  Also, identify what needs further clarifications and support, so you can revise and bring more impact to them.

If you feel that your main thesis has vague points and lacks backbone, then, support it with stronger and more relevant pieces of evidence.  You can do this by gathering some more relevant information about your thesis. Furthermore, before you wrap up on your essay thesis, put yourself in your readers’ shoes.  Ask, “If I were the one reading this, would I be convinced?  or at least raise relevant questions about the topics?”  Also, check if there is coherence between your thesis statement and your arguments.

Finally, check for overall unity.  Do all pertinent information relate to the thesis statement?  Make sure you presented an argument not mere facts.  If not, then that calls for you to change your working thesis, based on the evidence and pieces of information you’ve previously gathered.  Remember, a good writer always reevaluates and revises his or her writing as necessary.

Photo Credit : Jacob Botter