Even if you have written the most creative and insightful essay, the admissions panel would not easily favor your essay if they see some mistakes on it. When you submit your essay to the admissions panel, make sure that it is almost flawless. Education Fever lists down some common mistakes that applicants should avoid when they write their personal statements.
Spelling and grammar errors
Eliminate Spelling and Grammar Errors
Sounds like the obvious one to avoid doesn’t it? In fact, this is the most commonly cited error. It is not a small consideration. Admission Committee members generally see these kinds of sloppy errors as a reflection of the candidate’s personality and an indication of how they will likely perform in their studies. It also makes the reviewer question the seriousness of the candidate, since they can’t even take the time and trouble to get such an important document correct.
You have to show to the admissions committee that you are someone who is responsible enough to make sure that you’ve done well in your tasks. You need to make an impression that you are responsible enough to make sure that your essay is well-written and acceptable. And you can do this by eliminating technical errors in your essay.
Being too original
There are cases in which people tend to go too far overboard in announcing their own uniqueness. People have written poems, told stories, and submitted videos when there was no such requirement. This is highly risky and is likely to alienate many reviewers rather than endear them to you. Generally speaking, an extreme approach like this will be seen as “grandstanding” or trying to get attention just for the sake of it. Remember, that hundreds (or thousands) of other applicants are operating within the same stated guidelines as you are. The challenge is to make you stand out as different, but within those guidelines.
You’ve probably heard it a hundred times before. Your essay should be unique and original. However, you should be careful not to make your essay seem out of place or make it hard for your readers to relate to it. Share personal experiences readers can easily relate to. Choose those that can highlight your qualifications and are most relevant to your application. Remember, a little too much of something can be bad.
Not answering the admission essay questions
Admission reviewers often report that many candidates don’t address the specific question posed on the application form. When this occurs, one of three situations is possible: 1.) the candidate has made a conscious decision to ignore the question asked for some reason, 2.) the candidate has not read and/or understood the question, or 3.) the candidate has submitted a “generic” multi-program essay and has not taken the time to adjust it to address the particular question at hand.
Some universities set their own questions to be answered through the admission essay. In which case, you must do your best to tackle the issues at hand. Don’t sway to another direction but focus your discussions on the question itself. Follow the instructions carefully, as this may be considered some sort of test by the admissions officers to see how diligent you are.
When you write you personal statement, you have to keep in mind the readers, the admissions panel. This is why you need to answer the questions as best you can. Aside from this, you have to write in a way that would be most appealing to them.
According to another article:
Your readers may have thousands of essays to read, many or most of which will come from qualified applicants. This essay may be your best opportunity to communicate with the decision makers in the application process, and you don’t want to bore them, offend them, or make them feel you are wasting their time.
If you avoid these common mistakes, you can have better chances of getting admitted to your chosen school or program. Make sure that your essay is free from grammatical errors. Also observe proper limits on your creativity, so you won’t alienate your readers. Your response to the given question should best exemplify critical thinking skills and maturity.
College application essays should be given a lot of thought and careful consideration. An outstanding essay can take you to the next phase of the application process, the interview. Here are some tips from Info Please on how to make your personal statement for college noteworthy:
Tips on writing your college application essay
Don’t let the college admissions essay intimidate you. Remember, it’s the part of your application that is fully under your control. Make it work to your advantage!
Writing your personal statement can be a daunting task. You have to submit a high quality essay that can earn you the slot in your chosen course and school. But this shouldn’t intimidate you at all. Rather, you should take this as a challenge. Be positive and confident because this will reflect on the way you write your essay, Just be yourself.
Here’s another tip:
Choose a topic that is meaningful to you. Write in your own words. Write what you feel, not what you think the admissions committee wants to hear.
Focus on what you want to say and not what your readers would want to hear from you. This way, your writing would appear more sincere, authentic, and personal. Use your own personal experience to show your readers what kind of an individual you are and what makes you a good member of the student body.
Use your creativity on your admission essay
Try to come up with something different. Remember that the people reviewing your essay have read hundreds – if not thousands – of essays. Don’t give them one more “The Teacher Who Influenced Me Most” or “Drinking and Driving is Bad” essay to wade through.
By creative, it doesn’t mean that you have to be overly dramatic. You have to give your readers something new. Fresh perspectives on common things may count as a creative theme for your essay. You can present a simple story in an extraordinary way.
Captivate your audience. Your essay needs to be engaging and memorable. Try to draw the reader in with a quick, enticing introduction. You want to catch their interest and give them a reason to finish your essay.
Hook your readers right from the start. Since they don’t have much time to go over your essay, make sure that your introduction will urge them to read further. Hold their attention till the end.
Revise, revise, revise your essay
Revise, rewrite, reword. Revision is the key to all good writing – college admission essays included. Hammer your draft into shape through various rewrites. Read each draft aloud. Your ears can pick up problems that your eyes may miss.
Aside form this, you can also ask someone else to read your essay. Let a friend, family member, or teacher critique your essay. Consider their opinions and ideas to improve your essay, from technical details to organization of thoughts and content.
Here are some thoughts about revisions from another article:
Wait awhile after you’ve finished a draft before looking at it again. The Roman poet Horace thought one should wait nine years, but that’s a bit much. A day – a few hours even – will work. When you do return to the draft, be honest with yourself, and don’t be lazy. Ask yourself what you really think about the paper.
You have to put your essay down for a while and then do the revisions after several days. This way, you can edit your essay with a fresh pair of eyes and catch even small but significant errors. To give you ample time for revisions, you have to start writing your essay as early you can.
Writing your college application essay doesn’t have to be too daunting or complicated. With these simple tips, you can make your essay unique and remarkable enough to be noticed by the admissions panel. Again, have confidence, be creative, and revise your essay several times.
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?
Don’t know how to write your college application essay? Read these essay writing tips and get started on that college application essay that will get you into the school of your choice:
The importance of your first draft when statement writing
Because of the importance of the college admission essay, it is necessary that you choose the right topic, incorporate structure as well as make your essay interesting with the use of personal anecdotes. However, you also need to know that mechanics also play a part in how your application is received. The use of the correct grammar and punctuation is important. Too many grammatical errors can make you look bad because they make your essay difficult to read. This could also deal a big blow on how you are perceived by the admissions committee. This is where writing a draft comes in. Writing a good essay takes more than sitting down with a pen and paper and coming up with the perfect essay after an hour and a half. Chances are, you will want to change a phrase or two in your draft and there could be spelling or grammatical errors in the first piece that you write. Experts advice writing a first draft and letting it rest. This way, you are looking at it with fresh eyes when you edit. They also advice that you start writing early so that you will have more time to reread and rewrite.
Rewriting your first college application essay draft
Writing and rewriting your essay is useful in order to check for spelling and grammar mistakes. This will also help you rearrange the elements in your essay in order to make it sound better. There is no right number of rewrites that you should follow. As long as you feel that your piece has a good substance and structure, meaning they contain all the important points that you want to convey and they are arranged in a way that makes sense to you and the reader, and as long as they contain the least amount of spelling and grammatical mistakes as possible, then perhaps your essay is ready for submission. You should make sure that your piece is ready for presentation. Your final piece should be neat, word processed and readable.
Related Questions:
1. How many hours should I spend polishing my essay?
2. How do I know that my essay is ready for presentation?
3. Can I ask for professional help when editing my application essay?
