sample college admission essays

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?

Wondering how to write your college application essay? Read on to learn a few helpful tips:

Knowing what to write is the first step when writing admissions essays for college. Fortunately, most colleges usually give applicants topics to write about. The next problem lies in how you present your essay.

Discussing the real you in your college application admission essays

Giving the panel an idea of who you are is one of your main tasks when writing college application essays. This is what makes admissions essays an essential part in the application process. Admissions panels want to know what kind of students they are letting into the school, and while your grades can speak volumes about how good you are in the classroom, your essay can better show them what kind of a person you are, whether its inside or outside the classroom. The essay will show the panel a side of you that they may not be able to see in your grades or recommendations. The best way to let your personality shine through in your essays is to talk about a personal story, an experience or an event that has touched you in a personal way, a person, or about a particular thing that you are passionate about. The way that you present your story, whether you take a serious or a lighthearted approach will also reveal what kind of a person you are.

Essay writing tips when discussing your plans and goals

Avoid lists when discussing plans and goals. Again, this section should still have your voice in it, after all, you are talking about your life plans and goals. While it is good to have a number of plans for the future, for your essay be selective. Choose which goals you are most passionate about achieving and the goals that you know you can write more fully about. Be specific about the steps that you want to take towards these goals, but never forget to reveal what motivated you to pursue a particular goal in the first place.

Related Questions:

1. How do I know which goals to write about?

2. What other resources can I use when writing admissions essays?

3. What should I keep in mind when writing my admissions essay?

The Zen College Life blog is an online source for college students, where they can obtain helpful guides on how to live a stress-free and more fulfilling on-campus experience. Various topics are discussed at the Zen College Life, including technology, relationship building, education, and finances.

What this site offers

A blog site for college students, the Zen College Life is more than just your ordinary college life blog. Yes, it does offer excellent education tips and guides, as well as a few hints in keeping your finances in check, but the Zen College Life offers a few lighthearted topics too. You can find topics under the categories of happiness, motivation, simplicity, and self-improvement.

The blog challenges college students to adopt the practice of simplicity, no matter how big a challenge it might be. I was able to read on posts that center around enjoying life?s simple pleasures, like appreciating the weather and doing workouts. The blog also outlines great money tips, and for many college students out there, this guide will always come in handy. For me, the thing which makes this blog site different from other blogs is its unique approach to university life. Students are not merely taught to excel, as they are also given excellent tips on how to be more productive, happier, and more content.

The clean and simple look of the blog is also one of its positive points. Online visitors can simply click on a certain category, recent post, or any of the tags to get to the topic that they want. Thus, site navigation is not a problem, and even guest writers are allowed to add any post, as long the topics are appropriate for the site. For any college student looking for great tips towards a more fulfilling campus life, the Zen College Life Blog is a top choice.

Areas for improvement

The only suggestion I can give for improvement is that the site should also include more articles and topics on student diversity. With more entries on this topic, this blog will definitely become more popular.

The Pay for College Blog is an initiative of Fox College Funding, a college planning company that provides planning guides and tips to families all over the country who are not qualified to receive financial aid. This blog is aimed primarily at parents whose children are about to take the next big step which is college. It is also geared towards students who are about to enter college, especially with its blog entries on SATs and college scholarships.

What to like about this blog

The thing that I find most helpful about the Pay for College Blog is that it offers money-saving information for college students and their parents. This blog is intended chiefly for families who are unqualified for college aid. In an entry about cost of living and financial aid, the readers are offered helpful insights on how one’s cost of living can affect his or her eligibility for financial aid. From finding summer jobs to searching for websites that can help students and their families save money, this blog offers ways and means in helping college students get the education they deserve.

There are enough categories pertaining to a wide range of topics, from college admissions and college applications to financial aid and student loans. If you wish to subscribe to their regular newsletter, there is a section on the site that allows you to do so as well.

Tips for improvement

The Pay for College blog has a simple yet organized design, so any website visitor is apt to find the content they are looking for with a few clicks. The blog is helpful as it is, but the color used for the website background and layout may need some improvement. For instance, the blue font color for the categories section almost dissolves into the blue background so that it doesn?t really stand out and grab attention. With just a few color scheme adjustments, this blog will no doubt command a higher number of site visitors.

Definitely not your ordinary college blog, College Candy is a blog site for college females who are on the lookout for news, views, relationship advice, fashion tips, and everything in between. It is an interactive website site that goes beyond college survival tips; it offers a wide array of less serious blog topics as well. If you are in college, and relationships, fashion, celebrities, and academic grades all interest you, then this blog is for you.

With the blog posts written by college women and specifically for college women, College Candy is no doubt one of the most entertaining blog sites around. Women are sure to find a few tips on beauty, such as the latest in make-up trends, scents, and facials. Advice on relationships can be found on the blog, too.

What makes this blog special

What sets this blog apart from many of the college blog sites on the Internet however, is that it speaks about sex and sexual relationships quite liberally. Not all college blogs can be as open-minded, but College Candy takes the idea of a college blog site to a whole new level. Women are allowed to have fun, and to share their thoughts if they feel like it. Celebrity gossip and Hollywood news abound on the site as well, making it popular for many college girls.

Suggestions for improvement

I like the general layout and color scheme for the blog, especially with its deep red background color. However, the site appears somewhat cluttered, with its huge photos and non-strategic placement of ads (a huge block of ads after each blog post). Nonetheless, the blog site offers a big dose of fun, entertainment, and information to college women and with a just a few tweaks, I don?t see why College Candy shouldn?t rise in popularity even more.

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

Central Michigan Life blog is the blog section of Central Michigan Life, the student newspaper of Central Michigan University. It caters primarily to the students of Central Michigan University although the university staff and instructors, university alumni, and online readers are welcome to check the site too. Although the blog does not have enough content yet, it does show a lot of promise, with its clean layout and interesting topics.

What this site offers

What I noticed about the Central Michigan Life blog is that the content they provide centers more on sports and campus encounters. In one campus encounter blog post for example, readers are presented with a unique view on CMU university life, where a few of the students are fond of climbing of trees to connect with another and feel a “sense of freedom.”

What makes this site unique is that it offers a range of news on university life, student life, sports, and campus life. It offers the latest and the most important happenings in the campus, providing updates and verified information to the students of CMU. The blog posts are short and straight to the point, making them an easy read for many busy students or web users. The navigation is easy as well, and the site includes recommended links, Twitter feeds, and even a Facebook fan page section, for a more interactive experience.

Some suggestions for improvement

There is nothing I want to change about the site, but I think it will look more authoritative if the blog title adopted a more conspicuous layout or style. A more organized layout is attainable too, if the banner ads were distributed evenly throughout the site, rather than placed too closely against one another. Still, this blog offers a wide range of content, from news to views and university life information, making it one of the finest blog sites for university students around.