A well done college admissions essay can breathe life into an application. Instead of simply remaining a collection of flat numbers, data, and statistics, you can, through your essay, transform yourself into a multi-dimensional applicant. A winning essay will illuminate who you are in the eyes of the reviewer and make their dreary day more interesting. If the essay is dull and listless, it stands to reason that you are, too! Be sure to use this opportunity to dazzle and shine through the stacks of similar applications.
Many students feel that writing the college essay is the most difficult of the college-admission tasks. You should know better. Just think, there is no in-depth research you must do. There are no books you must read. There are no hours of painstaking interviews. The college essay is your chance to write about quite possibly your favorite and definitely your most familiar subject – YOU. How many times does someone actually ask you to talk (or write) about yourself? How exciting! So, take advantage, take hold and let the words fly! Your essay can identify you as a person worthy of consideration and help the weary-eyed reviewers mark you down as one of the best possible candidates.
The college essay is not a project to be completed the day you submit your application. It should be worked, reworked and then reworked again. It is too important to trust to a first draft – or even a second draft. Like all pieces of great writing, revision is the most important component in the process.
This summer take advantage of the many free moments you are likely to have, whether you are at home, on vacation, or just on the go. Grab yourself a small notebook and start to make notes on the aspects of you that make you… you! Carry the “You” notebook everywhere you go. To the ball game, to the beach, anywhere and everywhere you are. Jot down little notes and facts about yourself whenever you have a spare minute or a thought pops into your head. Before you know it, the summer will be over, but you will have a little treasure chest of thought starters to draft your college essay. And you may not even have realized just how fascinating you really are!
