I found writing college essays extremely challenging. It took me a while to learn all the peculiarities and write a winning essay which helped me enter the college of my dream. Now that I’ve mastered college writing, I will happily share my experience with you.
Best College Essays
Don’t Procrastinate
Little time = much stress. Usually, you have more than enough time for preparation, so use it wisely. Break the assignment into small parts and complete each one every day. If you try to write an essay overnight, you’ll deliver a poorly structured piece of writing with a lot of mistakes and typos.
Be Honest
Writing about something you strongly feel will not only satisfy you but also make your paper sound compelling. At some point, you might start writing something you think the admission staff wants to hear, and this is where you make one of your biggest mistakes. Here’s one of the most valuable academic writing tips you will ever receive: if you are bored while writing an essay, the reader will be bored reading it. So, discuss something you like and make both of you happy.
Take the Risk or Lose the Chance
Sometimes, choosing a daring topic is enough to bring you success. Most probably, an admission officer will be reading your paper after a hard-working day, when no coffee can fight the tiredness. Imagine what it feels like to read dozens of similar essays. The danger you face here is not writing a bad essay but writing an essay identical to those of numerous other students. What you can do is ask your friends what they are going to discuss and not do the same.
Stay Focused
You have to explain to the admission officers why you should be admitted. Remember you only have a page or two, so don’t try fitting your every single virtue there. Many students choose to discuss their community service, academic performance, their success in sports, and so on. Reading such a paper feels like reading a grocery list. To avoid it, use a brainstorming technique: read the essay question (attentively!), think of it for a while, and then put down the ideas that come to your mind. Mention only relevant achievements.
Here are some academic writing tips one college counselor suggested:
- The introductory and concluding paragraphs usually contain the biggest number of unnecessary details. Remove them to see if the body paragraphs are strong enough.
- Proofread the essay and remove all “very” and “many.” These words don’t bear any significant meaning, yet they increase the word count and make the essay weaker.
And the very last thing. Keep in mind the target audience. Remember, these are people who will read the essay. If the essay is not honest or boring, they will feel that. Write an essay you will like, and the readers will also like it.