The College Essay

The College Essay If a school has a writing section in their supplement to the Common Application you can rest assured that ALL of that writing is evaluated by admissions officers. Do your best and assume that it WILL be read and that it WILL have a bearing on your admission chances. There is no way to determine a typical scenario regarding a college’s method for reviewing applications. In all cases at least one admissions officer will look at your essay. If a school uses an admissions committee the number could jump to three or more. In any case, what YOU can control is how well your essay describes who you are and gives the admissions person a chance to see things in you that will be an asset to the school. One way to signal to colleges that you are a strong candidate for the rigorous ways of thinking, learning, and living that the schools can provide is to show just what kind of a risk-taker you are. Sharing that you participated in an Outward Bound program will help colleges understand how you’re spending your time outside the classroom. The essay excerpted below, with the permission of Hamilton College, shows the student’s personality through a love of fly-fishing. But finding their voice can be a challenge for many students, Inzer notes, because they may have limited life experience. Also, she adds, they have been writing to the instructions of high school teachers up until this point, rather than for themselves. Finding their voice means students must get to know themselves and write authoritatively, sharing a sense of their lives with admissions officers. I’m surprised when students have trouble writing their college essays. The college application essay is the true test of those skills and of your ability to present an accurate picture of who you are. She is a co-founder of Tales from a Small Planet and a former FSJ AFSA News editor. These are some of the things going through admissions officers’ minds as they read your application, particularly the Why This College? The truth is, while rankings and enrollment are significant, admissions officers will tell you that they mostly just want students who will flourish at their school. But you also have the opportunity to articulate to colleges why this experience is worth mentioning. I would encourage students to think about how participating in Outward Bound impacted them, specifically. Anyone who completes an Outward Bound expeditioncould say that they were challenged, that they weren’t sure they could do it, but on looking back, they feel proud of what they’ve accomplished. The real questions to ask are, why was it challenging for you, personally? What about this makes you feel proud, and how will you carry this into the next part of your life? A great introduction does not need to be outrageous or sensational, but it should give the admissions committee a good sense of your personality. On its admissions page, Hamilton lists multiple college essay examples written by students admitted to the school. Though Inzer declined to single out one essay, she says that the examples offer a diverse mix of student voices and backgrounds. Whether you write about it in your essay, or just list it as one of your activities, sharing the influence it has had on you, personally, will be much more impactful. As college application deadlines near, students across the country are hoping that their essays will earn them a spot at their dream school. You can help students by sharing these four college essay myths and facts before they write their essays and click send to the schools of their dreams. Your high school English teacher's reminder to use a good hook can help you get started. So, you need to show them why you and Wonderful College are a perfect match. It can take some convincing for many kids and parents to believe that when it comes to writing the essays, in particular, college admissions officers care about who students are. If you were to take bets on the percentage of essays read by college admissions personnel, I’d guess that it would be in the high 90’s. An essay is an important part of sharing who you are with a school. With increased competition for admission, the essay has become an important factor in consideration of your admissibility to a school. So if a school requires an essay it is VERY likely to be read. Students have keen powers of energetic observation about themselves and the world around them, but ask them to share any of those ideas in a college essay, and the silence speaks volumes. Writing an essay is something students learn to do in school from a fairly young age, but it is a skill that must be perfected over a number of years. Remember that most universities receive thousands of applications; top colleges sometimes get more than 75,000 applications in a single year. For admissions officers sifting through thousands of essays, a dynamic introduction makes a lasting impression.