College Essay Essentials

College Essay Essentials Finally, when you think you are finished with your essay, dare to make it great! Doing so will force you to examine every word, thought and article of punctuation. Even if you are not able to reduce by 10%, making an honest attempt at it will make your essay better. Don’t worry about the word count until you have developed a complete draft. Word and character counts can be paralyzing if you allow them to dictate your approach to an essay topic. You may “love” the words, but you need to be ruthless as an editor. I will help you craft an essay that is unique, well-written, and true to who you are. The “Why this college” or “Why us” prompts are fairly common. Begin thinking about answers to the common application questions and review the pre-writing techniques. To identify the first steps to starting an essay. Especially if you’re recounting an event, take it beyond the chronological storytelling. Even if you didn’t visit, you can still establish a strong connection to the school. You don’t have to solely focus on academics, although you should make them a main point of your essay. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design. Common App has announced that the essay prompts will remain the same as the 2019â€"2020 essay prompts. You don’t need to remind the reader at the start of each sentence. Demonstrate the synergy between yourself and the institution in response to the “Why do you want to come here? Reveal an awareness of instructional style and independent learning opportunities. Identify a topic or talk about something that is unique and different Or, breathe life into a mundane subject by approaching it differently. You only have 650 words for the Common App essay. Find creative solutions to conveying ownership of your thoughts. Don’t use the word “I” to start sentences any more than is necessary. But what’s so wrong with having a wide range of interests? This is inherently not a bad, nay, it’s a good thing for a college applicant. In fact, the common appsuggested essay word limit is actually just 650 words. Then, take a step back in order to gain perspective. As you begin to edit and refine the idea, challenge your word choices. Are they essential to conveying the key messages? Doing so is unnecessarily redundant and can limit your ability to take a more expansive approach with your essay. You can also include traditions, extracurricular activities, and the campus itself. Prestige and rankings are another topic to avoid. Yes, Yale is very prestigious and consistently ranks among the top three universities in U.S. Your familial connections may also factor in, but they shouldn’t be your sole reason for applying. Finally, if you can find pretty much all the reasons you give through a cursory look at the website or brochure, that’s a sign that it’s time to dive a little deeper.