ACE Your College Admissions Essay
The college admissions essay is the bane of basically all of our students’ existence for the entirety of their senior year. If the words “writing admission essay” fill you with dread, I can relate. I felt the same way not too long ago. I’ve realized though, it doesn’t have to be so hard. Here are some tips and tricks that we use to help our students write the best college essays.
How to Write a College Admissions Essay
Somewhere in your many, many years of schooling, you must have heard of themes and topics. You may also remember that they are not the same. Make sure your essay has a theme, not just a topic. For example, a topic might be “war.” A theme based around that topic could be the idea, “War does not solve problems.” That distinction is key to making sure your essay doesn’t get forgotten.
What you write doesn’t matter! It’s why it matters to you that’s most important.
The Essay That the Best Schools in the US Want to Read
There are many aspects of a successful story. The most important one for your essays is the main character. Guess who that should be? That’s right; it’s you!
Here’s how to check if you are truly the main character of your story. Do a word count check and see what percentage of sentences talk about you vs. someone else. As you can expect, most of the sentences should be talking about you.
How to start a College Admissions Essay? Know the W’s
- Who was involved ?
- When?
- Where?
- What happened, and how did you overcome it?
- Why does it matter?
You might notice that the word what is missing from this list. This is intentional because most students already tend to emphasize the what. While it’s important to cover what happened, a great essay goes beyond sharing surface-level details to also provide greater insight and depth that guides readers in interpreting your big idea.
Well balanced W’s help even out your essay and convert it from that dreaded Wikipedia article into YOUR story. Your goal is to illustrate why your story matters. At the end of the day, the admission counselors want to know why they should read your essay. If you’re able to communicate that, then you’re already ahead of most submissions.
Humanize Your Essay
Use names — not pronouns
Don’t use words like “(s)he” or “they.” Almost everyone uses pronouns in almost every essay. These vague words make your essay seem less unique. If you’re worried about privacy, don’t be. You can always change the first name of the person you’re writing about without compromising the integrity of your story.
Clarify your setting
Too many times, essay narratives start in one place and time, then abruptly move to another setting without updating the reader, leading to confusion. If your story starts in 8th grade, then moves on to the 10th grade, use a transition: “In 10th grade, I…” There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?
What vs Why on a College Admissions Essay
We already discussed the importance of having well balanced W’s. In addition, I also want to talk about the ratio between the What and the Why. It’s important to explain what your story is about, but it’s even more important to outline why the story matters and why someone should read it.
As this graphic shows, increasing the percentage of your essay that discusses the why boosts the overall quality of your essay. Try identifying how many sentences in your essay communicate what you did, versus how many relate why. After that, use the word count tool to calculate the ratio of what vs. why in your writing. If less than 15% of your essay conveys why you pursued an activity or what you got out of it, it’s definitely time to add more substance to your writing.
What vs Why ratio breakdown
Some Final Admissions Essay Tips and Pointers
First, always write your first draft without a word count. It’s easier to remove words and content than it is to add it back. When you have to add more, you may feel tempted to add meaningless statements and fluff that weaken your essay as a whole.
Next, follow the 2-sentence rule. Don’t go more than 2 sentences without using the words “I” or “me.” Remember, the story is about you, you, and you.
Finally, read it out loud. I know it can sometimes be cringey to read out your own work. This is exactly the feeling that you want to get comfortable with. Once you read it out loud, you can feel what your essay is saying and how that’s going to make readers feel.
College Admissions Consultants and University Prep
I hope that this has helped you write, edit, and polish your essays. For more advanced techniques, check out our YouTube channel, where we give in-depth examples of all of the concepts discussed here and more.
We are always posting more helpful tips and tricks to help reduce the stress of college application season. For personalized feedback on your essays plus general educational counseling from qualified ed consultants, feel free to schedule a free consultation so you can get started with an Essay Editor ASAP.
See you soon!
