For many, a college application essay is the most important thing they write in their life, helping determine their college and the path their life will take afterward. It’s important to get it right, so if you are feeling that pressure, and staring at a blank screen or piece of paper, here are some DO’s and DON’Ts that won’t just help get you writing, but will get you writing a stellar college application essay.
DO follow the advice
There is no shortage of advice on writing your application easily, and a lot of it will be good advice. There is no need to rehash it all here, but it’s worth highlighting some key points.
First, start early, then your mind will work on your essay even when you aren’t consciously thinking about it. Second, read examples from others to see how they have tackled it. And third, make sure you draft, draft, and draft again; you might write a great essay on the first attempt, but most people need a few goes.
DON’T follow ALL the advice
Be aware that not all advice is good advice. Part of being a student is questioning and challenging what you see, hear, and read. That elderly family friend who never went to university will be well-meaning, but probably isn’t the best judge of what admission tutors want! Ask yourself where the advice is coming from, does it make sense, and does it get you closer to an essay that delights you?
And, yes, ask those questions about this article, too!
DO think about exactly what you want to achieve
It might seem obvious: you want a college place. But everyone else writing that essay wants that too. What you want, specifically, is a college place for you.
The essay is about selling yourself. Put yourself in the position of a college tutor and ask what you would want to think about the people you admit. It’s your opportunity to sell yourself as a person, and as someone they would want on their course and as a member of their university. What version of you do you want them to see?
DON’T just sell yourself as a student
Don’t fall into the trap of using it to be the perfect student. You will prove you’re a great student in other parts of the application, so the university will want to see more about you as a person in the essay. Use it to show your personality and character.
DO write about yourself
It might seem obvious, but this is an essay about you. However, many applicants fall into the trap of writing about something else. The classics include the trip of a lifetime they have taken, or the eventful life of an elderly family member. You can, of course, use these ideas as starting points (although it’s not recommended, they have become admission essay clichés), but you need to use them to say something about you.
Think about the situations or relationships, the actions you took, and the difference you made to the world, or it made to you, as a result. Show how it has shaped you and made you the person they want to accept.
DON’T re-write someone else’s story
As well as avoiding making your essay about someone else, make sure you don’t just tell someone else’s story. You will have read plenty of other applications as part of your preparation. But if you have read them, so will everyone else including the admissions tutor.
Make sure it’s your story, not someone else’s template with different characters.
DO be creative and original
Think about how you write. As part of your preparation, you will know the rules that are given, there might be some questions you should answer and a maximum word count. But you will probably assume other rules that don’t actually exist, like using a formal tone or following a typical essay structure.
In fact, chances are that if you want to write in Shakespearean iambic pentameter or rap, you probably can. And if you feel it’s the best way to express who you are, then have the confidence to be yourself.
DON’T be too original!
Although expressing your creativity is a positive, remember that it is still a college application essay. There are plenty of urban legends about the brave or provocative essay answers that defy expectations and win places. But they are urban legends, not instructions. Make sure the essay does its job of selling you: bend those implicit rules, but don’t break them.
DO tell a story
People have been telling each other stories for as long as they have been speaking. Your story might not be an epic saga or a soap opera, but telling it is a fantastic way to engage the admissions tutor’s interest.
Most stories, at their core, have a hero who overcomes something, and things are better as a result. You do not need to match a bestseller or a Hollywood blockbuster, but you will have a story where things got better because you were the hero.
DON’T end the story
You have to end the essay, but only the essay; your story continues. Make sure that when you tell your story it’s clear that the next challenge, and the next place that will benefit from you as the hero, is the university.
Finally, DO be authentic
This is such an important DO, there isn’t a DON’T to go with it.
Your essay is not just about a college choosing you, it’s also about you choosing a college. Yes, you are applying and want to be accepted. But if you write the best essay you can and are authentic in it, and they decide it is not what they want, would you really want to be there anyway?
You are selling yourself. No-one else. So, write an essay that portrays you as what you are. By all means, portray yourself in the best possible light, but be honest and be you. Regardless of background, everyone has a story to tell, so put your heart into telling yours, and the essay will take care of itself.