Sample College Application Essays

Sample College Application Essays Most students are in the middle of AP exams throughout this month, so they usually don’t have time to do much more than this. Every college applicant will have varying essay workloads, depending on their college list. Students with high aspirations for top colleges should be prepared to write A LOT of essays. Schools like Stanford require answers to 6 short answer questions , an extracurricular essay , and 3 short essay questions . Although they are all quite short, that’s 10 questions to answer in a thoughtful, efficient manner. A good number of people to get feedback from is about three or four different people. These should be people who know you well and have experience with personal writing. While the Common App only requires one essay, we do suggest that you draft at least two different essays with different topics so that you have some options later on. Unused essays can easily be used for other essay prompts down the line. A great and strong college essay arouses the readers’ interest while presenting the writer’s personality. An admission college essay is the first counter between the admission committee and the potential candidate. This is why, to make it impactful, add the details that are in line with the prospective college’s culture and your aim. Like other essays, a college essay is started with an outline. An outline is a must to write any essay or assignment. A thoughtfully crafted essay and a clean, clear application can make a tremendous difference in the college admissions process. Remember, in the grand scheme of the college admissions process, the application essay is a unique opportunity â€" and an opportunity to be unique. People often ask me about the value of the application essay. ” I assure you, at my university and in admissions offices across the country, we do. Here are some college application essay dos and don’ts for students to keep in mind as they complete their applications this fall. Ethan Sawyer is a nationally recognized college essay expert and sought-after speaker. Each year he helps thousands of students and counselors through his online courses, workshops, articles, products, and books, and works privately with a small number of students. Writing your college essay can be a daunting task. If you’re serious about getting into a school like Stanford, those essays will also have to be quite excellent. For less competitive schools, there might not even be any supplemental essays to write. Students have no clue what to write that will wow admissions staff and faculty members from hundreds of other essays they will read. Think of the college application process as a video game, and the dreaded college essay is the dragon that needs to be slayed. Eerily similar to the college application process, there were many qualified donor applicants. The overall workload here is really dependent on your college list, so if your list isn’t as ambitious, some of the timelines above might not apply to you. The main point here is that getting a head start and planning your essay workload is essential to limiting how stressful the college application process needs to be. It’s important to get a good chunk of regular decision essays done in November, otherwise December is going to be a mess. Your personal statement essay is the face of your application and one of the only ways to show your personality. Make sure to get feedback from not too many and not too few people. Too much feedback will give you a lot of contradicting opinions while too little feedback could miss some glaring problems if that person isn’t experienced in college essay writing. These 650 words or less â€" your personal statement to colleges â€" will be one of the most important pieces of writing you’ve done in your life up until this point. Often the best college essays develop out of a moment or idea that at first seems small, but then grows, develops, and takes on a life of its own. Choosing one donor from the pool of applicants was an insurmountable task for my mom until she realized there was an essay buried in the back of each profile. After reading my donor’s essay, she chose him because he spoke so eloquently about his passion for music and the arts. Students applying to a number of top 20 reach schools for regular decision will have the majority of their essay work ahead of them and not a lot of time to ensure they’re writing their best possible essays. This is a great tool for demonstrating interest and learning details about your intended programs that you can’t find on the website. In addition, conversations with faculty at your early schools can give great tidbits that you can use for a “Why Us? This is a really important decision for your application.