Your college application is one step towards getting to that prestigious learning institution of your choice. Yes, the grades and test scores will help the admission committee in their selection. However, that is not all that determines whether you join your preferred college or not. You must write an admission essay that tells who you are, besides what your college application portrays.
An admission essay is a more personal piece of writing that plays a crucial role in your acceptance or rejection. Therefore, you should take your time to craft it in an impressive manner that makes it difficult to reject you.
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Purpose of an admission essay
Every student applying to join college is required to attach an admission essay. You can guess the number of essays that the selection committee must go through. With that in mind, your admission essay is your only chance to make you stand out. All the students could have impressive grades as seen on paper. The admission essay tells the panel how different each of the applicants is. They must understand what drives you and what kind of person you are. Unfortunately, you might have an average of five hundred words to express yourself. Therefore, it is essential to choose the story that reflects who you are. If you were to write everything about yourself, wouldn’t it take several books? Choose wisely what best represents the true yet unique version of yourself.
How to write an admission essay
1. Take time to understand the essay prompt
Your college admission essay may be based on one or two questions, followed by some instructions. The greatest mistake that applicants make is assuming that the essay is similar to another one. Ensure that you read the prompts or questions and understand what they are asking of you. Some institutions may require you to narrate or defend while others prompt you to discuss. Ask yourself what that specific essay requires you to do since this will determine how relevant you remain. Face the questions with an open mind so that you can easily produce the desired solution. How do the questions relate to you? What experiences fit into the prompt at hand? By following the direction of the question, what will you accomplish? Read and re-read the instructions until you comprehend them all. A single mistake could cost you the chance of a lifetime.
2. Brainstorm
An admission essay, short as it may appear, requires ample time to prepare. Having read the instructions, do not jump straight into writing the piece. Brainstorming involves looking at the prompt from various angles. Come up with all the ideas that may fit in your essay. Consider all the relevant experiences as per the questions asked. As many as the ideas may seem, draft all of them and continue narrowing down your options. Eventually, you will realize that you have a few topics to pick from. Choose the most appropriate story; one that is a true reflection of yourself. Make sure it is relevant to the essay prompt and represents your beliefs, characteristics or abilities.
This essay focuses on your strengths, not weaknesses. However, avoid exaggerating your achievements while trying to impress the admissions committee. Honesty is essential in this type of essay but you do not have to give an endless list of your shortcomings. An admission essay may see a student with lower grades accepted while rejecting the one with higher scores.
3. Outline your work
Before embarking on the actual writing, you must come up with a plan. Think of it as the blueprints for your masterpiece architectural design. Organize in which position to place each of the ideas. You can divide your essay into three parts; introduction, body, and conclusion. What is the best way to start your essay? You certainly need a hook but which of the many best suits the current situation? Let the essay have your voice which will naturally speak to the reader.
4. Write the essay
With a proper plan, writing the actual essay should not pose a challenge. You are now piecing the information together in a manner that it flows naturally. To begin with, compellingly introduce your essay. The first seven seconds determine if the reader will be interested in your essay. Therefore, you must grab the reader’s attention with an appropriate hook. You can use a rhetoric question, an anecdote or an interesting story. Stick to the required format and remain relevant to answering the questions.
Additionally, be specific, honest and concise and use only relevant examples. You can have an inner voice by avoiding cliches and instead focusing on yourself. While sample essays may help, do not use other people’s ideas to represent yourself. Show the admission committee who you are and demonstrate your way of thinking. Avoid giving too much information or focusing too much on jokes and excuses. Let your strengths be seen effortlessly in your writing. Conclude your essay with another hook that leaves the essay lingering in the readers’ minds.
5. Review your work
Take time to go through your essay, identifying any mistakes; grammatical, spelling or punctuation. After reading through the essay, let it rest for a few hours or days. Read it over again and put yourself in the admission committee’s shoes. Make sure that the essay is formal and follows the required guidelines. As you read each paragraph, is there an established flow throughout? Does it sound like you are struggling to express yourself? You can also have the help of at least two other people in proofreading your work. Ask for their opinion and establish whether your essay is relevant to the essay prompts.
Nobody can tell your story better than yourself; be the one to write your admission essay however, you can seek professional help for proofreading and editing purposes. This will guarantee you that your essay meets the desired standards. Furthermore, using online writing companies means getting assistance from people with exposure. They understand the various learning institutions and their admission essay writing requirements
Get help writing an admission essay at our college admission essay writing service.
