Dos And Donts Of Writing A College Admission Essay

Do's And Don'ts Of Writing A College Admission Essay When you apply to Penn, you must submit your application for admission to one of our four undergraduate schools. In the Penn-specific essays, be precise when explaining both why you are applying to Penn and why you have chosen to apply to that specific undergraduate school. Try very hard not to dump your entire life story or all your finer points into the essay. Focus on singular moments or activitiesâ€"pick the ones that stand out. Answer the questionâ€"this sounds obvious, but it can be easy to forget. Because personal essays are about you, you may find yourself on a roll re-living your memories. Your personal reflections are the key to keeping the reader invested, but don’t let them carry you away. Her essay was risky because it called on the reader to infer things about the student’s character and abilities from the story. Many guides to writing application essays encourage you to take a risk, either by saying something off-beat or daring or by using a unique writing style. When done well, this strategy can workâ€"your goal is to stand out from the rest of the applicants and taking a risk with your essay will help you do that. It should reflect how you arrived at your professional goals, why the program is ideal for you, and what you bring to the program. First, write down a rough draft without going back to edit anything. After you are done, read through it while noting the mistakes. Stay focused on the essay promptâ€"for example, a question about an experience outside the classroom that shaped who you are. Make what you write about what you learned from the experience, not the exact details or context of the story. Remember this is more of a written job interview than a first date in paragraph form. Just get startedâ€"the hardest part is the first part. Starting early is key to writing a college essay, so you should get started the summer before your senior year. If you can get your essay finished during this summer, you’ll have plenty of time to adjust it or rewrite it, as well as to get started on other essays, as well. Students who attend a Department of Defense high school who are not exempt based on test scores should also submit a form. It will be used in determining qualification for automatic admission. You should plan to submit your essays in conjunction with yourApplyTexasor Coalition for Collegeapplication. You will be required to complete the short answer responses in order to complete and submit your admissions application. Plus you’ll be in a position to apply for early decision deadlines by the winter, which is always a good idea. That means most schools will want to make sure you know how to put an essay together before they offer you admission. It’s a lot of work for you to write, it’s a lot of work for them to read and evaluate, but it really is for your own good. After three years of high school, you would probably be glad never to write an essay again. Don’t make this a deadline taskâ€"now’s the time to write, read, rewrite, give to a reader, revise again, and on until the essay is clear, concise, and compelling. You know most of the things you need to say already. Most applicants don’t need to submit a coursework exemption form. I’m talking about constructive feedback from trusted friends, family, or mentors. Southwestern University Assistant Director of Admission Rebecca Rother recommends having two people review your essay. The first should be someone “who knows you super well, such as a parent, best friend, close teacher, etc. One student applying to an art program described the person he did not want to be, contrasting it with the person he thought he was and would develop into if accepted. Another person wrote an essay about her grandmother without directly linking her narrative to the fact that she was applying for medical school. If you plan on going to college, however, you’re in for some bad news. Essay writing is one of the more important things you need to get out of your high school experience, because you can’t get through college without it. Another way to get critical distance from your essay is to get criticism. And I don’t mean a slash-and-burn review like you might get from an unreasonable reality-TV competition judge.