College Essay Help

College Essay Help My niece is working on hers and that got me thinking about the college essay I wrote 33 years ago. The coronavirus has upended the lives of many students, so it's natural that some high school juniors plan to write about this topic in their college essays. Although that's not necessarily a terrible idea, keep in mind that this could be a common topic, so you'll have to make your essay unique for it to stand out to admission officers. As a former high school teacher, I have worked with hundreds of students on their college essays. Later, as a private college essay consultant, I worked with students and parents at some top private schools before I became an admissions counselor for a small liberal arts college. Contact us to learn more about our college essay service. If you’re just getting started with your college essay, here is some advice on getting into the college essay mindset. I’m surprised when students have trouble writing their college essays. Students have keen powers of energetic observation about themselves and the world around them, but ask them to share any of those ideas in a college essay, and the silence speaks volumes. “aerial view of graduates wearing hats” by Good Free Photos on UnsplashEarly admissions applications are due next month so high school seniors all over the country are writing their college essays. It’s just that admissions officers learn nothing new about you when you write something that anyone could claim. A lot of students feel anxious about this because they don’t feel like anything unique has happened to them. But everyone has a different perception of their experiences, and the more you can share that, the more you’ll stand out in that stack of applications. Nothing has more impact than just being yourself. Some schools will allow you to defer enrollment for a year, and if you reapply after taking a gap year, you’ll have new experiences and stories to share in your application. Talking about how being in marching band taught you the value of hard work isn’t your story; that could be anyone’s story. Talking about how helping people feel good isn’t original; everyone experiences that. I once had a student who wrote about how he observed a water droplet while on vacation. This seemingly insignificant event caused him to think about why he loved art and philosophy over science and math. Pizza, community service, grandmothers, barnacles…you name it, and admissions officers have probably read an essay about it. And given that thousands of students are admitted to colleges each year, I hope we can all agree there is no one “best” topic on which to write yourCommon App essay. What makes a college essay strong isn’t necessary its theme, but the personal and reflective story that emerges from that theme. That intimidating college application essay is becoming increasingly important for transfer students. If you’re applying to schools that request supplemental essays or do not accept the Common Application, you may have several different essays to write. As college application deadlines near, students across the country are hoping that their essays will earn them a spot at their dream school. We’re experts at helping students craft stellar college admission essays. From coming up with ideas to organizing your thoughts to drafting and revising, our writing tutors know how to help you create top college essays to boost your chance of admission at your dream school. Evaluating a college essay, much like any piece of writing, is highly subjective. Two people might both like the same movie or song, but for totally different reasons. The problem is when a student seeks so many opinions from trusted adults. It's highly unlikely that any of these people have actually read college essays before â€" and certainly not as a member of a college admissions committee. For most students, it takes about 10 hours to write a good college essay. I worked with a student last year who had played in the marching band all of high school, which is something thousands of students can claim. Even if I happened to read another essay about being a drummer in the marching band, there’s no way I could confuse it with this one. These details belong only to this student, and they show us her leadership qualities rather than just telling us. With a January 1 application deadline racing toward us, now is a great time to be brainstorming, creating, polishing and revising those essays. In September we published a blog post that provided a basic framework for how to write a killer college essay â€" and offered tips on how to incorporate the Outward Bound experience into the application. This month, we’re giving you another nudge â€" and a slightly different perspective from yet another expert. Contrary to popular belief, students should not write about a horrible life event that changed their life forever. The fact is that most of us have not had such a life changing situation before the age of 18 (so don’t make one up either!). Even if you have had such an experience, don’t write about it. These types of pieces can come off negatively, and sometimes a teenager’s perception of a life changing event is much different than that of a college admissions reader.