Build your essay by jotting down ideas or phrases whenever they occur.
Contrary to popular belief, writing a college admissions essay is not like a playing a chess game. No magic topics or key messages will automatically unlock a spot for you in the incoming freshman class. Rather, the college essay is about revealing yourself through concise, descriptive and sincere writing. Focus intensely and, like any writing process, don't be afraid to write several rough drafts before you find something worth pursuing
Instructions
1. Start early. Attempting to write your entire college essay the night before submitting the application will only cause anxiety and stifle your creativity. Start the process months in advance by writing down topics or particular phrases in a notebook or computer file reserved specifically for college essays. This allows you to go back later and choose from a wide selection of possibilities rather than starting from scratch.
2. Focus your topic. Your experience in Belize may have changed your life, but attempting to capture the entire two weeks in 300 words will dilute your writing and content. Instead, choose a single moment or event and write in great detail about the context and experience of that particular instance.
3. Show don't tell. This is a classic age-old adage of writing and it applies to the college essay too. Instead of stating "the sun was tremendously hot that day" describe the feeling of your skin, your sweat in your eyes. College admissions officers want to learn about you as an individual; generic descriptions offer little or no information.
4. Be yourself. Don't write an essay about working in a soup kitchen if your real passion is playing soccer. All else being equal, the quality of writing is more important than the subject. Describe why soccer is so important to you as a person, but don't simply write about how you love soccer and have learned discipline and teamwork. While you may have learned these lessons, your essay should describe, not state, the ways you learned them.
5. Proofread your essay several times. Spell-check is a good start, but it won't catch correctly spelled but incorrect words like "bear" and "bare" or "affect" and "effect." Have a trusted teacher look over your essay as well, but avoid giving it to everyone you know -- too many editors will dilute the content and style.
Tags: your essay, college essay, essay about, have learned, will dilute