Undergraduate Admissions

Undergraduate Admissions Make a plan to meet with your college counselor and go over your college list and essays, and ask for feedback on your writing. Your college counselor can provide valuable insight into how to improve your college application essays, so seek feedback on your drafts as soon as possible. No matter how well you write your first draft, there's probably room for improvement. After your initial draft is complete, let it sit for at least a day. Make sure to keep copies of what you sent to which schools and whenâ€"and follow up on them! Be certain the college or university you're applying to received your essay. Take a minute and think about the college or university admission officers who will be reading your essay. How will your essay convey your background and what makes you unique? If you had the opportunity to stand in front of an admission committee to share a significant story or important information about yourself, what would you say? You don't have to pick a strictly academic story for your essay; college admissions boards care about your complete persona, not simply your academic history. However, remember that your story exists to serve your prompt; avoid telling a story for its own sake. Leave out elements that aren't relevant to the essay, and resist the urge to include every single juicy detail. Unlike the rest of your application, which consists largely of objective facts like grades and test scores, your application essay allows you to truly showcase what makes you unique as a student and a person. Use your own voice and your own stories to illustrate why you would be an asset to the school. Don't fall into the trap of sanitizing your speech and your opinions for risk of offending an admissions officer. Although you do need to use proper spelling and grammar, your college essay is a perfect place for creative metaphors, witty turns of phrase and humor. Your college counselors are there to help, but they can’t if you don’t ask or wait until the last minute to seek guidance and feedback. Look for common patterns in college admission essay samples, such as personal stories and a touch of humor. You might also find some good ideas for structuring your essay to give it a breath of fresh air. When searching for stories from your history, choose incidents that allowed you to learn and grown. Don't be afraid to use a failure in your story; colleges know that students are humans and that failure is a natural part of life. With some space between yourself and your initial writing, you'll be able to view your essay objectively and have better luck finding the flaws. After polishing it up, let it sit again and give it another coat of polish before showing it to your proofreaders. The best college admission essays go through several drafts before they're finished, so don't be afraid to rewrite your essay as many times as needed. Sharing a personal story that's relevant to the prompt is an excellent way to make your essay stand out from the crowd. School-based counselors have a lot of students to advise and are very busy, so seek guidance early and often. Writing the college essay takes time and effort, and you should feel accomplished. When you submit your essay, remember to include your name, contact information, and ID number if your college provided one, especially if you send it to a general admission email account. Nothing is worse than trying to match an application essay with no name (or, worse, an email address such as ) to a file.