College 101

College 101 The personal statement is your opportunity to reveal something about yourself that can’t be found anywhere else in your application â€" use it! Many students use this essay to expound upon activities or interests that are already heavily demonstrated in their application through courses, the activity list, and more. Instead of reinforcing a top activity or interest, instead, write about something that reveals another dimension of your life or personality. If your top activity is swimming, don’t write about the big championship meet. Find something else that reveals something new and that shows you put a lot of thought into your essay. You can start working on these essays at any time and save drafts in your MyCoalition Locker. Whether you’re prompted to write about a formative experience, why you think you’d be a good fit for the university or about a person who has influenced you greatly, answer the question honestly. Don’t just write what you think the admissions office wants to hear. Very often they are inundated with essays that cater to “what they want to hear,” making such essays exactly what they don’t want to hear. If your study of AP biology conflicts with your religious views, write about that and how you reconciled the two. See how the first relays information in apassivevoice, while the second paints anactivepicture? College admissions committees are looking to build a student body that will contribute to and sustain the community. They want to attract students and eventual alumni who are innovators and creators, and they want to have a hand in shaping those minds. When you’re responding to the “Why Us” prompt, you’re telling them exactly how an education there will shape your intellectual and professional journey. This essay isn’t just about the college; it’s about you, too. Feel free to start out by painting a vibrant picture of yourself too! Many college admissions counselors have said that the more unique your essay â€" the content and writing style â€" the more captivating it is to read. Vagueness isn’t a problem unique to admissions essays. It’s something all writers struggle with â€" including myself; I struggled with it while writing this very article. Many of the colleges and universities that accept the Coalition application require you to submit at least one essay as part of your application. , any other graphic organizer, and/or pre-writing technique that works for you will help you to focus your ideas. You may want to try outlining your essay in multiple formats or the same format multiple times. You may do pre-writing for several different answers to a topic and then pick the best one to write the actual essay. You might want to plan to do one pre-writing essay, wait a few days, and then do another pre-writing exercise. In the pursuit to write the perfect essay, many forget to connect it to the original prompt. While the Common Application prompts for the main essay are general enough to allow students to write about whatever they choose, it still needs to be clear how that essay addresses the prompt. Check and double check that a clear connection is made between the topic or lesson of your essay, and the question the prompt is asking. I hope that after reading this post you feel a bit more confident in your ability to write your college admissions essay. It may feel scary and impossible, but with right approach , you can write an essay that showcases your unique personality and impresses admissions officers. It can be hard to choose what to talk about in your college essays. In addition to this, the schools that you’re applying to may have different prompts â€" which could mean having to write multiple essays. This is why we recommend sitting down and coming up with a few different topics to consider. No wonder people feel stressed out about their college essays! This is one of the most common mistakes that students make. A more concrete reason for this prompt is that colleges want to have a high yield, the ratio of accepted students who end up attending. News and World Report and contribute to the overall reputation of the school. This essay is one way for them to gauge how likely you are to attend and help them attain a high yield. If you seem genuinely passionate about the college, then they can assume you’re more likely to matriculate if offered a spot in the freshman class.