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<u>one</u> aspect about yourself that really sets you apart from the other applicants.</a></p> <p>One easy way to come up with an appropriate, interesting, and relevant college essay topic is to pretend the admission officer is in the room with you, asking the question, <a href=https://plexuss.com/n/"http://time.com/money/4433730/college-application-essay-help/">“What else should we know about you?”</a> When you imagine you’re sitting in front of your audience, it can be easier to write your essay in your own, natural voice, instead of making it too formal. Colleges want to get to know you as a person, outside the classroom. Give them that insight by writing as authentically as possible to reflect your true personality.</p> <p>Something to keep in mind about your college essay topic is that you shouldn’t be trying to impress the admission officer - it can be seen as bragging, and they can easily see through an insincere essay. The most captivating essays are those that <a href=https://plexuss.com/n/"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-s-schwartz/college-application-advice_b_4023120.html">take an everyday topic or situation and make it interesting.</a> Write about what makes you tick, what gets you excited, what motivates you to go out and explore or discover. <a href=https://plexuss.com/n/"http://college.usatoday.com/2014/10/23/9-essay-writing-tips-to-wow-college-admissions-officers">Often an anecdote will provide a great opener for your essay</a>, as it puts your reader in the moment with you. Show, don’t tell, by using your senses and active verbs rather than using too many adjectives which can clutter your writing. Tell the reader how you felt, what could you hear, smell, taste, and see. These writing techniques will make your essay come alive, engrossing your reader in your story.</p> <p>The structure and format of your admission essay are nearly as important as the content - you may have a great story to tell, but if your essay is not organized appropriately your message will be overlooked. You want to set your essay up like any essay you would write for school: an introduction, the body - or main content - of your essay, and a conclusion. If you don’t conclude your essay, you leave the reader ultimately unsatisfied. You want to make sure that the reader is engaged up until the very last word on the page, as they’ll remember more vividly the parts of the essay that they read most recently.</p> <p>If you are telling a story about something that happened to you, be sure that your paragraphs are chronological so that your reader does not become confused and miss the point of your story. Play around with your essay structure. Some people like to create a book-ended essay, in which they begin and end with an anecdote and include other information about themselves in the middle. Other people prefer to begin with an anecdote and finish with how that situation has changed or shaped them. <a href=https://plexuss.com/n/"http://time.com/money/4443608/common-app-essay-prompts">This is <i>your</i> college essay</a> - there is technically no wrong way to structure it, but try to keep the flow natural and logical.</p> <p>While valuable content and effective structure are essential, the most important part of writing is editing. When you edit your writing, you are peeling back the layers of unnecessary or insufficient sentences, words, and ideas in order to uncover the most pristine version of your essay. As you begin to write your admission essay, your first draft should just be getting your ideas on the page. Writing becomes far easier when you start out with no rules, and then gradually work to clean up and tighten your work over a series of drafts. You will undoubtedly find grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors every time you read through your essay - That’s okay! The important thing is that you’re taking the time to spot and correct those errors, ultimately strengthening your essay.</p> <p><a href=https://plexuss.com/n/"http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/how-to-write-a-college-essay">There are also more specific things to look at while you’re editing</a> that don’t have to do with grammar or punctuation:</p> <p><i>Number one-</i> Beware of clichés. Nearly everyone has been told this, and it is now practically a cliché to even warn about using them, but many students still forget that using a cliché will only make their work sound unoriginal. Opt instead for using colorful detail about your topic. This will help your admission essay read more like a personal expression and feel more genuine.</p> <p><i>Number two-</i> Avoid run-on sentences. If you read your essay aloud, it should be easy to spot where a period could separate two differing thoughts. This will help your work read more professionally and cohesively. Along with limiting your sentence length, be conscious of the variety of sentences you are using. If you’re writing rather long sentences (that are not run-ons), try adding shorter sentences in between. Your reader can get tired from reading too many long sentences, and may find their attention wandering. Keep their interest with an assortment of sentence lengths and styles.</p> <p><i>Number three-</i> Refrain from using higher level vocabulary for the sake of using higher level vocabulary. If you add words that don’t fit in with the rest of your essay in order to sound more intelligent, it will often have the opposite effect. It will be very obvious to admission officers if you are using a word that isn’t in your everyday vocabulary, so be wary of this trap. You want your writing voice to be genuine and consistent.</p> <p>When you’ve finished editing your admission essay and you feel that you would be proud to submit what you have written, you should now read the entire essay aloud, from beginning to end. Listen carefully for any awkward phrasing or incorrect tenses. Even better, have a friend or family member read it aloud to you. They can tell you what works and what needs improvement, and you can hear it for yourself from a new perspective. Having one or two people read over your work can give you another set of eyes to look out for any errors. More than two people, however, is probably too many - everyone will have a different opinion of what sounds good, and having too many different critiques wouldn’t help anybody. Don’t forget that this is <i>your</i> college application essay, and you should be the one who ultimately approves it for submission.</p> <p>Now that you have a better idea of how to write your college admission essay, you can get started on brainstorming. It’s best to start prepping for and working on your essay as soon as possible before your senior year of high school begins, so that you have plenty of time to edit, rewrite, and reread your work. Get started on your admission essay process by reading some essays submitted by students who were admitted to schools like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and more with <a href=https://plexuss.com/n/"https://plexuss.com/premium-plans">Plexuss Premium.</a></p> </body> </html>"/>