Submitting an essay as a part of the application for admissions is required by most colleges. Most colleges require essays from students hoping to study there. Unfortunately, if you’re out of practice, or have difficulty communicating your ideas, writing becomes a chore. Writing constitutes one-fourth of a college’s admissions criteria, so it should impress admissions committees. US colleges and universities choose candidates based on three indicators:
- Previous coursework – college preparatory work and grade point average (GPA)
- Standardized test scores – SAT and ACT are the two most respected.
- Admission/Entrance essays – required as part of the complete college application
If you have a great high school record, and have scored well on your SAT or ACT, then excelling in the third one can land you Ivy school offers, more scholarships, and a better financial aid package. (It is recommended that you take the SAT IIs, as well – and do well in them.) In this article, we go over the steps that can make your college application essay stand apart from the rest. You can apply the process for each college that you’re applying to.
Part 1: Brainstorming
Step 1: Take the Admissions Committee Psychology into Account
The first key to convincing an admissions committee to offer you an acceptance letter is to understand what they’re looking for. Typically they want students who:
- Do well in their college career once they’re admitted
- Add to the academic experience of fellow peers, and
- Bring prestige to the educational institute with their skills, intelligence, and drive
Before you write your essay, brainstorm what you’ll put in your college essay to convince the admissions board of the above.
Step 2: Determine Your Goal
What message do you plan to convey through your college essay? For example, should the particular college you’re trying to get into need to choose you over other candidates because of your extracurricular activities? Or should they consider you because of your academics? Here are some more aspects to consider:
- Have I ever worked at a relevant job?
- Do I have what it takes to be a leader?
- Have I been academically ambitious?
Decide on the goal that allows you to tower over the other applicants.
Step 3: Distinguish Yourself from Other Applicants
If you’re an international student, you already carry a plus point over the bulk of citizens attempting to gain admittance to the same college as you. Mention in your essay how you’re different, and how you can add to the educational institute’s cultural mix simply by interacting with other students. Also, write down your hobbies like playing piano, speaking five languages, etc. to strengthen your college essay.
Step 4: Shortlist your Ideas
At this point, you must have come up with three to four ideas – the ones that will make your college admissions essay superior to the rest. Instead of including all the ideas in your essay, present a few great ones. Once you accomplish this, take out some extra time and read and re-read your essay and write down questions and answers to them, in case the college interviews students as part of its admissions process.
Part 2: Write My Essay
Once you’re done with the planning part, the writing process gets easier. Follow these steps to do so:
Step 5: Write with Specific Details
The second and the final key to convincing the admission board is to write a refined, detailed piece of work. The less vague your essay, the greater its impact will be on the admissions committee. Let them know how hard-working and responsible you are. For example, you can go about proving this by writing, “Last year, I caught pneumonia. Despite having a 102-degree fever, I still managed to submit my assignment on time.” With statements like these, the admissions committee can pass a quick, accurate judgment.
Step 6: Use College-Level Diction
Word choice can really elevate your writing. It can reflect your personality, education, and intellect. All you need to do is replace several commonplace words such as, “bad,” or, “thing,” or “chance,” with higher-level synonyms such as, “appalling,” or, “phenomena,” or, “opportunity.” You can also include a handful of SAT/ACT vocabulary words in your essay.
Step 7: Feature College-Level Style
To prove to the admissions committee that you have at least college-level writing skills, keep the following in mind:
- Create slightly complex sentences, rather than plain or compound sentences
- Place figurative language at different stages such as a metaphor, a simile, personification
- Include a trope or scheme, for example, chiasmus, oxymoron, or anaphora.
Step 8: Have the Best Proofreader for Error-Free Essay
Even if you can write well, you need fresh eyes to look over your essay. The proofreader will most probably check your grammar, diction, and organization. My Essay Writer has an award-winning journalist that is experienced in proofreading these types of content. If you’re on a tight deadline, google, “write my essay,” and you’ll find us on the list of companies offering such service; we can create essays for you and deliver them on time. Plan your essay with us if all you want is admission to the college or university of your choice.
Step 9: Comply with Deadlines
College admission essays require plenty of work and rework. With this in mind, pay special attention to the deadlines. The best way to stay organized is to maintain a calendar that includes:
- Deadline for submitting the application
- Reminder of deadlines
- Process deadlines (breaking down larger tasks into smaller steps)
Final Words
Deadlines come and go in your academic career, but if you don’t want to miss the opportunity of being accepted into a US college or university, follow our guidelines above.
