Tuesday, March 3, 2009

How To Win At College Entrance Essays

By Nick Sanders

A great college entrance essay will present a view of you that is compelling and personal. It will complete the rest of your application and ensure that you stand out from the crowd. Making a great impression is important here, as the entrance essay is a crucial part of your application that you have complete control over.

Keep personal focus - when your essay is read it must prove a single point that shows the admissions committee you are worthy of a place at their college. When they read your paper, they should be able to understand your argument and easily read your work from beginning to the end. Ask a friend or family member to go over your essay with you and think about how you can improve on what has been written. You should look to see if any parts will need re-writing, as you want to show the committee who you are, using past achievements and experience, and not tell them your whole life story.

If you struggle to think of what to write, then you should ask friends, family or past employers/teachers, they will be able to tell you the positive things about you that you should write about. You should pick the ones that most closely relate to the course you are applying for.

Facts are best - when you are writing your admissions essay will mean including some concrete facts to back up your opinions about your experiences. You will want to expand on the different aspects of these experiences: what you learnt as well as what you may not have had time to learn, and how these experiences have influence your future learning and motivation. You should always back up your own opinions with facts.

Avoid cliche writing by using specific details - again, saying that you want to be a teacher because you want to help children succeed is okay, but it is much better to say that your own teacher was committed to teaching you in fun ways, such as hatching your own chicks to learn their life cycle, and you wish to give other children a brilliant start to their education too.

Be yourself - following everyone else and writing about world peace, combating terrorism or solving the world's food shortage are all good topics to write about. But they have been beaten to death. Bring something new and interesting to the table and make sure you stand out from everyone else.

Add more to your CV - if you intend to simply rewrite your CV then you could be on the road to disaster. You will want to make sure that you include activities that you have done outside your CV, such as the different places that you have visited, if you have been part of a local community club or team and if there have been any occasions when you have take a key role in accomplishing something.

Dont use more words than you need too - making sentences too long and confusing will make your essay harder to understand. A lot of students make the mistake of trying to elongate sentences to look better; however, simple sentences are often better. If you have to add words to sentences, in order to meet the word count, then you are probably missing the point.

Make sure that you proofread your essay, as typos and errors can often be interpreted as carelessness or bad writing. Don't rely on your word processing software spell check, as it can miss simple mistakes, such as accepting fried instead of friend.

Asking a friend or teacher will also be a good idea. Their input will add a neutral aspect to your thoughts and it may be crucial for you to receive their opinion on your written admissions essay. This will help you produce an overall better piece of writing.

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