By Danusia Garrison
“Just be yourself.”
This college application essay advice is loaded with hidden traps. Be yourself, but be sure to be the right self: confident but not arrogant; unique but not too out there; interesting but not predictably so; grammatically perfect but also believable. You get the picture. No wonder most kids simply freeze up.
The stakes are high. Many admissions personnel admit that when dealing with two equally qualified students, the application essay can often be the tie-breaker.
Each essay prompt is intentionally broad, however, I have never seen an essay prompt that didn’t ask essentially the same question, “Hey kid, who are you? Aside from all of your impressive stats, clubs, sports, side jobs, volunteer work, test results, etc., who are you?”
What to avoid:
- Do not recap your resumé. They already have all of this information.
- Do not write about how you scored the winning goal. This narrative is a snooze andultimately uninteresting.
- Show, don’t tell. Weave a story together where your best traits are illustrated in theactions you took to solve a problem. (i.e. avoid, “I learned responsibility when I did xyz.”-this tells rather than shows responsibility)
- Avoid help from your parents (sorry!) Parents are well-meaning but often want tofocus your essay on your greatest achievement rather than on a personal event where your character, style, and voice can shine through. (Avoid any stories that show bad judgement unless you need to explain something already present in your application).
- Don’t get frustrated; Get help if you need it. Choose someone who is not only familiar with the nuts and bolts of a great college application essay, but also understands exactly what the most selective colleges want to read.Beware. Colleges can smell an over edited piece a mile away!
For extra tips and know-how concerning college admissions essays please contact me at profgprep.com or 619.333.0163.
Danusia Garrison SAT/ACT/Test Prep/College Essay.
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