1. Tips for Writing the College Admissions Essay How to write an essay that doesn’t sound like an essay.

2. What is a college essay? Johns Hopkins Admissions pages tell us:  Essays are distinct and unique to the individual writer.  Essays assist the admissions reader in learning more about the student beyond the transcripts and activity sheets.  The most important thing to remember is to be original and creative as you share your own story with us.

3. Remember!  You control your essay!  Give the reader a glimpse into your character, background, and writing ability.  This is not the traditional five paragraph essay!

4. Your Audience  Admissions officers are looking to create a class of students who will fit in well academically and socially at the college.  They are not looking for a balance of students who help strengthen the college or university.  Most likely your essay will be read by at least two admissions officers.  Your reader may be  an old timer who has worked in the admissions office for his whole career, or  she may be a recent college graduate who just joined the admissions office.  Your readers share a similar desire to get to know you through your essay.

5. Select the Best Topic  College Admission essays and the Common Application give students a choice of topics.  Don’t pick one quickly – think about it!  Make an inventory  key experiences,  achievements,  adjectives that describe you,  anything significant in your background,  what you can potentially “offer” (e.g. athletics, music, dance) a college.

6. Select the Best Topic With your inventory in mind  read the options carefully.  decide which topic(s) provides the best opportunity to portray your self in a desirable manner.  Ask yourself, “If I choose this one, what story can I tell?”  If the application requires more than one essay,  select distinct topics and subject areas.  give the admissions people a broader, and more complete, picture of you.  For example, if you are an athlete, for example, don’t write more than one essay about sports.

7. Answer the Question!  Admission essays are based on a prompt for a reason.  Be certain that you have written a response to the prompt or question.  No matter how beautiful the essay might be, it has to address the prompt or it won’t be chosen.

8. Answer the Question!  Read the prompt carefully.  Pay particular attention to two part questions.  For example, if the prompt says to “evaluate a significant experience, achievement or risk you have taken and its impact on you”, be certain that you thoughtfully and critically analyze both the situation and its impact.

9. Tips:  Have a clear thesis that the reader can easily identify that addresses the prompt.  The thesis does not have to be stated – it can be implied.

10. Make the Introduction Count!  Think about it - Admissions essay readers read a lot of essays and may have read many already when yours reaches the top of their pile.  It’s essential to attract their attention up front.  It is critical that the first few sentences capture their interest.  A boring opening could cause the reader to not pay close attention to the remainder of the essay or even read the whole essay.  Design the introduction to draw them into your essay.

11. Have a Voice!  Don’t “thesaurus-ize” your essay – use words that are familiar to you and don’t sound fake, but use your best vocabulary.  Be interesting.  Use your personality to develop a style.

12. Watch Your Tone!  Admission teams don’t want someone who comes off as  a spoiled child,  a stuck-up rich kid,  lazy,  sarcastic,  a cynic.  A bit of well placed humor is fine, but don’t try to be a comedian.

13. Watch Your Tone!  Don’t come off as self-interested or materialistic.  Check your ego at the door – don’t brag!  Schools don’t want to hear what they can do for you, but what you can do for them.  Stress how you can benefit from your education while still contributing to the campus community.

14. Don’t Fake It!  Recount real incidences in your life.  Don’t try to make things up – it will sound phony.  Don’t embellish – if you won the school spelling bee, don’t make it the state spelling bee.  Don’t plagiarize – there is actually a version or turn-it-in for college essays!

15. Tips:  Don’t overuse “I”.  Convey ideas about you, not a laundry list of things about you.

16. Tips:  Be concise, but be descriptive.  Show, don’t tell!  Instead of telling the reader that you are something or have a special ability, show the reader through an interesting story that demonstrates it.

17. Tips:  Vary sentences in length and style.  Vary sentence beginnings.  Vary transitions  Use transitions that move it forward, but use words other than nevertheless, furthermore, consequently, first, second, etc.

18. Tips:  Use active voice.  Passive-voice expressions =  verb phrases in which the subject receives action expressed in the verb.  employs a form of the verb to be, such as was or were.  Overuse of the passive voice makes prose seem flat and uninteresting.

19. Keep Within the Word Limit!  Prompts often specify a desired number of words or a range  The Common App is 650 words.  The U of A personal statement is 500 words.  Some only ask for 250 words.  Many on-line applications will not even accept more than the stated limit.  If there is only an upper limit, don’t stress if your essay appears too short. Better to be concise than repetitive.  Lincoln got his points across succinctly in the Gettysburg address — in less than 275 words.