1. Crafting a Strong College Essay
English 12

2. Seven Steps to a Stellar Essay
1. Set aside a block of time in a place that is free of distractions.
Writing is not a good “fits and spurts” activity. The best way of approaching it is to block out a specific amount of time — like one or two hours, perhaps more. Literally put it on your calendar! Then locate yourself in a quiet place that offers a good surface for your computer or writing pad. This might be a desk in your room, a kitchen table or the corner of your favorite coffee house or public library. Before you start the writing process, gather all of your supplies:
The college application that contains the essay questions
Your computer and/or writing pad
Pens or pencils
Notes with personal stories and anecdotes
Your activities resume (if you don’t have one yet, a list of activities from grades 9 to 12)
And a glass or bottle of water (so you don’t have to leave your space to get it later)
Now you’re ready to go!

3. 2. Identify the question you are going to answer
After you have yourself situated, the first thing you need to do is identify the essay prompt that you are going to answer. If you have never written an application essay or are starting a new application, it’s a good idea to start with a short, rather than a long, essay. For example, the new Georgetown University application offers this prompt: “Short essay: In the space available discuss the significance to you of the school or summer activity in which you have been most involved.”
3. Brainstorm ideas for a topic to answer the question, looking for a theme or subject that fits you.
There are many places where you can find ideas for an essay topic. Take a look at your activities resume and/or think about everything you have done since you were a freshman. A very important question to ask yourself is, “What do I want this college to know about me?” If this is your first essay-writing session, you might want to sit down with your parents or a trusted friend and brainstorm ideas about potential topics before you starting putting pen to paper. As you do this, don’t forget to write down the ideas.

4. 4. Choose a topic and answer the question.
From all that you generated in brainstorming, pick one idea or topic that you like. Then go back and highlight (or underline) all of the different parts of the essay prompt. For example, if you are answering the above Georgetown question, you will want to highlight these parts: a) The school or summer activity in which you have been most involved, and b) The significance to you. It is terribly important that you pay attention to each and every part of a question because admissions officers will be expecting that of you. Not doing this will likely disappoint the readers, something you don’t want to do.
5. Once again, use brainstorming to get ideas for the essay question for which you now have a topic, and from there pick out the most important points. After that, write a first draft.
Once you have a topic, the next step is actually fun. Gather all the information you have about a topic — pieces from your resume or activity list, personal stories and anecdotes, suggestions from family and friends and any ideas that pop into your head. Once again, write it all down. It’s really important that you keep track of your ideas because it will be impossible to remember all of what you have thought about or said. You don’t lose any of the good “stuff.”
Once you have done this, write a first draft. What I don’t mean is to do an outline and carefully carve out each sentence and paragraph. Just write your answer like you’re telling a story to a friend or mentor. Don’t worry about what you say, how you say it or whether it is grammatically or otherwise correct. Just get it down, let yourself go, get creative, be yourself, offer an anecdote, bring in a little humor, and try to have a good time!

5. 6. Edit, edit, edit your draft
People who write for a living or love writing know that it’s not just a one-time event. It involves producing a draft and then re-writing, adding and subtracting words, phrases, sentences, even whole paragraphs, moving ideas around, coming up with new things to say, and editing. Ask yourself:
Do I have an introduction, a theme, a development of that theme and then a wrap-up or conclusion?
Does what I have written make sense?
Does one thought lead to another? Have I offered transitions from one paragraph to another?
Are there extraneous words or sentences?
Is the essay detailed and specific?
After spell-checking, can I find any errors in the copy?
Have I answered the question and kept to the word or character count?
Is it well-written?
After you have edited your piece, give it to someone you trust for comments and their edits. Understandably, an editor who is a good writer — a parent, teacher or counselor — is probably going to have a better eye for the above questions. It’s hard to be objective and have a true perspective about your own writing. When you get your essay back, then take or leave the suggestions you have been given.
Side note: One thing you should know is that college admissions officers not only want you to answer their questions, but they often look for something about what you have learned or gained from an activity, situation or even writing this particular essay.

6. 7. Set your essay aside for a while and then give it one final proofread.
Save your final essay version somewhere you will remember and then copy or upload it onto the application.
Having written one short essay, you are now better prepared to take on longer ones.
Happy writing!

7. The Do’s And Don’ts Of A College Essay

8. DO
1. Write revealing, concise essays that inform, enlighten and amuse.
2. Present yourself as genuinely humble, modest, perhaps even self-effacing.
3. Be yourself.
4. Answer each and every aspect of the essay question as best you can AND within the character/word limit provided.
5. Come across as mature, positive, reflective, intelligent, down-to-earth, curious, persistent, confident, original, creative, hard-working and thoughtful.
6. Demonstrate evidence of your having real knowledge about a college and its many resources, including courses, programs, activities and students.
7. Write about anything that is counterintuitive about yourself, e.g., you are a football player who is totally into poetry, a young woman who is a computer or physics geek, a macho guy who wants to be an elementary school teacher.
8. Compose an essay, give it to others to read and edit, and then do a final edit before you declare that it is done.
9. Use a variety of words to describe something or someone, e.g., Charley, my friend, my buddy, my schoolmate, he, him.
10. Explain what needs to be explained, as in an illness, a learning disability, a suspension, a one-time bad grade, a family tragedy, a major challenge you have had.

9. DON’T
1. Write too much, ramble on, thinking that more (words) is better. It is not.
2. Brag, boast, toot your own horn, or come across as arrogant.
3. Write what you think college admissions people want instead of what you really think.
4. Go off writing about what you want to say rather than what the question asks AND ignore the specified character/word counts.
5. Come across as immature, negative, superficial, shallow, a phony, glib, a slacker, insecure, whiney, judgmental or disrespectful.
6. Give the impression that you know little about a college by writing trite, inaccurate or inconsequential things about it.
7. Make something up about yourself just to impress the admissions readers.
8. Write an essay and consider it done without looking for punctuation or grammatical errors and having it edited by at least one person.
9. Use the same words over and over, e.g., my friend, my friend, my friend, my friend, my friend.
10. Make excuses for anything, including a bad grade, an infringement of rules, a suspension, whatever.