YesLetter: Essays: Articles

Quick Tips for A Stellar Essay

by Sungmi

Since most people applying to top schools have remarkable numerical credentials, the admissions essay is a great way to show what kind of person you are and make yourself stand out from the crowd. Your essays will help put a personality to the numbers. Here are a few essay tips I can share with you from personal experience…

• You’re allowed to have your own voice! Your essay should read like something you might actually say. So, if you don’t use the word “alacrity” in your everyday vernacular don’t put it in your essay. A good vocabulary is impressive, but throwing a few misused multi-syllable words in the mix does not prove your prowess of the English language.
  
• Be entertaining. Let’s be honest. Admissions officials are literally swimming in applications. Opening sentences like “My summer vacation was nice.” or “I not only learned a lot about chemistry, but also a lot about myself.” are a dime a dozen and don’t do much to grab anyone’s attention. Following an interesting or thought provoking opening sentence, fill your essay with colorful descriptions and interesting details, but don’t go overboard. An overly flowery essay can be tedious to read.
  
• Let’s make shore to check fir grammmatical and typografical errers. Have other people read your essay! At the very least you should have two people read your writing. First, an English teacher to check for grammar, spelling, and general flow. Next, a friend to check if you sound like yourself, hopefully it’s a friend honest enough to tell you when and if you sound like a total tool.
  
• Be honest. If you did mock trial for a year but absolutely hated it and it’s relevant, you can say so. If you ran for student council president initially because you wanted the cushy parking spot you can use it as a humorous interjection. Being honest makes you a real person. Not everyone who gets in is a model citizen who loves the fast paced world of mock trials, runs for student council president to make a difference in their school, and helps old ladies cross busy streets.
  
• Balance your essays. If you have multiple essays to hand to a school, try to make it so that each essay is different in tone. If one of your essays is humorous, also include and essay that is of a more serious nature. This adds depth to your application and shows different sides of you.
  
• Write your essay early. This is something I had meant to do and didn’t but really should have. The summer before your junior year, start to at least brainstorm ideas for your essay. Allow yourself multiple essays for each topic, meaning if you start an essay and after a paragraph decide that it is absolutely disastrous, just throw it away and start over! Don’t play doctor, if an essay is dead on arrival, hours of attempted resuscitation will only lead to frustration. So, give yourself enough time to let this happen!
  
• Take advantage of the common application. Filling out one form and being able to send it to a few schools is a blessing and it won’t be held against you at all. Schools such as Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, and Johns Hopkins all accept the common application. You will thank your lucky stars for this little gem come mid-late fall, trust me. For more information and to download the common application, go to http://www.commonapp.org.
  
• When given the choice, make up your own question. Not only does this give you a great deal of freedom but it is also much more interesting than simply answering a question that you are given. Formulating an original question is a great way to show your creativity.
  
• Use your essay to explain yourself. This is the time to explain questionable items from the rest of your application. If your grades were poor your sophomore year for a good reason, let the admissions officers know why. However, I stress the importance of a good reason. Telling the people in charge of your collegiate fate that you got bad grades your sophomore year because your regular hair dresser eloped to Alaska with her biker boyfriend and her replacement, a novice just out of beauty school, massacred your hair is just not going to cut it (pun intended). Don’t make it a pity party unless it is extremely relevant.
  
• Speaking of things to stay away from… Writing about your significant others is generally not a good idea, unless it’s satirical. “The sight of my girlfriend’s Hello Kitty purse really opened my eyes to the fact that college will be a whole new bucket of worms.” Also your college essays are not a good place to bring up the restraining orders against you. Even if you are trying to show that you are strong willed and determined. By the way, Christina Aguilera wants her nose ring back.

Well, college is just around the corner, so, after you return Christina’s jewelry, set aside some time to devote to your college essays! Yes, it’s a bummer, I know, but your essays should be you, write about things you’re passionate about and enjoy yourself!