10 Tips For Writing A Great College Admission Essay

10 Tips For Writing A Great College Admission Essay There are a lot of ways I could break up my life timeline, from states I lived in to schools I’ve attended, but I could also break it up by my favorite book . In first grade, my mother bought me the first five Junie B. Jones books, and I was hooked. And most of all, I loved that she was a loud-mouth like me. Like Junie B, I knew what I wanted and I was always ready to ask for it. The series had all the traditional morals of childhood (be kind to your friends, tell the truth, etc.), but it also taught me that sometimes speaking up is better than sitting down, a lesson I still remember today. Know that many top-tier admissions essays have gone through 7-10 drafts before you have had a chance to read them. I encourage kids to think about writing their essay as though they’re describing a snapshot in time. For the first time I could remember, a book had challenged me. I started reading more actively, highlighting and noting in the corners. Describing tone, syntax, and diction, a task once painful for me, became simple as I practiced sub-vocalization. They need to think about those snapshots that have defined them. Another way to think about an essay topic is to think about those small moments that might even seem mundane on the surface, but that have had a big impact on their life. Describe a moment where it may seem that nothing exciting was happening to an outside observer, but that meant a great deal to the student. The idea behind the essay is for colleges to be able to learn something about the student that they couldn’t have learned through the rest of the application. The essay is where the college can discover what makes this particular student unique and interesting. Sadly, many students tear their ACL each sports season and then have to rehab it. I simply slowed down and tried to hear the words in my head. I once condemned poetry as a pretentious and boring, but I realized I was reading poetry completely wrong. You have to slow down to appreciate how the words sounds, how they flow into each other and then slowly drift away. I even began to write poetry, after years of telling myself that I was destined to write prose and prose only for the rest of my life. I began to appreciate the nuances of a person’s writing style, how diction, syntax, sentence length, and dialogue could play together like chemicals and making a book simmer, bubble, foam, or explode. In middle school my two favorite book series were Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I’ll admit, I was a strange child, and my parents called me spaced cadet because I spent so much time staring off into the air, unknown stories forming behind my eyes. Luna was weird, probably even a little weirder than me. She thought wrackspurts caused distracted thoughts and read the tabloid magazine of the Harry Potter word,The Quibbler. What I found so appealing about her character was how unapologetic she was about her oddities. And an appreciation for the finer point of writing has widened the genres I readâ€"from fantasy to classics, autobiographies to mysteries, nonfiction to adventure and beyond. I still read voraciously, but now I read deeply as well. Some universities will give you specific prompts to answer. Others will ask you to tell your story and how it led you to university. No matter what the university asks you to write in your submission, remember that admissions officials are not simply looking for your ability to use big, frilly words. In your essay, remember to be yourself and speak in your voice. My parents couldn’t figure out why I had suddenly become afraid of the dark until they realized that I was only asking they keep the closet light on so I could stay up all night and read. I loved Junie B’s adventurous spirit and offbeat humor. When the other students at Hogwarts made fun of her and called her names she responded with kindness, because she knew in her heart she was brave and smart, and didn’t seek anyone else’s approval. I drew on her strength often during the rough and awkward moments of middle school. At a recent student retreat, everyone in my class was asked to draw a timeline of our lives.