9 Tips For Crafting A Successful College Essay

9 Tips For Crafting A Successful College Essay Sometimes creating an outline for your essay can help you get started. It will also help you organize your thoughts and develop a framework. Self-exploration can be fun, but don't procrastinate on the actual writing. You don't want to rush or be up against a tight deadline; it will affect your work. Formatting and presentation cannot replace substance, but they can certainly enhance the value of an already well-written essay. If you’re worried that your essay topic is a bit run-of-the-mill, you have two options. The first is to find another topic that feels authentic to you. The second is to find a unique angle within the topic. DO write about other people as well as about yourself. We are defined as individuals largely through relationships and experiences with others. DO write about something about which you feel strongly. Discuss the challenges and rewards of making your contribution. Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it. With a wealth of experience as a writer, journalist, and educator, Robert Schwartz has written for all four major television networks. The point of this essay is to show who you are, not who you wish you were. Stick to what you know and your true personality will shine through. Don't use big words just for the sake of using big words. Remember, this essay is about you, so use words you normally use. If you write on a topic in which you have little interest or knowledge, your lack of sincerity and enthusiasm will show. Essay writing tips adapted from Kelly Tanabe’s “Four Steps to Writing a Winning Admissions Essay, Part I”. See how eliminating extra words actually makes your point stronger? Eliminatingprepositionsis a great, easy way to tighten your writing. Tell us something different from what we’ll read on your list of extracurricular activities or transcript. Essays should have a thesis that is clear to you and to the reader. Before earning her graduate degree, she attended the New York Summer Writers Institute, The Breadloaf Writers Conference, and the Five Powers of Poetry Conference for Teachers. You want to make sure you've used proper spelling, grammar and punctuation, so ask an expert to proofread your essay. Start with a creative lead.Capture the readers’ interestin the first two sentences. Describe a time when you made a meaningful contribution to others in which the greater good was your focus. “â€"ington, party of thirty, your tables are ready,” announced the hostess. Success Built to Last, by Jerry Porras, for its great pieces of life wisdom that encourage me to follow my passions in a way that serves the world and me. is a published poet and a high school English teacher. She has a BA in English from Skidmore College and an MFA from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers, where she studied poetry. In the feature film world he has written or rewritten screenplays for all of the major movie studios. On Christmas 2010, the one person I was working hardest for disappeared from my life. Imagine this is the most important day of your life. My life is a series of intense fascinations, which I dive into headfirst.