How to Make Your College Application Essay the Best Writing You’ve Ever Done (#10 of 25)
Here is another purely technical approach to making your college application essay the best writing you’ve ever done. #10. Vary Your Sentence Structure and Word Choice This is basic “good writing,” but as students stew in the cauldron of stress surrounding their college application essays, it can be easily overlooked. To make sure your essay […]
How to Make Your College Application Essay the Best Writing You’ve Ever Done (#9 of 25)
This method for making your college application essay the best writing you’ve ever done is technical, yet easy to execute. #9: Keep paragraphs short There are a couple of reasons for this. First, shorter paragraphs make for a faster paced read. And it is better for the reader to reach the end of your essay […]
How to Make Your College Application Essay the Best Writing You’ve Ever Done (#8 of 25)
Have you ever noticed that today’s popular movies almost always begin with a compelling event, whether it’s based on action or a highly emotional moment? This is a calculated technique by filmmakers to instantly engage viewers and get them to start wondering, “What’s going to happen next?” It’s a highly effective tool, just like the […]
How to Make Your College Application Essay the Best Writing You’ve Ever Done (#6 of 25)
Building on #5 of the twenty five ways to make your college application essay the best writing you’ve ever done, here’s #6. #6: Follow the Basic Rules of Good Writing BUT… As long as it’s purposeful and you do it with flair, you can break some of the traditional rules of good writing in your […]
How to Make Your College Application Essay the Best Writing You’ve Ever Done (#5 of 25)
Everyone going to college already knows the fifth way to make their college application essay the best writing they’ve ever done. Yet, too often, aspects of this step are overlooked. #5. Brainstorm, Freewrite, Outline, Draft, Revise, Polish This are the basic rules of good writing and must be applied scrupulously to your essays. Brainstorm I […]
How to Make Your College Application Essay the Best Writing You’ve Ever Done (#4 of 25)
Here’s the fourth of my twenty five ways to make your college application essay the best writing you’ve ever done. #4. Answer the Prompt While this may seem obvious, many students veer away from fully answering the essay prompt, and wind up hurting their chances for acceptance. Admissions Directors are expecting all aspects of an […]
How to Make Your College Application Essay the Best Writing You’ve Ever Done (#3 of 25)
Here’s the third of the “twenty five ways to make your college application essay the best writing you’ve ever done.” #3. Go Small Students sometimes feel that by associating themselves with a major societal issue – climate change, poverty, the cure for a horrible disease – they will be demonstrating their seriousness as a human […]
How to Make Your College Application Essay the Best Writing You’ve Ever Done (#2 of 25)
Here’s #2 of the twenty five ways to make your college application essay the finest writing you’ve ever done. #2: Write Something Only You Can Write With the number of college applications increasing each year, there is, unavoidably, a great deal of repetition when it comes to the subject matter of essays. That’s why students […]
How to Make Your College Application Essay the Best Writing You’ve Ever Done (#1 of 25)
This is the first in a series of twenty five blogs I will be posting in the months ahead, all under the title, “How to Make Your College Application Essay the Best Writing You’ve Ever Done.” The blogs are based on a workshop I developed for high school and community presentations and represent a synthesis […]
THE THREE “RE’S” OF WRITING THE COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY
At the risk of oversimplifying, here are three “re’s” students need to keep in mind when writing their college application essays. Re-flect Unless a student was raised by wolves or comes from Pluto, it is rare that an outstanding essay topic instantly reveals itself. On the contrary, it takes time and serious self reflection to […]