The College Admission Essay Is More Important Than Ever

The College Admission Essay Is More Important Than Ever While we still have a few more days until the official beginning of fall, around here it feels a lot like the season has already begun. Classes are back in session, the leaves are falling off the trees, and most of our counselors have departed for the two-month marathon of flights, high school visits, and college fairs that we call travel season. A story within a college essay can be amusing, but don't try to make the entire essay funny. The problem with these topics is not that they are depressing, but that such powerful topics can be challenging to write about. It’s always wise to have someone else read your draft before you submit your essay. You’ll be much more relieved knowing you submitted your very best work. Don’t repeat what you’ve already supplied in your applicationâ€"grades, test scores, etc. Your essay serves to fill in the blanks beyond what you have supplied. Is there a specific place to write the essay and is there a prompt, the common app doesn’t have a location to attach a personal essay. Get the salient aspects of the school into your essay. The adversity you choose doesn’t have to have a “happy ending.” The story you tell can have any trajectory, and the adversities that didn’t end in success can still make for extremely insightful essays. The goal is to share how you respond in the face of a challenge, and what you learned from that specific experience. Struggling to connect with one of your math tutoring students for months, and finally discovering a more visual mode of learning that helps them succeed. Your essay does not depend on having an intensely adverse experience, as not everyone will have had one. Your essay should help to give better, deeper insight into you as a person. As the post mentions, your essay should supplement the other parts of your application to help us understand you better. That said, you don’t have to include anything about yourself that you don’t feel comfortable sharing. Do not write about drug use, drinking and driving, arrests or jail time. Also leave your sexual activities out of the frame. Even if you have abandoned your reckless ways, don't bring it up. Do you know how many millions of teens have written about scoring the winning goal, basket or run? Understand the school’s culture, and what looms large as seeming important to the school. Read about the history of the school, from foundation to the present. In the end, being a successful student means getting the career you not only want but also deserve. Admissions offices are honed to know if the essay is portraying a person in an authentic way. If it rings false, your chances of getting admitted have fallen. The passion in your writing comes through when its true to you. Besides, this is the exciting part about writing the essay, you get to really let yourself shine. Absolutely no pet stories -- admission officers hate them. Schools do not want to hear about your church or school trip to another country or region to help the disadvantaged. You may be able to write about a trip like this only if you focus on a specific experience within the broader trip. You definitely don't want to write about your winning team. And nobody wants to read about your losing team, either. Financial education curriculum by Washington State Employees Credit Union. This Student Workbook was developed to help students link responsible financial habits and future success. Learn about the best education and career options available in technology, life skills, and more. As a senior, most of the accomplishments that will make up the bulk of your application â€" academic performance, test scores, and extracurricular involvement â€" are said and done. In a sense, the only part of the application over which you have complete control right now is the essay. While the essay is a valuable tool that we use to understand you better, it is rarely if ever a “make or break” component of your application. You don’t have to write about tragedy, like death, divorce, parent job loss, or abuse. This prompt uses adversity as a means to see your personal growth and development. Choose a topic that will allow you to illustrate that. Carefully choose the details you provide about your adverse experience.