Crafting An Unforgettable College Essay

Crafting An Unforgettable College Essay Writing about yourself can be a slippery slope, which is why it is best to stick to the truth and leave the lies behind. In the end, the admissions committee is just looking for insight into your mind and character. It’s up to you to show them through your writing just what you can add to their school. A body paragraph is a group of related sentences about a particular topic or idea directly relating to the thesis. Because essays are composed of multiple body paragraphs, writing and organizing good paragraphs is one of the most important aspects of creating a well-organized and developed essay. It can be fine to leave the writing of the introduction for a later stage in the essay-writing process. Some people write their introduction only after they have completed the rest of the essay. The more selective the school, however, the more important essays are. For instance, essays likely matter more at UC Berkeley and the University of Michigan compared to the University of Nebraska or University of Arizona. This is because more selective schools often have more qualified applicants, so essays are used kind of as a tie-breaker. If they read through and make light edits, grammatical and typos, yes. If the parent re-writes or writes the essay the answer is no. The danger there is that the essay starts sounding more like a forty something adult, instead of a high school senior. There is a certain “voice” that defines a young person about to start college and if it is lacking in an essay, Admissions Directors will quickly pick it up. But resist the urge to rewrite everything in the way you might express it. More than any other element of the application, the essay gives insight into who a student really is. The essay is always important, but just how much it will influence your overall application varies by the school to which you are applying, as well as your individual profile. I think it is always best for a student to have an impartial person do the proofing. It is difficult for parents to remain unbiased and often it can cause a lot of added tension between the student and parent. It is, however, a good idea for the parents to help the student brainstorm ideas for the essay prior to writing it. Yes, it is perfectly okay to have your parents edit your essays. However, the key is to edit, not to write them for you. They can help with typos, grammatical errors, and help you to be clear, concise and compelling. They know you best, sometimes more than you know yourself so they may have good suggestions. However, you do want the essays to sound like you; it should be your voice. Recommended length 550 words, but students should check the requirements for each school. Hospitals divide the labor of caring for sick people among the professions, but because the professions are still dominated by certain genders, the division ends up being one of gender more than job title. Others write the introduction first but rewrite it significantly in light of what they end up saying in the body of their paper. Want the strategies we have used to get students into top Ivy League schools in your email box every month? Caroline’s admissions consulting service has helped students get into Harvard, Stanford, UPenn, and Columbia. So it should “sound” like the applicant, revealing personality, interests, quirks, personal style, and voice. Some parents can act as a sounding board without taking over the project, while others cannot. There should be some consistency between the essays and interviews. The emphasis must be on “help” and not, “take over.” Parents, with only the best intentions, will often offer lots of input and comments, which their child will gratefully accept.