How to Write Your College Application Essay
College Search Now answers the question, “How do I write my college application essay?”
The ultimate question for college applicants in our time…
The college application essay - long the bane of thousands of ambitious high school seniors - is now more important than ever. With the rapidly declining importance of the SATs/ACTs, we are now clearly in the era of test-optional in college admissions. Fewer and fewer applicants are selecting the optional WRITING section on the standardized college admissions test. But the ability to write is an important key to success in college academic programs, especially in colleges where admission is highly selective. That brings even more importance to the college application essay. It is already the single college application requirement that creates the most anxiety for high school seniors.
Why not try a simple step-by-step game plan that will both simplify the task and improve the essay? You do the writing and I offer a carefully structured framework of support to assist that difficult work.
College Application Essay Timing
Most colleges, as well as the Common App and the Coalition, post their essay prompts on or close to August 1 of the high school student’s senior year. Why August 1? Colleges do not want your essay any sooner than this date. The essay should be submitted with the entire application and this is the earliest applications will be accepted.
Before August 1:
Collect 5-6 autobiographical “snapshots” or vignettes that may fit into an application essay. A quiet moment of personal pride or satisfaction? Something that got you into the local newspaper? An honor received at your place of worship? Save it on your phone. File it away on a 3x5 card. Do NOT be humble. If you are ever going to brag, do it now. You may not even use these snapshots, but then again, you may. Admissions essay readers want to know about YOU. Here is your chance.
On September 1:
First Identify the essay topics you’ll need to complete for all the colleges to which you’ll be applying. Also, select the Common App or Coalition prompt(s) you’ll be using. A little advanced planning would be wise. Here are a few examples of essay prompts you’ll be glad you did a bit of mental preparation for:
“Write a letter to a tree.”
Yes, this is an actual essay prompt.
“What do you bring to our college?”
This is a chance to bring in 1-2 items from your resume.
“Why did you apply to our college?”
This is a chance to show that you have researched the college.
A word about the Common App and the Coalition essay prompts:
More than 1200 colleges subscribe to the Common App or to the Coalition platform and will accept an application submitted through either. Each has several essay prompts.
A common example is “describe something about you without which this application would be incomplete” or “describe a time you overcame an obstacle.” Also included is a prompt that allows you to “select your own topic.”
Use September and October of your senior year to prioritize your time to focus on the application essays.
Write, write, and write some more. Do not spend more than 30 minutes writing at a time, but do write at least 2-3 times a week. Just write. Don’t worry yet about serious proofreading but do give attention to content (readers want to learn about you) and structure (be sure to have a beginning a middle and an end). In most cases, you’ll not need to write more than 500 words, or two typed pages double-spaced.
College Application Essay Tips
Don’t procrastinate.
Time pressure to rush to complete before a deadline will only make the job less enjoyable and that may make your essay less enjoyable to read.
Keep it simple.
Admissions committee members read dozens of essays each fall. A WALL STREET JOURNAL article a few years ago suggested that Admissions essay readers average eight minutes per essay. Be clear. Be brief. Be concise.
Remember the advice of the great Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw who once wrote a lengthy letter to a friend and at the end apologized and said, “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have time.”
Final step - Review
Someone else should read the essay before you press ‘submit.’ A teacher? An older sibling? Youth group leader at church? A parent? Be proud of what it describes about you. Show your essay to someone that you trust for review and feedback, it can be helpful to get a second pair of eyes on it before you submit it.
College Application Essay - Simple Truths:
Be yourself.
If you feel good about what you’ve written, readers on the Admissions Committee will enjoy reading your essay and will learn something valuable about you.
If someone reading your essay says, “That is SO …..(your name)” then you will have succeeded!
David W. Clark, Ed.M., is an independent college admission consultant who has been working high school students for more than thirty-five years. David is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He recently re-located his practice to Texas and he specializes in colleges in the Northeast and midAtlantic regions. His website www.collegesearchnow.org is worth visiting and he can be reached there.