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Up Close and Personal -- Writing the College Essay!
Although your
transcript and standardized test scores let the admissions committee see your
academic achievements, the college essay gives them the opportunity to get a
better sense of who you are beyond your role as a student. Because of this
personal component, the college essay should have three essential elements.
First, it should convey who you are as a person -- your insights, your values, and
your sense of humor. So if you love to draw, bring the reader of your essay
into the drawing class with you and provide a glimpse of yourself hard at work.
Here is an excerpt of an essay by a 2009 graduate:
Every
Wednesday night I carried my pencils, my paper, and most importantly, my eraser
to my class at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Slowly, I began to understand the concepts of depth and lighting. One
cannot simply draw two eyes, a nose, and a mouth and call it a face. The mouth,
for instance, has a tiny shadow under the lower lip as well as faint vertical
creases.
From this short
passage, we learn about the writer's love for art and her willingness to put in
the hard work needed to develop her craft -- even if she is not a natural talent.
We also see her sense of humor when she points out the importance of bringing her
eraser to class. These few
sentences give the admissions officer a much better understanding of the kind
of person the student is than her transcript could ever provide.
In addition to
showcasing your character, the college admissions essay should be interesting
and engaging. Remember that these admissions officers read hundreds (and
sometimes thousands) of essays each year. Any essay that leads with a sentence
such as, "I spent the last four years running cross country and I really
enjoyed it" will not grab anyone's attention. Here is the lead of an essay that
a dancer wrote about practicing an important audition routine:
Beads of sweat slowly move
down my full-body tights as I extend my right leg back, up, and to the side,
all from the push up position. This is just the beginning of a long night in
the dance studio.
She
could have simply said, "One night I worked really hard on my dance routine for
an important audition." Instead she helps the reader visualize her motions
because she is showing the process through her writing. It is almost as if we
are in the dance studio with her.
Finally,
the essay serves as a writing sample and allows the admissions committee to see
your writing ability. Consequently, it should present your thoughts in an
organized way and be grammatically correct with no spelling errors or typos.
Although the essay should be your own work, we suggest asking someone to review
it for grammar and spelling. However, you should make the corrections yourself
so that you understand the concepts behind the corrections.
For Further Reading
A Writer's Reference with
Help for Writing in the Disciplines by Diana Hacker. This excellent resource book is one that
students can take with them to college and graduate school. It not only
provides easy-to-understand explanations for grammar, usage and sentence
structure, but also offers detailed explanations for writing research papers
and organizing references and citations across academic disciplines.
Writing the Essay: Sound Advice From an Expert
Written by the University of
Virginia Office of Undergraduate Admission
Discovering Voice: Essays that Matter '10. Samples of essays that worked, Tufts University
Undergraduate Admissions
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Short Takes on Colleges: New Programs - Drexel
University is starting bachelor's and master's programs in property management
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Carnegie
Mellon University is starting bachelor of science and master of science degrees
in music and technology
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The
University of Arizona is starting a bachelor of science in public health
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SUNY
Albany is starting an undergraduate major in nanoscale science
From www.insidehighered.com |
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Educational Advocates now has a Facebook page. Our goal is to build a page that will be fun and helpful not only to high school students, but also to students once they arrive at college.
Please visit the link and become a fan! Don't worry -- you don't have to friend us to become a fan. That way you can keep your personal information separate.
We not only want you to become a fan, but we would also really enjoy getting prom and graduation photos from you, and we encourage you to join or start a discussion on any college-related topic.
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