My College Options

My College Options You want to make sure each essay you submitâ€"even if you’re reusing itâ€"is tailor-made for the college you’re applying to. That might mean just a few edits here and there, or it may mean overhauling your essay, or simply writing a new one. To be clear, editing doesn't mean just making a few minor wording tweaks and cleaning up typos; it means reading your essay carefully and objectively and thinking about how you could improve it. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. But what's really important isn't so much what you write about as how you write about it. It is also well written and grammatically correct. Make sure to check out our other posts on college essays, including our step-by-step guide to how to write your college essay, our analysis of the Common App Prompts, and our collection of example essays. Many students want to call it a day after writing a first draft, but editing is a key part of writing a truly great essay. Tell the reader something about yourself that might not be included in the rest of the application. A great college essay is one in which the student’s voice and though process comes through clearly. It should be consistent with the rest of the application and showcase an aspect of the student not highlighted in the rest of the application. With the right amount of control and flexibility, colleges can create a pleasant learning environment with maximum safety and minimal interruptions. Some colleges will ask for different prompts, in which case you’ll just have to write another essay to submit. However, some schools do ask you to respond to multiple prompts or to provide supplemental essays in addition to a primary personal statement. In the college essay, you need to contextualize your examples for the reader. If you are writing a good complex essay, even your topic sentence will require more explanation than just one sentence. Each school, professor and student body is different. You need to use your subject to show something deeper about yourself. Most colleges are pretty diverse, with students from a wide range of backgrounds. Essay questions about diversity are designed to help admissions committees understand how you interact with people who are different from you. A secondary purpose of the essay is to serve as a writing sample and help colleges see that you have the skills needed to succeed in college classes. The personal statement is your best chance to show off your writing, so take the time to craft a piece you're really proud of. Colleges must adapt their rules and discipline efforts to reflect the current needs of their students. Eliminating cell phones in college classrooms is an overstretch, but there are ways to balance students’ rights and instructors’ rights. For some students, the essay is also a chance to explain factors affecting their high school record. Did your grades drop sophomore year because you were dealing with a family emergency? Did you miss out on extracurriculars junior year because of an extended medical absence? Colleges want to know if you struggled with a serious issue that affected your high school record, so make sure to indicate any relevant circumstances on your application.