What Makes A Great College Essay?

What Makes A Great College Essay? A more concrete reason for this prompt is that colleges want to have a high yield, the ratio of accepted students who end up attending. News and World Report and contribute to the overall reputation of the school. This essay is one way for them to gauge how likely you are to attend and help them attain a high yield. This is one of the most common mistakes that students make. In the pursuit to write the perfect essay, many forget to connect it to the original prompt. While the Common Application prompts for the main essay are general enough to allow students to write about whatever they choose, it still needs to be clear how that essay addresses the prompt. Check and double check that a clear connection is made between the topic or lesson of your essay, and the question the prompt is asking. In addition to this, the schools that you’re applying to may have different prompts â€" which could mean having to write multiple essays. This is why we recommend sitting down and coming up with a few different topics to consider. No wonder people feel stressed out about their college essays! The B+ Grades A+ College Application author says, however, that some essays are afforded 20 minutes, and others just a perfunctory glance. Is there a way to find out what essay questions colleges are asking before you start the application process? Would it relieve some of your stress, or help you focus your search on fewer colleges, if you knew what essays you'll have to write? Many of the colleges and universities that accept the Coalition application require you to submit at least one essay as part of your application. The personal statement is your opportunity to reveal something about yourself that can’t be found anywhere else in your application â€" use it! Many students use this essay to expound upon activities or interests that are already heavily demonstrated in their application through courses, the activity list, and more. Instead of reinforcing a top activity or interest, instead, write about something that reveals another dimension of your life or personality. You can start working on these essays at any time and save drafts in your MyCoalition Locker. Don’t bury the lead…College admissions reps read hundreds of college applications each year but they rarely come across an essay that really surprises them. If your top activity is swimming, don’t write about the big championship meet. Find something else that reveals something new and that shows you put a lot of thought into your essay. If your study of AP biology conflicts with your religious views, write about that and how you reconciled the two. But there is a big difference between a professionally written essay and an essay conceived, written and revised by a student, under the direction of a professional coach. You might want to plan to do one pre-writing essay, wait a few days, and then do another pre-writing exercise. As mentioned in step 2, writing a college essay takes time, but with enough pre-planning the actual essay writing will be easier. A great college essay gives the reader a glimpse of the person behind the page. If you seem genuinely passionate about the college, then they can assume you’re more likely to matriculate if offered a spot in the freshman class. , any other graphic organizer, and/or pre-writing technique that works for you will help you to focus your ideas. You may want to try outlining your essay in multiple formats or the same format multiple times. You may do pre-writing for several different answers to a topic and then pick the best one to write the actual essay. Prompt is the leading provider of college essay coaching and feedback. We help thousands of students gain admission to top-50 colleges every year. To the college essay admissions process I bring skills honed as a television writer, a screenwriter, and a journalist. Entering my ninth year, I have worked with nearly 400 bright, motivated, and exceptional applicants who each year are accepted to T10 colleges and universities. I love what I do and am immeasurably proud of every applicant I work with and their results. So, to capture your reader’s attention from the opening sentence, start your story in the middle of the action, rather than writing in a linear fashion. It can be hard to choose what to talk about in your college essays.