YOUR ENTIRE LIFE IN 500 WORDS…

The College Essay

Common Application Questions

These have not changed in years:1. Evaluate a significant experience,

achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.

2. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.

3. Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.

Common Application Questions

4. Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.

5. A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.

6. Topic of your choice.

Steps

Don’t start with picking a topic. Start by understanding the purpose of your essay and the audience (the rules!)

Understand what makes an essay “good” to a college admissions representative

Decide on your messageNow choose your topicWriteRevise/Edit

Do not be “the mistake”

Purpose and Audience (The Rules!)

Don’t write about adversities that aren’t adverse.

Artsy substitutions (send an essay)Bad-mouthingBiasFamily SecretsFitting InFoolish risks

More Don’ts

GimmicksLosingLuxury vacationsLying or CheatingOld NewsPoliticsPranks or TricksReligionSex and Drugs

More Don’ts

Travel essaysTopic sentenceUnresolved problemsWhining and Complaining

To Do:

Try to write about some episode that directly relates to your prospective college major or career

Explain – any jargon or situations that might be unfamiliar

Humor – avoid sarcasmLeadershipLength – minimum 250 no more than 500

wordsQuantify your work

Tell a storyYour essay should echo your valuesVocabulary should reflect your own level of

vocabularyYour own voice

Be the College Admissions Representative

Who gets in?• Track record• Suitable Program• Contribution and

Diversity• Focus• Prestige• Legacy• Special Qualities• Character

How Do you Lose Points?

CarelessnessInaccuracyBias

Who gets accepted???

Determine Your Message

If you had 20 seconds with the head of admissions for your dream school, and he/she suddenly asked you, “Why should we take YOU out of all of the thousands of kids applying here?” what would you say?

This answer supplies the theme of your essay.

The Message

What are you most proud of?What would your parents, your teachers or

your school say you should be proud of?In what way do you contribute productively

to your immediate family, community, society, or the world?

Examples:

An award you wonA fund-raiser you ledA work of art you

createdAn audition you passedA speech you gaveA good deed you

performedAn invention or

discovery you madeA publication or patentA lesson you taught

A local problem you helped solveAn idea you have been exploringAn election you wonA crime you preventedA puzzle you solvedA person in need that you helpedA barrier you brokeAn athletic goal you metA cultural exchange that you enabled…..

Take 15 minutes ….

Take me because I ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now list two or three of your best credentials1. ____________________________2. ____________________________3. ____________________________

Choose Your Topic

If you are answering Common Application Question #1: Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.

The first two are good choicesBe careful writing about “risk”Be careful writing about “ethical dilemma”

Choose Your Topic

Step 1: What major do you think is best suited to the experiences you have had so far?

Write down your major: _________________(go to college course catalogue and see exactly

what they call that major)Step 2: List your five best (unique) reasons,

credentials, or accomplishments for that major (only use recent high school credentials)

Example:

Jane Doe wants to major in Sports Management in her Dream school.

1. Jane is the captain of the girls’ soccer team in h.s.

2. Jane volunteers regularly to coach a soccer team of elementary-school girls.

3. Jane worked as an intern at the local tennis club.

4. Jane took a summer course on Finance at a nearby community college.

Step 3

Using the major you listed, and the credentials you’ve listed, think of personal stories and anecdotes that illustrate your interest in that major. Along with the stories, jot down some of the skills, abilities, or talents that your story would illustrate.

Example: Story: How Jane created a most original fund-raiser

that brought in $5,000 to purchase new field goals for the school soccer team.

Skills illustrated: initiative, fund-raising, creativity, sports passion

Make Your List

1. Story: _______________________________Skills: ________________________________

2. Story: _______________________________Skills: ________________________________

3. Story: _______________________________Skills: _________________________________

4. Story: ________________________________Skills: __________________________________

Choose One

Choose the one story that you like to tell most, and the one that presents you in the best light.

That is your essay topic!

Keep the others handy. You may use them in the essay somewhere else, or you may need them for supplements.

What if….

What if you have no credentials

or don’t know what major you will study?

DON’T CRY!

Think of a few DEFINING MOMENTS.

OK, I’ll put my tissue away…tell me more

__________________ experience changed the way I think (or act)

I’d be a different person today if ____________________ hadn’t happened.

There was a time I wanted to give up ____________________ but I didn’t. What kept me going?

What are some crossroads in my life?

These DO NOT have to be related to an activity or major you are interested in studying.

Some of these essays can be very introspective and poetic. Write about a small moment ….

Again – be sure that when you are done, you go back and check if you have a unifying message and if you answer the question “who are you?”

Make a list of your five defining moments

Ask family members to help you if you are not sure.

These should not be adjectives (i.e. I am sociable, I am creative, etc.)

Sample Defining Moments

I’m shortPile of magazines in my roomThings I can’t throw outMy calendarA favorite shirtFinding a picture of my grandmother when

she was youngerMaps vs. GPS systems

Could be a small moment

Ex:

At the senior citizen home, one of the residents told me how he escaped from a concentration camp during World War II, and I developed an interest in wartime history.

…remember that your application will tell them ALL that you do. Your essay doesn’t have to tell them again. Your essay should tell who you are!

Once you have the story…

Early Paragraphs

Start with:• Action – your objective is to get read!• Interesting imagery (taste, smell, vision,

touch)• Dialogue• The most dramatic or intense aspect of your

story

Sample

The dark chocolate was deep brown and bubbling in the pot, oozing as it melted and surrounded the white streaks of newly added milk. A heavy wooden spoon churned slowly through the mixture, helping the smooth liquid chocolate to thicken gradually. The aroma brought salivating dessert lovers to the counter to steal extra whiffs of this most luxurious smell and to beg for a taste of the batter.

Next paragraph(s)

After capturing the attention of the reader, give them the who, what, when, where and why of this event. How did you find yourself in this situation?

Sample Paragraph

That’s how the brownies were being prepared for the visit of the famous food critic Julianna Brioch, who came to the bakery where I worked on Main Street in Centerville one wintry day last February. The bakery’s owner had warned us that Ms. Brioche was an avid chocolate aficionado – and that the brownies that day had to be perfect – that the reputation of the bakery depended on it. And so, following the baker’s favorite recipe as customers looked on, I set out to prepare the best brownies I had ever made.

Next Paragraph(s)

Continue telling the story.

Sample Paragraph

As the storefront became toasty, the bakery owner opened the front door, to let some of the heat escape, but that also let out the aroma of fresh-baking brownies, and the little shop began to crowd with eager customers. That’s when Ms. Brioche made her grand entrance – amid the clamoring. And she ordered a plate of two brownies – one with walnuts and one without. I tried to act casual, as if her appearance was an everyday event. Meanwhile customers who recognized her crowded around her table, waiting to hear her verdict. She seemed to like the attention.

Next Paragraph(s)

What other credentials do you have? What else, related to my major can I share?

Sample Paragraph

This wasn’t the first time I had to prove myself by baking. There was the time when I entered the Central County Bake-Off Competition and ended up winning First Place Baker – amid some rough competition from professional bakery owners. Another time I ran a bake sale to raise $3000 to help feed the hungry…..(more about your baking)

End Paragraphs

Wrap up the story. Show how the main story relates to your prospective major and the school you wish to attend. Should be an upbeat ending.

Sample Ending

Back at the bakery, I was once again learning about the power of food. Neighbors crowded in to chat and eat brownies, and I got to see firsthand how much of an impact an appealing recipe and a well-prepared treat can have on an otherwise too-busy-to-chat city neighborhood. I love the way food brings people together, and I would be thrilled to study Food Science at ____ College. In fact, seeing how people respond to simple brownies – both in the bakery and at the mall fundraiser – made me more eager to study international food distribution and ways to feed the hungry on a global scale. Oh, and in case you are wondering, Julianna Brioche said these were the best brownies she had ever tasted and gave the bakery her top five-star review.

Editing

Go back and be sure:• You have a great first sentence (keep them

reading!)• You use rich detail• You tell the story well• You demonstrate your credentials and

genuine interests in a good story• Your mechanics and spelling are correct

You are not done yet

You should write:The Diversity Essay

The Most Meaningful Activity essay (150 words – for the Common Application)

Why do I want to Come to this College essay