College Essay Examples, Tips and Best Ways to Write College Essays

College Essay Examples, Tips, and Best Ways to Write College Essays

The college essay is not just a place to demonstrate writing abilities, it is one of the only sections of a college application where the voice of a student can shine through. 

The college admissions essay gives students an opportunity to demonstrate their personality, as opposed to testing scores and transcripts.

All the relevant guidelines you need to know about college essay examples, tips, and the best ways to write a college essay are included in this post

What is a College Essay?

It is a type of essay you write to show a college admissions committee officers who you are and also, the reason why you deserve to be admitted into their school.

This word is used for essay application for graduate as well. This college essay is also known as a personal statement.

How do you start a personal statement for a college essay?

Here are four easy steps in which you can write your college essay:

  • Choose a topic you are passionate about. Because you’re writing will be both easier and more honest if you write about what you want to write about, instead of writing what is not necessary.
  • Make sure you involve your reader from the first paragraph.
  • Ask yourself the question “what?”
  • Make sure you read through your essay aloud.

Is it OK to use the first person in a College Essay?

In writing a high school essay, generally, it is not appropriate to use the first-person. Neither is it find to make “I” a statement in your essay application because college expects your essay writing to sound like you, too! true is the right Key

What should you include in a college essay?

There are several things students should include in their college essay;

  • Make sure you write about yourself
  • Make sure you tell a good story
  • Try to make it real
  • Make a research about what you are writing
  • Present yourself in the best way
  • Include information that is not found in your application
  • Make sure you focus on one aspect of yourself

Can you lie on your college essay?

A lot of the best college application essays are mostly written about small moments that are meaningful to the applicant. You are the only one with your exact combination of personal qualities, values, beliefs, and experience.

So, there is no need for you to lie or exaggerate to make your essay unique.

How long should a College Essay Be?

Although the Common App which students can use submit to multiple colleges, notes that there is no limit of words “for its main essay, it suggests a gap of about 650 words.

“While we won’t as a rule stop reading after 650 words, and we cannot promise that an overly wordy essay will hold our attention for as long as you hoped it would,” the Common App website states.

Word count is much shorter for institution-specific supplemental essays, typically around 250 words.

Here are some tips that would guide you on how to write college essays 

Understand the Admission Board Psychology

When you have collected all the pieces of your application and sent it to the University of your choice, all of your hard work gets placed in a pile with thousands of other applications. 

The admission officers will take their time to review each application, looking at the scores and coursework, and at the same time reading the college application.

The ability to convince the admission officers is to understand what they are looking for. Because they want students who will:

  • Succeed once they are admitted
  • Contribute to the educational experience of others
  • Bring honor and prestige to the university once they graduate.

Determine your goals

With the questions above, you should think about how you want the admission officers to perceive you.

After reading your college essay, what should they think of your activities and personality?

A lot of students want the college admission board to view them as responsible and academically ambitious.

These are common excellent essay goals, and also you should consider the essay concerning your classwork.

Note, in developing your character, writing the college admission essay allows you to feature other aspects of your life that is are not reflected in your pre-college course work. These aspects include:

  • Have I worked at an interesting or relevant job?
  • Have I demonstrated leadership or teamwork?

Distinguish yourself from the Other Applicants

As an international student, you by definition are different from the American citizens who apply to American universities. 

Nevertheless, it is not a good reason to say “well, I’m not from around here.” You don’t need to explain at length; a sentence should be good enough to ensure that the admissions committee pays adequate attention to you.

Always bear in mind that you are more than just an international student from a good background; you are an individual with life experiences.

Take your time to think about some qualities that make you different from other students writing the college essay and add them.

Contribute to the University

One of the goals of the admission board when reading a college essay is to find students who will encourage the educational experience of other students. 

Furthermore, how can you contribute to other students’ learning? As in tip number 3.

The general goal of education is to broaden people’s experience so that they can realize the limits of their intellect, and then grow beyond those limits.

Again, bear in mind that you are more than just an international student. You have lots more to contribute to the campus social and learning environment than just your own home culture.

Understand and Answer the Essay prompt

Here you have come with more ideas than you can fit into your essay. Presently you need to focus your goals on only three or four ideas, the ones that will make your essay most attractive to the college admissions committee. 

The logic is to present a few ideas very well, rather than mentioning your ideas poorly. A little focus essay will be much more effective than a vague one.

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Reading and answering the prompt may seem a bit transparent, but it’s often the transparent people ignore. Always take your time to read and re-read the prompt, so that you can answer it fully.

Notwithstanding, you must demonstrate that you can read and follow instructions. And also think of that great pile of applications submitted.

The admission committee is looking for a reason to reject candidates, don’t let them reject you because you desperately overlooked a sentence in the essay prompts.

Besides, the prompt is designed to give you some freedom for creativity. Which will allow you to work on those three or four ideas that you have developed through tips 1 and 4.

Writing your Essay

At this stage, in the college essay writing procedure, you have to bear in mind the goals and psychology of the college admission committee.

You have at least bring a list of ideas, attributes, and details about yourself that the college will find appealing.

You have mentioned at least three to four most important ideas, the ones that will get you into your preferred university. Now is the actual time to start writing your essay. 

Write with specific details

The key to excellent writing is to write in clear terms. The more accurate your essay, the stronger an impression it will make on the admission committee. 

If you are trying to show that you are a good scholar, then don’t write: “I never missed an assignment deadline, how sick I was feeling the night before.” 

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Instead, try and write “in my junior school year, I came down with a serious case of pneumonia. 

Despite the fact, that I have a 103-degree fever and being requested to stay in bed, I still completed my speech on the possible impacts of global warming on agriculture.”  

Demonstrate College-level style

There is this American proverb that states, “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” This simply means you want to present yourself as being ready for the next coming job.

For example, you want to show your college writing skills. Therefore, when writing your college application essays, you should put these features in mind.

  • Always write primarily in complex sentences, rather than simple or compound sentences;
  • Include some figurative language such as metaphor simile, personification, and oxymoron.

Have someone to proofread your Essay

Proofreading is one of the most important tips on the list. Every individual who writes knows that the words in your head don’t always make it onto the page the way they should.

Sometimes it’s easy to trick yourself into thinking the essay says something that it doesn’t.

For this reason, you need a friend to help you by reading it to bring out grammatical errors, diction, and organization of words.

Pay Attention to Deadlines

College essay requires a lot of work. As you work and re-work on your essay, always pay attention to the admission deadlines and requirements. Each school has its system for how and when to file your application. 

Do not assume that, because one college uses e-mails and PDFs, those other schools do the same as well.

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Here at jobreaders, we have taken our time to compile comprehensive tips, guide, and also the best ways how to write a college essay example.   

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