2. Conquering the Essay
What we’ll learn:
Why is this essay so important
How to set your essay apart
Things to avoid
Practice makes perfect
3. What is an Admissions Essay?
It’s a prompt, either asking a broad question or
completely open-ended to accompany your application
Sometimes called a Personal Statement
The Common Application has a choice of 6 prompts
Example: “Evaluate a significant experience,
achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma
you have faced and its impact on you.”
Lots of scholarship applications ask for a personal
statement as well
4. Why is it so important?
A great essay sets your application
apart, gives you the edge
More than grades or test scores, it
tells admissions officers about your
personality, your goals, your
background
It shows that you have the ability to
write well
5. Great Essays Will…
Cover a topic you really want to write about. Be
passionate.
Be personal—you want to show why you stand out.
Be complex—personal conflict or evolution in thought
are good!
6. Great Essays Will…
Be free of mistakes, grammatical errors, misspellings
Keep the reader engaged
Use humor, tone, and will make the reader like you,
want to root for you
7. Great Essays Will…
Be honest
Be vivid and full of detail
Be organized—don’t babble, tell a story
Use metaphor and analogy
8. Things to Avoid
Repeating the prompt
Using the phrase,
“According to Webster’s…”
Sound effects.
Onomotopoiea is ok, but
don’t add exclamation
points!
9. Things to Avoid
Cliches
“To be” verbs. You have limited words. Replace: “the
essay was written by a student; it was delightful.” With:
“the student’s essay delighted me”
Blandness
Epigraphs—starting with a quote from another writer
Brags about your achievements
10. At this point you’re saying…
…but how can I fit all of that into 700-800 words?
11. Practice
Write an essay on the following: “Tell us about a
person who has had a significant influence on
you, and describe the effect of that influence on
your life.”
