Application Essay

Application Essay The risks are greater than any benefit you might get by plagiarizing an essay. Do not assume that if someone else writes the essay for you that it will produce a high quality essay. The importance of college essays has increased in the past few years. You can find some examples of good answers to these essays in the resource section of this module. Reading essay examples can be helpful in guiding you to writing your own good essay. Twenty-six percent of college admission offices consider the college entrance exam is of “considerable importance” in the admission process . Some colleges weigh essays higher than other parts of the application. However, the essay is not the most important part of your application when you are applying for college. Your overall Grade Point Average , college preparation, test results, and the strength of the high school curriculum all outweigh the essay . (If you don’t know anyone affiliated with the school, try asking your guidance counselor if there are former students from your high school who attend or attended X college.) Peruse a course catalog. These steps will help you develop a list of specific qualities that are unique to the school. Standing out with your college essay is important. College admission counselors read hundreds and thousands of essays every year. Identify the parts of you that set you apart from others and utilize them to write a unique essay. If your essay does not reveal some sense of your best personal qualities are i.e. maturity, leadership or compassion then it has failed. Few things are as eternal as the search for the great college essay. But given the range of factors that go into the decision making process, it is hard to know if the “successful” essays ones really tipped the balance. That being said, the essay is something you can control so you want to make it good. The college essay can feel like the worst part of the application process. Whether writing comes easy or is a struggle for you, writing an essay can be a significant challenge and it can feel like your whole application is riding on that one essay. This module can help you to sort through what you need to do to write the best essay you can write. The ultimate point of a college essay is to engage and hopefully convince the reader that you would be an asset on that campus. You need the essay to wow them with your personal qualities while sharing an engaging story, perhaps- a snapshot of your life. The tone could be funny or sad, reflective or poignant, but you NEED that reader to like you, so that they would support your application in admissions. However, make sure that the essay is completely original. Never copy an essay from the internet or have someone else write it for you. If you are a strong writer, you might also be able to present your topic in a unique and interesting way. You can find some examples of creative essays in the resource section of this module. Again, remember it is important not to plagiarize the ideas of others, but they may help you to get started in writing your essay. A student's essay is usually expected to be between words or 1-2 pages. This length will be fairly consistent across institutes of higher education whether you are using the Common Application or an individual schools application. However, teacher recommendations and extracurricular activities rank below the college essay . Therefore, it is extremely important to submit a well-written college entrance essay. One hurdle that you must surmount when planning to go to college is the application process. It can be laborious, time intensive, confusing, and overwhelming.