So You Want To Get To College: My views on starting, finishing, and perfecting your college essay.

So You Want To Get To College: My views on starting, finishing, and perfecting your college essay.

So I hear you want to get into college! Well then, no doubt, as you fill in your common app, you find that you’ll need to write that pesky common app essay. Then, of course, you’ll need to write all those lovely supplements that waste your time show all colleges how much of a great person you are. Of course, this is just my own opinion on how I’d do this, so adapt it as you see fit. So what am I waiting for? Let’s dive right in!

1. Pick your prompt: It’s important to know what you want to answer, so you have a basic destination for where you want to get to. Don’t start writing until you have your prompt, because it is likely that this will be a mere scattering of ideas and, while it may prove useful, more often than not wastes valuable time that you could have used more productively. For supplements, the prompt is usually given to you
2. Make a list of the basic things you want to say: go all out here. Just jot down concepts and ideas you like and would like colleges to see. You really want your character to show in this essay, throw the garden of your mind onto the page. You’ll be able to elaborate on these ideas.
3. Just start writing: If you stress over it and are too meticulous from the get-go, your writing will sound forced. Free write and see what happens. Always write first, edit later, not the other way around.
4. Be yourself: The entire point of the college essay is to expose your character, your thoughts, and your feelings on paper. It scores you no points to invent things. Simply write about yourself, using the language you would normally use.
5. Organise your thoughts: I’ve told you to free write, but free writing does not mean utter chaos. The admissions officer will want to see that you can organise your thoughts coherently and communicate effectively. You can do this, so make it show and make it count.
6. Avoid clichés: They know them all. If you use clichéd, hackneyed concepts, phrases, ideas, anything of the sort, you will seem utterly dull. DON’T DO IT.

Now, once you’ve finished, here are some editing tips:

1. Flesh out any unclear ideas: You want your essay to have a logical, linear progression. It should be like a nice piece of string, not a crazy knot of yarn.
2. Find concepts you address that you may wish to expand: this is pretty self explanatory. If any ideas shine through in your essay that could do with further explanation, do it! As long as it helps serve the greater purpose of the essay (in essence, answer the ‘question’ posed by it) it is good. The more of yourself you can show with a single overarching theme, the better.
3. Grammar or spelling mistakes in college essays are evil. Do them and you have signed your own death warrant.

Well that’s it for now! I intend this to be a simple guide so you can get started on writing your college essays. Remember that this is just a basic guide on how to get started. Now it’s up to you.

- Chris Thomas