9 Tips For Writing An Essay About Yourself

9 Tips For Writing An Essay About Yourself Every year, more than 3 million essays will land on the Admissions desk in universities across the country. With so many eager young minds seeking acceptance in a school of higher learning, one can easily see just how difficult it is to get noticed when applying to a quality university. Spellcheck won’t catch every spelling or grammatical error! Take the time to read over all your essays carefully and keep an eye out for things like “out” when you meant to say “our” and other common typos. Have a parent or counselor read over the essay, too, to catch any errors you might have missed. Remember that the purpose of a college admissions essay is to help admissions officers get to know you. If your essay is filled with lies and exaggerations, then you’ve missed the point entirely. Your college application essay needs to breathe life into your application. It should capture your genuine personality, explaining who you are beyond a series of grades, test scores, and after-school activities. But that’s not nearly as scary as it seems, because you get to choose what to share and how to share it. If you feel yourself drawn to a particular prompt, think about why you're being drawn to it. Reflect on your life to find any personal anecdotes that work well with that prompt. As long as your message is succinct and to the point, brief, and realistic your essay should have an impact. Make sure you look through all of the prompts for the university you are applying to and contemplate each of them. Admissions officers want to get to know applicants. There’s only so much that application readers can deduce from your extracurricular activities, transcripts, test scores, recommendation letters, and other application materials. Spelling and grammar errors can take away from an otherwise stellar essay â€" so be mindful. When developing a topic that reveals something new, find a way to frame the story or idea that shows a slice of your life or the event. Many times the best way to get a clear picture of a student’s goals, accomplishments, and character is to hear it directly from the student him or herself. Some of the best college application essays are written about small moments that are meaningful to the applicant. You’re the only person with your exact combination of personal qualities, beliefs, values, and experiences, so you don’t need to lie or exaggerate to make your essay unique. In fact, it’s important to write in your authentic voice and avoid using “fancy” vocabulary just to impress admissions officers. Your essay should show evidence of how you interact with others. Evidence that you’re not just out there to help yourself but that you are willing to extend assistance to other students who may need it. It should reflect your social skills showing that you are an interesting individual that others will want to share their college years with. Be descriptive and give details that appeal to the senses â€" taste, touch, smell, etc. When writing about a meaningful experience or event, you don’t have to give a long timeline of events. Instead, give the reader the piece of the puzzle that conveys your message. It’s particularly important when writing a piece about yourself that you write naturally. By planning the layout of your essay ahead of time, you’ll avoid changing your writing style mid-story. Take your time, don’t rush as this will become the foundation of your essay. Take a notebook and write down whatever comes to your mind that would fit with that particular prompt. Make sure you include personal experiences with each one. When you have finished, go back and choose the ones that you are most excited to talk about and make a note of why they motivate you. They also are looking to see how well you interact with other students, your willingness to see others succeed. Find what is specific to you about the ideas that generated those platitudes and express them more directly. Most likely, the university gave you a prompt or a choice of prompts to write about.