By Sabrina Cabezas
If the thought of writing college application essays makes you hyperventilate, want to run away, or even cry a little, don’t worry. With these simple tips, you’ll learn what college admissions are looking for and how to show off your best side. And stick around for the puppy.
1. Don’t restate your resume
Admissions officers have your application and credentials in front of them, so try to stay away from listing your achievements and activities. Besides, there’s a ton of information that’s not readily available on your resume. What my old volleyball coach would call the “intangibles.”
2. Be humble
Heck yes, you’re obviously the coolest thing since sliced bread. But admissions officers are looking for candidates who aren’t self-obsessed and solely self-promoting. The point of the essay is to make your application more human — to learn about your work ethic, your willingness to take risks, your character, what you can contribute to the community. Give credit to the people who inspire you! Acknowledge that you don’t know everything (yet). The reason you’re going to college is to learn. Why would a college want you if they assume you have it all figured out? These are the things that will make you different from the other candidates.
3. Be yourself
Some websites will tell you not to be “too funny” or “too creative” in your application essays. To that I say, major eye roll. If you’re a funny person, be funny. This shouldn’t be rocket science. The essay is the admissions team’s opportunity to get to know you. Don’t try to censor your personality, and don’t try to force something you aren’t. When I sat down to write my college application essay, I had this idea of doing a creative writing piece, but I kept hitting a wall. At the same time, I was writing a research paper on a topic I’m immensely passionate about and the words just flowed. I finally realized that my problem was that I was trying to create something that didn’t reflect my interests and personality. I wanted to get accepted to a liberal arts school, so I thought that creativity was the way to go, but I lost my quirky, passionate self in the middle of trying to be someone else. Be authentic. But honest. Be awesome. Because at the end of the day, you’re #flawless.
4. Your personal story is the answer
“South Central is gang territory, addict central, and not a particularly ‘safe’ or ‘comfortable’ place, but it is there — serving and interacting with the homeless — that I feel absolutely content and full of purpose.” This is the opening sentence from my college application essay answering a question that asked me where I felt most comfortable, and why. I knew it was a risk, but I knew it was the story I wanted — or needed — to tell. So, then, what’s your story? What I mean to say is, at the heart of every college application essay prompt is the question, “What makes you tick?” “Who are you?” If you were standing in front of a college admissions counselor, what’s the most important thing you’d want them to know? Once you have this story, find a way to phrase it as an answer to one of the questions. If it helps you, put a couple of sentences at the top of your page to remind yourself of what you want to get across: “This experience is meaningful to me because it revealed the importance of education and fueled my passion for education reform.”
5. Use words that express who you really are
Make sure you haven’t just plugged in random words from the thesaurus without knowing what they actually mean. The college application essay is your chance to communicate who you are to the admissions officers. If you’ve used words or phrases that you don’t really understand, how can you possibly convey your authentic self? “Say what you mean, mean what you say, but don’t say it mean.”
6. Proofread, proofread, proofread
And I don’t just mean Word’s spell-check! Check for those awkward moments where you used “their” instead of “there” (yikes!), comma-spliced, forgot capitalization rules, or the spelling of weird last names. Sloppy writing hinders the power of your essay. Have peers, parents, even teachers read through your essay. Ask them how they think it reflects who you are as an individual. Ask them if you’re accurately representing the best version of yourself. So I promised y’all there’d be a puppy … and here are BONUS PUPPIES! Enjoy these puppies playing in the snow, just like you will be when you’re done with these applications. Aww! After writing a killer college application essay, you’ll probably start thinking about paying for college. Find your perfect match from over three million scholarships with our Scholarship Match.
About the author
Sabrina is an upcoming sophomore at the University of Richmond, majoring in international studies and minoring in education and society, with plans to revolutionize global education standards. She is involved in the Virginia Eta chapter of Pi Beta Phi and the women’s ultimate Frisbee team, loves elephants and pistachio ice cream, and has her own blog.