Why Colleges Ask You To Write Essays

Why Colleges Ask You To Write Essays Does that mean you can’t write about being captain of the soccer team? Absolutely not, but it needs to be about a specific experience you had while being captain of the soccer team- the title itself doesn’t show much, if anything, about you as a person. It’s also easy to fall into the comparison trap and begin worrying that your essays will never be as good as these examples. Remember that the sample essays colleges are posting are the BEST essays from among the thousands of students they admit. They are interested in an experience (like a relationship that was challenging for you, hello essay #2) that you have had. They want it to be personal, and they want you to show a challenge you have overcome. Anyone who completes an Outward Bound expeditioncould say that they were challenged, that they weren’t sure they could do it, but on looking back, they feel proud of what they’ve accomplished. The real questions to ask are, why was it challenging for you, personally? What about this makes you feel proud, and how will you carry this into the next part of your life? Whether you write about it in your essay, or just list it as one of your activities, sharing the influence it has had on you, personally, will be much more impactful. Based on the AdmitSee’s data, Dartmouth and Columbia don’t appear to have strong biases toward particular essay topics. This means that essays on many subjects were seen favorably by the admissions departments at those schools. However, Shyu says that writing about a moment that changed the student’s life showed up frequently in essays of successful applicants to those schools. AdmitSee has a team that analyzes all of these materials, gathering both qualitative and quantitative findings. If you’re applying to schools that request supplemental essays or do not accept the Common Application, you may have several different essays to write. Sample essays can provide you with some great inspiration, and valuable insights into how to write a great essay. However, be careful not to get so caught up reading other peoples’ essays that you neglect to start your own. So, most accepted students’ essays are not this exceptional. And of course, it goes without saying that you should NEVER copy or imitate someone else’s essay. If you try to make your essay sound like someone else’s, it will end up sounding fake and awkward, and will NOT work to your advantage. Most colleges require a college essay, sometimes called a personal statement, as part of their application process. Many are from people who got into well-ranked colleges, since they targeted these students first. The vast majority of these essays come from current college students who were admitted within the last two or three years. As college application deadlines near, students across the country are hoping that their essays will earn them a spot at their dream school. For most students, it takes about 10 hours to write a good college essay. And they’ve found some juicy insights about what different elite colleges are looking for in essays. One of the most striking differences was between successful Harvard and Stanford essays. Shyu says that this model has allowed AdmitSee to collect a lot of data very rapidly. The company is only a year old and just landed $1.5 million in seed funding from investors such asFounder.org and The Social + Capital Partnership. But in this short time, AdmitSee has already gathered 15,000 college essays in their system. In essay number two, the writer is shy, but has overcome his fear and therefore shows he is willing to take risks, which is something a school might be looking for in their students. Sharing that you participated in an Outward Bound program will help colleges understand how you’re spending your time outside the classroom. But you also have the opportunity to articulate to colleges why this experience is worth mentioning. I would encourage students to think about how participating in Outward Bound impacted them, specifically. Please read the critiques at the bottom of the screen for each essay carefully- this is your reminder that they are directly from the college board. Colleges are in no way interested in a laundry list of your activities or hearing about things they can find elsewhere in your application.