My favorite essays have consistently been those essays that are about the seemingly most mundane and ordinary aspects of an applicant’s life-it is these topics that often showcase a student in the best light.” Here are their top tips for college admissions essays. We talked to two Babson College Admissions Counselors: Jared Pierce, Director of Undergraduate Admissions, and Eric Laboissonniere, former Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions.
When you’re learning how to write a college essay, it can be helpful to hear directly from the source who will be reading your work.
The important things to remember are to keep the essay in your voice, the way you would say it, and not to let someone rewrite your essay for you.Ĭollege Essay Tips from Admissions Counselors When you receive feedback from someone editing your essay, take each suggestion for what it is-a suggestion. Your third and final draft should be checked for grammatical errors, spelling, and punctuation. Your second draft should sharpen up your ideas and focus on your content. Your first draft should get all of your ideas onto paper. Things to look for when editing your essayĮdits can be done in a couple of rounds, and while you want to make sure your essay is perfect, that doesn’t mean each draft needs to be perfect. You still want it to sound like yourself. Any of these choices can be a good option, but just be sure to not let anyone overedit your essay. You can have a parent or guardian read your essay if you feel they are capable of giving good feedback, you could seek outside help from a paid service, and you can ask peers or teachers to help edit your essay. There are many options when it comes to editing your essay. Admissions counselors are expecting your best work, so you don’t want to submit a first draft. It is essential that you go into your essay-writing process with the expectation that you will write multiple drafts of your essay. Be sure to read each prompt carefully and choose the one that speaks to you the most or the one you feel you have the most to write about.Įditing the College Essay: Dos and Don’tsīefore we get into tips for college application essays, we want to make sure we don’t skip over an important step in the writing process. When you apply via the Common Application you will be asked to write an essay responding to one of seven prompts. The essay you will write in the Common App will be used by all colleges you choose to apply to, so it’s important to keep your essay broad but specific to yourself. This will give you enough time to get all of your background information in and explore any questions you have before you get ready to start your senior year. It’s a good idea to start your Common Application around August 1, when applications open up. Information, including your name, address, grades, extracurriculars, and parental employment, will just be entered one time so you don’t have to spend extra time inputting this in multiple applications. The Common Application, known as Common App, is accepted by more than 900 schools, and helps streamline the tedious process of applying for colleges. If you submit something that doesn’t follow directions, the admissions counselors may assume you won’t know how to follow directions, and it could affect your chances of getting into your desired school. You want to read each part of your application carefully, including the essay prompt. This is the most simple yet possibly the most important part of the essay-writing process. Whether you just work on a few sentences or you’re able to write the bulk of your essay, you’ll be glad you set time aside once it comes time to submit your applications. Find a quiet, distraction-free space, and write your thoughts down. As you prepare for your college application process, schedule time into your day to write. No matter how hard you try, there will always be something that seems more pressing than sitting down to write your essay. Breaking down the process in this way can be less daunting and will allow you to focus on the topic and the most important part of the essay-YOU! Schedule time to write When you do sit down to write, try laying out your ideas in an outline first and then draft it into complete sentences later. Before you sit down to write, consider taking notes on your phone or on sticky notes around your room as ideas come to you. It may be intimidating to sit in front of a blank computer page and start writing, so think about gathering your thoughts in a different format. Before we talk about how to write a college admission essay, let’s take a step back and talk about the process and how to set yourself up for success.