What To Put In Your 500 Word College Application Essay

What To Put In Your 500 Word College Application Essay The essays, however, can too easily be the product of co-authorship, with no way to distinguish between the contributions of the student and the coach. Beginning an admissions essays or Statement of Purpose is a long process â€" many drafts over a two-month period are very common. It's a huge turn off, for instance, when applicants write about their sports exploits or their pets. For students who are applying for college, one of the scariest parts of the admission process is writing the dreaded essay. This handout provides examples of college application essays and shows what admissions officers are looking for in an applicant. In these times of cut-throat competition just good grades are not enough to get you into a valuable program in a prestigious college. We strongly suggest you not listen to this particular advice of Mark Sklarow, a man who has openly defied the very bylaws of the organization he leads. Well, for starters, who uses paper and pen these days? Secondly, it is preposterous to suggest that an independent college counselor should not address (and fix!) poor grammar or word choice. If a student makes a grammatical error, you bet we’re going to fix it. A common mistake that students make when tackling their college essays is to pick the wrong topics. With the right information, realistic time management and good proofing and editing, it should be easy to write the best college essay you can. One of the most common mistakes on college application essays is students trying to fit in too many key messages into a short essay. What many undergrad school aspirants tend to ignore is the college admission essay component which could actually mean make-or-break situation as far as admissions to HBCU institutions go. If you did not work hard enough on your essay, the chances are there may be a couple of letters of rejection waiting for you in your mailbox. One application counselor explained the objective of an essay as convincing the admissions office “that you would make a great roommate.” Here is some advice to high school seniors, with apologies to Groucho Marx. You shouldn’t want to attend a college that would admit you for your value as a roommate. In other words, the essay section of the application virtually invites all sorts of covert assistance, and sometimes outright cheating. The essay creates frustration for students, stress for parents, and an overall feeling of dread as the deadline for submission approaches. The essay, however, doesn’t have to be an insurmountable project. It is essential to put in this toilsome work to come up with an essay that is very much your own, and an excellent read which convinces the admissions board that you are what they are looking for. This is a great opportunity to look inside yourself and be rewarded by a better understanding of who you are and what you want. So, it is also important to know where to begin writing such an important essay like this. But students of modest means suffer most when applying to college becomes an endless list of tasks requiring time and other resources. Give the admissions officer a picture of who you are and the type of college student you would be if they offer admission. The essay should be more than words on paper or a glowing example of writing skills; it should be your story. High school grades and test scores can be boosted by expensive tutors, but they ultimately reflect the students’ own effort. No matter how rich they areâ€"and barring parental chicaneryâ€"the kids have to submit their real grades and take their own tests. If you aim to apply to a college or university, you are to submit at least a paper. You should keep in mind that your writing will be one amongst hundreds or even thousands of other essays. It should be interesting and impressive, and it should make you stand out from the rest of applicants, containing facts from your life that influenced your decisions, helped you become a who you are now. It should show your personality, your motivation, and plans for the future. If your paper reflects your ideas and strong skills that would interest the board, nothing can stop you from getting accepted. But if you’re looking for someone to tell you that your essay is great as is and those six spelling errors are perfectly fine, well, you’ve come to the wrong place. We’d be mortified if a student of ours submitted essays with grammatical errors to college. Now that doesn’t mean our students can’t submit fragments. It doesn’t mean our students can’t start sentences with “and” or “but.” We love it when our students write in a colloquial tone.