Trusted College Admission Counseling

Trusted College Admission Counseling If you want to demonstrate your integrity, share a story that illustrates how you passed up an opportunity to exploit an advantage that was unfairly gained. Claiming that you have good study habits is another empty claim. Keep it short as time is very important to them. A good topic is essential for the essay, especially if it is to catch the eye of the reader. The same process which was used to select English essay topics can be used to select admission topics as well. If you find that your essay is too long, do not reformat it extensively to make it fit. Making readers deal with a nine-point font and quarter-inch margins will only irritate them. Figure out what material you can cut and cut it. For strategies for meeting word limits, see our handout on writing concisely. BUT be careful not to let your drama turn into melodrama. You want your reader to see your choices motivated by passion and drive, not hyperbole and a lack of reality. Don’t invent drama where there isn’t any, and don’t let the drama take over. After you’ve received feedback, revise the essay. Get it out and revise it again (you can see why we said to start right awayâ€"this process may take time). A well-written, dramatic essay is much more memorable than one that fails to make an emotional impact on the reader. Good anecdotes and personal insights can really attract an audience’s attention. Getting someone else to read your drafts can help you figure out when you’ve gone too far. And, one more time, don’t write in cliches and platitudes. Every doctor wants to help save lives, every lawyer wants to work for justiceâ€"your reader has read these general cliches a million times. This handout will help you write and revise the personal statement required by many graduate programs, internships, and special academic programs. This final step will likely take much longer than writing the entire essay. You may have to revise several times before your essay delivers your message perfectly. As you go through your revision keep these basic guidelines in mind. It’s time for you to narrow down your options for an essay topic and begin to build your story. At this point you already have all the information you need to create a powerful essay but now you need to start building it. Remember, that every story has a main plot, a few characters that the reader can connect with, and a slow build up to the climax. Detailing the exact study habits that have helped you succeed in school, backed up with the GPA on your application, carries much more weight. Using words in your essay that you don't typically use in your daily conversations can sound awkward and forced. Words have nuance to them, and simply inserting a word from the thesaurus is a great way to destroy that nuance. Thesaurus abuse is a lazy and easily spotted trick, and seasoned admissions officers will see right through it. This is the same approach you need to use in your essay. Line up your scenes in chronological order so that the story is easy to follow. Their goal is to pull together a certain mix of people. They don’t want a collection of copycats all doing the same thing in their respective high schools. Your essay should show something that is unique; a demonstration of a distinctive quality that no other student may choose to offer. These three facts give us the first clues as to what should be included in your essay. Universities are not just looking for students that hope to acquire good skills; they are looking for those who have a promising future. Your future success makes them look good and encourages more students to want to study with them. Your essay should reflect a powerful sense of commitment to your goals and your future success. Simply asserting that you have what the university is looking for is not convincing; anyone could make the same claim as plausibly as you if you don't back up your claims with evidence. Stating that you believe in integrity, for example, is an easy claim that's made by thousands of politicians and used car salespeople every year.