Our advice for the College Essay and how to tackle the dreaded “Topic- of- your choice” Essay.

*Keep the number of advisors on your essay to a minimum. Too many advisory voices will lead to confusion not clarity. Each reader will bring a personal perspective and every time you add advisor, you add an additional opinion. Keep the process simple and streamlined.

*Do not put the name of the college or university in your essay. Many students believe this well help in the admission process but many colleges think its pandering and actually hurts the student. You also risk putting the wrong name or misspelling the name of the college in the essay. One essay we received this year actually called Vanderbilt by its alias, Vanderbuilt.

*Remember that spell check is useful but not infallible. It will miss spelling errors. Find a good proofreader.

 

*Don’t wait until the last minute to write your essay. Give yourself time to put the draft aside and then come back to it with a more objective, discerning set of eyes. That’s how the most effective editing happens.

*Use the present tense and avoid the passive voice at all costs. The present tense gives your writing a sense of direction and will help engage the reader. Passive voice is the most indirect way of speaking and can create distance between you and the reader.

 

*Loading up your essay with adjectives and adverbs does not make the essay any better. If you are using a lot of adjectives and adverbs, you may be losing track of what you are actually trying to convey to the reader. Nouns and verbs are the real engines of good writing.

 

*Read your essay aloud. Your ear is the best judge and will allow you to understand what sounds pleasing and awkward. This reading will also allow you to identify run on sentences and forced, thesaurus word choices.

 

The college essay remains an important factor in admissions decisions. Many studies, including work completed by the National Assocaition of College Admission Counseling(NACAC), show that the more selective a college and the more high powered its applicant pool, the more likely the college is to look at qualitative factors like the essay to distinguish a qualified applicant from the rest of the pool.