4 Ways To Know If Youve Written A Good College Essay

4 Ways To Know If You’ve Written A Good College Essay They are not general or abstract, the more details the better. The best essays are 20% about the “topic” (the “what”) and 80% about the writer. A great college essay grabs your attention from the first sentence. It takes readers into, through, and beyond the story in 500 words or less. How much weight a college puts on that portion of the application may differ. Just how many readers digest your words can vary as well. Still, don’t waste the opportunity to put another dimension on your application file. Usually one to two admissions officers read an essay. Some colleges will choose only to look at your GPA, Course Rigor and SAT/ACT scores. If you GPA and Test Scores are high enough, they may not feel that and essay is necessary. The role of the essay varies greatly from school to school. A lot of it depends upon the selectivity of the school. It is always worth an applicant’s while to write as strong an essay as possible, but its role in the process is a variable one. The second type of admission letter is sent by students to prospective universities or colleges, such as nursing school or graduate school. Work with your students to help them with this important piece of their application. While you research your application essay, you will be encouraged to check out some examples of great essays and get inspired. While this is a great exercise, many students allow themselves to be influenced too much by the examples, and use lots of clichés in their desire to impress the admission officers. A college application essay is usually around 500 words, and those words can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection. A great essay tells a a unique story that communicates key qualities you can offer the college. That is why a great college essay is personal.This great essay is very visual and helps make you become 3-D for the reader. It starts right away with a specific story from running a marathon in the rain to spilling water on customersâ€"twiceâ€" and keeps us engaged from the first word to the last. You can contact me for samples as I collect great essays from the students with whom I work. If a student is on the fence, not an early admit or deny, essays will probably be read multiple times by multiple people while an applicant is being discussed. You can be certain that you did not spend all that time crafting the perfect essay in vain. Here’s a method for tackling the process and a few examples to inspire you. Some campuses have a pool of reviewers, while others are more specific. For a small college, there is a chance that you essay will only be read by a couple of individuals, but for a larger school it can make its way through several hands before being put down. While essays don’t weigh as much as grades or course selection, if you are applying test-optional or to a smaller school, more attention will be given to this section of the application. At almost all selective colleges however, every college essay will be read by multiple people. Policies on viewing essay results are all over the place at essay optional schools. Many admission officers would view it as a “plus factor.” It’s wonderful that your daughter did so well. If I’m understanding correctly, the only students who need to be taking the writing/essay exams are those applying to the first 9 schools on your list that are “required” or “recommended”? We are in CA so it used to be needed for the UC’s but as you noted even that has changed. So now post-Covid, do you still advise most of your students to take the writing exams, or feel that there is “more upside than downside” to taking them? My 11th grader previously did the SAT w/essay and scored 760 R&W, 650 M, and 4/4/5 on the essay. Whether you’re prepared or not, there comes a time when every student is faced with writing their first college essay. Even if you’re a natural writer, writing a college essay is still a daunting task. The student must convey why they want to attend and what makes them suitable for admission. It is important for them to sell themselves not just by listing their qualifications and grades, but by passionately sharing their long-term goals, and efforts so far to achieve them. Your students’ college essay is their opportunity to reveal their best qualities and to show an admission committee what makes them stand out from other applicants. As much as I rail against the essay, I still recommend that students take it â€" at least once. Your daughter didn’t waste her time, she created some options.