College Essay Tips

1. Start early  

The time to start thinking about your college essay is not the night before the deadline, even if you pride yourself on working well under pressure!  Check to see if the colleges you’re applying to also require supplemental essays (we do)! Give yourself ample time to brainstorm, outline, and workshop your essay to avoid extra stress and last-minute writer’s block.  Create deadlines for yourself and split up your work. If you know that the first paragraph will be the hardest for you, give yourself two weeks for each paragraph. Making it a step-by-step process will ease the application nerves and allow you the freedom to shape your ideas. Holding yourself accountable is often the hardest part!  

2. Brainstorm, brainstorm, brainstorm 

Depending on the essay question that you choose to answer, you may feel that you have too many ideas OR not enough. Having trouble picking a topic? Make a list of the top ten activities, people, places, things, values, and moments that are important to you. Dive deeper into those with a close family member or friend, write about them in a stream-of-consciousness journal entry, and make an outline. Throw out ideas at the dinner table, on a walk around your neighborhood, or even in the shower! 

3. Value your voice 

I love reading the essay portion of an application because it’s where a student’s voice and personality shine through. Don’t overthink the content, you are not expected to figure out world peace or the meaning of life in 650 words or less. When I was going through the college application process, I was bogged down at first thinking I needed to write about a life-altering experience or moral lesson I’d learned.  A high school English teacher freed me, affirming that this wasn’t necessary or expected. We want the ideas, creativity, and voice in your brain to come out on the page - that’s what excites us!  No topic is too small, as long as you make it your own.  

4. Revise, revise, revise... and then revise some more 

As good as your first draft will be, change it up! Read it over for spelling, grammar, and sentence-level errors. Read it out loud, you’ll be surprised by the difference in the way it sounds compared to reading it on paper. Hand it over to an English teacher, a parent, or a friend – let them give you their suggestions, and then revise where necessary. Don’t be afraid to write two completely different essays, it’s okay to switch topics, words, or structure! Try out different hooks and conclusions – have fun with it! 

As intimidating as the college essay can seem, it is possible to enjoy the process. Plan ahead, use the resources available to you, and embrace the opportunity to tell us about you – we want to get to know you! 🦉