Writing your college application essay Mr. Terrill

Essay Overview Your essay is the only chance you have to "speak" to the admissions counselor. Your application, transcript, resume, etc. are all data sets and numbers. Therefore, your essay should do just that - speak to the counselor. It should sound like you. Narrative voice is crucial - you want to sound authentic, not like a robot. Most essays are limited to approximately 500 words, so it is important that you maintain narrative focus and you select a topic narrow enough to explain in detail in the finite space you have. Two main questions your essay should answer: Who are you? Why am I a better candidate for your school than the next application in the pile?

Do This...Don’t Do That DO: make sure that your essay answers the prompt. For example, if the prompt asks you to describe a person in your life who has influenced you and describe that influence, don’t write an essay about a time you broke your ankle and you discovered what it was like to live with a disability. DO: Show it don't tell it. Use anecdotes. DON’T: Tell the admissions officer you are a good student or that you work hard or that you have learned from a significant experience in your life. DO: Show the admissions counselor your work in the classroom, your hard work on the playing field, or the experience you've learned from, and let the strength of your showing inform the counselor of your character. Bottom line: think of the your attributes you want to highlight, and then brainstorm anecdotes to show the reader those attributes.

Telling It...

Showing It...

Telling It Some More...

This Is How You Show It...

Now You Try... Topic: Family Values Telling It: “My family is very important to me. We try to get together every couple of weeks. I’ve learned a lot from my parents, grandparents, and cousins about how to be a good person. They have taught me that your family are the most important people in your life, because they will always be there for you. Write a paragraph that SHOWS family values instead of TELLS about family values. Use an anecdote.

Do This...Don’t Do That Continued DON’T : End the essay with statements like "and that's how I became a leader" or "that's when I learned I wanted to be an engineer". These conclusions should be obvious if you have done your job in the essay. DON’T : Show an anecdote that paints you in a non-flattering light. Showing an anecdote of a mistake you’ve made can be powerful, as long as it is followed by showing how you have learned and changed from that mistake. DON’T : Make the tone of your essay overly negative - talking about how you hate your hometown and you're dying to get away does not reflect well on you and show who you are. However, identifying a problem that you see facing your hometown and showing how you care about it and how you might solve it would be great. DON’T : Make spelling and grammar mistakes. Nothing will put your essay into the rejection pile faster than misspellings, misused homophones, and/or easy punctuation mistakes.

Hey! My writing skills are kind of a big deal... In addition to the opportunity to show the admissions counselor about who you are and why you stand out as an attractive candidate for their school, it is also your opportunity to show off the way you can use words. Using "higher-level" writing techniques reflects well on your writing ability - as long as you use them effectively. For example, using metaphor, parallelism, and/or alliteration effectively. Avoid falling into the trap of thinking you need to use big words and sound overly fancy. Do not use a thesaurus. Be yourself.

YouTube Videos Some colleges and universities are allowing applicants to submit a short video of themselves instead of an essay. If this is an option you may be interested in, remember the following tips: Instead of a chance to show off your writing skills, a video becomes a chance to show off your oral communication skills - voice, rate, inflection, body language, tone, etc. Be sure to limit the number of filler words such as “like”, “um”, and “you know”. Your appearance should reflect who you are - dress, grooming, smiling, serious, scared, fun-loving, etc. You should still show the admissions counselor who you are through the use of anecdotes, rather than tell them about who you are. The composition of the video becomes very important. Consider what you look like in the video, what the background looks like, what the lighting is like, what angle the camera is shooting you from, etc.

Choosing a Topic You are in a competition for a limited number of spots with a pile of other applicants. If you want your essay to stand out, then your essay topic needs to stand out. If you can think of the traditional topics of college essays - winning the big game, an overview of your achievements, a teacher who made you want to take school more seriously - chances are every other applicant can think of those topics too. You don't have to have had an earth-shattering life event to write an interesting essay. If you have never been through a life-threatening illness, a parents’ divorce, a cross country move, etc. then do not embellish or make up events to make them sound more important. Remember, authenticity is the goal. You need to write about who you are, not who you think you should be. We have all experienced unique instances of love, heart break, success, and failure. We all have unique talents, dreams, and hometowns. Think of the unique stories that show your best attributes, and chances are you’ll find your topic.

Getting Started Talk to others in your life who know you best - friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, parents, siblings, relatives, neighbors, teachers, coaches, etc. Ask them to answer two questions honestly for you: What are your favorite attributes of my personality/character? What makes me stand out from my peers? Their responses might surprise you, allow you to see yourself in a different light, and give you ideas about attributes to focus your essay on.

Additional Resources This slideshow is available at http://terrillenglish.weebly.com Go to iTunes, search “GEAR UP Maine”. You will find a series of podcasts and transcripts. There will be one titled “GEAR UP College Essay Writing Advice”. There is a 16 minute podcast to listen to and the transcript of the podcast in pdf format to download. Look over exemplars. Do not try to mimic the exemplars, but rather focus on the narrative techniques that the authors used. Your English Teacher and Guidance Counselor