College Essay Do’s and Don’ts
Make It Stand Out.
College application/scholarship essay(s) often answers the general question(s) of why you want to study what you want to study/what do you want to do after graduating college, what interests/inspires you, and/or what’s an experience that has shaped your outlook on life?
As someone who has read thousands of college essays, here are few things I liked and hated in application essays:
Likes
Good punctuation
Nice flow/connection of ideas
Interesting topic- ex: unique experience that shaped you
Interesting person- ex: someone that inspires you
An into/exit sentence that summarize your main point(s)
Examples of essay topics that I loved:
Student with autism wrote about how skateboarding influenced learning to socialize (engineering major)
Student wrote about how weekends with grandparents influenced pursuit of agriculture (landscape architecture major)
Student wrote about how sibling with limb difference shaped their views on architecture and public policy (urban planning major)
Student addressed how a new-found understanding of the wealth gap informed a major in economics (business major)
Student connected a question they had about anthropology with current research faculty were doing- explained how answer to this question could impact our society (anthropology major)
Student referenced how Netflix show about infinity inspired them to study math
Student wrote about the impact of live performance on our society and why they wanted to study violin performance (music major)
Student wrote about how their special education experience inspired them to want to be a teacher (education major)
Student wrote about their observations of group dynamics during a school trip made them curious about human behavior (undeclared major)
Student wrote about being color blind shaped the way they perceived the fashion industry (undeclared major)
Dislikes
Bragging essays: I’ve done so many things, I’m the best, etc. I get the gist of that when I look at your application and high school record. Give me something more interesting
Self-pity essay… I want to say this with sensitivity, but I also want to be clear… you’re not going to get admitted to a campus because the committee felt bad for you. If you’ve had a tough childhood or a rough time in school, it’s fine to talk about that. However, I want to read it in the context of what you learned or how you made the situation better. Tell me how it shaped or inspired you rather than strive to shock me into seeing how much you’ve overcome.
If you’re applying to engineering… I really don’t want to read about your young love of legos.
Essays that clearly haven’t been proofread. Bold grammatical errors make it hard to focus on meaning. Also don’t have the wrong institution referenced. EX: If you’re applying to University of Florida, don’t talk about how excited you are about the dance program at Arizona.
That’s all folks! Remember, as long as you’re answering the prompt, being authentic, and you’ve proofread, it’s a good essay! Don’t overthink. You can do this.
Talk soon!
Veronica
