college essay

The Stress-Free College Admissions Essay

Your child is about to begin life as a senior in high school. In my day senior year used to be fun; however, nowadays seventeen and eighteen-year olds face a year fraught with stress – both external and internal, particularly, that dreaded college application. In an adolescent’s mind not getting into the college of his or her choice is equivalent to being handed a life sentence. Raging hormones and the not-fully-developed prefrontal cortex of the brain which is the center for making sound, responsible decisions create the emotional roll-coaster ride. Help take the pressure off. Get involved with the process of writing the college essay. Be patient and activate your sense of humor. Remember never to laugh out loud or smile too much.

When it comes to the SAT’s, practice makes perfect. But how does a teen, who feels uncomfortable about writing, tackle the college essay which must capture the distinguishing essence of his or her life experiences using proper grammar and good syntax? Most teens go to school, go to summer camp and do similar extra-curricular activities. “Help, I’m boring! I never did anything special! I don’t know how to write!” And then the door slams.

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How to Structure a College Essay for Busy Readers

If you’re concerned about getting started on your college essay, you can relax – if you’ve followed the preliminary planning process laid out in previous articles. This plan for your college essay helps establish the logic of your paper and helps you write in a clear, concise and orderly manner. You’ll want to follow this process on all the papers you write, not just for college essays.

Let’s talk about structuring your college essay for busy readers. When you consider the importance of making a good first impression combined with the tired eyes of the college administrators who must read all the applications that come pouring in you get an idea of why you need to grab the attention of the reader and get your points across quickly and clearly.

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Make Your College Essay Stand Out From The Crowd!

As a former dean with over fifteen years of admissions experience, I can tell you that the college essay can make or break your application. This is the one opportunity you have to “talk” directly to the admissions officer whose decision will decide if you get that “thick” envelope every applicant covets. The hard part is that same admissions officer has a huge pile of applications to review and yours is buried somewhere in the middle. Your essay has to stand out amidst the crowd of other applicants. Use these strategies to make sure yours jumps up, grabs the admissions officer’s attention, and gets you that offer of admission!

First, you’ve got to think of the audience that will be reading your work. Most likely, it will be a fairly recent college graduate just starting their career. Not the chairperson of the English department. So, throw out your thesaurus. Don’t use words like “plethora” or “analogous.” Your essay is not a vocabulary test!

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