Write
a winning admission essay :
If you have ever applied to a foreign university for
admission you would have encountered the toughest hurdle in
the application process - writing essays to support your
application. Increasingly post graduate institutes of
education in India too are using essays or statements of
purpose as part of the selection procedure. Some companies
also ask entry level applicants to write a an essay.
Essays
add value to your application :
Essays
are used to learn more about your reasons for applying to the
course, university or company and your ability to benefit from
and contribute to it. Your answers will let you state your
case more fully than other sections of the application, and
provide the evaluator with better insight about you and how
you differ from the other applicants. In marginal cases, the
essays are used to decide whether an applicant will be
selected. The purpose of the admissions essay is to convey a
sense of your unique character to the admissions committee.
The essay also demonstrates your writing skills as well as
your ability to organize your thoughts coherently.
The
essay is very important :
For many course, the essay can be one of the most
important criteria for admission. An essay can make or break
an application. You should invest plenty of time and effort
into crafting your essay, so start thinking about it way
before the deadline. Write, write, and rewrite. Ask your
friends, teachers and seniors critique your essay. Leave no
room for error.
An excellent
essay can separate your application from other candidates who
are very similar to you. A winning essay that presents you
with vitality, originality and focus can bring you to life in
the critical but very short time your application is actually
being discussed by admissions officers. In close admissions
cases, one "winning" asset can tip the balance. That
asset can be given substance and voice in the essay.
An excellent
essay can focus your entire application: a well prepared
application often has a theme-- a central idea to which all
the essays and all the other written materials contribute.
Such themes are rooted in the facts of your background,
upbringing, achievements and personality. An application with
a convincing, personal, original and well- documented
"theme" can be a tremendous advantage.
Sample
essay topics :
There
are hundreds of possible topics that you can be asked to write
an essay on. Given below are some of the more common ones.
1) What events, activities or achievements have contributed to
your own self-development?
2) Describe a situation in which you had significant
responsibility and what you learned from it.
3) Describe your strengths and weaknesses in two areas:
setting and achieving goals, and working with other people
4)Your career aspirations and factors leading you to apply to
this course at this time. Describe a challenge to which you
have successfully responded. What did you learn about yourself
as you responded to this challenge? Describe a challenge
you anticipate facing in any aspect of college life. On the
basis of what you learned from your earlier response, how do
you expect to deal with this challenge?
5) Describe and evaluate one experience that significantly
influenced your academic interests. The experience might be a
high school course, a job, a relationship, or an
extracurricular activity. Be sure to explain how this
experience led to your setting the goals you now have for
yourself, and why you think the academic program for which you
are applying will help you to reach those goals.
6) Describe your educational, personal or career goals.
7) Role Model - If you could meet/be/have dinner with anyone
in history, who would it be and why?
8) Past Experience - Describe an event that has had a great
impact on you and why?
9) What was your most important activity/course in high school
and why?
10) Forecast important issues in the next decade, century -
nationally, globally.
11) Why do you want to study at this university?
12) Tell us something about yourself, your most important
activities?
13) How would your room, computer or car describe you?
You could be
asked to write one or several essays. Whatever the number, you
will find that essays, for the most part, fall into four
categories:
(1) tell us about yourself;
(2) tell us about an academic or extracurricular
interest;
(3) tell us why you want to come to our college;
(4) show us the imaginative side of your personality.
Your
essay is not graded by Olympic judges :
College
application essays are not graded like Olympics diving or
gymnastics matches where you start with a 10 and lose points
for every error. The essays are not read by tyrants with red
pencils, they are read by harassed admissions officers who are
looking for an impression. That impression is mostly
emotional. The reader of your essay is reaching an emotional
conclusion about YOU, not an intellectual conclusion about
your topic. And the very best emotional conclusion that reader
can reach is: "I really like this kid."
Make
sure you have one great idea :
This follows from the first point. The reader of your essay is
looking through the writing—and reading very fast by the
way--to get to the gist of what you have done with the
question. If you have repeated any one of the thousand most
frequent ideas [wrestling taught me to concentrate; grandma's
death taught me to stop and smell the roses; I like to help
others in my community, and thus I help myself], you have not
aided your cause on iota, no matter how well written, typed,
and proofread your essay is. In fact, adding polish to a
routine idea often makes it worse and less personal.
Your
good idea should be a personal, small idea:
Avoid "BIG TOPICS"-- not only the obvious big
topics like peace in the Middle East, ecology, civil rights
and general human nature--but also the thousand smaller
versions of those BIG IDEAS which slip into an essay as a
pasted on "moral". Keep your idea personal,
contained and original. If you paste on a
"moral"--try to make it unexpected, but somehow
"right" for you.
Know
your subject :
Some
essays will require research. You may be asked to compare and
contrast two books you've read. Include quotations to back up
your position that you are taking. You may be asked to write
on a current research topic.
Find the most demanding English teacher and ask them to help
you with the outline. Then return for a critique of the rough
draft. The teachers that have been most demanding are the
teachers that will probably be able to help you the most. If
your essay puts this instructor to sleep, it will probably
bore the selection committee too.
Know
yourself :
Before you can begin writing an essay, you need to
collect real data about yourself--who you are, what you've
accomplished, and where you are headed. This kind of self-
assessment is also valuable as preparation for college
interviews.
To help put your thoughts into words, try the suggestions
listed below. Remember that this preliminary work is to help
you formulate ideas. You need not be concerned with spelling,
punctuation, and the flow of ideas at this point.
List
all your activities for the past four years :
Include
school activities; awards, honors, and offices held; community
services; jobs; and travel. Record major travel experiences.
Note your strongest impressions and how they affected you. If
you loved the Grand Canyon, for example, write down three
specific reasons why, aside from the grandeur and beauty that
everyone loves. Describe an accomplishment that you had
to struggle to achieve. Include what it was, how you tackled
it, and how it changed you. Think of one or two sayings that
you've heard again and again around your house since
childhood. How have they shaped your life? What personality
traits do you value most in yourself? Choose a few and jot
down examples of how each has helped you. Think of things that
other people often say about you. Write about whether or not
you agree with their assessments and how they make you feel.
Brainstorm "top ten" lists in a few selected
categories: favorite books, plays, movies, sports, eras in
history, famous people, etc. Review your list to see which
items stand out and describe what they've added to your life.
Describe "regular people" who have motivated you in
different ways throughout your life. It could be someone you
only met once, a third-grade teacher, or a family member or
friend.
Starting
Your Essay :
The
most common topic--particularly if only one essay is
required--is the first, "tell us about yourself."
Since this kind of essay has no specific focus, applicants
sometimes have trouble deciding which part of their lives to
write about. Beware of the chronological list of events that
produces dull reading. Remember, also, to accent the positive
rather than the negative side of an experience. If you write
about the effect of a death, divorce, or illness on your life,
tell about but don't dwell on your bad luck and
disappointments. Instead, emphasize what you have learned from
the experience, and how coping with adversity has strengthened
you as an individual.
1. Tie yourself
to the college: Why are you interested in attending, and what
can the institution do for you? Be specific. Go beyond
"XYZ College will best allow me to realize my academic
potential.
2. Read the directions carefully and follow them to the
letter. In other words, if the essay is supposed to be 500
words or less, don't submit 1000 words.
3. Consider the unique features of the institution, e.g., a
liberal arts college will be impressed with the variety of
academic and personal interests you might have, while an art
institute would be most interested in your creative abilities.
4. Be positive, upbeat and avoid the negatives, e.g. I am
applying to your school because I won't be required to take
physical education or a foreign language.
5. Emphasize what you have learned, e.g. provide more than a
narration when recounting an experience.
6. Write about something you know, something only you could
write.
7. Make certain you understand the question or the topic. Your
essay should answer the question or speak directly to the
given topic.
8. List all ideas. Be creative. Brainstorm without censoring.
9. Sort through ideas and prioritize. You cannot tell them
everything, Be selective.
10. Choose information and ideas which are not reflected in
other parts of your application. This is your chance to
supplement your application with information you want them to
know.
11. Be persuasive in showing the reader you are deserving of
admission. Remember your audience.
Writing
the Draft :
Apply what you have learned in English class
1. Develop paragraphs, one idea at a time, with topic
sentences, using examples or giving convincing reasons.
2. Make transitions between paragraphs.
3. Select action verbs and avoid the passive voice.
4. Use concrete examples. Often examples of behavior
demonstrate an idea better than an adjective.
5. Develop exact, concrete language. Avoid vague references,
wordy usage or cliches.
Editing
Your Draft :
1. Does your introduction capture the reader's
attention?
2. Are you consistent in your verb tense?
3. Are you clear and coherent?
4. Are you concise enough to adhere to the limits in length?
5. Have you checked for grammatical and spelling errors?
6. Does the essay present you as you wish to be seen?
7. Did another person review your essay for possible mistakes?
8. Would you remember your essay if you read one hundred
others?
9. Does your closing paragraph present you as you wish to be
remembered?
Completing
Your Essay :
1.
Some applications list a preference for typed or handwritten
work. Regardless of the preference, the application should be
neat and legible.
2. Proofread! This does not mean merely running the essay
through the spell checker. A spell checker would find the
following statement perfectly OK. " I maid the largest
discovery of me live on my thirst day of school." (I made
the largest discovery of my life on my first day of school.)
The words were spelled correctly but gross errors were made.
Have more than one person read your essay and read aloud.
3. Retain a copy for your records.
4. You may be able to use one essay more than once. Save it on
a computer for future use.
Don't
:
1.
Force it, be too funny, too sad, too cute, too silly ("I
enjoy playing the piano and the guitar but not
simultaneously").
2. Be redundant-essays should not be a rehash of information
already provided on other parts of your application or your
high school transcript.
3. Let modesty cover up your greatest assets and achievements.
4. Worry about trick questions. Your readers are genuinely
interested in your answers to the questions.
5. Be afraid to confess your anxieties or indecisiveness.
Admission officers are people who enjoy helping people and can
be quite moved by the knowledge that you need them.
