The Why This College? Essay

The “Why This College?” Essay Ye Luo says that their words gave him a sense of pride and determination to succeed. “It was the first time I really looked at myself,” he recalls. I tried to adapt socially and academically.” Ye Luo enjoyed high school far more than middle school, he made friends, joined the wrestling team, and took his GPA from a 1.9 to a 4.0. Ye Luo wasn’t accepted at Middlebury and he was devastated. Some of you are passionate about politics or social issues, but this is NOT the place to explore those beliefs. You want your essay to appeal to a broad range of readers, so picking one side or another of a controversial issue is not a good idea. For more ‘how to’ tips about the process of essay writing, see “Writing the College Essay”. Do you notice how each of these opening lines raises more questions than it answers? They give you enough information to get a sense of what the essay will be about, but not enough to really understand what is going on. You can write conversationally, but the grammar and spelling still need to be correct. And don’t solely rely on your computer’s spell-checker. And let’s keep the personal in the essay by not allowing third parties to ghostwrite our children’s future. Students are essentially paying a third party to ghost-write their story in an essay which is supposed to be a culmination of their skill set, not a professional’s. This may be acceptable for athletes and movie stars who pay for assistance with their memoirs, but should not be commonplace when competing for collegiate acceptance. This is the one caveat to the last sentence above. The first paragraph is mostly summary â€" it tells the reader facts about who you are, things you’ve done, tendencies you have, etc. (e.g. I never saw myself as a cat person). Summaries can be useful for bridging the gap between in-scene moments, or reflecting back on an experience and what it meant to you. This is a great strategy because it grabs your reader’s attention and compels them to continue in order to find out what is going on and fill in the gaps in their understanding. They are often enigmatic, surprising, or even confusing. For example, check out these 10 opening lines from Stanford admission essays. These are the parts that make your essay come alive. To submit a letter, comment or column, check oursubmission guidelines. Some college traditions are no longer applicable in today’s society. Let’s come up with a new solution that allows all children fair access to academic institutions. Looking back, he thinks he may have been rejected, at least in part, because his essay was so scattered. He went back to ScholarMatch, and this time he wrote about his family’s move from Panama, and the challenges he faced starting over in a new country where he didn’t speak the language. However, an essay consisting entirely of summary is going to be dry and boring to read. When you’re writing, open up and let your voice come through loud and clear. Be your wonderful, amazing self â€" idiosyncrasies, quirks, and all. The more real you are, the more intriguing you will be…and the more the admissions officers will love you. Don’t share anything that doesn’t make you sound good, unless you absolutely have to and you can turn it around to show the positive. Demonstrate how you are compassionateâ€"don’t just tell readers you are. If you had a difficulty, don’t give the admissions committee a list of complaints. You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @USATOpinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. Leverage your native culture, traditions, and experiences. If you’re an international applicant, Native American, or otherwise non-traditional student, don’t try to “Americanize” or “mainstream” your application. The goal is to stand out and not appear to be like all the other applicants. Always think about what information you want colleges to know and use when evaluating your application.