The Number One Tip You Need to Write Your College Entrance Essay

Ahhh – the dog-days of summer! Nothing to do but chillax by the pool and soak up some rays.

Unless you’re a high school junior or senior. Then it’s time to work on college entrance essays.

Pop!  That’s the sound of your bubble bursting.

And not a minute too soon. These essays can’t be written at the last minute.

At least not if you expect a positive response.

The College Entrance Essay – also known as the Common Application Essay Prompt – is an opportunity to provide university administrators with a glimpse into who you are and why you, more than any other applicant, should be granted acceptance to their school.

It’s like an interview; a chance to charm them with your personality.

Except it’s all on paper.

No pressure, but it’s the only shot you have to win them over with your unique story; what makes you “you”.

The good news is, there’s only one you; you’re the only person who can share your unique perspective and thoughts with the reader.

This is not the time to be lazy and regurgitate facts found on your transcript.  They’ve got that information already. This is about you – your brand, if you will.

It’s also important to remember these dudes will be reading literally hundreds of essays. Grab their attention with an opening line that begs them to keep reading when they really want to take a nap.

It should go without saying typos, misspelled words, grammatical errors and the like will do more damage than you can imagine. Proof-read at least three times. Then do it again.

Even if you nail the above, you will still fall short if you fail at one critical task. It seems obvious, yet in my business as a Career Coach it’s something I see all the time.

The Number One Tip You Need to Write Your College Entrance Essay is:

Answer The Question.

Failing to answer the question is the number one issue I see when reviewing college entrance essays for clients.

All of the Common Application prompts follow a similar pattern:

First, the prompt asks applicants to describe a time/situation/obstacle/accomplishment/idea/topic/etc.

Second – and here’s where I see people fail – the writer is prompted to convey how the first part had an effect on him or her as a person. The tricky part is, the prompt may or may not ask this question directly.

The second part is the heart of the Common Application Prompt. Whether stated or not, it’s asking the writer: How did the situation you just described affect you?  Why did you bother to tell us about it? What impact did this have on your life, now and in the future?

Trust me when I tell you it doesn’t matter how well-written your essay is if it fails to answer the question.

Think of it this way: the first part of the essay – the description of the situation –  is setting the stage for your story, providing necessary background and supporting elements.

The second and most critical part of the essay is the outcome. There are many ways to answer depending on your particular story, and you’ll have to determine what works best for you. Think in terms of what you learned, significance, importance, any effect the situation had on you, etc.

Whatever your unique story, grab the readers’ attention and tell it with passion.  Above all, make sure your essay answers the question.