College Essay Writing Tips

College Essay Writing Tips This is a college essay that worked for Harvard University. What you write in your application essay or personal statement should not contradict any other part of your applicationâ€"nor should it repeat it. This isn't the place to list your awards or discuss your grades or test scores. My teacher said 3 central paragraphs never gives enough detail to the topic, so we should write 5. It makes sense to me and that is how I’ve always done it. We were told to figure out what had happened with no phones or textbooks, just our brains. We worked together to discover in the box was a siphon, similar to what is used to pump gas. We spent the next weeks building solar ovens, studying the dynamic of paper planes, diving into the content of the speed of light and space vacuums, among other things. We did this with no textbooks, flashcards, or information to memorize. This is a college essay that worked for Duke University. More importantly, they don’t detract from the essay. Your title is a brief compliment to what’s to come, not an opportunity to use a grabber or shock the admissions officer. I was taught essays should be 7 paragraphs long, not 5. This is a college essay that worked for University of Pennsylvania . I attended the SPK Program, a five-week enrichment program with New Jersey’s best and brightest students. I lived on a college campus with 200 students and studied a topic. On the first day of class, our teacher set a box on the table and poured water into the top, and nothing came out. Then, he poured more water in, and everything slowly came out. I have experienced study abroad in Spain, visited my father’s hometown in China five times, and traveled to many other places such as Paris. As a result, I have developed a restlessness inside me, a need to move on from four years in the same high school, to take advantage of diverse opportunities whenever possible, and to meet interesting people. This is a college essay that worked for Cornell University. If you are feeling compelled to write about a mental health challenge, consider brainstorming some uncommon connections. My teacher mentioned an interesting one about basketball, and the entire essay was a metaphor for the writers view on life. What difference do you want to make in the world? These questions should inform your entire college application process. If you look at the titles of the sample admissions essays on our website, you’ll quickly find that they are simple, short, and not at all fancy. I select my first prey arbitrarily, and as I raise my hand up to eye level, I closely examine this chosen one. A miniature Flamenco dancer stares back at me from the confines of the 3-D rectangular magnet, half popping out as if willing herself to come to life. Instantly, my mind transports me back a few summers before, when I tapped my own heels to traditional music in Spain. I am reminded of my thirst to travel, to explore new cultures utterly different from my familiar home in Modesto, California. We caution against one-liners, limericks and anything offâ€"color. Most selective colleges require you to submit an essay or personal statement as part of your application. I became president of the California Scholarship Federation, providing students with information to prepare them for college, while creating opportunities for my peers to play a bigger part in our community. I began tutoring kids, teens, and adults on a variety of subjects ranging from basic English to home improvement and even Calculus. As the captain of the water polo and swim team I’ve led practices crafted to individually push my comrades to their limits, and I’ve counseled friends through circumstances similar to mine. I’ve done tons, and I can finally say I’m proud of that. Unfortunately, mental health challenges have become so common these days that many students write personal statements about them and so it can be difficult to stand out. A student who can make an admissions officer laugh never gets lost in the shuffle. What you think is funny and what an adult working in a college thinks is funny are probably different.