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Getting College Essay Help: Important Do's and Don’ts

College Essays

If you grow up to be a professional writer, everything you write will first go through an editor before being published. This is because the process of writing is really a process of re-writing —of rethinking and reexamining your work, usually with the help of someone else. So what does this mean for your student writing? And in particular, what does it mean for very important, but nonprofessional writing like your college essay? Should you ask your parents to look at your essay? Pay for an essay service?

If you are wondering what kind of help you can, and should, get with your personal statement, you've come to the right place! In this article, I'll talk about what kind of writing help is useful, ethical, and even expected for your college admission essay . I'll also point out who would make a good editor, what the differences between editing and proofreading are, what to expect from a good editor, and how to spot and stay away from a bad one.

Table of Contents

What Kind of Help for Your Essay Can You Get?

What's Good Editing?

What should an editor do for you, what kind of editing should you avoid, proofreading, what's good proofreading, what kind of proofreading should you avoid.

What Do Colleges Think Of You Getting Help With Your Essay?

Who Can/Should Help You?

Advice for editors.

Should You Pay Money For Essay Editing?

The Bottom Line

What's next, what kind of help with your essay can you get.

Rather than talking in general terms about "help," let's first clarify the two different ways that someone else can improve your writing . There is editing, which is the more intensive kind of assistance that you can use throughout the whole process. And then there's proofreading, which is the last step of really polishing your final product.

Let me go into some more detail about editing and proofreading, and then explain how good editors and proofreaders can help you."

Editing is helping the author (in this case, you) go from a rough draft to a finished work . Editing is the process of asking questions about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and how you're organizing your ideas. But not all editing is good editing . In fact, it's very easy for an editor to cross the line from supportive to overbearing and over-involved.

Ability to clarify assignments. A good editor is usually a good writer, and certainly has to be a good reader. For example, in this case, a good editor should make sure you understand the actual essay prompt you're supposed to be answering.

Open-endedness. Good editing is all about asking questions about your ideas and work, but without providing answers. It's about letting you stick to your story and message, and doesn't alter your point of view.

Think of an editor as a great travel guide. It can show you the many different places your trip could take you. It should explain any parts of the trip that could derail your trip or confuse the traveler. But it never dictates your path, never forces you to go somewhere you don't want to go, and never ignores your interests so that the trip no longer seems like it's your own. So what should good editors do?

Help Brainstorm Topics

Sometimes it's easier to bounce thoughts off of someone else. This doesn't mean that your editor gets to come up with ideas, but they can certainly respond to the various topic options you've come up with. This way, you're less likely to write about the most boring of your ideas, or to write about something that isn't actually important to you.

If you're wondering how to come up with options for your editor to consider, check out our guide to brainstorming topics for your college essay .

Help Revise Your Drafts

Here, your editor can't upset the delicate balance of not intervening too much or too little. It's tricky, but a great way to think about it is to remember: editing is about asking questions, not giving answers .

Revision questions should point out:

• Places where more detail or more description would help the reader connect with your essay
• Places where structure and logic don't flow, losing the reader's attention
• Places where there aren't transitions between paragraphs, confusing the reader
• Moments where your narrative or the arguments you're making are unclear

But pointing to potential problems is not the same as actually rewriting—editors let authors fix the problems themselves.

Bad editing is usually very heavy-handed editing. Instead of helping you find your best voice and ideas, a bad editor changes your writing into their own vision.

You may be dealing with a bad editor if they:

• Add material (examples, descriptions) that doesn't come from you
• Use a thesaurus to make your college essay sound "more mature"
• Add meaning or insight to the essay that doesn't come from you
• Tell you what to say and how to say it
• Write sentences, phrases, and paragraphs for you
• Change your voice in the essay so it no longer sounds like it was written by a teenager

Colleges can tell the difference between a 17-year-old's writing and a 50-year-old's writing. Not only that, they have access to your SAT or ACT Writing section, so they can compare your essay to something else you wrote. Writing that's a little more polished is great and expected. But a totally different voice and style will raise questions.

Where's the Line Between Helpful Editing and Unethical Over-Editing?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your college essay editor is doing the right thing. Here are some guidelines for staying on the ethical side of the line.

• An editor should say that the opening paragraph is kind of boring, and explain what exactly is making it drag. But it's overstepping for an editor to tell you exactly how to change it.
• An editor should point out where your prose is unclear or vague. But it's completely inappropriate for the editor to rewrite that section of your essay.
• An editor should let you know that a section is light on detail or description. But giving you similes and metaphors to beef up that description is a no-go.

Proofreading (also called copy-editing) is checking for errors in the last draft of a written work. It happens at the end of the process and is meant as the final polishing touch. Proofreading is meticulous and detail-oriented, focusing on small corrections. It sands off all the surface rough spots that could alienate the reader.

Because proofreading is usually concerned with making fixes on the word or sentence level, this is the only process where someone else can actually add to or take away things from your essay . This is because what they are adding or taking away tends to be one or two misplaced letters.

Laser focus. Proofreading is all about the tiny details, so the ability to really concentrate on finding small slip-ups is a must.

Excellent grammar and spelling skills. Proofreaders need to dot every "i" and cross every "t." Good proofreaders should correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. They should put foreign words in italics and surround quotations with quotation marks. They should check that you used the correct college's name, and that you adhered to any formatting requirements (name and date at the top of the page, uniform font and size, uniform spacing).

Limited interference. A proofreader needs to make sure that you followed any word limits. But if cuts need to be made to shorten the essay, that's your job and not the proofreader's.

A bad proofreader either tries to turn into an editor, or just lacks the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job.

Some signs that you're working with a bad proofreader are:

• If they suggest making major changes to the final draft of your essay. Proofreading happens when editing is already finished.
• If they aren't particularly good at spelling, or don't know grammar, or aren't detail-oriented enough to find someone else's small mistakes.
• If they start swapping out your words for fancier-sounding synonyms, or changing the voice and sound of your essay in other ways. A proofreader is there to check for errors, not to take the 17-year-old out of your writing.

What Do Colleges Think of Your Getting Help With Your Essay?

Admissions officers agree: light editing and proofreading are good—even required ! But they also want to make sure you're the one doing the work on your essay. They want essays with stories, voice, and themes that come from you. They want to see work that reflects your actual writing ability, and that focuses on what you find important.

On the Importance of Editing

Get feedback. Have a fresh pair of eyes give you some feedback. Don't allow someone else to rewrite your essay, but do take advantage of others' edits and opinions when they seem helpful. ( Bates College )

Read your essay aloud to someone. Reading the essay out loud offers a chance to hear how your essay sounds outside your head. This exercise reveals flaws in the essay's flow, highlights grammatical errors and helps you ensure that you are communicating the exact message you intended. ( Dickinson College )

On the Value of Proofreading

Share your essays with at least one or two people who know you well—such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or friend—and ask for feedback. Remember that you ultimately have control over your essays, and your essays should retain your own voice, but others may be able to catch mistakes that you missed and help suggest areas to cut if you are over the word limit. ( Yale University )

Proofread and then ask someone else to proofread for you. Although we want substance, we also want to be able to see that you can write a paper for our professors and avoid careless mistakes that would drive them crazy. ( Oberlin College )

On Watching Out for Too Much Outside Influence

Limit the number of people who review your essay. Too much input usually means your voice is lost in the writing style. ( Carleton College )

Ask for input (but not too much). Your parents, friends, guidance counselors, coaches, and teachers are great people to bounce ideas off of for your essay. They know how unique and spectacular you are, and they can help you decide how to articulate it. Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we're probably going to notice. ( Vanderbilt University )

Now let's talk about some potential people to approach for your college essay editing and proofreading needs. It's best to start close to home and slowly expand outward. Not only are your family and friends more invested in your success than strangers, but they also have a better handle on your interests and personality. This knowledge is key for judging whether your essay is expressing your true self.

Parents or Close Relatives

Your family may be full of potentially excellent editors! Parents are deeply committed to your well-being, and family members know you and your life well enough to offer details or incidents that can be included in your essay. On the other hand, the rewriting process necessarily involves criticism, which is sometimes hard to hear from someone very close to you.

A parent or close family member is a great choice for an editor if you can answer "yes" to the following questions. Is your parent or close relative a good writer or reader? Do you have a relationship where editing your essay won't create conflict? Are you able to constructively listen to criticism and suggestion from the parent?

One suggestion for defusing face-to-face discussions is to try working on the essay over email. Send your parent a draft, have them write you back some comments, and then you can pick which of their suggestions you want to use and which to discard.

Teachers or Tutors

A humanities teacher that you have a good relationship with is a great choice. I am purposefully saying humanities, and not just English, because teachers of Philosophy, History, Anthropology, and any other classes where you do a lot of writing, are all used to reviewing student work.

Moreover, any teacher or tutor that has been working with you for some time, knows you very well and can vet the essay to make sure it "sounds like you."

If your teacher or tutor has some experience with what college essays are supposed to be like, ask them to be your editor. If not, then ask whether they have time to proofread your final draft.

Guidance or College Counselor at Your School

The best thing about asking your counselor to edit your work is that this is their job. This means that they have a very good sense of what colleges are looking for in an application essay.

At the same time, school counselors tend to have relationships with admissions officers in many colleges, which again gives them insight into what works and which college is focused on what aspect of the application.

Unfortunately, in many schools the guidance counselor tends to be way overextended. If your ratio is 300 students to 1 college counselor, you're unlikely to get that person's undivided attention and focus. It is still useful to ask them for general advice about your potential topics, but don't expect them to be able to stay with your essay from first draft to final version.

Friends, Siblings, or Classmates

Although they most likely don't have much experience with what colleges are hoping to see, your peers are excellent sources for checking that your essay is you .

Friends and siblings are perfect for the read-aloud edit. Read your essay to them so they can listen for words and phrases that are stilted, pompous, or phrases that just don't sound like you.

You can even trade essays and give helpful advice on each other's work.

If your editor hasn't worked with college admissions essays very much, no worries! Any astute and attentive reader can still greatly help with your process. But, as in all things, beginners do better with some preparation.

First, your editor should read our advice about how to write a college essay introduction , how to spot and fix a bad college essay , and get a sense of what other students have written by going through some admissions essays that worked .

Then, as they read your essay, they can work through the following series of questions that will help them to guide you.

Introduction Questions

• Is the first sentence a killer opening line? Why or why not?
• Does the introduction hook the reader? Does it have a colorful, detailed, and interesting narrative? Or does it propose a compelling or surprising idea?
• Can you feel the author's voice in the introduction, or is the tone dry, dull, or overly formal? Show the places where the voice comes through.

Essay Body Questions

• Does the essay have a through-line? Is it built around a central argument, thought, idea, or focus? Can you put this idea into your own words?
• How is the essay organized? By logical progression? Chronologically? Do you feel order when you read it, or are there moments where you are confused or lose the thread of the essay?
• Does the essay have both narratives about the author's life and explanations and insight into what these stories reveal about the author's character, personality, goals, or dreams? If not, which is missing?
• Does the essay flow? Are there smooth transitions/clever links between paragraphs? Between the narrative and moments of insight?

Reader Response Questions

• Does the writer's personality come through? Do we know what the speaker cares about? Do we get a sense of "who he or she is"?
• Where did you feel most connected to the essay? Which parts of the essay gave you a "you are there" sensation by invoking your senses? What moments could you picture in your head well?
• Where are the details and examples vague and not specific enough?
• Did you get an "a-ha!" feeling anywhere in the essay? Is there a moment of insight that connected all the dots for you? Is there a good reveal or "twist" anywhere in the essay?
• What are the strengths of this essay? What needs the most improvement?

Should You Pay Money for Essay Editing?

One alternative to asking someone you know to help you with your college essay is the paid editor route. There are two different ways to pay for essay help: a private essay coach or a less personal editing service , like the many proliferating on the internet.

My advice is to think of these options as a last resort rather than your go-to first choice. I'll first go through the reasons why. Then, if you do decide to go with a paid editor, I'll help you decide between a coach and a service.

When to Consider a Paid Editor

In general, I think hiring someone to work on your essay makes a lot of sense if none of the people I discussed above are a possibility for you.

If you can't ask your parents. For example, if your parents aren't good writers, or if English isn't their first language. Or if you think getting your parents to help is going create unnecessary extra conflict in your relationship with them (applying to college is stressful as it is!)

If you can't ask your teacher or tutor. Maybe you don't have a trusted teacher or tutor that has time to look over your essay with focus. Or, for instance, your favorite humanities teacher has very limited experience with college essays and so won't know what admissions officers want to see.

If you can't ask your guidance counselor. This could be because your guidance counselor is way overwhelmed with other students.

If you can't share your essay with those who know you. It might be that your essay is on a very personal topic that you're unwilling to share with parents, teachers, or peers. Just make sure it doesn't fall into one of the bad-idea topics in our article on bad college essays .

If the cost isn't a consideration. Many of these services are quite expensive, and private coaches even more so. If you have finite resources, I'd say that hiring an SAT or ACT tutor (whether it's PrepScholar or someone else) is better way to spend your money . This is because there's no guarantee that a slightly better essay will sufficiently elevate the rest of your application, but a significantly higher SAT score will definitely raise your applicant profile much more.

Should You Hire an Essay Coach?

On the plus side, essay coaches have read dozens or even hundreds of college essays, so they have experience with the format. Also, because you'll be working closely with a specific person, it's more personal than sending your essay to a service, which will know even less about you.

But, on the minus side, you'll still be bouncing ideas off of someone who doesn't know that much about you . In general, if you can adequately get the help from someone you know, there is no advantage to paying someone to help you.

If you do decide to hire a coach, ask your school counselor, or older students that have used the service for recommendations. If you can't afford the coach's fees, ask whether they can work on a sliding scale —many do. And finally, beware those who guarantee admission to your school of choice—essay coaches don't have any special magic that can back up those promises.

Should You Send Your Essay to a Service?

On the plus side, essay editing services provide a similar product to essay coaches, and they cost significantly less . If you have some assurance that you'll be working with a good editor, the lack of face-to-face interaction won't prevent great results.

On the minus side, however, it can be difficult to gauge the quality of the service before working with them . If they are churning through many application essays without getting to know the students they are helping, you could end up with an over-edited essay that sounds just like everyone else's. In the worst case scenario, an unscrupulous service could send you back a plagiarized essay.

Getting recommendations from friends or a school counselor for reputable services is key to avoiding heavy-handed editing that writes essays for you or does too much to change your essay. Including a badly-edited essay like this in your application could cause problems if there are inconsistencies. For example, in interviews it might be clear you didn't write the essay, or the skill of the essay might not be reflected in your schoolwork and test scores.

Should You Buy an Essay Written by Someone Else?

Let me elaborate. There are super sketchy places on the internet where you can simply buy a pre-written essay. Don't do this!

For one thing, you'll be lying on an official, signed document. All college applications make you sign a statement saying something like this:

I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented... I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree, should the information I have certified be false. (From the Common Application )

For another thing, if your academic record doesn't match the essay's quality, the admissions officer will start thinking your whole application is riddled with lies.

Admission officers have full access to your writing portion of the SAT or ACT so that they can compare work that was done in proctored conditions with that done at home. They can tell if these were written by different people. Not only that, but there are now a number of search engines that faculty and admission officers can use to see if an essay contains strings of words that have appeared in other essays—you have no guarantee that the essay you bought wasn't also bought by 50 other students.

• You should get college essay help with both editing and proofreading
• A good editor will ask questions about your idea, logic, and structure, and will point out places where clarity is needed
• A good editor will absolutely not answer these questions, give you their own ideas, or write the essay or parts of the essay for you
• A good proofreader will find typos and check your formatting
• All of them agree that getting light editing and proofreading is necessary
• Parents, teachers, guidance or college counselor, and peers or siblings
• If you can't ask any of those, you can pay for college essay help, but watch out for services or coaches who over-edit you work
• Don't buy a pre-written essay! Colleges can tell, and it'll make your whole application sound false.

Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications and then explore our step-by-step guide to writing a great college essay .

Using the Common Application for your college applications? We have an excellent guide to the Common App essay prompts and useful advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that's right for you . Wondering how other people tackled these prompts? Then work through our roundup of over 130 real college essay examples published by colleges .

Stressed about whether to take the SAT again before submitting your application? Let us help you decide how many times to take this test . If you choose to go for it, we have the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study.

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Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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Ultimate Guide to Writing Your College Essay

Tips for writing an effective college essay.

College admissions essays are an important part of your college application and gives you the chance to show colleges and universities your character and experiences. This guide will give you tips to write an effective college essay.

Want free help with your college essay?

UPchieve connects you with knowledgeable and friendly college advisors—online, 24/7, and completely free. Get 1:1 help brainstorming topics, outlining your essay, revising a draft, or editing grammar.

Writing a strong college admissions essay

Learn about the elements of a solid admissions essay.

Avoiding common admissions essay mistakes

Learn some of the most common mistakes made on college essays

Brainstorming tips for your college essay

Stuck on what to write your college essay about? Here are some exercises to help you get started.

How formal should the tone of your college essay be?

Learn how formal your college essay should be and get tips on how to bring out your natural voice.

Taking your college essay to the next level

Hear an admissions expert discuss the appropriate level of depth necessary in your college essay.

Student Stories

Student Story: Admissions essay about a formative experience

Get the perspective of a current college student on how he approached the admissions essay.

Student Story: Admissions essay about personal identity

Get the perspective of a current college student on how she approached the admissions essay.

Student Story: Admissions essay about community impact

Student story: admissions essay about a past mistake, how to write a college application essay, tips for writing an effective application essay, sample college essay 1 with feedback, sample college essay 2 with feedback.

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College admissions

Course: college admissions   >   unit 4.

• Writing a strong college admissions essay
• Avoiding common admissions essay mistakes
• Brainstorming tips for your college essay
• How formal should the tone of your college essay be?
• Taking your college essay to the next level
• Sample essay 1 with admissions feedback
• Sample essay 2 with admissions feedback
• Student story: Admissions essay about a formative experience
• Student story: Admissions essay about personal identity
• Student story: Admissions essay about community impact
• Student story: Admissions essay about a past mistake
• Student story: Admissions essay about a meaningful poem

Writing tips and techniques for your college essay

Pose a question the reader wants answered

Don't focus exclusively on the past, experiment with the unexpected, don't summarize, want to join the conversation.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, tips for writing a uni essay.

Hey, I'm starting to work on my college essays and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. Anyone got some tips or advice on how to write a compelling university essay? What are some things I should absolutely avoid doing? Thanks!

Hi there! Writing your college essay can indeed be overwhelming, but with a little guidance, you'll be on the right track. Here are some tips to help you craft a compelling university essay:

1. Choose a unique topic: Focus on your personal experiences and choose a topic that allows you to showcase your individuality. Avoid cliché topics such as sports victories, moving schools, or typical immigrant stories.

2. Be genuine and authentic: Allow your personality to shine through your writing. Admissions officers want to know who you are, so make sure that your essay reflects your true self.

3. Show, don't tell: Instead of simply telling the reader what happened, use descriptive language and vivid imagery to immerse them in your story. This makes your essay more engaging and helps create an emotional connection with your reader.

4. Make sure you answer the prompt: It's important to address the specific question being asked. Deviating from the prompt may leave the reader wondering if you understood the purpose of the essay.

5. Keep it focused: Don't try to cover too many topics in your essay. Stick to a central theme or message in order to maintain a clear and cohesive narrative.

6. Write a strong hook: Grab the reader's attention from the beginning with an interesting opening sentence or anecdote. This will make your essay stand out and entice the reader to continue.

7. Proofread and revise: Once you've written your essay, take the time to proofread and revise. Check for grammatical errors, awkward phrasing, and clarity. Reading your essay out loud can help identify any areas that need improvement.

8. Get feedback: Seek out advice from teachers, friends, or family members. They can offer a fresh perspective and may notice areas for improvement that you might have missed.

As for some things to avoid:

1. Avoid cliché topics, as mentioned above. This includes sports injuries, moving schools, and typical immigrant stories. If you still want to use these themes, make sure your story is unique or deeply personal.

2. Stay away from exaggerated claims or accomplishments that cannot be verified.

3. Don't use slang, jargon, or overly complex language. Keep your writing clear and concise.

4. Avoid negativity or a pessimistic tone. Focus on how you've learned or grown from your experiences instead of dwelling on hardships or failures.

5. Don't simply list your accomplishments or extracurricular activities. Your essay should reveal more about your character, values, and personal growth.

Remember that your college essay is an opportunity for you to introduce yourself to the admissions committee as a unique individual. By following these tips, you'll be well on your way to crafting a compelling and memorable essay. Good luck!

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

Essay and dissertation writing skills

Planning your essay

Writing your introduction

Structuring your essay

• Writing essays in science subjects
• Brief video guides to support essay planning and writing
• Writing extended essays and dissertations
• Planning your dissertation writing time

Structuring your dissertation

• Top tips for writing longer pieces of work

Advice on planning and writing essays and dissertations

University essays differ from school essays in that they are less concerned with what you know and more concerned with how you construct an argument to answer the question. This means that the starting point for writing a strong essay is to first unpick the question and to then use this to plan your essay before you start putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard).

A really good starting point for you are these short, downloadable Tips for Successful Essay Writing and Answering the Question resources. Both resources will help you to plan your essay, as well as giving you guidance on how to distinguish between different sorts of essay questions. 

You may find it helpful to watch this seven-minute video on six tips for essay writing which outlines how to interpret essay questions, as well as giving advice on planning and structuring your writing:

Different disciplines will have different expectations for essay structure and you should always refer to your Faculty or Department student handbook or course Canvas site for more specific guidance.

However, broadly speaking, all essays share the following features:

Essays need an introduction to establish and focus the parameters of the discussion that will follow. You may find it helpful to divide the introduction into areas to demonstrate your breadth and engagement with the essay question. You might define specific terms in the introduction to show your engagement with the essay question; for example, ‘This is a large topic which has been variously discussed by many scientists and commentators. The principal tension is between the views of X and Y who define the main issues as…’ Breadth might be demonstrated by showing the range of viewpoints from which the essay question could be considered; for example, ‘A variety of factors including economic, social and political, influence A and B. This essay will focus on the social and economic aspects, with particular emphasis on…..’

Watch this two-minute video to learn more about how to plan and structure an introduction:

The main body of the essay should elaborate on the issues raised in the introduction and develop an argument(s) that answers the question. It should consist of a number of self-contained paragraphs each of which makes a specific point and provides some form of evidence to support the argument being made. Remember that a clear argument requires that each paragraph explicitly relates back to the essay question or the developing argument.

• Conclusion: An essay should end with a conclusion that reiterates the argument in light of the evidence you have provided; you shouldn’t use the conclusion to introduce new information.
• References: You need to include references to the materials you’ve used to write your essay. These might be in the form of footnotes, in-text citations, or a bibliography at the end. Different systems exist for citing references and different disciplines will use various approaches to citation. Ask your tutor which method(s) you should be using for your essay and also consult your Department or Faculty webpages for specific guidance in your discipline. 

Essay writing in science subjects

If you are writing an essay for a science subject you may need to consider additional areas, such as how to present data or diagrams. This five-minute video gives you some advice on how to approach your reading list, planning which information to include in your answer and how to write for your scientific audience – the video is available here:

A PDF providing further guidance on writing science essays for tutorials is available to download.

Short videos to support your essay writing skills

There are many other resources at Oxford that can help support your essay writing skills and if you are short on time, the Oxford Study Skills Centre has produced a number of short (2-minute) videos covering different aspects of essay writing, including:

• Approaching different types of essay questions  
• Structuring your essay  
• Writing an introduction  
• Making use of evidence in your essay writing  
• Writing your conclusion

Extended essays and dissertations

Longer pieces of writing like extended essays and dissertations may seem like quite a challenge from your regular essay writing. The important point is to start with a plan and to focus on what the question is asking. A PDF providing further guidance on planning Humanities and Social Science dissertations is available to download.

Planning your time effectively

Try not to leave the writing until close to your deadline, instead start as soon as you have some ideas to put down onto paper. Your early drafts may never end up in the final work, but the work of committing your ideas to paper helps to formulate not only your ideas, but the method of structuring your writing to read well and conclude firmly.

Although many students and tutors will say that the introduction is often written last, it is a good idea to begin to think about what will go into it early on. For example, the first draft of your introduction should set out your argument, the information you have, and your methods, and it should give a structure to the chapters and sections you will write. Your introduction will probably change as time goes on but it will stand as a guide to your entire extended essay or dissertation and it will help you to keep focused.

The structure of  extended essays or dissertations will vary depending on the question and discipline, but may include some or all of the following:

• The background information to - and context for - your research. This often takes the form of a literature review.
• Explanation of the focus of your work.
• Explanation of the value of this work to scholarship on the topic.
• List of the aims and objectives of the work and also the issues which will not be covered because they are outside its scope.

The main body of your extended essay or dissertation will probably include your methodology, the results of research, and your argument(s) based on your findings.

The conclusion is to summarise the value your research has added to the topic, and any further lines of research you would undertake given more time or resources. 

Tips on writing longer pieces of work

Approaching each chapter of a dissertation as a shorter essay can make the task of writing a dissertation seem less overwhelming. Each chapter will have an introduction, a main body where the argument is developed and substantiated with evidence, and a conclusion to tie things together. Unlike in a regular essay, chapter conclusions may also introduce the chapter that will follow, indicating how the chapters are connected to one another and how the argument will develop through your dissertation.

For further guidance, watch this two-minute video on writing longer pieces of work . 

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Essay writing

The following guide has been created for you by the  Student Learning Advisory Service . For more detailed guidance and to speak to one of our advisers, please book an  appointment  or join one of our  workshops . Alternatively, have a look at our  SkillBuilder  skills videos. 

The following series of short videos (below) give step by step guidance, with examples, on how to go about researching and writing an essay, from start to finish. You can watch one or all of them in any order. 

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Tips for how to write a college essay

How to write a college admission essay.

Are you eager to master the art of crafting an outstanding college essay? Your essay serves as a platform to showcase your writing skills while providing a glimpse into your unique personality. To ensure your essay stands out among the multitude of applications, it is crucial to create a precise, coherent, focused, and accurate piece of writing. In this guide, we will explore effective tips on how to write a compelling college essay, consisting of an introduction, essay body, and conclusion.

The Importance of a College Admissions Essay

According to NCES in 2020, an estimated 19.7 million students were projected to attend universities and colleges, emphasizing the need for a stellar college admissions essay. This essay provides you with an opportunity to distinguish yourself from other applicants and increase your chances of being accepted. Let’s delve into the following college essay tips to enhance your understanding of the writing process.

How long should my college essay be?

When it comes to a college essay for the Common Application, a recommended length is around 650 words. However, it’s important to remember that unless the subject matter is truly captivating, the admissions committee may lose interest in a lengthy essay. Keep supplemental essay word counts within the limit of approximately 250 words to maintain conciseness and relevance.

What to write in a college essay

Selecting the right topic for your college essay is crucial. Consider writing about a subject that reflects your interests, hobbies, personal challenges, or life experiences. Even seemingly ordinary topics can become captivating narratives when woven into your own unique life story.

There are no strict rules for choosing a topic for a college essay. Some common application essay topics include recounting lessons learned from obstacles faced or describing problems you have successfully solved. For instance, one Common App essay prompt is:

“The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?”

To tackle this prompt effectively:

• Begin by identifying the challenge or encounter you faced.
• Reflect on the outcome that arose from the situation.
• Discuss the strategies you employed to overcome the challenge, including any obstacles you encountered along the way.
• Articulate the valuable lessons you learned from the experience and how it influenced or continues to impact your life.

If you’re struggling to decide on a topic, don’t hesitate to seek input from friends and family. However, remember that while their guidance is valuable, the essay should be a genuine reflection of your own thoughts and experiences.

A well-structured college essay typically consists of an introduction, main body, and conclusion, with each section playing a vital role in conveying your message effectively. In general, the essay should be divided into five paragraphs. The introduction introduces the topic, while the conclusion wraps up the main points, leaving a lasting impression. The three paragraphs in between should focus on different aspects related to the topic.

When it comes to formatting, college essays often adhere to the guidelines of MLA, APA, or Chicago style. If you’re unsure about which format to use, consult your college admissions counselor for guidance and clarity.

How to start a college essay

The introduction of your college essay should serve as a captivating gateway to your topic. It is an opportunity to pique the reader’s interest by offering a tantalizing glimpse of the details that lie ahead in your essay. However, avoid providing excessive information in the introduction, as the main body of the essay should contain the bulk of the details.

How to develop strong essay body

Consider the body of your essay as the main narrative that thoroughly addresses the essay prompt. Ensure your paragraphs are well-organized, and transitions between ideas flow seamlessly. This will enhance the readability and cohesiveness of your essay, allowing the reader to follow your thought process effortlessly.

How to end a college essay

The conclusion of your college essay is a prime opportunity to reflect on the main points discussed throughout your essay and convey what you have learned from your experiences. Leave the reader with a thought-provoking statement or idea that lingers in their mind even after they finish reading your essay.

Consider concluding your college admissions essay with a quotation that resonates with your topic, such as:

“In every difficulty we are wounded. In every victory we are healed.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

By implementing these tips and pouring your unique personality into your writing, you can create a college essay that captivates the admissions committee and helps you stand out among the multitude of applicants. Good luck with your college essay journey!

College essay tips from our counselors:

What are some do’s and don’ts for the admissions essay.

Do engage the reader in a compelling story!

Don’t bore the reader; that is key to your success. The topic of your essay does not really matter, as long as you avoid the over-used topics- i.e. scoring the winning goal, my summer of community service. Other topics that might be considered “inappropriate” touch on Sex, Religion and Politics. You do not want to inadvertently offend your reader, so you need to also curb your use of “taboo” language. Your essay should be one that only you could write- it needs to reflect who you are. Don’t try to use big SAT words just to impress. Better to impress admission with your personal qualities. Clarity of thought is always preferred.

Do take your time and write several drafts. Do pick a topic that you relate with the most. Do not rush. Do not repeat your resume.

Do take your time on the essay. Although it is not long compared to some papers you have written by now, your essay must possess a depth of self-understanding that your high school research papers probably do not.

Do plan ahead. Diving right into writing the essay may be okay for some, but most students need time to brainstorm, to consider a few topics before committing to one, and to have a sense of the structure before actually beginning the writing process. Be sure to give yourself enough time to write a meaningful essay. One month’s time is not unreasonable.

Do plan on editing and revising. Do it yourself, but feel free to ask a friend who loves writing or English to read your essay and provide feedback. As a matter of fact, it’s best to ask a few different people. Everyone has an opinion, but if you hear the same critique from a number of individuals, then you should probably take their advice into consideration.

Do have fun with it! The essay should be a personal journey of getting to know yourself better. This process should not only be revealing to a college admissions representative, but to you as well. We write to discover, and the college essay should be a lens through which you can see yourself a bit more clearly.

Don’t fill your essay with every single personal accomplishment. You want to highlight yourself without sounding like a braggart.

Don’t brag about your GPA or your standardized test scores. Your application already has space for that. Actually, you should not write about anything that already appears in detail somewhere else in your application. There is no need for redundancy.

Don’t rely on your parents or your best friend to be the only people who provide feedback on your essay. They know you so well that they can “read between the lines,” that is, they can infer what is not written from reading the words on the page. They already know your life story, or much of it at least. A college admissions representative does not have that luxury. Be sure to spell out in clear language what you are trying to say.

Prepare, Provoke and Personalize

Writing the college essay is necessary to gain entrance through the ivy gates. At the moment we are working with high school seniors feverishly writing compositions that highlight their unique attributes and strengths. Crisp Consulting + Coaching would like to offer some clear strategies for crafting personal essays that garnish positive attention from admission committees.

1. Prepare. Transition from thinking about your college essays to writing clearly and effectively with brainstorming. Collecting ideas will assist you in focusing a well-written personal essay. 2. Provoke. Personal essays should provide answers about you to the admission committee. These insights should display your strengths, passions and uniqueness. 3. Personalize. Remember, an effective personal essay is about you. Writing eloquently about a historical figure detailing myriad obstacles and accomplishments is for naught. The admission committee wants to know about the applicant not an icon or event.

As more and more students apply to college, a strong personal essay will gain the attention of an admission officer. Crafting an essay based on your personal strengths and passions is a strategy that will assist you in the college admission process.

No Salespeople, Please!

There are many do’s and don’ts regarding the college application essay. A particularly critical “do” is to make sure that your essay stays on point. Applicants will sometimes digress, then fall in love with their digression and not be willing to cut it. Five hundred or less words isn’t much, so be sure that the essay remains focused on fully answering all aspects of the prompt, as they are asked.

One “don’t” that I think is particularly important is to resist the urge to sell yourself. Essays that state, “No one could possibly be better qualified for your program than me,” or some variation of that, risk a backlash from Admissions Directors. “Oh, really? Well, I’ll be the judge of that.” Instead, illustrate why you are so well qualified and let readers come to that conclusion themselves.

NACAC appears to promote custom essay writing aka students hire someone else to write their essays

The National Association for College Admission Counseling posted an article on their website promoting the use of an online essay writing service. The article, written by Alan Fogg, asserts that any kind of essay, ranging from term papers to college admission essays, could be customized for students. He espouses the positive aspects of using such a service, such as having time to spend with friends, writing a paper that will be appreciated by teachers, or just removing the stress writing an essay.

It seems shocking that the NACAC would allow what, in essence, is simply an advertisement for a morally corrupt service that encourages students to pay someone to write their college admissions and academic essays for them. It contradicts the NACAC’s “Principles of Good Practice” and certainly sends the wrong message to students.

Hiring someone to write a student’s essay for him.her immoral and unfair to others. Hiring another person to write the college application essay does a great disservice to both the student and the college admission officials. The college admission essay serves as a crucial part of the application process – it allows the schools to understand students on a more personal level; personal details can be conveyed by the applicant better than anyone else. Further, personal characteristics are not reflected in a student’s transcripts, test scores or resumes. Having someone else write these essays, no matter how “customized,” reflects nothing about the student – except their willingness to take the easy way out.

Those that support this kind of site may argue that they are providing a service to students, but the truth is they are doing them an incredible disservice. Yes, writing an essay can be difficult and stressful, but students will benefit by learning to work through challenges and to take pride in their work.

Some Specific Writing Tips

1. DO write “small” — that means be specific and detailed; 2. DO be concise – avoid flowery, overwrought language; 3. DON’T tell me – show me with detailed examples; 4. DON’T use vague language 5. DON’t use the passive voice 6. DO use words wisely – don’t show off by using big fancy words that might be on your SAT vocab list but don’t fit your essay. (ex: plethora, myriad, epigram)

Do tell the truth; don’t lie Be concise; don’t be verbose Focus on the subject you know most – you; Don’t write in the style of e e cummings Use descriptive words; NO 4-letter words or distasteful words Be contrite; don’t be trite Create imagery; don’t describe things in minutia

There are numerous others in my book, which is free with a consultation.

1) Make sure your story is about YOU! 2) Make sure you know what you want the college to know about you before you decide what story to tell. Find a story that illustrates your point. 3) Make sure your story has a theme. What happened? Why does it matter? 4) Focus your story on one moment. 5) Answer the prompt.

DON’T

1. Feature someone other than yourself. 2. Forget to answer the question. Read the prompt before, during and after you write your draft, then ask someone else to tell you whether or not you responded to it. 3. Use the wrong school name in your essay. This mistake shows that you don’t care enough to proofread your application. Admissions committees might forgive a typo, but they don’t like to hear that you wish you were going to school somewhere else. 4. Copy most (or all) of someone else’s essay. There aren’t too many things you can do to ensure rejection, but plagiarism, also known as cheating, is one of them. Just assume you will get caught. 5. Rely on the thesaurus. If you use a thesaurus to find words rather than trust the words you know and use every day, you will not sound like yourself. What’s more, you might use a few big words incorrectly, which will never impress an admissions officer. Colleges are not looking for the next Ernest Hemingway or Toni Morrison. You will sound smart when you use your own words and your own voice to tell a genuine story that shows who you are. 6. Get too much help.There is a fine line between asking someone you trust to review your essay and getting too much help. When your mom, dad, teacher or tutor starts giving you words to use or edits too much, your voice disappears.

Do’s: Answer the prompt. While you wan’t to show your individuality, you don’t want to write a beautiful essay that fails to answer the prompt. Be specific. Make sure your essay is reflective of who you are and separates you from the pack. Proofread. Make sure you review your essay a couple of times to check for errors.

Dont’s Avoid politics and religion. You don’t want to alienate your reader. Allow others to put their “imprint” on the essay. While it is helpful to get feedback, make sure the essay maintains your voice.

Do: 1. Start early. The more time you have, the less stress you’ll have. 2. Be honest and yourself. One of the biggest mistakes students make is “writing what they think others ?want to hear.” 3. Take a risk. Don’t settle for the essay that everyone else is writing. 4. Keep in focus. Use the essay to help the admission officers get to know you as a person. 5. Write and rewrite. Don’t try to write a masterpiece on your first try. 7. Get a second opinion. Even best-selling novelists ask other people to read their manuscripts be- fore they’re sent to the publisher.

Don’t 1. Find an essay online and copy it or have someone else write it for you. College admission officers have read hundreds—even thousands—of essays. They are masters at discovering any form of plagiarism. 2. Try to write what you think the admissions committee wants to hear. This is not only lame, but not a good way to allow the committee to know who you really are, which is what they are looking for more than anything else! 3. Wait until the last minute to begin writing. 4. Skip “optional” essays. 5. Forget to proofread your work and have at least two others proofread your work!

Although the college essay is perhaps the most the daunting part of the college application process, it can also prove to be the most rewarding, provided you follow a few simple rules. First, be yourself. Admissions officers don’t want the extraordinary; they simply want to learn something about you that they cannot glean from the collection of grades and scores in your application file. If it’s authentic, an essay about a daily ritual, ordinary hobby, or family tradition can prove just as captivating as a story about cheating death or overcoming insurmountable odds. Second, bring your writing to life. Use anecdotes, sensory language, and strong verbs to show (not tell) your reader how you feel, what you have seen, and/or what you have experienced. Finally, keep it clean. A clean essay is a concise essay, and one that is free of artificial and/or flowery language. At the height of admissions season, officers will be reading up to 100 essays per day. An unnecessarily long essay may cause your reader to tune out, or worse yet, neglect other parts of your application file.

Do’s and Don’ts

Do write in the active person. Do use your own voice. Do start early. Do brainstorm. Do show your English teacher. Do proofread. Do write about something you know. Do take advantage of the opportunity. Do your own work. Don’t write about romantic relationships. Don’t use profanity. Don’t brag. Don’t let someone else overly influence your writing. Don’t over-analyze. Don’t plagiarize. Don’t do it last minute!

Essay Dos and Don’ts

Do tell a story that belongs only to you. Don’t write chronologically. Do make it memorable for the reader. Don’t use language that is not yours. Do make it fun to read. Don’t use slang. Do use active verbs. Don’t repeat what is already listed in the app. Do use short sentences. Don’t state a point of view without back up details.

1. DO write “small” — that means be specific and detailed; 2. DO be concise – avoid flowery, overwrought language; 3. DON’T tell me that you are smart or compassionate or brave — instead, show me with detailed examples; 4. DON’T use vague language 5. DON’T use the passive voice 6. DO use words wisely – don’t show off by using big fancy words that might be on your SAT vocab list but don’t fit your essay. (ex: plethora, myriad, epigram)

The essay…

Do…. Keep your essay under 2 pages Write about one specific topic, experience, story Have an English Teacher proof read it Hook the reader with your opening Include your name or other specifics such as date of birth or social security at the top of the page

Do not… Write about commonly used topics (ex. winning the sports game, how great your mom is) Write about controversial topics (abortion, drug use)

Do be yourself.

DO: Write the essay yourself, ask for proof reading, write in a formal style, make sure that the essay tells admissions officers something about yourself, brain storm, begin your essays the summer before your junior and senior year

DON’T: Try to be funny when you are not a paid comedian, allow someone else to write you essay for you, use profanity, write about the college campus without putting yourself in the context of you on campus, wait until the last month to begin your essay, be afraid to toss out an essay that is not working and begin anew, think that no one will read your essay

it is used as the personal statement for college

you should determine the core message for the college essay first and support it with evidences. the common mistakes are self centered essay and lack of personality.

Do’s and Don’t for the College Essay

DOs Keep Your Focus Narrow and Personal Your essay must prove a single point or thesis. The reader must be able to find your main idea and follow it from beginning to end. Try having someone read just your introduction to see what he or she thinks your essay is about.

Essays that try to be too comprehensive end up sounding watered-down. Remember, it’s not about telling the committee what you’ve done — they can pick that up from your list of activities — instead, it’s about showing them who you are.

Prove It Develop your main idea with vivid and specific facts, events, quotations, examples, and reasons. There’s a big difference between simply stating a point of view and letting an idea unfold in the details: ? Okay: “I like to be surrounded by people with a variety of backgrounds and interests” ? Better: “During that night, I sang the theme song from Casablanca with a baseball coach who thinks he’s Bogie, discussed Marxism with a little old lady, and heard more than I ever wanted to know about some woman’s gall bladder operation.”

Be Specific Avoid clichéd, generic, and predictable writing by using vivid and specific details. ? Okay: “I want to help people. I have gotten so much out of life through the love and guidance of my family, I feel that many individuals have not been as fortunate; therefore, I would like to expand the lives of others.” ? Better: “My Mom and Dad stood on plenty of sidelines ’til their shoes filled with water or their fingers turned white or somebody’s golden retriever signed his name on their coats in mud. I think that kind of commitment is what I’d like to bring to working with fourth-graders.”

DON’Ts

Don’t Tell Them What You Think They Want to Hear Most admission officers read plenty of essays about the charms of their university, the evils of terrorism, and the personal commitment involved in being a doctor. Bring something new to the table, not just what you think they want to hear.

Don’t Write a Resumé Don’t include information that is found elsewhere in the application. Your essay will end up sounding like an autobiography, travelogue, or laundry list. Yawn. ? “During my junior year, I played first singles on the tennis team, served on the student council, maintained a B+ average, traveled to France, and worked at a cheese factory.”

Don’t Use 50 Words When Five Will Do

Helpful Hint: Do not send an essay expressing that your deepest desire is to go to Princeton and then send it to Yale. You would be surprised how often this really does happen.

The college essay is a vital component of the application process. It’s your chance to share with an admissions committee who you really are beyond GPA and SAT scores. Many students have trouble with this assignment: determining what they should write about and figuring out how to tell their story in the 500 words they have been given. And rightly they should, it’s no easy task! One piece of advice I would share is don’t expect the college essay to be something you can whip up in a few hours. This essay requires careful planning, days of writing and re-writing, sharing it with trusted adults to get feedback, and making sure the final version of the essay is error-free in terms of grammar. Telling your story through a piece of writing can be a difficult part of the college application process. Yet ultimately it helps colleges get to know the ‘real you’ and that’s a good thing. So don’t wait until the last minute and remember to seek out help!

Make sure the essay is about you. Don’t write about illegal activities or situations which put you in a bad light.

Here are a few tips that should help:

DO 1. Make sure that your essay actually addresses the topic you have chosen or been asked to write about. Avoid digressing. 2. Include information about yourself, what you have experienced, or the way you see things that will distinguish you from others. (I know this may seem difficult. It may help to brainstorm some possible ideas with others whose opinions you trust.) 3. Remember that your essay will be read by an actual person – in many cases, several. Consider how you can appeal to the reader(s) emotions in your essay. This does not mean writing a sad plea of “Oh, please accept me!”, but to grab the reader’s attention through any number of a variety of emotions – humor, irony, excitement, fear, heartbreak, triumph, defeat, adventure. You name it – whatever fits your theme. 4. Write analytically, rather than just descriptively. Instead of just stating that an event happened, tell how that event affected you or made you feel. 5. Proofread carefully for obvious mistakes in spelling, grammar, sentence structure, paragraphing, and so on – all of the things your English teacher has been nagging you about! Ask someone else to assist you with your editing; we often don’t see our own errors. 6. Proofread to make sure that a reference to how much you love a specific school only appears on the essay(s) which will go to THAT school! (See number 6 below.)

DON’T 1. Don’t merely regurgitate information that already appears elsewhere on the application. Your essay should reveal in more depth other aspects of your personality, interests, abilities, and experiences. It’s okay to reference something that appears in another part of the application, but only to establish a context for what you want to describe/reveal about that experience. 2. Don’t let someone else write your essay. It should speak in your own “voice”. 3. Don’t overdo the humor. I mentioned using humor as a possible “do” in the section above, but use humor selectively. Unless you’re very clever with it, the script for a stand-up comedy routine probably won’t make the cut and may not even seem very funny. 4. Don’t ramble! Don’t stick in irrelevant information just to pad the essay. When you’re doing your final editing, remove irrelevant information that may have crept in. 5. Don’t repeat things you’ve already said (unless you’re doing it very deliberately for a certain effect). 6. Don’t accidentally mention that another institution is your absolute favorite, top choice! This happens more often than you would think. (See number 6 above.)

1. Find a story or time in your life that illustrates something you’re passionate about. 2. Don’t be afraid to talk about challenges that you’ve overcome–don’t be afraid to talk about sincere things you still struggle with. Ex: if you’re a child of immigrant parents and you struggle with cultural identity–it’s totally fine not to know where you stand. Feel free to talk about it–thoughtfully, of course. 3. Write in your own voice–the essay is supposed to help colleges get to know you. 4. Be grammatically correct, but don’t be a robot. 5. Bounce some ideas off a couple people who know you best. They might be able to point you towards something significant in your life that 10 minutes of thinking overlooked. 6. Start early–you’ll want at least 2-3 revisions.

Don’ts

1. Don’t think of it or write it like an English paper. This is about you, not a book. 2. Don’t start at the last minute. 3. Don’t be cheesy. 4. Don’t be afraid to talk about you. 5. Don’t think that you are uninteresting or that you don’t have a story to tell. You are and, you do. 6. Don’t copy someone else’s admissions essay.

One of the biggest don’ts from an admission counselor perspective is to use the wrong college name in the essay. Lots of students write one essay and send it to several colleges. There is nothing wrong with that as long as you are following the guidelines that particular college has set for you. However, if you forget to change the college name and you send an essay to Harvard that says you would love to be a part of the Yale class of 2015 then you can bet that essay is going in the trash along with your chances of being admitted.

DON’TS: Please DO NOT write on global, macro themes like solving the worlds problems, or the world’s AIDS problem, or the country’s hunger problem, etc etc, ad nauseum. Also DO NOT tell us about how great your Dad or Mom is.

Nearly any topic COULD produce a well-turned essay in the hands of highly skilled highly intelligent, highly experienced writer which most high-school students are NOT.

DO’S: So make it easier on yourself and more enjoyable for the poor professionals in the admissions departments across America who have to read this stuff. Write about the one topic in the WORLD that you can write about better than anyone else–with MORE INSIGHT than anyone else. Write about You.

More later…..

I think that the biggest trap that students fall into is to write about someone or something that influenced them (not a bad topic by the way), and then spend the entire essay telling the admissions office about their Great-Aunt Fanny. I am sure that Fanny was a lovely women, but the point of the essay is to tell us about you. You are the ultimate subject matter. Whatever you write, make sure that the message that is clearly conveyed is about who you are.

Do provide new information that is not on your application. Do ensure you have a consistent theme. Do proofread. Do understand the mission of the school and how you will fit in. Do write as a story, not a term paper.

Do not embellish your essay or have someone else write it for you. Do not go over the word count – make it concise and smart. Do not whine – be positive. Do not miss answering the topic. Do not write it as a term paper.

DON’T tell the reader what they already know about you. Instead, tell them what they should know about you. Respond to the question at hand and let them know why you matter, what kind of a difference you will make, that you can reflect on your life and who you are as a person and that you know how to use that understanding to make progress towards your goals and dreams.

Before you start writing, DO look at what the question is asking for and prepare yourself to respond appropriately. When you are thinking about your answer, ask yourself repeatedly if you are answering what the question is asking for.

It’s okay to want to talk about an obstacle or challenge you have faced in your life, but DON’T dwell on telling the story of this challenge – talk about what you learned from it, why you are a better person for having gone through it and how you’ve grown it. Nobody is going to learn anything of value from you if you fill your essay with complaints, excuses and self-loathing.

One thing you absolutely should DO is read your essay out loud to yourself. Why do this? To see if your voice and your personality are really on that piece of paper. Are you in that essay or does it just sound like it could be anyone else? When you read it yourself and actually hear your words, you are more inclined to identify areas where your writing doesn’t flow well or where you start to stray from your message.

Make sure that your essay is grammatically. A poorly written paper with grammar errors is a real “killer”. The readers expect the applicant to have a good foundation in writing. I believe it is always advisable to have someone re-read and “proof” your writing for you.

Don’t frequently use personal pronouns such as “I” or “you” in your essays. This tends to make the essay boring. Try to use an active voice and respond in a way to catch the attention of your reader. Use examples, write in a format that is descriptive, is logical, and flows.

Frequently students will write their essays as if it is a history of events in their lives. Pick a couple of incidents, activities, etc. and “tell” how these were meaningful in your life. How did these events help you develop as a student and person. When students merely present a historical list of events, the reader does not get a sense of what type of person he/she is. Don’t tell the reader information that can be read on the transcript or on another part of the application.

Try to allow your personality to shine through your essay. What about you is so interesting and wonderful that the reader would say, “I think I would like to know this person. He/she will add something pretty interesting to our school.”

The first paragraph of your essay should grab the attention of an AO so that they automatically want to read more about what is going on. Your should Write with you own personality and characters. This is your essay not others, be a real person. Look things from a different angle will make you stand out from rest of tons of essays. Be logical and clear. Do not write your essay especially your PS in the last minute so that you have plenty of time to revise and to think. Some humor is fine but don’t go too far with it. Don’t write too much on your achievement, in stead, you should focusing on how to let AO see your accomplishment from your words.

Here are two easily avoidable DON’TS, both of which involve the crafting of your academic “persona,” or the aspects of character that you try to provide for an admissions counselor.

First, AVOID answering questions that portray you as a baby, a child, or otherwise immature. Answers that begin with phrases like “ever since I was three years old,” or “I can remember dressing up as a fireman when I was five,” or “for me, the first day of kindergarten was the scariest day ever.” It is overly sentimental, in the first place, and probably a bit of an application cliché (even though these memories are for you rather dear, remember that counselors probably read similar scenes all day!). You want to portray yourself a promising young adult, about to start making the first steps toward independence and adulthood; this involves creating a persona for yourself wherein you are disciplined, eager for challenges, proven in your abilities, etc. When you create a scenario wherein you are perceived as a child who is “playing” at being in the world (and probably still in diapers), you risk creating the exact opposite impression: immaturity, unpreparedness, and emotional instability.

Second, be careful not to swing in the other direction and become overly grandiose. AVOID vague, overly ambitious and naive descriptions of your goals or your accomplishments. For example, don’t create a persona wherein you are trying to save the world (e.g. “I want to cure cancer and find a solution to our energy crisis”) or wherein your minor extracurriculars are overly-inflated (“my one semester as vice secretary for the Student World Affairs Club changed my life” or “the two hours I volunteered at the soup kitchen really changed lives”). Be specific and be realistic: don’t say “I want to work with children,” if you can say “I hope to increase my volunteer efforts with after school programs and lobby for more funding for Teach for America.” Qualify your accomplishments into realizable chunks: “I am new to the Student World Affairs Club, but I hope to make its newsletters more effective.”

Rather than make these two common application mistakes, instead prefer specificity to vagueness, and a realistic portrayal of your current place in life: as a capable but eager-to-learn young adult getting ready to move into the world. You are neither a grandiose giant nor a silly baby, so don’t portray yourself as one!

DO be personal, DON’T discuss dead relatives

When approaching the personal statement, the cardinal rule students should keep in mind is: if any other person on the planet could have written the same essay, trash it and start over again. The essay at its very core should be PERSONAL. It should reveal positive qualities about the applicant (maturity, responsibility, compassion, commitment, etc) through the lens of an engaging narrative. That being said, many admissions officers have been cited saying that topics to steer clear of are dead grandmas, dead dogs, and “how I won the big game”. Again, not only are these hackneyed, but they are experiences that could happen to anyone. Another way to avoid inappropriate topics is to imagine your readership as your grandparents; don’t write anything you wouldn’t want them to read.

Be honest: Do not try to market or package yourself in a particular way in order to impress colleges. While this is not a time to be humble, you also need to be very careful not to come across as egotistical. If you are a genuinely interesting, kind, and complex person, you should be able to write a sincere essay that expresses all of your complexities, and you should trust that the colleges will be impressed. On the other hand, if you try to imply things about yourself that simply aren’t accurate or true, colleges are likely to see through it and regard your application with a cynical eye.

Advice from college admissions officers

Here are some do’s and don’ts for the admissions essay from college admissions officers: — “Don’t write an essay that any one of a thousand other seniors could write.” — “Write on a topic that is important to you and one with which you have firsthand experience.” — Think of the choice or subject and the first writing as simply sharing some part of yourself with a friend.” — “Be yourself.” — “We aren’t looking for perfection; we are looking for people who are truly interesting – to themselves and to others.” — “Don’t have others edit it and correct it until you cannot hear your own voice anymore.” — “Avoid writing an essay that will embarrass the reader.”

The Essay: Be Responsive, but Make It Yours

The college essay is one piece of the process that you can control so you want to get it right. The most obvious “do” is to respond to the prompt. Use it to your advantage. Write something that helps them to know you better, but be responsive. Too, be sure that you are giving them a piece of yourself. Make it your story. The worst thing you can do is write an essay–on whatever topic– that is generic, an essay where if your name was replaced by another, the reader could not tell the difference. The essay is an opportunity to share a piece of yourself, to give them a better reason why the school should choose you over the many others who are no less qualified and also seek the spot. Help them understand why you should be a part of their community.

Do talk through ideas and drafts with a someone you trust. Don’t talk about your ideas and drafts with too many people.

Make it an essay you’re proud of

THE DON’TS:

Don’t try to guess what the college wants. Read the prompt or question, and respond to it. They want to learn about you.

Don’t try to impress anyone or sell yourself. Very few people can do that well, and it’s easy to come off as arrogant, obnoxious or shallow.

Don’t plagiarize, cheat or lie. College admissions officers can sniff this out in a second. More importantly, is that how you want to live your life?

Don’t tell them about yourself. Reveal who you are through your story. That happens when you talk about how you act, respond, think and feel against the backdrop of your topic.

Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. The people reading your essays have been through emotional and challenging experiences of their own. If you have a meaningful or memorable story to tell, tell it. Even if it’s unresolved in your mind.

Don’t write about someone or something other than yourself. Your job as a camp counselor, your experience on the swim team, or your favorite book are just backdrops for writing about yourself.

Don’t bore those poor folks reading hundreds or thousands of essays. Have compassion for them.

THE DO’S:

Grab your reader from the first line! Do the first six to twelve words make the reader want to read this? Maybe it’s a grab-‘em-by-the-collar kind of first line. Maybe it’s a gentle arm around their shoulder. Bring them in to your world through the story you’re telling. Once you have them, keep them.

Remember that this is a story about you, not an academic essay.

Find someone to support you at each stage of the process. Having a mentor or guide who understands the writing process is invaluable. This doesn’t mean that they’re doing the writing for you!

Give yourself lots of time. This is a lot harder than writing about the War of 1812. The best essays I’ve read have come from a school that starts the process in the Spring of junior year.

Keep at it until you love your essay and are proud of it. Read it out loud, or better yet record it and play it back. Does it sound like your voice? Does it show (as opposed to tell) who you are deep down, how you live your life, your values or how you’ve grown? What kind of person is in the story, and do you like that person? Ask others the same questions.

On my college essay I fudged on a little detail that I thought would make me look better. It didn’t change the story at all, and made no difference in me getting in to Williams early admission. But to this day I wish hadn’t done that. I wish I had written an essay I could have been proud of.

Do address the essay prompt. Do brainstorm ideas before writing. Do write your own essay. Do let your unique voice and personality come through in your writing. Do have a teacher, counselor, parent or friend with strong writing skills proofread your essay. Do write as many drafts of your essay as it takes to make it shine brightly. Don’t wait until the last minute to start writing. Don’t be overly influenced by others’ ideas or essays other people have written. Don’t let anyone else write any part of your essay. Don’t exceed the word limit. Don’t settle for “good enough”.

Do tell a great story that communicates some unique qualities you offer a college. Do tell a specific story that grabs the reader’s attention. Don’t let anyone else write the essay for you. Don’t focus on a negative event or a struggle without spending more time on what you learned or gain from it? Don’t write about a person without spending 2/3 of the essay focusing on how that person shaped you–specifically. Each essay should focus on different qualities and events, and should help you become 3-D for the admissions officers.

Here are some general pieces of advice that I give to students who are writing their essay……

1. Make sure you complete a spelling and grammar check on the essay. Since many students have access to these tools via their computer software, it is really hard to accept the lack of this attention to the essay. It really sets the tone of things to come in the rest of the application. 2. Make your story interesting. If it is a creative piece, then don’t take the obvious angle but one that grabs the reader by surprise. Once I had a student who wrote her essay about herself from the perspective of her dog. Except, she didn’t let you know as the reader that it was her dog until the very end! Very creative, funny and accomplished her essay assignment very well. 3. Be descriptive enough but succinct. You don’t need to write an essay that goes on for days. With the volume of essays that most of the readers are looking at in one sitting, taking three pages to make one point is not highly recommended. 4. I always suggest mapping out the parts of the essay: intro paragraph, many body/arguments, concluding paragraph. Jot down your general ideas under these categories and then expand. Look at it again. Maybe you will rearrange the middle section to hang together better and then edit further. Never feel that you will need to complete the essay beginning to end in one sitting and without some planning. The best ones always take a little time to develop. 5. Give yourself enough time to make a wonderful essay and to think about it. A rush job looks just like what it is…..rushed! 6. Look at your previous work from high school to see if there is a written piece of work you have completed that might fit the bill on your college essay. Maybe it was A work but could use some more editing to really make it shine. As long as the work is yours, genuine and a true example of your writing talents, it doesn’t matter when it was started or what it was originally intended for as an assignment. This is really to give the college a sense of your writing abilities and to learn a little more about you via the subject they have chosen as the topic that year. 7. If you are having trouble understanding what the essay is asking, feel free to contact the admissions office to discuss it with them. It never hurts to ask to clarify anything that is of question to you. Better to ask then to assume and get it wrong. We all know what happens when we “assume” ….. 8. First re-read your own work. Then have someone read over your essay when it is completed or when you ready to receive some constructive criticism about it. Your parents, a sibling or friend who is very good at writing or even a willing high school teacher that you trust are all good sources of others who can help you. Even if they don’t know the intent of the essay they are probably good readers and can tell you that a point is not clear enough and they are unable to follow your argument. If it is unclear to them, then editing again is probably in order. Better they tell you than the admissions office right? There are many others but this list covers the big items. Have fun with writing your essay. It is not meant to be a chore so don’t treat it like one!

TO BEGIN WITH…

I) Remember that this is the part of the application you have total control over. (That’s good.)

2) Don’t write your essay at the last minute. This is an important part of the application. Leave yourself enough time to be able to think about it for a while, talk about it with others if you Wal1t, write it, leave it for a few days and come back to it.

3) Take seriously any specific instructions the admissions office includes. If they ask for a one-page essay, don’t send three pages. And don’t fit it onto one page by shrinking it into tiny type on your word processor. People have to be able to read it. You do not want to annoy the admissions office.

4) If you have any questions relating to any application do not be afraid to call the admissions office. They’re used to getting calls like yours.

FOCUSING YOUR THOUGHTS and CHOOSING A TOPIC

1) Read all of the essay questions asked by all of the colleges you are applying to. If you can write one essay which is appropriate for a few colleges, all the better. Two schools may have open-ended topics, one may be more focused, and if you gear your essay toward the more focused topic you may be able to/want to use it for all three schools. Then…

2) Sit around and THINK for a while. What is this college’s question asking? Make sure your essay answers it, but tell your own story. If the question gives you some latitude, mull over various ideas until you hit upon one that “feels” right, or about which you’re more excited about than others.

4) Write about something that is important to YOU (not to your brother, mother, counselor, or any of the other people who are giving you advice.) It will be easier to write and will have a more natural voice.

5) Don’t try and second-guess the admissions office. Not “what do they Want to hear?” or “what would they like?” but “what do I want to tell them?”, “what do I want ‘them to know about me before they make their decision?” “what shall I talk about that will give them a feeling for what make me tick?” Remember, you’re in the driver’s seat for this one.

I) Don’t try and cover too much. All-encompassing essays will either be too long or, if shorter, superficial. Think about the things you’ve read and enjoyed; writing is usually interesting because of its detail, not its generalities.

2) Be personal. It’s your application, your experiences, your thoughts, interests and personality. The admissions committee is trying to get to know you through your own words. Even if the topic is an intellectual one, the school is looking for a personal response.

3) Convey your feelings. If you’re excited about something, convey that. If you feel strongly about something (positive or negative), express that. Dry essays devoid of feeling don’t tend to be very interesting.

4) Don’t try to be something you aren’t. If the humor feels self-conscious, forget it. Don’t force a “creative” essay. Write in a voice which feels natural to you.

5) Be reflective. Write in some depth. Use some detail or specifics,not just general (and superficial, and easy) statements. Flesh out your thoughts. Ask yourself WHY and HOW a lot as you write, not so much WHAT, WHEN or WHERE

6) What you say as well as how you say it are both important. A great idea poorly expressed will not seem so great.

AND FINALLY…

Once you’ve sent your application in, stop worrying about it. If you did your best, that’s all you can ask of yourself!

Do tell a story in an interesting and engaging way. Don’t just relay the facts, but pretend you are sitting in a coffee shop talking to a friend. Don’t repeat what is found elsewhere in your application, unless you’re adding pertinent information to round it out. Do be yourself. Do write in your own style and using your own words. Don’t steal an essay from the internet. Don’t let someone else write it for you. Take the time to make sure your essay is something you’re proud of.

This is your chance to stand out so make sure that your admissions essay truly reflects you. An essay that is truthful, appealing, and motivating can increase your chances of acceptance. What should and shouldn’t you do in writing your admissions essay or personal statement? Do: • Prepare an outline and create a draft. • Answer all the questions being asked. • Make sure your essay has a theme or a thesis. • Provide evidence to support your claims. • Make your introduction unique. • Write clearly and make sure it is easy to read. • Be honest, confident, and be yourself. • Be interesting and positive. • Make sure your essay is organized, coherent, and concise. • Write about yourself and use examples from your own life experiences. • Use a mixture of long and short sentences. • Discuss your future goals. • Mention any hobbies, past jobs, community service, or research experience. • Speak in the first person (I…). • Mention weaknesses without making excuses. • Discuss why you’re interested in the school and/or program. • Show, don’t tell (Use examples to demonstrate your abilities). • Ask for help. • Proofread and revise your statement at least 3 times. • Have others proofread your essay. Don’t: • Have any grammar or spelling errors. (Proofread!) • Be wordy or use jargon (don’t try to impress the readers by using big words). • Swear or use slang. • Digress or be repetitive. • Be boring. • Generalize. • Include cliches. • Use gimmicks. • Be comical (a little humor is okay but remember it can be misconstrued). • Be defensive or arrogant. • Complain. • Preach. • Have your essay focus too much on other individuals. • Discuss politics or religion. • Give excuses for a low GPA. • Make lists of accomplishments, awards, skills, or personal qualities (Show, don’t tell). • Write a term paper or an autobiography. • Summarize your resume. • Include information already cited on the application. • Forget to proofread.

Do tell the truth; don’t lie Be concise; don’t be verbose Focus on the subject you know most – you; don’t write in the style of e e cummings Use descriptive words; NO 4-letter words or distasteful words Be contrite; don’t be trite Create imagery; don’t describe things in minutia

Do: write your essay Don’t: have someone else write it for you. Do: write about a topic of interest or special appeal to YOU. Don’t: write what you think “they” want to hear. Do: be honest. Don’t: be overly “clever”. In short, make sure your ideas are your own. This is a personal essay. Stay on topic and don’t get sidetracked by too many ideas. Come up with ways or examples to express your topic without sounding negative, angry, “cute”, too eager to please. . .in other words, be who you are without going overboard. Don’t rely on cliches, but don’t use a thesaurus in an effort to sound too sophisticated. And once you write your draft, don’t fall in love with it! Have someone you trust look at your ideas and accept constructive feedback to improve your work. You are putting your best foot forward!

DON’T 1. Don’t merely regurgitate information that already appears elsewhere on the application. Your essay should reveal in more depth other aspects of your personality, interests, abilities, and experiences. It’s okay to reference something that appears in another part of the application, but only to establish a context for what you want to describe/reveal about that experience. 2. Don’t let someone else write your essay. It should speak in your own “voice”. 3. Don’t overdo the humor. I mentioned using humor as a possible “do” in the section above, but use humor selectively. Unless you’re very clever with it, the script for a stand-up comedy routine probably won’t make the cut and may not even seem very funny. 4. Don’t ramble! Don’t stick in irrelevant information just to pad the essay. When you’re doing your final editing, remove irrelevant information that may have crept in. 5. Don’t repeat things you’ve already said (unless you’re doing it very deliberately for a certain effect). 6. Don’t accidentally mention that another institution is your absolute favorite, top choice! This happens more than you would think. (See number 6 above.)

Admission essay should not be written in one sitting and its good to have it reviewed by as many as people since others can see some of your mistakes which is ignored by oneself.

DO make sure that your own personality shines through. Colleges look at the personality of each student as well as their qualifications. This is your chance to show them who you are, not just what you’ve done!

DO proofread! Over and over again.

DO have someone proofread your essays! Don’t be afraid to ask for help on wording and style either, just make sure that your voice is always the one being heard, not your proofreader’s.

DO use the first person. Colleges want to hear about YOU. This is very different from an academic essay.

DON’T use a form essay! Colleges can tell when you weren’t thinking about them specifically as you wrote your essay and were just casting a really wide net. Especially if you put the wrong colleges name on the essay!

DON’T put the wrong school’s name in your essay!

DON’T use too many exclamation points- you want to seem passionate about something, but exclamation points are informal, and too many can seem overly frivolous.

DO write about something you truly care about. The more you enjoy your subject matter the easier it will be to write the essay.

DO use rough drafts. Write one, leave if for a day. Come back the next day with a fresh eye and go over it. You will be able to streamline your line of thought that way so you can fit into word counts.

DON’T try to sound “academic” or give the “what they want to hear.” DO write what only you can write.

DON’T be being. (“I am… I was… I have been…”) DO use active, interesting details.

DON’T just talk about why the school is a good fit for you. DO talk about what you plan to contribute to the school, and why you are the perfect candidate for it!

DON’T tell. DO show.

DON’T send it off without having someone else read it first! I read and review essays for a living and my students tell me the insight is invaluable.

The big on is take your time. Writing a great essay is a long process, don’t try to do it all at once. Beyond that, I’ll start with the Don’ts and move on to the rest of the Do’s:

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Great essay writing in 8 steps

(Last updated: 12 May 2021)

Since 2006, Oxbridge Essays has been the UK’s leading paid essay-writing and dissertation service

We have helped 10,000s of undergraduate, Masters and PhD students to maximise their grades in essays, dissertations, model-exam answers, applications and other materials. If you would like a free chat about your project with one of our UK staff, then please just reach out on one of the methods below.

Can great essay writing really be condensed down into just 8 steps? Well, whilst it's true that there is a lot that goes into academic writing of any kind, these top takeaways are a great place to start if you want to improve your essay writing.

To some, essay writing comes naturally. But for many, knowing how to answer an essay question in a way that will score high marks is something that must be learnt, and practised regularly. You can take comfort in knowing too that, once you learn how to write a great essay, you can apply the same techniques and formulas to almost any piece of academic writing, whether it's a standard essay, a reflective essay, a dissertation or thesis, a course assignment, coursework or something else.

So without further ado, let's dive in and learn the eight steps to writing an essay.

1. Understand the question

This may, at the face of it, sound like somewhat banal advice – but fact of the matter is that failing to properly understand the question set is one of, if not the most common reason behind a disappointing grade when it comes to essay writing. Are you being asked to critically evaluate something ? Compare and contrast? Analyse a particular circumstance? Evaluate the usefulness of a particular concept?

These are some of the common phrases found in essay questions, and each indicates a different set of expectations. If you are asked to critically evaluate a particular theoretical approach, for instance, you have to gain an understanding not only of said theory, but also other common approaches. They must all be weighed against each other, highlighting the relative strengths and weaknesses of each theory and, importantly, you must come to a well-justified and confident conclusion. Is the theory good? What are its flaws? How can it be improved?

If you are asked to evaluate the usefulness of something, however, you don’t necessarily need to go into as much critical depth. Yes, you should still acknowledge alternative approaches, and yes, you should still note some strengths and weaknesses – but the bulk of the work must emphasise the concepts practical usefulness. Perhaps the best approach is to find one, or a few, case studies where the theory has been used – what was the outcome of this? Does the application of the theory reveal any particular shortcomings, or strengths?

“Compare and contrast” essays , meanwhile, are essentially a hybrid of the above – you need to take a critical approach and evaluate the literature, but your focus has to remain solidly on the theories that you have been asked to compare and contrast. It is important to show that you understand both (or all) core theories in great depth, both on a theoretical and applied level.

In essence, the wording of the essay question will tell you how the essay should be written. It will indicate where the focus of your essay should lie as you research and write.

2. Plan and schedule

Understanding the question is the first step, but it is equally important that you make efficient use of the available time. Students often underestimate the amount of work required to write a good essay, which results in two things: (1) late nights at the library, and (2) a disappointing grade. If you want to achieve a good mark, you should start planning your essay the moment you receive the essay question. The following table may be a useful aid:

By setting deadlines for yourself and committing to stick to them, you are ensuring that you won’t be left with too much work right before your hand-in date. It is also important that you leave time, ideally a couple of days, between finishing your first draft and proofreading.

3. Read widely

Writing may be the core task, but reading is equally important. Before you start writing your essay, you should conduct a broad search for relevant literature . Learning how to sift through a large amount of data is an important academic skill. You should start by searching through databases – Google Scholar is a great tool for this – using key words related to your research topic. Once you find an article that sounds promising, read through the abstract to ensure that it’s relevant.

If you are still not a hundred percent sure, it is usually a good idea to skip to the conclusion – this usually contains a detailed summary of the study, which will help determine whether you should read the article as a whole. You don’t want to waste time reading through and endless number of articles simply to find that they aren’t actually relevant. Once you have identified a few solid articles, you should (a) go through their bibliographies and take note of who they are citing, as these articles will likely be of value for your own research; and (b) check on Google Scholar to see who has cited them. To do this, simply input the name of the article in the search bar and hit enter. In the results, click “cited by” – this will return a list of all of the articles that have cited the publication you searched for.

It’s important that you don’t rely too heavily on one or a couple of texts, as this indicates to the marker that you haven’t engaged with the wider literature. You should be particularly careful in using course books (i.e. “introduction to management” and the like), as these are essentially summaries of other people’s work.

4. Be critical

Perfect theories and academic approaches are rare – the clear majority of theories, arguments, and studies have flaws. Being descriptive is fine if you are looking to scrape a pass, but for a higher grade you need to show that you are able to leverage critical reasoning in your dealing with academic materials. What are the limitations of the theories you are drawing on? How have these been dealt with in the literature? How do they impact the quality of arguments presented, and to what extent do they limit our understanding of what you are studying? What alternate explanations might offer additional depth?

Critical thinking is what will make your essay stand out. It shows the marker that you are not simply repeating the arguments that have been fed to you throughout your studies, but actually engaging with theories in an academic manner. A good way to practice this is to pay careful attention when reading literature reviews in published articles – you will see that authors don’t simply summarise previous studies, but offer a critique leading to a gap for their own research.

5. Structure, flow and focus

How you present your argument is nearly as important as the argument itself, which is why it is imperative that your essay follows a logical structure. A classic piece of advice is to "tell them what you are going to tell them, then tell them, and tell them what you told them". This, in essence, summarises the core introduction, main body, and conclusion structure of your essay.

Having a clear and logical structure will help ensure that your essay stays focused, and doesn’t stray from the question being answered. Each section, paragraph, and sentence should add value to the argument you are presenting. As you are writing, it’s good to take a step back and ask yourself: what value does this sentence/section add? How does it link to my overarching argument? If you find that you can’t answer those questions, there is a high risk that you have strayed from your core argument, and you may want to reconsider the path you are taking.

You should also make sure that all the different parts of your essay fit together as a cohesive and logical whole, and that the transition from one argument to the next is fluid. Students often treat essays as lists of arguments, presenting one after the other with little consideration for how they fit together, which inevitably leads to a lower grade. Make sure to tell your reader why you are transitioning from one argument to the next, why they are in this particular order, and how each argument helps shed light on a particular aspect of what you are discussing.

6. Quoting, paraphrasing and plagiarism

Academic writing requires a careful balance between novel argument, and drawing on arguments presented by others. Writing a completely 'novel' essay, without drawing on a single source, indicates that you haven’t made yourself familiar with what has already been published. Conversely, citing someone for every point made suggests that you haven’t produced a novel argument.

As such, it is important that you provide evidence (a credible citation) when you are making a statement of fact, or drawing on arguments, frameworks, and theories presented by other academics. These, in turn, should support the overarching novel argument that you yourself are making.

When drawing on other authors it is important to understand the distinction between quoting and paraphrasing. The general rule of thumb is that you should paraphrase wherever possible, and quote only when necessary or if it clarifies the point you are making. That said, paraphrasing can be difficult without losing the inherit value of the argument presented.

In case you are unsure about the difference between quoting and paraphrasing, we’ve included an example below:

Quote: "Cultural capital can be acquired, to a varying extent, depending on the period, the society, and the social class, in the absence of any deliberate inculcation, and therefore quite unconsciously" (Bourdieu, 1986: 18).

Paraphrase: Unlike economic capital, the amassing of which requires some conscious effort, cultural capital can be built simply by existing and consuming (Bourdieu, 1986).

Both the quoted and the paraphrased versions carry essentially the same meaning, with the exception that paraphrasing shows slightly wider knowledge of Bourdieu (through mentioning another form of capital), and presents an argument that, while true to the writings of Bourdieu, better fits the overall argument.

Properly citing the sources upon which you draw also ensures that you will not be accused of plagiarism, which is a serious offence in academia. In fact, repeated and grievous plagiarism can lead to the suspension of your studies at the majority of academic institutions!

7. Find a 'study buddy'

Having a similarly ambitious 'study buddy' is often undervalued by students, but the synergy achieved by working together can help both of you achieve considerably higher grades. It is important to note that you shouldn’t write your essays together, nor necessarily agree on the approach to be taken beforehand, as this leads to the risk of submitting two papers that are too similar – again linking back to the issue of plagiarism.

Instead, you should exchange essays with each other once you are both done with the first draft. It is immensely difficult to proofread your own work – one goes blind to minor grammatical issues in a text after reading it repeatedly for days on end. It is similarly easy to overlook gaps in flow and logic of argument. Having a friend read through the work will address both of these issues, assuming that they, too, are high achieving.

8. Write academically

Another common issue – particularly amongst first and second-year undergraduates – is that they tend to use rather non-academic language:

In this essay I will look at how people who buy art use cultural capital. My theory is that having more cultural capital will change their taste in art, as they are able to understand the pieces differently to other people.

Examples such as the above are unfortunately rather common, and should give you a good idea of what to avoid. The sentiment behind the text is good, but it reads more like a second-rate blog post than an academic essay. Academic writing should be more formal , concise, unbiased and include good use of rhetoric. As for the above example, an academic might instead write:

This essay explores the role of cultural capital in the consumption of art, and the impact of cultural capital on consumers’ perception of artistic expressions.

You will note that this second example is far more concise yet none of the meaning is lost. It also uses present (rather than future) tense, and avoids informal terms. Clear, concise, and precise language is a hallmark of academic writing.

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University Application Essays: The 5 Secrets of Successful Writing

James is senior content marketing manager at BridgeU. He writes and directs content for BridgeU's university partners and our community of international schools

Step 1: Paraphrase the university application essay question

Step 2: pencil in planning time, step 3: university application essay planning with the 3 ss, step 4: encourage students to edit their university application essays, step 5: equip your students with the right tools to ace their applications.

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The simple steps that will boost the confidence of native and non-native English speaking students alike and transform their university application essays.

Whether it’s coaxing students to work on their university application essays or sitting down to write their recommendations yourself, chances are you’re familiar with the one thing that can plague us all when we face a blank page: writer’s block.

Writer’s block comes in many shapes and sizes… from your one student who keeps asking you to re-read their latest draft to the few who’ve yet to make a start.

But it’s important to tackle writer’s block head-on.

Not only will your students benefit from having time on their side, but the strength of your students’ application essays (like the  UCAS personal statement  or the University of California system’s personal insight questions) also play a huge role in determining your school’s overall university acceptance rate.

University application essays also give students a taste of the calibre of writing they’ll be expected to maintain throughout their university education – and by then, they won’t be able to rely on your step-by-step support.

So how can you equip your students with the skills they need to beat the block?

Organised into five easy-to-follow steps, these tips and tricks will help your students develop their written confidence (whether they’re native English speakers or not!), and set them up for success in their university applications and beyond.

One of the most common sources of frustration for students (that leads to writer’s block) is when they pour time and effort into something, yet don’t receive the grade, reply, or response they were hoping for.

Most often, it’s because students have misunderstood the question, or haven’t been selective enough when choosing relevant examples to support their claims. 

Paraphrasing the question or prompt will ensure your students slow down and really pay attention to what’s being asked for their university application essay. It might even help them identify other questions that are hiding below the surface.

Think about it; a student could pen an essay worthy of George Orwell… but if they’ve written about the American Civil War and the question was about molecular biology, they’re hardly going to score top marks.

The same holds true for university application essays. Some application portals (for instance  Common App ) provide prompts. Other platforms (like  UCAS ), don’t… but students’ personal statements must nonetheless answer the implicit question that underpins all university application essays: “why should you study this programme?”.

Choose a common essay prompt, set a timer, and challenge your students to come up with as many re-wordings as possible. When time’s up, compare them as a class and discuss how different wordings change their understanding of the original question.

Re-worded, “why should you study this programme?” begins to reveal other key questions your students’ essays will have to touch on, such as “why is our programme a good fit for you” or even “how does this programme fit your personal and career goals?”

Once your students are confident they’ve understood the question, it’s time to think about how they’ll answer it.

We’ll cover the components of an essay plan in a moment, but the first step is ensuring your students have factored in enough time for said planning… and understood why it’s so important.

Jumping headfirst into the introduction without a plan is like setting off on a trip without a map.

Your students might still find their way to their final destination, but they’re risking unnecessary detours, delays, and stress along the way… all of which can negatively impact the overall quality of their final application essay. 

To help make planning a habit, encourage your students to dedicate 10% of the time they have allotted to complete time-bound written assignments (like coursework or an exam) to planning. That could look like setting aside 3 days to plan for an essay due in a month, or the first 6 minutes of an hour-long exam.

At the root of any decent essay is a good argument. An argument, in this case, simply means a clear main point (in other words, a thesis) that is effectively and compellingly made.

When planning a university application essay, students might find it helpful to think about their argument using the 3 Ss:

Summary of argument

Students should have a clear idea of  what  they plan to talk about  before  they start thinking about  how  they’re going to say it.

That’s where a summary of their argument comes in. Just like a trip itinerary, summarising their thesis will ensure your students have thought about the direction their essay needs to take (which they’ll signpost in their introduction), the destination they plan to reach (that’s the essay’s conclusion), and how they plan on getting there (the body).

With this in mind, you might find it helpful to have your students submit a summary of their university application essay before they start working on their drafts.

If certain students seem really stuck, task them with writing mini summaries of their essay in different formats. These can be as varied and random as they like. It could be a social media post, instructions for flat-pack furniture, a play or short story… 

Purposefully starting with something a little silly can encourage students to let go of the fear that they won’t write something good enough (another frequent cause of writer’s block)!

If a student is finding it hard to neatly distil their essay ideas into a succinct summary, it’s often a sign that they need to spend more time fine-tuning their argument.

Structure of argument

Once students have a summary of their thesis and the talking points they’ll use to support it, they’ve got the building blocks of their argument!

Now it’s time to put it all together by organising it into logical order, to ensure it’s easy to follow for the reader.

The first step is choosing what belongs in the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.

The second step is organising each of these sections into individual paragraphs. The  STAR technique  is a handy trick students can use when writing about their own achievements in their university application essays. With this technique, students use one paragraph per example to cover the following:

• Situation : Describe the situation/set the scene
• Task:  Explain the challenge they had to overcome
• Action:  Explain what actions they took reach their goal
• Result:  Highlight the result they achieved

Style of argument

Once your students have cooked up the recipe for their perfect essay, it’s time to think about the last key ingredient: style! Just like adding spices to a favourite dish, a carefully-chosen writing style will help your students’ arguments stand out from the crowd.

Style is made up of two main building blocks: tone, and voice. A good way to choose a style is to think about how the audience will best engage with the essay’s topic and argument.

For university application essays, the audience will be the universities each student is hoping to impress. It’s therefore imperative for the essay’s tone and voice to remain professional and clear.

Naturally, that rules out slang, emojis, abbreviations, and anything else that’d be more at home in a text message than it would a CV. But there’s still plenty of room for creativity.

Each student’s hobbies – particularly those related to the subject they’re hoping to study at university – can be a great starting point. You might want to encourage students to find some articles online written by leaders in the subject or career area they’re interested in pursuing for inspiration.

The trick is for each student to think carefully about what will best serve their unique application essay, and ensure they don’t overdo it: style should never eclipse substance. 

For example, a student writing a personal statement for a literature degree might choose to incorporate a few stylistic devices borrowed from their favourite modernist author… but those would seem out of place in an application essay for a chemical engineering programme.

If you’re familiar with Raymond Carver, you’ll know he was credited with revitalising American literature due to his distinctive writing style and concise short stories. But according to legend, this minimalist flair was actually all down to his eagle-eyed editor’s red pen.

What many students don’t foresee – and therefore plan for – is that editing can be one of the most time-consuming parts of the essay writing process. That can spell trouble for your students, especially if they’ve left editing close to the deadline.

To help spark fresh ideas, partner students into pairs and have them give feedback on each other’s drafts. An outside perspective can do wonders when it comes to catching a poorly-explained example or an embarrassing typo.

Learning how to give feedback on each other’s work will also help your students learn what they should look out for when they proofread their own essays.

However, even your hyper-organised students might find it easy to miss mistakes in their university application essays when exams, coursework, and other external pressures are also competing for their attention.

That’s where tools and software come to the rescue. In this day and age, there’s a wealth of resources you and your students can use to streamline the editing process and strengthen their final essays.

Word processing tools and spell check software are an international student’s best friend! Technology is now clever enough to go beyond catching typos and ensure your students’ spelling and punctuation is consistent (which can help weed out any accidental Americanism or Britishisms).

As helpful as these tools are, your students could be missing a trick or two by relying on technology  solely  to catch grammatical errors in 2023. 

Platforms like BridgeU , which you can unlock for your students by creating a free school account, are designed to help your students plan, write, and edit their essays all in one place. 

On BridgeU, your students can search for, and save, the countries and courses they’d like to apply to, or fill in their profile to receive data-driven university suggestions. 

They can then use BridgeU’s built-in search and editing tools, complete with annotated sample essays, how-to guides, and a wealth of other features designed specifically for international students, to research, plan, and perfect their university applications. 

As for you, you’ll get access to your very own Advisor Dashboard, where you can offer feedback and suggest edits to your current students’ applications essays and keep track of their progress, including their application status, references, and recommendation requests.

So if you’re ready to power up your students’ application essays and boost your schools’ university acceptance rate,  set your school up for a free BridgeU account today .

Book a free demo

Learn how BridgeU can help deliver better outcomes for your students and improved results for your school

International students’ last-minute university admissions options explained

Your class might have a number of students wishing, or having, to rethink their application plans in order to still enrol on a university course in 2023.

Luckily, plenty of higher education options exist for students who find themselves in need of changing their application plans – without the need to delay their studies!

Whether your students are first-time applicants, have missed their offers, or have simply changed their mind and want to apply elsewhere, students’ summer application options generally fall into the following three categories:

• Universities where the regular application cycle is still open
• Universities offering a second application round over summer
• Countries where January 2023 enrolment is offered

Countries where the regular application & university admissions cycle is still open

Not all countries limit the regular application season to spring or winter. Many universities in Europe, for example, keep their regular application cycle running until July, August, or even sometimes September.

In fact, studying in Europe has become an increasingly popular option for international students, largely thanks to English-Taught Degrees, cheaper fees, and advantageous flexible visas : 

Though both Ireland and Germany have centralised application portals, universities accepting applications into the summer months habitually expect students to apply directly to the institution itself.

Other countries which also accept international student applications into the summer months include Poland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Hungary. Though a little off-the-beaten-track, they also offer numerous English-taught degrees across a wide variety of subjects.

However, just because applications are open until a certain date doesn’t mean it’s wise to leave it to hold off on applying. The majority of these application cycles run on a rolling admissions basis, meaning that spots are often offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Other universities, or courses, may have earlier cut-off dates specific to certain subjects (think medicine or architecture). In Germany, for example, this is called “numerus clausus”.

With this in mind, the best post of call is to visit the universities’ website directly. Though this can feel daunting, with the right tools, students can drastically reduce their workload without getting sidetracked, or stressed, along the way.

If your students aren’t interested in Europe, around 300 universities and colleges in the  USA are also still accepting applications , with the majority of deadlines falling in June and July.

Countries offering a second university admissions round over the summer

When countries or universities do set earlier deadlines, it’s not uncommon for them to re-open application routes for a set amount of time over the summer.

The biggest difference is that these will be exclusive to courses which still have open places and didn’t fill their enrolment quota in the first application round.

Although students will still have their pick from plenty of prestigious universities, course options are generally far more limited: students might have to compromise on either the exact programme or institution they’d set their heart on.

Though these second rounds do also run rolling admissions, the tighter application windows and limited availability of courses can make it a much more competitive process.

It’s therefore imperative for students to have everything prepared and be ready to apply the day applications open (or the day they have their results).

Due to the short application window (and quick turnaround on decisions) it’s not uncommon for students to have to sit a  telephone, zoom, or in-person interview.

Perhaps the most famous of these second application rounds is  Clearing  in the UK.

Clearing begins on the 5th of July, where universities (including Russell Group universities) advertise the specific programme which still have open places.

To learn more about Clearing visit our Results Hub  or learn more about it through  UCAS  (Universities & Colleges Admissions Service).

Ireland also offers students a second and third round to take up any remaining university places.

Running from June all the way through August, application dates are often published close to the application deadline, so we recommend keeping an eye on both the  CAO ’s (Central Applications Office) timetable and individual universities’ websites.

Other universities, in other countries, sometimes have their own deadline extensions, often because they’ve still got space on their programmes.

If students are particularly set on studying elsewhere it never hurts to contact a university directly to enquire.

Countries where January and February 2024 enrolment is offered

If students would like more time to prepare their applications, without postponing their higher education by an entire calendar year, January or February intake could be an option for them.

A routine offering for universities in the Southern Hemisphere ( hello Australia !), it’s actually a fairly common option in the Northern Hemisphere, too, with university admissions cycles generally taking place in the Autumn. 

Though it will depend from one university to the next, popular countries in the Northern Hemisphere which offer another intake around the new year include the  USA ,  Canada ,  Germany, Sweden, and Spain … and that’s just to name a few!

The only thing to note is that, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, January (or sometimes February) intakes are quite small.

Though students won’t necessarily face undue competition, it does mean they’ll likely have less peers to socialise with in class. It also means that the courses and programmes on offer might be more limited.

Students who want more time to make a decision

If a student doesn’t feel ready to commit to any of the three options above, it might be worth talking to them (and their parents) about taking a gap year.

Though often connoted with partying in faraway countries, gap years can actually give your students plenty to write about in their university application essays and CVs.

From work experience to learning a new language, there’s  no shortage of gap year activities  that can turbocharge a student’s personal and professional development and help them shine come the 2023 university admissions cycle!

Preparing students for the transition from school to university

Once your students have secured a spot at a university, it’s time to ensure they make the final preparations so that they can actually move abroad come September.

Though many might have to finalise these plans over the summer, some students might decide to reconsider their plans earlier on, which is why it’s important to inform your students (and their parents) about their options as soon as possible!

With this information to hand, you’ll now be ready to support students no matter where they are in their transition to university… as well as answer any questions their parents may have.

That being said, the best way to ensure your students are prepared come what may is to build these last-minute applications into your year-long guidance strategy.

To learn more about how BridgeU works alongside your curriculum to support your school throughout the entire university research process, click on the image below to learn more and speak to a member of our team.

5 online platforms to help students with essay writing

When a student enrols in college or university, an essential aspect of their student experience is marked by their involvement in essay writing for academic purposes.

For many international students who further their education in an English-speaking university, essay writing may be challenging as they are required to adapt to a new curriculum and write content using the right grammar, vocabulary and context in a language they haven’t quite mastered yet.

Luckily, there are a number of essay writing tools that are accessible for free or for a small fee online. These online resources are a haven for students to refer to when brushing up on their comprehension, grammar and vocabulary.

Do note that essay writing tools are not the same as essay writing services.

It is unethical to enlist the help of an online provider to write the assignment on behalf of the student as it defeats the purpose of the journey and learning processes taken to complete the assignment. Students are meant to spend time researching, checking resources and consulting their lecturers for feedback to come up with a high-quality assignment.

Online essay writing tools are meant to guide and facilitate students with their learning process. With that being said, here are five platforms to help students with their essay writing.

Platforms to help students with essay writing

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Grammarly (@grammarly)

Students who struggle with grammar and spelling will find Grammarly ideal. Grammarly is the go-to online platform to ensure content does not contain many errors, including grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors.

Besides being an excellent proofreading platform, Grammarly offers suggestions to improve the clarity of their content to make it more easily understood to their audience. Synonym suggestions help readers to apply different words to their sentence to make it more readable and precise. 

Additionally, Grammarly provides a plagiarism checking service to ensure that their content is unique. 

Grammarly is mostly free , however, additional features can be accessed by paying a premium which can go up to 30 US dollars a month.

Hemingway Editor

Hemingway App makes writing bold and clear http://t.co/rIajo9q1KC pic.twitter.com/8S2hjQ0d8F — O’Reilly Media (@OReillyMedia) February 12, 2014

The Hemingway Editor App helps students to make their writing bold and clear. Whether they are a beginner or a professional writer, this word processor helps writers to create simple, concise and engaging content. Amendments to sentences created by the writer is colour coded.

Hemingway Editor can be accessed for free online . However, the desktop version on Mac and PC costs a one-time payment of US$19.99.

A Research Guide

A Research Guide provides students with essential guidelines on how hone their academic writing skills. Source: A Research Guide

If students are looking for a one-stop centre to learn all things related to writing a research paper for academic purposes, A Research Guide is an information haven for students to refer to.

From learning how to get started with a research paper, including content that fulfils the requirements of the assignment brief all the way to coming up with a strong conclusion, A Research Guide gives you the tools to guide you in writing your research paper every step of the way.

Among the writing guides provided by the platform include how to use search engines, using the correct format and quote passages and how to write a bibliography. Samples of essays in different categories are also available to give students an idea of what a well written essay looks like.

A Research Guide is free and can be accessed here .

Open and free! 🗝️ Journals, books, images, primary source materials, and research reports from JSTOR and Artstor are at your fingertips. 🔖 Bookmark this page to explore all of the #OpenAccess content JSTOR has to offer. Begin your research with a search! https://t.co/4BSZ8zl8KP pic.twitter.com/PF07eNZEDx — JSTOR (@JSTOR) April 4, 2022

Students who struggle to find content that have been cited or provided in an academic context may flock to JSTOR, which is an online archive containing lots of different academic journals and books.

Navigating the JSTOR archive is straightforward, as students can search a database of journals, books, research reports, pamphlets and other learning resources by simply keying in the author, subject (keyword) or title.

JSTOR may require a fee to access most of its contents. However, students can still access public domain resources on JSTOR for free, with an additional six articles per month that are free to access.

Should this not be possible, students may pay for a JPASS which costs U$19.50 a month. However, it is possible for students to login to JSTOR and access materials for free using their university credentials as most universities have a paid subscription to it.

Small SEO Tools 

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by SMALL SEO TOOLS (@smallseo.tools)

Occasionally, students may feel overwhelmed by the need to rephrase or formulate a sentence using their own words, resorting to copying word-for-word what the original author or site mentions in their article.

This is a cardinal sin as plagiarism is frowned upon and may have dire consequences . This includes failing the course to getting expelled.

Plagiarism checkers such as Small SEO Tools helps students to avoid making this mistake. Small SEO tools is free if the content checked is under 1,000 words. More words can be checked for a higher fee .

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More From Forbes

How not to write your college essay.

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If you are looking for the “secret formula” for writing a “winning” college essay, you have come to the wrong place. The reality is there is no silver bullet or strategy to write your way to an acceptance. There is not one topic or approach that will guarantee a favorable outcome.

At the end of the day, every admission office just wants to know more about you, what you value, and what excites you. They want to hear about your experiences through your own words and in your own voice. As you set out to write your essay, you will no doubt get input (both sought-after and unsolicited) on what to write. But how about what NOT Notcoin to write? There are avoidable blunders that applicants frequently make in drafting their essays. I asked college admission leaders, who have read thousands of submissions, to share their thoughts.

Don’t Go In There

There is wide consensus on this first one, so before you call on your Jedi mind tricks or predictive analytics, listen to the voices of a diverse range of admission deans. Peter Hagan, executive director of admissions at Syracuse University, sums it up best, saying, “I would recommend that students try not to get inside of our heads. He adds, “Too often the focus is on what they think we want.”

Andy Strickler, dean of admission and financial aid at Connecticut College agrees, warning, “Do NOT get caught in the trap of trying to figure out what is going to impress the admission committee. You have NO idea who is going to read your essay and what is going to connect with them. So, don't try to guess that.” Victoria Romero, vice president for enrollment, at Scripps College adds, “Do not write about something you don’t care about.” She says, “I think students try to figure out what an admission officer wants to read, and the reality is the reader begins every next essay with no expectations about the content THEY want to read.” Chrystal Russell, dean of admission at Hampden-Sydney College, agrees, saying, “If you're not interested in writing it, we will not be interested when reading it.” Jay Jacobs, vice provost for enrollment management at the University of Vermont elaborates, advising. “Don’t try to make yourself sound any different than you are.” He says, “The number one goal for admission officers is to better understand the applicant, what they like to do, what they want to do, where they spend the majority of their time, and what makes them tick. If a student stays genuine to that, it will shine through and make an engaging and successful essay.”

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Don’t Be Artificial

The headlines about college admission are dominated by stories about artificial intelligence and the college essay. Let’s set some ground rules–to allow ChatGPT or some other tool to do your work is not only unethical, it is also unintelligent. The only worse mistake you could make is to let another human write your essay for you. Instead of preoccupying yourself with whether or not colleges are using AI detection software (most are not), spend your time focused on how best to express yourself authentically. Rick Clark is the executive director of strategic student success at Georgia Institute of Technology, one of the first institutions to clearly outline their AI policy for applicants. He says, “Much of a college application is devoted to lines, boxes, and numbers. Essays and supplements are the one place to establish connection, personality, and distinction. AI, in its current state, is terrible at all three.” He adds, “My hope is that students will use ChatGPT or other tools for brainstorming and to get started, but then move quickly into crafting an essay that will provide insight and value.”

Don’t Overdo It

Michael Stefanowicz, vice president for enrollment management at Landmark College says, “You can only cover so much detail about yourself in an admission essay, and a lot of students feel pressure to tell their life story or choose their most defining experience to date as an essay topic. Admission professionals know that you’re sharing just one part of your lived experience in the essay.” He adds, “Some of the favorite essays I’ve read have been episodic, reflecting on the way you’ve found meaning in a seemingly ordinary experience, advice you’ve lived out, a mistake you’ve learned from, or a special tradition in your life.” Gary Ross, vice president for admission and financial aid at Colgate University adds, “More than a few applicants each year craft essays that talk about the frustration and struggles they have experienced in identifying a topic for their college application essay. Presenting your college application essay as a smorgasbord of topics that ultimately landed on the cutting room floor does not give us much insight into an applicant.”

Don’t Believe In Magic

Jason Nevinger, senior director of admission at the University of Rochester warns, “Be skeptical of anyone or any company telling you, ‘This is the essay that got me into _____.’ There is no magic topic, approach, sentence structure, or prose that got any student into any institution ever.” Social media is littered with advertisements promising strategic essay help. Don’t waste your time, energy, or money trying to emulate a certain style, topic, or tone. Liz Cheron is chief executive officer for the Coalition for College and former assistant vice president of enrollment & dean of admissions at Northeastern University. She agrees with Nevinger, saying “Don't put pressure on yourself to find the perfect, slam dunk topic. The vast majority of college essays do exactly what they're supposed to do–they are well-written and tell the admission officer more about the student in that student's voice–and that can take many different forms.”

Don’t Over Recycle

Beatrice Atkinson-Myers, associate director of global recruitment at the University of California at Santa Cruz tells students, “Do not use the same response for each university; research and craft your essay to match the program at the university you are interested in studying. Don't waste time telling me things I can read elsewhere in your application. Use your essay to give the admissions officer insights into your motivations, interests, and thinking. Don't make your essay the kitchen sink, focus on one or two examples which demonstrate your depth and creativity.” Her UC colleague, Jim Rawlins, associate vice chancellor of enrollment management at the University of California at San Diego agrees, saying “Answer the question. Not doing so is the surest way we can tell you are simply giving us a snippet of something you actually wrote for a different purpose.”

Don’t Overedit

Emily Roper-Doten, vice president for undergraduate admissions and financial assistance at Clark University warns against “Too many editors!” She says, “Pick a couple of trusted folks to be your sounding board when considering topics and as readers once you have drafts. You don’t want too many voices in your essay to drown you out!” Scripps’ Romero agrees, suggesting, “Ask a good friend, someone you trust and knows you well, to read your essays.” She adds, “The goal is for the admission committee to get to know a little about you and who better to help you create that framework, than a good friend. This may not work for all students because of content but helps them understand it’s important to be themselves.” Whitney Soule, vice provost and dean of admissions at The University of Pennsylvania adds, “Avoid well-meaning editorial interference that might seem to polish your writing but actually takes your own personal ‘shine’ right out of the message.” She says, “As readers, we connect to applicants through their genuine tone and style. Considering editorial advice for flow and message is OK but hold on to the 'you' for what you want to say and how you want to say it.”

Don’t Get Showy

Palmer Muntz, senior regional admissions counselor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks cautions applicants, “Don’t be fancier than you are. You don’t need to put on airs.” He adds, “Yes, proofread your work for grammar and spelling, but be natural. Craft something you’d want to read yourself, which probably means keeping your paragraphs short, using familiar words, and writing in an active voice.” Connecticut College’s Strickler agrees, warning, “Don't try to be someone you are not. If you are not funny, don't try to write a funny essay. If you are not an intellectual, trying to write an intellectual essay is a bad idea.”

Anthony Jones, the vice president of enrollment management at Loyola University New Orleans offers a unique metaphor for thinking about the essay. He says, “In the new world of the hyper-fast college admission process, it's become easy to overlook the essential meaning of the college application. It's meant to reveal Y...O...U, the real you, not some phony digital avatar. Think of the essay as the essence of that voice but in analog. Like the completeness and authenticity captured in a vinyl record, the few lines you're given to explain your view should be a slow walk through unrestrained expression chock full of unapologetic nuances, crevices of emotion, and exactness about how you feel in the moment. Then, and only then, can you give the admissions officer an experience that makes them want to tune in and listen for more.”

Don’t Be A Downer

James Nondorf, vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid at The University of Chicago says, “Don’t be negative about other people, be appreciative of those who have supported you, and be excited about who you are and what you will bring to our campus!” He adds, “While admissions offices want smart students for our classrooms, we also want kind-hearted, caring, and joyous students who will add to our campus communities too.”

Don’t Pattern Match

Alan Ramirez is the dean of admission and financial aid at Sewanee, The University of the South. He explains, “A big concern I have is when students find themselves comparing their writing to other students or past applicants and transform their writing to be more like those individuals as a way to better their chances of offering a more-compelling essay.” He emphasizes that the result is that the “essay is no longer authentic nor the best representation of themselves and the whole point of the essay is lost. Their distinctive voice and viewpoint contribute to the range of voices in the incoming class, enhancing the diversity of perspectives we aim to achieve.” Ramirez simple tells students, “Be yourself, that’s what we want to see, plus there's no one else who can do it better than you!”

Don’t Feel Tied To A Topic

Jessica Ricker is the vice president for enrollment and dean of admissions and financial aid at Skidmore College. She says, “Sometimes students feel they must tell a story of grief or hardship, and then end up reliving that during the essay-writing process in ways that are emotionally detrimental. I encourage students to choose a topic they can reflect upon positively but recommend that if they choose a more challenging experience to write about, they avoid belaboring the details and instead focus on the outcome of that journey.” She adds, "They simply need to name it, frame its impact, and then help us as the reader understand how it has shaped their lens on life and their approach moving forward.”

Landmark College’s Stefanowicz adds, “A lot of students worry about how personal to get in sharing a part of their identity like your race or heritage (recalling last year’s Supreme Court case about race-conscious admissions), a learning difference or other disability, your religious values, LGBTQ identity…the list goes on.” He emphasizes, “This is always your choice, and your essay doesn’t have to be about a defining identity. But I encourage you to be fully yourself as you present yourself to colleges—because the college admission process is about finding a school where your whole self is welcome and you find a setting to flourish!”

Don’t Be Redundant

Hillen Grason Jr., dean of admission at Franklin & Marshall College, advises, “Don't repeat academic or co-curricular information that is easily identifiable within other parts of your application unless the topic is a core tenant of you as an individual.” He adds, “Use your essay, and other parts of your application, wisely. Your essay is the best way to convey who your authentic self is to the schools you apply. If you navigated a situation that led to a dip in your grades or co-curricular involvement, leverage the ‘additional information’ section of the application.

Thomas Marr is a regional manager of admissions for the Americas at The University of St Andrews in Scotland and points out that “Not all international schools use the main college essay as part of their assessment when reviewing student applications.” He says, “At the University of St Andrews, we focus on the supplemental essay and students should avoid the mistake of making the supplemental a repeat of their other essay. The supplemental (called the Personal Statement if using the UCAS application process) is to show the extent of their passion and enthusiasm for the subject/s to which they are applying and we expect about 75% of the content to cover this. They can use the remaining space to mention their interests outside of the classroom. Some students confuse passion for the school with passion for their subject; do not fall into that trap.”

A Few Final Don’ts

Don’t delay. Every college applicant I have ever worked with has wished they had started earlier. You can best avoid the pitfalls above if you give yourself the time and space to write a thoughtful essay and welcome feedback openly but cautiously. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to be perfect . Do your best, share your voice, and stay true to who you are.

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