College Essay Help

College Essay Help You want the admissions reader to say, “Ah, this is a real person writing to me. The college essay has to grab the attention of an admission’s reader. It is imperative, then, that the introduction to the college essay capture the reader’s attention and make the reader want to read more. Keep in mind that every college is different and individual admission officers may be influenced by different factors. Join thousands of students & parents learning about finding the right college, admissions secrets, scholarships, financial aid, and more. I cannot make that claim, but I do believe that most of them are read. In smaller to mid size colleges they are certainly read, at least by two readers, and all Honors College essays are read. Many schools have a strong commitment to a holistic review of each application and sometimes have two or three readers for each file. Check out our article on the most common mistakes in college essays for more tips to ensure your essay reads well. Do not be just another of thousands of applicants that do not make an impression. If you are reading a newspaper article, the writer fades behind the facts and you know nothing about the writer except that s/he can collect, organize, and present the facts that you need to now. A really good essay can be a strong addition to the application file. Other schools might be so overwhelmed by the sheer number of applications that they make their admit decisions based strictly on statistical requirements. You can often find out how a file is reviewed by attending an information session at the schools on your college list. Did you separate dialogue correctly from the rest of your text? However, you should still aim to write a strong essay, especially if your dream colleges are highly-selective. You might be surprised to learn that essays are that important, but keep in mind that at top schools, there are at least 4 academically-qualified candidates for every open spot. To truly assess an applicant’s fit with the school, admissions officers need the essays. Essays are your one opportunity to share your voice, your unique experiences, and your perspective. OR should we send her 1450 SAT without a writing score? Despite the decline in colleges requiring an SAT or ACT essay, Compass still advises many of our students to make the essay a part of their testing plans. Skipping the essay can leave a student scrambling to fit in an additional test date should his or her college plans change. With that said, the Essay is dying a quick death. Most schools fall in the “just don’t care” box at this point. Having at least one essay score is helpful in case a student decides to apply to a Required college, but it is unlikely to play a role at Optional colleges. My daughter is trying to get in as an out of state student to University of North Carolina and University of Michigan as her top 2 choices. She scored a 33 on ACT with a 6 writing, which she took because Michigan said it was required. She clearly wasn’t prepared for the writing section, so she just took it again and scored a bit lower on her composite but the same on the essay. Then we went to a college fair and spoke to a Michigan Admissions Officer who said Michigan has decided NOT to require writing. She wants to apply to both as Early Action, but doesn’t have time to retake ACT without writing for that deadline. Do you think reporting her 33 ACT with the poor writing score will hurt her at UNC or Michigan, even though they say it is not required, and UNC says it is discouraged? Your essays are necessarily a reflection of your mind, and the admissions officers want to know that you have the “soft skills” to excel in their program. You can’t make it in college if you can’t write. At any point in time during your college education, you’ll probably have one or more papers to write for your classes. Colleges would be irresponsible to offer you a place in their program if you do not have the basic skills needed to succeed. Still not convinced that your essays are important? Let’s look deeper into the four main reasons that colleges require essays as part of the application process to see why they’re worth your time and attention. Dr. Allen Grove is an Alfred University English professor and a college admissions expert with 20 years of experience helping students transition to college. In the college essay, you need to contextualize your examples for the reader. If you are writing a good complex essay, even your topic sentence will require more explanation than just one sentence.