How to Write a College Essay That Truly Stands Out

Why the College Essay Matters

While your GPA and test scores provide an admissions team with data, your essay offers them a narrative. You have the opportunity to showcase the following:

• Your personality outside of academics
• Resilience
• Your driving values
• Your prospective innovative contributions to the campus community

Consider your essay as a narrative. It is an opportunity to converse with the admissions officer. It is the perfect platform to establish a memorable impression.

Step 1: Think About It

Did the greatest essays not result from day-to-day life? You do not need to have scaled Mt. everest or launched your own multi-million-dollar company. Reflect on the things that have shaped your life.

Think to yourself:

• What was a challenge in my life, and what did I discover from it?
• What hobby or activity helps show my identity?
• How did I serve my community or my school?
• Who in my life was a game-changer?

For instance, a person writing about assisting at a local food pantry might portray themselves as a person of resilience, empathy, and leadership.

Step 2: Find a Central Theme

With certain experiences, what would be a good fit for the core theme? Use it to unify the essay and ensure it highlights 1 or 2 key traits that the admissions reader should remember about you.

Some examples include:

• Withstanding obstacles to achieve goals
• Realizing self-expression through arts and crafts
• Building leadership skills by guiding younger peers
• Learning science or coding out of curiosity

Having a central theme ensures that your essay will be cohesive, rather than being scattered.

Step 3: Write a compelling opening.

Ensure that you grab the reader's attention from the outset by providing a compelling opening. It will determine the direction your story takes.

Options for hooks:

• Anecdote: “My hands shook as I held the mic at my first debate competition…”
• Startling Fact or Phrase: “What can baking bread teach you about resilience?”
• Thought: “Growing up, silence was my enemy. The first time I was able to silence the world around me was when I discovered the violin.”

The introduction can be simple. There is no need to embellish it.

Step 4. Illustrate, Do Not Just Tell.

When you skip this step, it is easy to lose marks for failing to demonstrate, rather than merely telling what you've done.

• Weak: “I am a natural leader.”
• Strong: “When our robotics captain was out sick, I organized practice sessions, delegated tasks, and kept the team motivated until we won our regional competition.”

If you want to write an essay that is focused, it is the draft that succeeds, not the ideas.

Step 5. Maintain Continuity with Your Authentic Voice

These ideas are really focused, and it is easy to miss that the finished product is polished. It is also easy to overlook that the product is intended for a teenager. Avoid speaking in a very formal way that feels uncomfortable. Tell the story as you would to a friendly teacher or someone in a leadership position. You can be polite, but don't hold back.

Pro Tip: Do not use a thesaurus too frequently. It is better to write simply and clearly than try too hard with big words.

Step 6: Organizing Your Work

It's easier to follow if your work is organized with a clear structure. Here is a recommended approach:

1. Begin with a thesis statement. As the first paragraph, include a 'hook' or captivating fact relevant to the subject of the essay.
2. Each paragraph after the introduction should focus on a separate element relevant to the story. Each should include supporting evidence or materials to strengthen your argument.
3. Reflect on the overall essay and the key components. Summarize the essay and discuss your future plans in relation to the discussed elements.

Proceeding in this manner narrows the focus of your essay to the key subject, highlighting the most important attributes discussed.

Step 7: Improvements

After the first draft, great essays aren't just calculated with the addition of new information to create a new draft. They are also significantly rewritten.

Edit the response with the following checklist:

• Does my essay clearly demonstrate my theme? Have I used enough examples to highlight the themes, and analyzed my thoughts to a sufficient depth?
• Is my language genuine?
• Have I removed stock phrases, such as 'failure is not an option '?
• Have I read it out loud, ensuring it flows smoothly and is free of spelling and grammatical mistakes?

It's essential to collaborate with peers on your work, but it must also reflect your own words.

Avoiding Common Mistakes

Of course, an outline is bound to be made; however, it’s common for students not to stick closely to the prompt. Tailor your outline to specifically focus on the question that is being asked.

Common Mistakes: Having your resume is an amazing feat, but it is not sufficient to include in your essay. Admissions officers are already familiar with your activities. This is the perfect opportunity to focus on your why.

• Ignoring the prompt: Don’t forget to answer the question that is set. Stick to it.
• Trying to impress too much: The route of the essay should be quite humble. You don’t get points and gain the reader’s heart with boasting. Relax and be real.
• Proofreading is crucial: Even the smallest mistakes can distract the reader from the story.

Additional Thoughts: Review Other Types of Essays

If you're trying to get into specific programs and honors societies, you may have to write different types of essays. For instance, the National Honor Society (NHS) is one of the most sought-after programs, emphasizing scholarship, leadership, service, and character. Resources such as The Ultimate Guide to the National Honor Society Essay offer valuable insights on how to effectively showcase your virtues and achievements in a well-organized manner.

Reviewing different essay types is a great way to improve your personal technique and can also provide some inspiration for your college applications.

In Conclusion

The college essay is an opportunity for you to be different, and it is okay if you are not perfect. What matters is whether you are real. Write about the stories you associate with your development, arrange your thoughts in a way that is easy to follow, and make revisions to improve the essay each time until it is a true representation of you.

Keep in mind that admission officers are not looking for superhuman abilities; they are looking for students who are genuinely interested, have the necessary grit, and are willing to contribute to building a community on campus. If you are genuine in your story and pour your emotions into it, you will be giving them what they hope to find.

So take the pen or open the blank Google Doc. From now on, make it your mission to write something down, as your future self will appreciate it.