How Important Is The College Essay?

How Important Is The College Essay? What makes you who you are â€" was it a struggle in the past? Your desire to attend the school to which you are applying? Ethan Sawyer is a nationally recognized college essay expert and sought-after speaker. Tell a story from your own life that shows something unique about you. The story that your friends perk up to listen to- that’s the stuff that makes for great app essays. More than anything, officers want to get to know you through your essay. Your personal statement essay is the face of your application and one of the only ways to show your personality. Make sure to get feedback from not too many and not too few people. Each year he helps thousands of students and counselors through his online courses, workshops, articles, products, and books, and works privately with a small number of students. Writing your college essay can be a daunting task. These 650 words or less â€" your personal statement to colleges â€" will be one of the most important pieces of writing you’ve done in your life up until this point. The team at Marks Education was very helpful to my college application process. The planning of my high school class selection, provided by Nina Marks and Ian Perez was especially helpful. Many of these essays will also be reused for other prompts later on. This is a great tool for demonstrating interest and learning details about your intended programs that you can’t find on the website. In addition, conversations with faculty at your early schools can give great tidbits that you can use for a “Why Us? This is a really important decision for your application. My essay advisor, Hugh McIntosh, worked with me to refine broad ideas to concise, strong personal statements and supplemental questions. The fall of senior year is inevitably a difficult time, but Mark's Education made it clear and painless. People often ask me about the value of the application essay. ” I assure you, at my university and in admissions offices across the country, we do. Students have no clue what to write that will wow admissions staff and faculty members from hundreds of other essays they will read. The personal statement is your opportunity to reveal something about yourself that can’t be found anywhere else in your application â€" use it! Many students use this essay to expound upon activities or interests that are already heavily demonstrated in their application through courses, the activity list, and more. If your study of AP biology conflicts with your religious views, write about that and how you reconciled the two. Here are some college application essay dos and don’ts for students to keep in mind as they complete their applications this fall. The essay is the component of the college application that allows for some freedom. There is no need to write a formulaic essay with an introduction, three-point body and conclusion. This is your opportunity to showcase your personality. You will end up sounding like every other applicant. You need to craft a statement that speaks to who you are as a person. As you can see, the risk-reward element with the essay is very high, especially if you aspire to highly selective colleges and universities. While we can’t write your essay for you, the following essay tips should be helpful in developing a personal statement that becomes the glue for a thematically cohesive application. Instead of reinforcing a top activity or interest, instead, write about something that reveals another dimension of your life or personality. If your top activity is swimming, don’t write about the big championship meet. Find something else that reveals something new and that shows you put a lot of thought into your essay. It’s important to get a good chunk of regular decision essays done in November, otherwise December is going to be a mess. Students applying to a number of top 20 reach schools for regular decision will have the majority of their essay work ahead of them and not a lot of time to ensure they’re writing their best possible essays. Getting your early application essay work done this early helps you to space out all the regular decision application work later on. These essays are usually for some of your top choice schools, so make sure to spend a lot of time polishing these essays and getting feedback, similar to your Common App personal statement process.