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POINTERS FOR ESSAY WRITING for Your College Essay

College Essay Samples



Your goal
Your goal is to find a defining experience to write about, one that is compelling, illustrative and, perhaps, poignant. In other words, you must get at the guts of your experience. Even though you may not know it yet, each of you has a unique and special story to tell.

Some of you, born in other countries, have experienced war. Others of you have worked countless hours with your parents at the farmer’s market. Others volunteer at the local elementary school. Some of you have parents who have shaped you into highly ethical young people. Others have family members who are completely unsupportive or are dysfunctional. In other words, every one of you has a story to tell. The hard part is picking the right story. The rest is just editing.

The writing process

1. Read your topic carefully.

2. Brainstorm. Talk about your ideas. Write down some possible ideas. Start with easy things like a list of your extracurricular activities and college goals. Then list details about your family life, challenges you have faced, volunteering you have done, strengths, weaknesses, leadership experience, attendance in summer programs, etc.

3. After __narrowing__ your focus, write an outline for your essay.

4. Write a rough draft.

5. Have a teacher, friend or someone proof your rough draft (for grammatical errors, answering the topic question, organization, tone, mood, use of complete sentences, typographical errors and overall effectiveness.)

6. Write your final draft paying close attention to the instructions/ directions (double-spaced, etc.).

= Sample topics =

= =
 * 1) Topic A: Write an essay in which you tell us about someone who has made an impact on your life and explain how and why this person is important to you
 * 2) __Topic B__ : Choose an issue of importance to you—the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope—and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation.
 * 3) __ Topic C: __ There may be personal information you want considered as part of your admissions application. Write an essay describing that information. You might include exceptional hardships, challenges, or opportunities that have shaped or impacted your abilities or academic credentials, personal responsibilities, exceptional achievements or talents, educational goals, or ways in which you might contribute to an institution committed to creating a diverse learning environment.
 * 4) Describe how you, as a student, are a good match with us as a learning community. How will your individual characteristics lead you to make a contribution to our campus?