You’ve got the grades, you’ve aced the SAT’s and you’ve got all your extra-curricular activities handled. It is time to finally sit down and write your application essay. You open up your laptop, load the word processor and watch the cursor blink on the screen. And then you hit a blank. For the first time, you have to write an entire paper solely about you. No legendary historical figures, abstruse philosophical ideas or far-off lands beyond the sea. An entire essay about ordinary old, 17 years of age, you. How does one even go about doing that?

The college applications essay is a break from the structured, academic writing most students are used to. The essays high school students are required to write in class rely on argumentation backed up by solid facts. This sort of approach is unnecessary when you’re writing an admissions essay. Remember, colleges use this opportunity to get to know you on a personal level.

They do not expect you to provide justifications while narrating a story about yourself. Instead, focus on making the anecdote sound as authentic as possible. Your essay should relay whatever emotions you felt, how the experience affected you and how it helped you grow as a person. For this reason, it is also essential that you avoid letting your parents, your teachers or your school guidance counselor dictate your essay. The paper is supposed to be a reflection of you, the dominant voice in the narrative should be yours, not someone else’s.

Students often seek out the help of others because they do not feel that the experiences they have had are very significant.

This is simply not the case. Do not go for the grandiose, a lot of our most transformative experiences occur in subtle increments and over a period of time. You could talk about the summer you dedicated to exercising in order to lose weight, your morning jogging routine or helping your little brother with his math. It could be about a camping trip or how you helped organize a blood drive with your friends. Work from a blank slate and dig deep.

Do not initially worry about the word limit or the prompt. You can trim your essay later while editing, and the prompts offered by colleges are usually expansive enough to cover virtually all experiences. Simply select the prompt that works best for your story or Purchase Custom Coursework Paper. Avoid stories that involve your academic or athletic career (colleges already know about this from your transcript and recommendations) unless an experience was particularly life-changing. Regardless of anything else, be confident in your choice of topic. It is, after all, your story.