from: College Planning Manual

How important is the personal essay in college admission? How is it used? Who reads it?

First of all, the essay is important - to you and the college. According to one admission director, "It makes the facts in the student's folder come alive for us. Because it is the student's personal statement, no single piece of admission evidence gets as much attention and provokes as much discussion."

The essay is your opportunity to take charge of the information the college receives about you, and to provide information that does not appear in grades, test scores, and other materials. It allows you to reveal your intelligence, talent, sense of humor, enthusiasm, maturity, creativity, expressiveness, sincerity, and writing ability - traits that count in the admission evaluation.

What do Colleges look for?

Generally speaking, the admission staff will evaluate your application on three levels:

Level 1
our ability to use standard written English that is correctly written (preferably typed), punctuated, with correct grammar, usage and syntax.

Level 2
Content, substance, and depth of insight, reflecting your ablitiy to think about yourself and to convey your true feelings or opinions about a topic.

Level 3
Creativity and originality. "It is at this level," according to a dean of admission, "that students can position themselves as unique - as individuals who would bring a freshness of vision and viewpoint to the college that will enhance the quality of its academic and social life."

In essay directions, a college may ask you to do one or more of the following:
Describe your uniqueness as a person, or tell something about yourself that can't be learned from the information in your application. Discuss something that contributed significantly to your growth. Comment on your goals and aspirations and tell how you expect the college to help meet them. Whatever the topic, the care and attention you give it express the level of your motivation and how much you care about college.

Seven Steps to Writing a Good College Essay Here are a few tips for developing an essay that conveys your personal qualities.

1. Plan your essays during the summer before your senior year, if you can, or early in your senior year. Allow yourself enough time for all the steps below, and write an individual essay for each college.

2. Be sure you understand the college's topics, directions, and deadlines, and look in its catologs or guidebooks for descriptions of the personal qualities it is looking for.

3. Before you start your essay, jot down your aspirations and how you think the college will help you meet them. Then develop a personal inventory. Make lists of your civic and school activities,your travels, awards, honors, other accomplishments, work experiences, any acedemic or personal shortcomings you are trying to overcome, and the personality traits you value about yourself. To focus your essay, develop a one-sentence theme from your inventory.

4. Think about the form you might use to convey your information. Straight prose is fine, but if your theme lends itself to another approach, try it.

5. Now, write a draft. Set the draft aside for 24 hours, then read it to spot cliches, triteness, vagueness, dullness, grammatical errors, and misspellings. Is your essay focused on your theme, or does it ramble? Is it confusing, or boring? Does the introduction "grab" the reader.

6. Rewrite the essay based on this evaluation and repeat step 5 as often as necessary to sharpen your essay.

7. Ask someone whose opinions you respect to read your essay and give his or her candid impressions. Ask for specifics: Tell me what you think I'm trying to say. How do I come across as a person? What parts confuse you? Where do you need more details? What parts bore you? Tell me the parts you like best. But do not let this person rewrite your essay.

[TOP OF PAGE]