5 College Application Essay Topics That Always Work

5 College Application Essay Topics That Always Work Hi Carolyn, students get stressed regarding writing college admission essays. Beyond gaining insight into your personal psyche, the purpose of the essay is also to showcase your written communication skills. This is a short-term opportunity to test the waters of college-esque independence. Meet Colleen Boucher â€" English language wordsmith and savvy expert on all things college-related. Based out of San Francisco, Boucher is a counselor for Collegewise â€" an independent college counseling company with 34 counselors in 22 cities across the country. Boucher is also an essay specialist for Collegewise, which means she brainstorms with students, helps them identify their best stories, and makes suggestions for how to turn those into compelling narratives. Not only will that commitment result in a better-written, more personalized college essay, but it could also change the student’s perception of the value and function of writing. Stop seeking examples of perfect college admissions essays. Having an expert who knows the college process, and takes the time to coach and empower students has made a significant difference for our clients. Last year 90% of our students received merit scholarships based on their applications. This gave the families we worked with a great return on our college coaching services. All personal colleges and universities and a few massive state universities require rigorously written essays or personal statements. Talking of future drafts, probably the greatest issues you are able to do is run your essay by a trusted member of the family, educator, advisor, or good friend. What I love about Outward Bound is that it gives students the opportunity to get outside their comfort zones. Going away to college is sometimes uncomfortable, so having the chance to practice being independent, taking risks, and maybe failing can be really good preparation for life after high school. I think programs like Outward Bound are great for students who aren’t sure they’re ready for a four-year college. Treat this essay just like any class assignment â€" write it early, proof and revise, keep an eagle eye out for spelling and grammatical errors, and make sure it is presented in a clean and polished way. That being said, do not call our office in a panic if you discovered a missing article or a misused “its” after you hit submit. Because of our holistic selection process, no student will be denied based on one element of his or her application; this includes typos. Your girlfriend/boyfriend/significant other.Choosing this topic might be the biggest faux pas in the history of college essay writing. No matter how wonderful this person is, and no matter how good a writer you are, there is absolutely zero chance that this topic will present you in the best possible light to college admissions professionals. This is because one of the character traits most admissions professionals are looking for is a sense of maturity and self-understanding. Focusing on someone you love, or worse yet, like “a lot,” is highly unlikely to show this side of you. In fact, it is more likely to paint you as the dreaded “typical teenager,” possibly one of the worst monikers in the college admissions industry. In addition, thousands of high school seniors across the country have begun the process of filling out college applications. The essay, by contrast, is a space for first impressions, for personal anecdotes, for the personality of the applicant to shine through the technical elements that elsewhere pervade the application. To reduce this space to mere data points, or sheer self-promotion, is, honestly, to blow it big time, akin to reading off the “why I’m cool” list to the bewildered party-thrower. As a writer, a personal essayist no less, I admire the craft and precision of the personal essay, the skill of taking one’s life and carefully dissecting and portraying it in a way that moves someone else. This is a wonderful skill, but not one I believe is applicable in this day and age of college admissions. Get suggestions from somebody whose opinion you respect. This suggestions gives you a sense of how effectively your ideas are coming across to the reader, how compelling your story is, and how you would possibly have the ability to improve your essay. These further eyes are additionally critical with regards to proofing your work, catching typos you might have missed, and serving to to refine writing that is unclear or off-topic. This subreddit is for anyone looking for advice about undergraduate college admissions, including college essays, scholarships, SAT/ACT test prep, and anything related to college applications. The golden ticket to a university program lies in writing a story only you can tell. A college application essay may be as short as 150 words, but those words can mean the difference between a “maybe” and a “yes” when it comes to getting admitted. The essays tell the admissions committee how and why one student is different from all the others. The personal essay was originally designed as a way to get to know individual students. However, with the rise in companies specializing in writing these essays and access to numerous copies on the Internet itself, that purpose is not being served.