Admissions Academy Blog

Essay Writing Do’s and Don’t

•  Posted by Sarah Ziegler on June 23rd, 2008 in Admissions
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For students, the essay represents your only opportunity to speak for yourself, to share the experiences and qualities that you feel set you apart from other applicants. Students tend to think that their sorrowful essay about overcoming hardship or their overly intellectual topic that requires a dictionary to read will impress admissions officers. In reality, college admissions officers say that what is most important is that the essay reflects the writer’s voice.

Here are some common pitfalls to avoid and suggestions on ways to bring your voice into your essays:

Pitfall: My essay needs to be intellectual and use big words.
Solution: Abstain from the inveiglement to infuse your disquisition with exorbitantly copious protracted utterances! Over-using the thesaurus will sacrifice both your message and your point. Personal essays should be just that – personal!

Pitfall: I should impress the readers by bragging about all of my accomplishments.
Solution: Absolutely NOT! Your extracurricular chart exists to brag about your accomplishments. Don’t use your precious essay space to repeat what’s already elsewhere in your application.

Pitfall: I shouldn’t use “I’ in my essay.
Solution: When writing college essays, using the first-person (“I”, “me”, “my”) is best, the second-person (“you”, “your”) is awkward, and the third-person (“he/she”, “one”) is just weird.

Pitfall: My essay topic has to be unique.
Solution: Here’s the truth – there is no such thing as a unique topic. Admissions officers are professionals who have read everything, from mission trips in Mexico to riding a pig. Focus instead on writing about your own experiences in a unique way. Only you can describe how you view your life.

Pitfall: I have a lot of important parts to my essay and want to write about it all.
Solution: The goal of the personal essay is to understand some facet of your life, not your entire autobiography. If you try to cram everything in to 500 words, you’ll be left with an essay that’s all plot and no depth or development.

Pitfall: The reader will want to continue reading my essay even if I’ve gone over the word limit because it’s just that good.
Solution: Even if your essay is that good, college application essays have word limits for a reason. By exceeding the word count, you only succeed in disobeying an admissions office’s instructions, which isn’t likely to make them more inclined to admit you.

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