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FOCUS: writing a stellar college entrance essay

The essay is probably the most important part of the application. Once you have the numbers to get in, focus on the essay. It will take a good deal of time and possibly many drafts to have the perfect essay.

Many Ivy league deans have admitted that they turn away as many qualified and fascinating students as they admit. Your ability to write is the difference. This is shown in your college essay and in your graded classroom papers. John Hanson, Director of Admissions at Middlebury College, likes to see various drafts of senior classroom papers with teacher comments before he decides on the writing ability of students.

The important question your essay will answer is:

WHO ARE YOU?

Often the essay is read before the transcript. Thus, the you of your essay is in mind as the transcript is read. Admissions deans will look at your grades and the challenges you took in high school.

Think carefully about the question (prompt) and your response. You have an opportunity to let the admissions officer see the you behind the numbers, and you want to make a good impression.

HOW TO WRITE A KILLER COLLEGE ESSAY

1. Write about your world and your experiences. Remember: those experiences must provide glimpses of your ideas, values, and passions.

2. Avoid writing about national and global issues. You'll sound like a teenager trying to sound like an adult. It doesnt work because you probably dont know quite enough about the big picture.

3. Describe, dont characterize. Minimize adjectives and adverbs. In Ode to Dad, a Cornell applicant explained her fathers values by describing his hands, encrusted with dirt from a career as a truck driver. It worked.

4. Resist the temptation to let others speak for you. You might find the perfect quotation from a philosopher, poet, pr politician. Dont use it. It wont impress anyone.

Avoid proselytizing about the nature of the universe. Keep your focus narrow.Distance discourages essayists from drawing the clichd moral. Dont write about organized sports being the metaphor for life or race is not always to the swift.

Riding the Pine found that no enduring truths came from sitting on the bench for an entire baseball season. Its okay to be just a bit confused and to find the meaning of life elusive. You arent expected to know it all. That is why you are going to college. Your great idea should be a small, personal topic.

6. Know yourself. Selection committee members are pretty savvy and they have learned to look for authenticity. This takes imagination, reflection, and time.

Write it. Read it. Revise it. The voice you find may be your own.

MORE ABOUT WRITING THE ESSAY

1. This is where you distinguish yourself from others. This is where you show your--ability to write--your character--your values--your beliefs--your aspirations

2. Harvards Dean of Admissions, William R. Fitzsimmons, looks for:--the quality of your thinking--your questioning nature--your openness to ideas--your unique way of expressing your ideasIf he looks for these things, most colleges are looking for these things.

3. An essay MUST be more than a description of an event or activity. --It MUST be about what youve learned from the experience. --Technically correct is great; however, they also want to know about your creative intelligence. --Colleges want to know where you stand in being able to put your thoughts together.

--Dont merely tell of a trip or a community service.

--Use a short paragraph to describe, but the rest of the essay to tell what you learned about you and about other people.

Rachel Toor (of Duke University) suggests the possibility of an essay that responds to a book:--Popular choices are The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, or other books of high literary merit. --Cultural identity books (The Joy Luck Club, The Chosen, Night, Siddhartha) are good IF THEY TOUCH YOU in a personal way.--Stay away from books that deal with cultures or issues you CANT relate to personally, even if you like them.--Be careful of choices. Tuesdays With Morrie is motherhood, apple pie, long walks, and love. Its too safe. Take a risk. Especially know what risks make sense for the school of your choice.

She also suggests that admissions officers do NOT want to read about clichd items:--the environment--community service--your favorite teacher

Just to name a few.

They also dont want to read about the 3Ds:--divorce--depression--drugs

And finally, they dont want to read your take on the Big Issues of life:--God--love--injustice--death--the meaning of it all

ALL COLLEGES WANT TO KNOW THE SAME THING:--What does this seventeen-year-old think?--What has she learned about herself and the world, given the opportunities she has had in life?--What kind of learning attitudes and intellectual curiosity does he have?--How confident is she?--How together for a seventeen-year-old is he?

FINAL THOUGHTSBe yourself and go with the essay that has the most of you in it, not necessarily the politically correct essay. However, know your college well before you take that leap. Trust yourself. However, if your teacher or counselor says it wont do, then be sure to listen. Be prepared to write another essay.