Crafting An Unforgettable College Essay

Crafting An Unforgettable College Essay There’s only one you out there and that’s who we want to learn more about. Elyse Krantz is a member of College Coach’s team of college admissions experts. Some essays may need only proofreading while others need to be coaxed from a blank pageâ€"your Senior Counselor will help with both and everything in between to create compelling essays. Opening with a definition, like “Persistence is defined as…,” will probably not be a strong start. Your reader doesn’t need you to define words, they need you to tell a story that will help them learn all about you. Likewise, she was 10 years old when Maroon Five came to the Dominican Republic, where her dad was the cultural attaché. The story’s tone feels too “privileged,” with no real lesson learned; and colleges prefer more recent experiences anyway. Get a jump start on a critical part of the college application process. Contact us for your free 15-minute phone consultation with Dr. Kristen Willmott to discuss your graduate school plans and our graduate admissions consulting programs. She has spent the past 20 years helping kids achieve their dreams & get into top tier colleges. Elyse received her BA in linguistics from Dartmouth College and her MA from Teachers College, Columbia University. Prior to joining College Coach, Elyse worked as an admissions officer at Barnard College and Bennington College. Visit our website to learn more about Elyse Krantz. Please email us at find out if your institution is doing everything it can to reach qualified, prospective students. The My College Options ® Resource Center provides up to date news and information for students and parents. Kennedy once said…” is already on the wrong track. Unless the quote was actually directed at you, your reader cares a lot more about what you have to say than they do about any famous person’s pithy words. Imagine you were telling a friend a story about life as a pitcher on the baseball team. You wouldn’t start with, “Often in life, we face difficult situations that ultimately benefit us. Not what your college consultant has to say, not what your mom wants you to write, and not what you think we want to hear. Be genuine to your own voice and to your own experiences. As a writer, you can become very close to your work. A proofreader will review your essay with fresh eyes and may even catch mistakes that you have routinely missed. In choosing a proofreader, find someone who knows you well, but who will also help you to preserve your voice within the essay. While we may not see it at the time…” You’d lose the person’s interest before you ever get to the good stuff. Here are five ways not to open your essay,in other words, what's more likely to lose a reader’s interest. They’re competing for an admissions officer’s attention, and you don’t want to lose your reader before your story ever really gets going. acquired Reach Higher in 2018, giving the roughly 1 million students who apply to a post-secondary institution each year access to invaluable tools and resources. If your essay is about persistence, explain how you personified that trait. Use your available space to give the necessary details. Admissions counselors develop a sixth sense about essay writers who are authentic. You’ll score points for being earnest and faithful to yourself. Rachel could write the story of adopting each dog and how important volunteering was to her, while throwing in colorful details that illustrate her familiarity with each country. Perhaps most important, this is an essay Rachel can’t wait to write. She decides against the “getting lost” story, as it happened when she was 8; although if she could find a metaphoric connection with feeling lost and found when moving to different countries, it could work.