How to Write an Outstanding Application Essay

There is no such important moment in one’s life as making the choice of the future profession and college accordingly which affect their further students’ years. We are all afraid of making mistakes. But, anyway, at this moment when high school is over and there is nothing but the desire to enter the college, we’ve dreamed about, one of the most important missions is to write an application essay.

It is not so easy to present yourself in a few words. But there are no options, and anyone needs to do it. Though there is no common accurate method for writing a proper application essay, there are some rules following which you most likely reach your goal.

Stable foundation

There are four main elements of an application essay you should be aware of:

• Content. It needs to be unique, original, and non-plagiarized, provide the answer to the question; be within the required word limit: 250–650 words. The essay should have a well-thought-out idea development and be properly paragraphed.

• Organization. An essay consists of the introduction, the main part of the essay (key idea), and the conclusion.

• Tone. It should be positive. Show yourself taking responsibility, reveal that you have learned and grown from all your experiences, and demonstrate respect for the reader.

• Grammar. Be serious about writing the application essay in good English, use the active voice and vary your sentence structures. An essay needs to be free of grammar and spelling mistakes.

Solid framework

• Writing skills. Able to write without grammar mistakes, sticking the chosen style, being coherent and expressing your thoughts and feelings clear.

• Fresh ideas. Having own thoughts and beliefs, using own experience, acting independently.

• Logical arguments. Understanding the difference between causes and effects, being consistent, going from weak to strong arguments, thinking analytically.

• Personality. Be honest. Be passionate. Be yourself.

Comprehensive answers

According to “The College Application Essay” by Sarah Myers McGinty there are 3 questions which you should answer in your application essay:

1. Question about you

This question gives students an opportunity to tell something about their life besides test scores. But you should be careful and be specific, and don’t let the temper of these questions make the story too unarticulated. It is better to tell about one event or feeling.

2. Question about the choice

Here you provide the answer to the question why you’ve chosen this university. The trick of this question is any factual mistake. It will show that, in fact, you don’t care. Be honest, not wheedling.

3. Creative question

It is your chance to present yourself and adduce your views. Remember: "creative" doesn’t mean insolent or fussy. Write about your life, describe your experience, and share your personal stories.

Eligible vocabulary

Like we said at the beginning, there is no common method to write an application essay that works. It also depends on the college you choose. Just check out the difference between two most prestigious colleges.

Stanford VS Harvard: what vocabulary each of colleges prefers

(Words in essays of applicants who got the offer from the college)

Words/School	Stanford	Harvard
Sensuality	mom and dad	mother and father
Temper	happy, passion, better, and improve	cancer, difficult, hard, and tough
Most common	research, community, knowledge, future and skill	experience, society, world, success
About	student’s experience with race, ethnicity or sexual orientation	overcoming adversity

Academic achievements

Before you start writing your application essay, pay attention to this statistic. It turns out, that only 24, 9% of college representatives claim application essay is considerably important in the admission decision.

Percentage of colleges attributing different levels of importance to factors in the admission decision

Factor	Considerable Importance	Moderate Importance	Limited Importance	No Importance
Grades in college preparatory courses	84,3 %	11,9%	2,3 %	1,5 %
Strength of curriculum	67,7 %	20,4 %	5,8 %	6,2 %
Admission test scores (SAT, ACT)	59,2 %	29,6 %	6,9 %	4,2 %
Essay	24,9 %	37,5 %	17,2 %	20,3 %

Your voice

Sometimes applicants are so exhausted that they don’t want to create something unique and use standard models in their application essay thinking if it works for others it will work for me. Unfortunately, it is a delusion. As a rule, admission counselors are looking for something fresh and probably they will drop reading the essay which consists even one spent idea. So, be prudent and avoid:

• Dictionary essay.  If you think about putting in the beginning of your essay the word and continue with describing its significance, change your mind. Usually, it looks like far-fetched.

• Parents stories.  It is hardly possible to admire your parents without sounding too ordinary.

• Sports stories.  Yes, it is breathtaking to know about you missing that make or break ball or being the school baseball legend, but admission counselors have already tired of such stories.

• The Recipe style.  “Two pieces wish, three spoons effort, and a dash of luck create the best student.” Still — vapid!

• Controversies.  There is no only right opinion about euthanasia, war, abortions, etc. Do not discuss these topics, you probably will sound preconceived.

• Tragedies.  Any tragedy makes essay hard for perception, admission counselors lose objectiveness, and, in fact, they get to know very little about the applicant.

• The big question.  Remember: it is impossible to answer eternal questions like “what is humanity destination?” So just don’t.

• Shameless groveling.  Do not overpraise the college you want to enter belittling the dignity of other schools.

No matter what, remember, that you do need to do your best excluding excessive efforts. It always seems a little pathetic. Furthermore, due to The National Association for College Admission Counseling’s, application essay impacts the admission decision if only all other factors between you and other applicants are equal. So, be yourself and try to enjoy writing your application essay! 

 Jonathan Bramson is a tutor and a creator of online writing service. His job requires him to trim the sails to the wind and find the new ways for self-improvement. He believes everything is possible.