5 Things Colleges Look For In A College Essay

5 Things Colleges Look For In A College Essay Everyone’s life is full of story, narrative, and it’s up to you to tell these stories in compelling ways. Laura Berlinsky-Schine is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, where she majored in Creative Writing and minored in History. She lives in Brooklyn, New York and works as a freelance writer specializing in education. If you are a “borderline” candidate, with good but less-competitive grades and test scores, a strong essay could push you into the admitted pool. However, your essay is unlikely to compensate for grades and test scores that are too far below average, since academics are the primary basis of evaluation. If you have a chance to show your essay to your English instructor or academic adviser, do so. You can use the feedback to improve the essay before submitting it. The essay covered everything we wanted to without the need for extra words. It might be a question, a quote, a surprising statistic, or a bold statement emphasizing the relevance of the topic. In this guide, we walk you through what to include in the introduction, body and conclusion of an academic essay, using paragraphs from our interactive essay example. In order to comply with FTC guidelines we want to be transparent that ScholarshipOwl may get compensated by companies and/or partners based on an affiliate or advertiser partnership. We might get compensated for example for mentioning partners, by you, the user, making a clicking, purchasing, or signing up for a product or service through a tracking link. In no way are we responsible for the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any information on these external websites. Write the first draft from start to finish, even if you know your thoughts are out of order. You can re-arrange them at a later time, but the initial run through will be as fluid as possible. We reserve the right to make deletions, additions, or modifications to the content at any given time without prior notice. In some cases we may be compensated on an affiliate basis when users take certain actions. You want to be memorable to the counselors who read your app. Sometimes, a sense of humor doesn’t hurt, if it’s applicable to your subject and/or that moment in your life. Checklists & Guides Step-by-step manuals for success.Essay Prompt Database A list of prompts by school. At the collegiate level, you’ll need to dive beneath the surface of an issue and be able to defend your ideas. Even if the prompt is about a personal experience, the admissions officers will still want you to reflect a level of awareness and understanding that goes beyond the obvious. The body of your essay is where you make arguments supporting your thesis statement, provide evidence, and develop your ideas. Its central purpose is to present, interpret and analyze the information and sources you have gathered to support your argument. The first sentence of the introduction should pique the interest of your reader. They’ll want to know that you can reflect meaningfully and think critically about yourself and the world around you. Use your 650 words to tell a focused story and help the admissions folks get to know you. Your essay needs to be between 250 and 650 words long. Below are the five components of a college paragraph. They follow the order in which they are most commonly found in a paragraph; however, this is not the only possible or even successful order. The information provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. It is intended to provide opinions and educational information. It is not intended as individual advice and should not be taken as substitute for professional advice. We assume no responsibility for errors or mistakes. A natural understanding of narrative structure â€" not the prefabricated “academic paper” structure â€" and a great story to tell. Don’t worry so much that other people may have “better” stories than you.