Writing A Great Essay Starts With Understanding The Rules

Wed, Mar 13, 2024 11:30 AM

College essays can make or break whether an Admissions Representative will advocate for your student to be admitted to their college. Essays can also have an impact on your son or daughter’s chances of being selected to receive a big scholarship. When students get to this level of competitiveness, every college starts to look at their GPA, the rigor of the courses taken, their extra-curricular activities, letters of recommendation, etc.

So how does your son or daughter write a great college essay?

The process starts with them understanding what the prompt is asking for and taking the time to brainstorm a variety of options. Your student needs to create an interesting essay that will keep the reader engaged from start to finish. What are the key characteristics and traits they want to share with the college? How are they going to tell their story and get a college to say – yes we would love to admit you.

Then, have your student read and re-read their essay multiple times – including out loud to see how it sounds. This is the time to fix any sentence structure, word use, spelling, and punctuation issues to help with the flow. Once your student’s essay is as effective and engaging as possible, have them do one final sweep to make sure everything is the best they can make it.

Here a simple process to follow when it comes to writing a great essay:

#1: Get Organized
#2: Pick a Great Topic
#3: Brainstorm
#4: Map out a plan or outline
#5: Write your first draft
#6: Edit your draft, edit your draft, edit your draft
#7: Finalize your draft
#8: Repeat the process for other needed essays

Finally, there is nothing wrong with having a trusted teacher, friend or family member read your son or daughter’s essay and offer suggestions. But be careful when it comes to editing their essay. The best of intentions can destroy the voice of your student and colleges can and do pickup on over-edited essays.

Caution: since AI is becoming more accessible to students, warn them not to get fooled into believing a computer program can write an effective essay. Colleges are aware this technology exists and are going to run essays through systems that check the content. Have your student create their own essay that is authentic and something they can be proud of.

Does your son or daughter need help on their essays? Having read thousands of college essays over the past 18 years – I know a thing or two about what colleges are looking for. Scheduling a FREE 15-minute Discovery Zoom Meeting with me today to help your student get moving on their essay!