среда, 5 октября 2011 г.

Satisfied with your grades?

Turned out a fantastic performance on your SAT? Believe that you have got very good letters of recommendation for your college applications? Does that make you ready to convince the admission board that you are what they are looking for?
Not yet. The college admission essay is the final frontier that you need to negotiate before your chosen college sends you that interview letter.
Why is the essay important?
College admission essays are crucial in deciding the fate of your application. A good essay can give you an edge over someone with a similar academic background and grades. It may convince the College Board to give you a chance even if your grades are not as high as they would like them to be.
A college admission essay is a declaration of who you are, your belief system and where you want to be. These are details that cannot be provided by your test scores or recommendation letters. It must aim to tell the reader not only why you want to study in that college but also how you can contribute to the college by your presence there.
What you need to remember while writing the essay
A college admission essay cannot be dashed off in an hour or even a day. Give yourself enough time to write it so that the audience is able to hear your voice clearly.
Make a rough outline of what you want to say before writing the essay.
Discuss your choices with others – it will help you communicate your ideas better in the essay.
Know that there is no right or wrong opinion – focus instead on making your college admission essay unique and good reading.
Provide information that is relevant to the essay question which will help the college decide if you match their requirements.
Be specific throughout the essay. Illustrate your ideas with events or experiences from your own life.
Follow the word limit strictly.
Use words that you commonly use. Trying to impress the examiner with big words taken from the dictionary may backfire, making your essay seem stilted and difficult to read.
Watch the tone in your college admission essay. Making the essay a catalog of your achievements will make it uninteresting to the examiner. Instead, give an overall picture of the person you are, while always keeping the exact essay question in focus.
Revise and rewrite till you are satisfied that your college admission essay reflects what you want to say. Take a break before each revision, if you can. A break will give you a fresh perspective on the essay.
Proofread the final version when you are done. Look for spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes and any contradictions in the content.
Once you are finished, get a family member or a teacher to read the essay. If they suggest ways to improve it, accept the ideas that appear right to you.
Now go crack that college admission essay. Good luck!

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