CHOOSING THE PERFECT ESSAY TOPIC
Most College applications will provide applicants essay questions to write on. These might include questions such as; describe yourself, why do you want to study at our institution? What’s your motivation? If you are given a choice of questions to choose from, choose a topic that you’ve experimented with before. A topic you can conveniently write about.
WRITING PREPARATION
After you’ve selected an essay topic, use a brainstorming session to think of specific examples that can corroborate your story. If you are writing an essay about yourself, think of interesting and unique attributes about yourself that an admissions officer would find interesting and captivating. You could write about a unique extracurricular that explains who you are and that sets you apart from thousands of other applicants. If you are writing about why you are interested in a particular college, make sure you check out the school’s website and research specific programs that interest you. Understand the programs offered in the institution and explain why the institution is the best fit for you.
ADHERE TO THE RULES
The common app essay would require you to limit your writing to about 500 to 650 words. Make sure you do just that. An essay longer than the required length might not be read by the admissions officer. Don’t stray from the essay prompt, keep your essay concise and relevant. Don’t use ambiguous and fancy words in your essay; instead use well selected simple and succinct words to drive home your point.
WRITING TIPS
Use vivid and descriptive adjectives. Always include names of people, dates, settings and places.
Vary your sentences. Use a lot complex sentences, but avoid trying to impress the admissions man with fancy words.
Avoid starting sentences with words you used previously; this becomes repetitive.
Avoid unnecessary words such as; and, so, that, which. These words make your sentences redundant
Avoid the use of pidgins or offensive slangs.
THE FIRST AND LAST PARAGRAPHS
In your first paragraph, avoid using clichés. Avoid conventional sentences that might start like this, “My name is Othman, I am from Morocco and I’ll be writing about the impact of science and technology on Western Sahara”. Delve straight into the essay by captivating your reader’s mind with a vibrant personal or secular example. Let your opening lines keep him on the edge of his seat. In the same vein, don’t write a conclusion that merely repeats other parts of the essay. Finish strong. Give the reader something to remember about your essay.
EDIT…EDIT…EDIT
Give yourself ample time to write your essay and to edit. Don’t stay on your essay all day; give yourself moments to reread the essays with fresher pair of eyes. Give it to your college counselor to review and correct mistakes. Make sure you’ve revised and are confident of your write-up. You can’t afford to screw up the process. You should only SUBMIT YOUR STRONGEST ESSAY.