Essay writing

1. Avoid generic topics.

Admissions officers constantly read essays about the life-changing trip abroad, a winning game or season in a sport, and essays that list out an applicant's accomplishments. You can write about these topics, but make them unique and different. Also, be careful writing about family members and friends. Some of the best essays discuss family, but you must show a relationship and put the emphasis on yourself. So, instead of giving your sister's biography, demonstrate your relationship to your sister and how that has impacted your growth. Also, if you are not passionate about your topic, don't write about it. 

2. Open with a strong hook. Do NOT set up your essay.

Yes, you've heard this in every English class you've ever taken. Remember, you only have 500 or so words, which means every word counts! Draw the reader in immediately. Do not spend time setting the reader up. Dive in.

3. Focus on a moment in time.

Strong essays are grounded in a moment in time and use vivid detail. Do not try to cover too much time or more than a few plot points. Readers may get lost. The strongest essays zoom into a moment and then widen out to that moment's significance.

4. Use vivid, specific language.

While I don't recommend "setting up" an essay, I do suggest scene setting. What are the smells, sights, sounds, and details that will capture your reader's attention and add texture to your essay? Name specific places. If you are discussing a trip to the grocery store, say Food Lion or Harris Teeter as opposed to the supermarket. If you are discussing bits of dialogue that were spoken in Spanish, it is okay to write that in Spanish. Be specific as possible. Every detail counts.

5. End with a reflection or return the reader back to the beginning.

How did you grow from this experience? Did this moment shape you as a person? Why are you writing this essay? Who are you? Does your voice shine through? These are the questions successful essays fully discuss. You should answer these questions naturally in the flow of your essay. Focusing on the "personal growth" is critical in college essays.

6. Proofread, revise, and rewrite - and get a second opinion.

Correct use of grammar is important. Essays with typos and grammatical errors will do little to impress admissions officers and may actually hurt your admissions chances. Also, DO NOT put the wrong college's name in your supplemental essays. Admissions officers see this mistake every year. Strong college essays are not first drafts. Make sure you edit and go back. Give yourself a few days off and then return to your essay. Seek the opinion of your English teachers and college adviser.

Journal. If you have ever kept a journal or written personal essays in the past, I encourage you to look back through them. How have you changed since you wrote that journal entry from four years ago? If you have not kept a journal, consider writing out some topics and ideas you find interesting. Jot down significant moments in your life. Can you find any connections or common threads?

Dig through your memories. Memory retrieval can be an exhausting process. Consider talking with someone about your significant memories. You may find that you are omitting a key memory or detail that should be included in your essay. Spend some time dwelling in your thoughts before you start writing.

Map out a timeline. Where does your story start and end? How much time is covered in your essay? Have a strong idea of where you want to begin and end before writing your essay. By mapping out key plot points or moments, you will find the writing process much easier.

Vary your sentence structure. Do too many long sentences follow one another? Or too many choppy, short sentences? Strong essays play with sentence structure. A lively essay will include variety.

Consider writing out of chronological order. This strategy may seem odd. But if you have a clear picture of the ending, start there in your essay. Find ways to get yourself to that end point. Isolate moments in time and then make connections between those moments.

Use transitions. Strong essays use clear transitions and contain a smooth flow. Writing without transitions may leave a reader lost and negatively affects your essay's clarity.

Break up your essay into paragraphs. Do NOT write the whole essay in one paragraph. And do NOT write the traditional five paragraph essay. Create paragraph breaks when an idea, topic, moment, or experience naturally shifts. Paragraphs do not have to all be of equal length.

Be consistent with verb tenses. Be mindful of verb tenses. When writing about the past, it is easy to use a combination of past participles and past tense. Using several different tenses in a paragraph or sentence will hurt your essay's flow and style.

Limit word repetitions. Are you using the same words in successive sentences? Find a synonym so you avoid repeating. Repetition can be a useful writing strategy when done intentionally. However, unintentional repetition takes away from your essay's flow and style.

Create a couple of strong, stand out sentences. The best essays may have only a few stand out sentences that catch a reader's attention throughout. Spend some time perfecting a sentence or two and see how that changes your essay as a whole.

Write concisely. You only have 650 or so words. If you can substitute a word or two for the ten words you wrote in your first draft, then you need to rewrite the sentence. Every word counts.