The college essay is a place to showcase a student's writing skills and it's one of the only parts of a college application where a student's voice can shine through.

Unlike test scores and transcripts, the college admissions essay offers students a chance to showcase their personality. Prospective college students want their essay, sometimes called a personal statement, to make a good impression and boost their chances of being accepted, but they have only several hundred words to make that happen. An effective college essay introduction should “wow” admissions officers. It should be creative, intriguing, and unique.

From brainstorming essay topics to editing the final draft, here's what students need to know about crafting a strong college essay.

A good time for students to begin working on their essays is the summer before senior year, experts say, when homework and extracurricular activities aren't taking up time and mental energy.

Starting early will also give students plenty of time to work through multiple drafts of an essay before college application deadlines, which can be as early as November for students applying for early decision or early action.

Students will want to budget more time for the writing process if the schools they're applying to schools that ask for supplemental essays.

The admissions office may have read dozens of essays in the last few hours. As they turn to your application, the admissions advisor wants to read a well-written, engaging essay.

• How can you make this person feel excited about reading your essay?

• How can you immediately set yourself apart from dozens or hundreds of other applicants?

• How can you make the admissions officer want to really pay attention and read closely?

It all begins with the college essay introduction. To help you write a compelling college essay introduction, follow the tips listed here.

The easiest topic to write about is you, and this is exactly the topic that colleges want to read! What is important to you? What has made you the person you are today? And most importantly, how can you write about yourself in a way that is creative and unique?

Do:

-Write in your own voice and in a manner that is true to your personality.

-Let the reader enter your world by giving examples and bringing your topic to life.

Don't:

-Don't exaggerate or try and be pretentious.

-Don't write what you think colleges want to read. Be confident that if your topic is important and interesting to you, it will be to the reader as well.

Proofread your essay:

-Don't neglect spelling, grammar and punctuation. Write in your voice, while keeping your English teacher's voice in the back of your mind.

Helpful Link: How to Answer the 2021-2022 Common App Essay Prompt

KEEP IT BRIEF

On college essays, students are generally limited to 500-700 words.

• That's certainly not many words for such an important piece or writing, so it's necessary to keep the essay introduction brief.

• You need to get to the "meat" of the essay as quick as possible.

• So while the college essay introduction is important, it shouldn't take up the majority of your limited word count.

In the introduction, you do not need to summarize or preview everything that will be discussed in the essay.

• Instead, the introduction should give a short, engaging glimpse into the rest of the essay.

When writing the first draft for your essay, it's okay to go over the word count a bit.

• When cutting down the essay, start by refining the introduction. Since you likely started the essay by writing the introduction, there's a good change you included too much unnecessary background detail.

• When you reread the essay, after a short break, you'll realize how much of your introduction isn't necessary.

START WITH AN ATTENTION GRABBER

The very first sentence of your essay should be the "hook" or "grabber." This sentence hooks the readers or grabs their attention, making them want to read more.

The first sentence should provide rich details, engage a reader's curiosity, or otherwise stand out from the rest.

Sample Grabbers From Winning College Essays:

*I have old hands (Stanford).

*If my life were a play, there would be two sets, two acts and two sets of characters (MIT).

*There is a hefty blue book in my bookcase that is older than any other book in my house (MIT).

*When I was in eight grade I couldn't read.

The first sentence can also be a question, but only if it's particularly insightful or interesting, like this one:

*While traveling through the daily path of life, have you ever stumbled upon a hidden pocket of the universe (Stanford)?

Don’t each of these sentences make you want to read more? That’s the impact of a well-written grabber.

AVOID STALE, OVERUSED INTRODUCTORY TECHNIQUES

The goal here is to write a college essay introduction that is not like the other hundreds or even thousands of introductions the admissions office has to read. This means it's important to avoid boring, predictable introductory techniques.

• For example, you don't want to say, "Many experiences have shaped my journey to college" or "The obstacles I've experienced have made me who I am."

• These sentences are weak and vague, and they're also likely written by many college applicants every year.

The college admissions essay should be more creative than a traditional essay written for English class. For this reason, it's better to ditch the overused, formulaic introductions for something more unique.

DON'T TRY TO USE IMPRESSIVE VOCABULARY WORDS

In a sample introduction written by Shaan Merchant, he incorporated impressive words like “biogeochemical,” “parantha,” and later, “donnybrook.”

“Biogeochemical. It’s a word, I promise!” There are shrieks and shouts in protest and support. Unacceptable insults are thrown, degrees and qualifications are questioned, I think even a piece of my grandmother’s famously flakey parantha whizzes past my ear. Everyone is too lazy to take out a dictionary (or even their phones) to look it up, so we just hash it out. "

However, this complex word usage was intended to illustrate Merchant’s point about his lifelong love of words.

In most cases, however, it is best if you don't try too hard to use multi-syllable vocabulary words intended to impress admissions officers.

• Usually, this will make the introduction sound unnatural. It won't sound like your authentic voice, which is what admissions officers want to read.

Additionally, most admissions officers can recognize when an applicant is being genuine vs. when an applicant is simply trying to impress.

• Worse, some applicants may try to use complicated vocabulary and end up using it incorrectly.

It’s great for you to include a few more advanced words, but you shouldn’t overdo it. Otherwise, the introduction will sound stiff, forced, and unnatural.

The introduction should introduce not only the topic of the essay, but also your unique and authentic voice.

PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD

This is true of the college essay in general, but it’s especially important for the introduction.

The college essay introduction is the very first impression the college admissions officer will get of you.

Spelling and grammar mistakes in the introduction are the equivalent of arriving late to a job interview wearing ripped jeans.

It’s not a good first impression. Even if what comes next is great, the negative first impression is hard to forget.

Make sure your introduction is completely free of errors in grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, word usage, etc.

• Read over it multiple times, and have others check it multiple times as well.

Have a friend or relative with excellent grammar skills look over the essay, or ask your English teacher if he or she would take a look.

No matter how many times you and others have proofread the essay, check for errors one more time before sending it off.

Don’t ruin what could be a great essay with typos or mistakes in the very first paragraph.

Here are a few tips to ensure your college essay is mistake-free:

• Use Grammarly. This is a web extension that catches bad mistakes while you're writing it. Think of it as an upgraded spell check.

• Have a friend, teacher or family member review the essay.

• Highlight the absolutely necessary sentences in your introduction. Which sentences create the meaning and essence of the introduction? Which sentences, once omitted, do not alter the meaning and effectiveness of the introduction?