26 Outstanding College Essay Examples 2020

26 Outstanding College Essay Examples 2020 It’s important to get a good chunk of regular decision essays done in November, otherwise December is going to be a mess. Students applying to a number of top 20 reach schools for regular decision will have the majority of their essay work ahead of them and not a lot of time to ensure they’re writing their best possible essays. Getting your early application essay work done this early helps you to space out all the regular decision application work later on. These essays are usually for some of your top choice schools, so make sure to spend a lot of time polishing these essays and getting feedback, similar to your Common App personal statement process. Many of these essays will also be reused for other prompts later on. Your goal in a college application is to stand out. Use your uniqueness to your advantage, not as a hindrance. When it comes to college essays, you want to maximize the opportunity to delight, intrigue or amuse your reader….immediately. Keep reading to learn even more about the things that you should not write about in your college admissions essay. I hope that after reading this post you feel a bit more confident in your ability to write your college admissions essay. Disclosing your disability may be important, but explaining every aspect of it and how it affects your life might be more than what the college admissions expect from you. You could describe a situation from your unique point of view , mention it in passing, or tell a specific story about a situation in which your disability affected the outcome. This is a great tool for demonstrating interest and learning details about your intended programs that you can’t find on the website. In addition, conversations with faculty at your early schools can give great tidbits that you can use for a “Why Us? This is a really important decision for your application. Your personal statement essay is the face of your application and one of the only ways to show your personality. Make sure to get feedback from not too many and not too few people. It may feel scary and impossible, but with right approach , you can write an essay that showcases your unique personality and impresses admissions officers. Vagueness isn’t a problem unique to admissions essays. As a senior English teacher, this book gave me a ton of guidance in helping my students write their college application narratives. I bought this book before my senior year for an essay writing course. I thought that it was a great read and that upcoming seniors should give it a read. There's no formula, no trick, no strategy, says Harry Bauld, a former Ivy League admissions officer. Getting started can be the hardest part of writing. There is information to share and college admissions officers like to read a good essay. However, once you get started, writing becomes easier. Follow these simple tips to get a strong start on your essay. Remember, your disability is part of who you are but not all of who you are. Do not fall into the trap of describing your disability in great detail. Do not write a textbook explanation of your disability. Good writers always keep their audience in mind and a college essay is no exception. Colleges and universities have their own personalities and priorities. You should find out more about the college or university of your interest and write an essay specific to that audience. But with acceptance rates at all-time lows, just being yourself in an essay means understanding your readers and the unique form in which you are writing. Ethan Sawyer is a nationally recognized college essay expert and sought-after speaker. Each year he helps thousands of students and counselors through his online courses, workshops, articles, products, and books, and works privately with a small number of students. Students have no clue what to write that will wow admissions staff and faculty members from hundreds of other essays they will read. It’s something all writers struggle with â€" including myself; I struggled with it while writing this very article. It’s impossible to write an article covering every possible essay prompt you could encounter in the college application process. Ah, college application essays â€" the necessary evil of college-bound high school seniors everywhere. If you’ve just finished your junior year of high school, then these may very well be in your near future.