2 Tips for a Standout College Essay
Jack Beecher here
As I’ve been reviewing resources to craft the forthcoming Ivy Roadmap, the importance of essay writing to gain admission to top-level universities has stood out.
Not only do essays show colleges that you have the writing skills necessary to be a part of their esteemed environment but they also show your personality, passions, character, and ambition that highlights if you’re the right fit for their school. No other part of the application—activities, honors, GPA, standardized test scores, classes—show those qualities like your essays can.
That’s why it’s obviously so important to stand out against fellow applicants with stellar writing because at the end of the day, real people are reading your applications, and by putting a personality to your application through your essay, you only increase your chance of appealing to the officers and increasing your admissions chances.
Understanding the essays' importance, it felt necessary for me to dedicate a whole video in the Ivy Roadmap to evolving college essays to the next level, and since I’m so excited about the Roadmap release coming soon, I figured I’d give a sneak peek of what’s to come in that video.
Here are my two favorite tips (out of 6 total) from that lesson:
By executing these tips at the highest level, not only will you craft an excellent essay that will engage your admissions officer, you will have successfully gained their trust and put yourself on top of their list of favorite applicants.
Here’s why:
Typical applicants love to inflate their supposed "passion" for education and the colleges they’re applying to with big words—they overstate everything. When those applicants do that, the admissions officers quickly lose trust and put them in a pile with every other student claiming they "love the uniqueness" their university has to offer. Instead, by differentiating yourself from the pack using stories and details to prove to the reader your affection for their school, the reader will actually value what you have to say. This extends past your essays as they begin seeing you as a genuine person and use that label as they analyze the rest of your application.
So, juniors, listen up. I know you’re probably well underway forming essay ideas, crafting rough drafts, and revising your grammar. I ask that you skim through your essays to edit out any overstatement and replace any areas of words telling with stories showing. The impact this slight modification to your essays will have is far beyond the scope of a singular essay score that admissions officers give you.
If you have any questions about essays in general, feel free to join and post them in our College Confidence Community. Or, if you would like, schedule a free 45-minute call with us to hash out your specific college admission hurdles, whether that's essay writing or something else.
Happy drafting,
Jack Beecher
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