11 Stellar Common App Essay Examples To Inspire Your Writing

11 Stellar Common App Essay Examples To Inspire Your Writing College admissions officers are very busy and only want to read essays that help them make admissions decisions. Some colleges have a team of people read each file. Others divide them up, and then only share files that require further discussion. You definitely don’t want to put the readers to sleep! You have surely had certain life experiences which will provide interesting material for your essay â€" even things which you yourself take for granted. Are you wondering what factors comprise essays that make college admissions staff go “WOW! ” From working with students as a private college counselor for over a decade, I have found certain patterns in the essays that help get students into the most exclusive universities, like Stanford and Harvard. For students applying to colleges with more generous admit rates, a “wow essay” can help secure admission to reach schools. Deciding which colleges to apply to is difficult enough, but you add to that the stress of writing a personal essay for each of your applications. There is not one way that all colleges work, so I always tell students to assume everyone in the admissions office could their essays so that they cannot write anything that anyone and everyone cannot read. Also I believe that students should believe that the more people who read an essay the better as these essays should really captivate and engage readers and help them see why you belong on their campus. One-on-One simplified the entire college admissions process for our daughter. She thoroughly covered every aspect of the college application process, from choosing colleges to getting accepted by them. Your personal essay is supposed to give college admissions teams a snapshot of who you are as a person and who you hope to become but you don’t have to spill your guts or transcribe your whole life story. To increase your chances of getting accepted, first learn just how important your essay is and then take the time to learn the Dos and Don’ts of college application essays. Our students write great application essays and become stronger writers, better prepared for college and beyond. In most cases, you will be required to limit the essay to a certain number of characters or words. I always suggest that students not worry too much about this limitation to begin with â€" just get your ideas written down . In my opinion, her work on the college essays was phenomenal. By the time I sat down with my school counselor to talk about college, I had already applied to my colleges and knew where I was going. One common essay mistake is telling a particular story without answering the prompt. Since many colleges allow students to choose from a few different prompts, addressing the topic of your choice is an easy way to tell your story within the constraints of an essay. When writing, consider the admissions officer who will read your essay. Take this opportunity to expand on your application -- but remember to re-read your essay with the prompt in mind. Are you looking to write the most awesome personal statement ever? After that, some strategic editing can be done to trim the fat off and get the essay down to the required size. Although this task may seem daunting when you think about it, it inevitably results in a more concise, streamlined presentation of your concept. Finally, make sure that the essay does not have glaring errors in spelling, sentence structure, and paragraph formulation. Besides appearing very careless, these kinds of errors can actually interfere with the ability of the reader to understand your point. Consider how the story you have to tell would be perceived by someone else who has never before heard that story. Write analytically, rather than merely descriptively. Descriptive writing is a factual account of a topic or event, simply telling what happened. Analytical writing will pose or answer questions, make comparisons, or present and defend viewpoints. Rather than just state what happened, an analytical approach will explain and interpret events. How do/did you feel about the topic about which you are writing?