#college essay writing

[thebestucollegeadmissions]

What Really Matters In The College Essay

What ‘matters’ in the college essay?

Summer is college essay season! We encourage every rising senior to get their personal statement essay written before starting the school year, but sometimes knowing what to say or how to start can be so daunting.

Read on for our take on what really matters in the college essay and how to go about making sure you craft an essay that gets to the heart of what matters most –

The college essay is an opportunity to build a connection between you and your reader and to shine a light on your core personal qualities or values by telling a story that shows these qualities to be true. These are qualities that an admissions reader would not necessarily understand simply by reviewing your transcript, test scores, or potentially even your activities list. In a sense, the personal essay is where you get the chance to show your reader:

This is what matters to me, this is how I add value to the lives of others, or this is what the people who know and appreciate me value most about me. You’ll note that I didn’t say this is a chance to tell your reader about your biggest achievement or your most challenging moment. Instead, start from your values, and think about who or what has shaped the importance of these qualities for you. Consider what moments or experiences in your life show these values in action. If we were watching the movie of your life, what scene would allow us to come to our own conclusion about your values? That’s a great jumping off point for the essay you will write.

So how do you do that? Here’s a few tips:

This is a personal essay:

Write using the first person “I” perspective. Seems obvious, but check your work. A surprising number of students write about what ‘you’ should know or do or think. Or how ‘one’ might consider something. Scratch all that, and make sure you are writing from your own perspective: I, me, and my. Be vulnerable:

The best essays do not necessarily tell your most difficult moments or deepest challenges, but they do reveal some reflection, realization, growth or understanding that you have come to through your experience.

The essay is not your activities list or transcript:

Your reader will carefully parse those pieces of your application. Here, they want to hear a story, hear your voice, and see your learning and insight take shape. This is usually not the place to recount your main activities or academic accomplishments - think about a story that gives insight into who you are, how you see the world, and how you show up for people.

This essay is about you, in the present:

While almost any topic that reveals your personal qualities is a good one, we encourage you to remember that this essay is about you as you are now. That means a story about your grandmother, or about something that happened many years ago in your childhood, is usually not the best choice, no matter how well written. However, these topics do work if you can spend a good portion of the essay connecting that past experience or relationship to who you are today, and how it impacts the way you see the world and your place in it in the present.

And one bonus tip…save the best for last:

Different from an academic essay in school that begins with a thesis, this is personal narrative writing. Save your revelation, insight, or realization until the 2nd half of your essay; don’t give it away at the start! It’s better to pull the reader right into the story in the beginning, and then reveal what you now understand as you reach the end of the essay so that the reader experiences a journey and travels with you to that new perspective.

This is the third in a multipart series on mattering in the college process. Read part one Think Grades Get You In? Think Again here and part two, Want to do something that matters? Just begin here. Check back in the coming weeks for more on how mattering can shape a student’s high school experience, prepare them to thrive in college, and create the foundation for the kind of college application that sets a student apart in the college process. TBU Advisors are experienced in supporting students to navigate their college choices and personal best fit. If you’d like to explore working with a TBU Advisor, get in touch here. We look forward to connecting with you.

Looking for more insights like these? Join us on our Membership Platform for exclusive content, live webinars, and the resources and tools to unstick your college process. Not yet a member? Use code TBUWELCOME at checkout to receive your first month of TBU Membership free. Click here to join us

[teapot-studies]

Random writing tips that my history professor just told during class that are actually helpful

Download all your sources or print them so you can turn off your wifi

Give your phone to someone

Just. WRITE. Writing is analysing, you’ll get more ideas as you write. It doesn’t need to be perfect, for now you can just blurt out words and ideas randomly. You can fix it later.

Create a skeleton/structure before writing.

Stop before you get exhausted. It’s best to stop writing when you still have some energy and inspiration left, this will also motivate you to get started again next time.

Make a to do list

Work in bite sizes. Even if it’s not much, as long as you put some ideas on paper or do some editing.

Simple language =/= boring language, simple language = clear language.

Own your words. If they are not your words, state this clearly in the text, not just in the footnotes.

STOP BEFORE YOU GET EXHAUSTED. Listing it again because it’s easily one of the best tips a teacher has ever given me.

[uceazy]

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[glittergroovy]

im back in school so have some college blinkies...

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[smart-academic-solutions]

How does it truly end🥲🥲🫠

[ink-stained-student]

☆ 20.06.2024 ~ Thursday ☆

I just got my Psychology grade back and I'm over the moon!! I'm so shocked by how well I've done on my final exams/essays so far!! I'm equally terrified and excited to get my other grades back!

Two down, two to go, but 80% and 84% are both amazing grades, and I'm so happy with them!!

[urmuminnitt]

Jenson button photos that i’ve only just seen that i think need to be shared with the world pt 1 / ????

[cant-say-tomorrow-day]

next essay I write is gonna be an analysis of FHJY and how Kipperlilly's viewpoint and perception parallels what students are taught to value and emphasize when it comes to the college admissions process and writing college essays (aka trauma is a golden ticket)

[jackklinemybeloved]

kipperlilly is suuuch an apt villain for a season that takes place during a junior year of high school. she’s basically the smart privileged kid who’s mad she doesn’t have any interesting trauma to write about in her college essay.

[tamaiory]

A week late for Cater's birthday let's gooo

[she-who-fights-and-writes]

I feel like a lot of writers don’t talk about academic writing burnout. Like….have I been writing? Yes, I have. Pages and pages. More than I’ve ever written.

But I haven’t written anything creative in weeks. My precious book wip collects dust because I cannot bring myself to write more than I already have. It’s an exhausting tug of war between feeling productive and feeling like you haven’t made any progress.

[lorephobic]

literally nobody asked for it, but here's my list of saltburn essays that i've slowly been drafting over the course of the last week which WILL be required reading for anybody trying to engage with me about this movie. my very personal saltburn 101 syllabus just dropped

A Wolf in Deer's Clothing: Saltburn's Attempt at Innocence

an examination of party costumes and our character's last attempts to masquerade as something they're not: felix—an angel, all-forgiving and all-knowing, something to be worshiped; and oliver—a prey animal, prey to class-divide, prey to saltburn, prey to felix.

thoughts about oliver specifically are loosely organized in my #bambi tag

A Midsummer Night's Mare: Farleigh Start as the Ultimate Victim of Saltburn

a farleigh character study, about the ways he was mistreated and manipulated at saltburn, about fighting to stay alive and the scars left behind by knowing when to give in

alternatively titled "QuickStart", may be adapted into a conclusive essay specifically focusing on oliver and farleigh's relationship

The Eye of the Beholder: On Saltburn's Voyeurism & Violence [working title]

how wealth and class pushes the catton's toward the volatile reality of being able to look, but not touch. on desire and the lack thereof, and portraying yourself as an object to be desired

may end up as two separate essays on wealth and aestheticism but i'm pushing toward a conclusive essay about the intersection of the two, which i feel is at the heart of saltburn

alternatively titled "Poor Man's Pudding: A Melvillian Approach to Saltburn's Class", again, may be adapted into it's own essay

Gender-Fluid: A Study in Sexuality and Saltburn's Desire to be Dry

a deep dive into the bodily fluids of saltburn and how oliver upsets the standard of men who are just so lovely and dry. on the creative choice to lean into the messy wetness of sex and desire and the audience's instinct toward repulsion

a celebration of the grotesque and an examination of why we would label it as such

least developed of the four, heavily inspired by @charnelpit's lovely post about the fluids in saltburn

if anybody is actually interested in any of these, i can work toward something closer to a finished piece instead of just bullet points and quotes in a google doc, but mostly this is so i can share my very brief takes on a multitude of themes in saltburn that have been haunting me

edit for people seeing this in the future: all posts about my essays are being organized into my #saltburn 101 tag if you’re interested in following these through to development!

[uceazy]

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The Top 5 Tips When Writing Your College Essay

These college essay writing programs can help you with your college essay in a number of ways. They can help you with the structure of your college essay, they can help you with the content of your college essay, and they can even help you with the formatting of your college essay. In this video we have explain the top 5  tips for writing your college essay. Stay tunned and known these tips which are very essential for your college essay writing program.

[nataliesscatorccio]

this line in the description for Yellowjackets really gets to me. "25 years later, they discover that what began in the wild is far from over." time and time again im just struck by how effective this show is at saying exactly what it feels like to go through life as a woman. you still have this girl inside you who is wild and childish and scared. she doesn't know how to move her body she doesn't know how to ask for what she wants she's a freak she's an idol she's a mess she's a messiah she's a witch and a wicked little beast she's the best friend a girl could have. but it's time to be an Adult Woman now! congratulations, you're out of the woods! we know that was confusing and traumatic for you but rest assured thats all done. maybe you'll have a husband and a teenager of your own maybe you'll be a politician maybe you're going to run a mlm. it doesnt matter, just make sure you're unrecognizable from the wild animal you were. you're supposed to be unrecognizable. you're supposed to have it together, you're supposed to be boring. strawberry lube is for bisexuals and goths. and teenagers. Please be more boring. this Whole Thing this whole charade of adulthood doesn't work if you don't keep it together. grow up! so you do. for a while it sticks. your family is doing fine, your career is doing fine, your meds are working fine, maybe you've been to a few rehabs but this last one was going fine. and 25 years later you look around at the not-real life you're supposed to want to be a part of, the one you put together exactly as per the instructions, and you realize... it doesnt end. you aren't out of the woods you're just stranded in a different part of them. you probably have another 25 years to go, minimum. "I think shit is gonna get a lot worse out here." your life is far from over but you can't keep living it like this. numbing yourself with substances to make it tolerable, or going full speed ahead toward something you don't even really want just to prove you're Doing It you're Assimilating, or feeling insane for still being haunted by 'ancient' history that really didn't happen that long ago, or cooking a fucking meatloaf for the husband that doesn't get you and the daughter that doesn't want to. if you're going to survive the monotony of adulthood the way you survived the chaos of adolescence, you're going to have to get wild again. you're going to have to go back. because the wilderness can be terrifying with its harsh elements its cruel indifference its lurking predators and blah blah blah but do you want to know what's even scarier? that endless stretch in all directions of sameness. stump, tree, stream, moss. stump, tree, stream, moss. have we passed this way already, have we taken this route before? tree tree tree tree tree for miles and miles and miles. that is the wild, too. unending. repetitive. barren. where it ends, so do you. it lasts your whole life, and it's far from over. you've got to find a way to survive it. again.