How to Write a College Admission Essay

by Carl Andrews Professional Writing Expert

Questions to Ask when Writing an Admission Essay

College admission essays are a requisite for scholars seeking enrollment in majority of colleges and other learning institutions across the globe. It is therefore essential to understand what is expected of individuals writing such essays. As such, expectations of admission essays’ are explored in the questions below.

What Information is being sought?

The essays are meant to help the admission council acquire the applicant’s personal information. Information being sought include:

Applicant’s Success Capacity

This category of information entails the applicant’s attitudes towards their ability to succeed in the target college/ university. It looks at their values and beliefs in relation to leaning and capacity to adapt to the new environment.

Applicant’s Value to Colleagues

This requires a demonstration of the ability to contribute towards the education of fellow learners. It is important to illustrate the willingness to adopt a learning approach that embraces team efforts and collective participation.

Contribution towards the Institution

The applicant is required to elucidate their capacity and willingness to enhance the image and status of the target learning institution.

What Skills are being examined?

The essay as well aims to help the college/ university admission council acquire information about the applicant’s skills essential in learning. Such skills involve:

Effective Communication

In this, the essay intends to evaluate an individual’s written communication skills. This focuses on key elements like grammar and spelling. The essay must be void of both grammatical and spelling errors. Close to effective grammar and spelling, applicants are as well expected to show college-level diction skills. This entails effective choice of words.

Leadership/Teamwork Skills

It is understood that higher learning is largely a collaborative effort. It is therefore important to illuminate your value for teamwork and the respective skills in your essay.

What are the Best Tips to Keep in Mind when Writing the Essay?

There are some basics that one should observe when writing an admission essay. Some of these tips are:

Precisely Answer the Question Asked

Ensure that you remain focused on answering the essay question asked. This must be done in a precisely and concisely manner. However how much details you have, they must be used to answer the question asked. Irrelevant details must be omitted.

Be Specific

Should focus on specific details that define your experiences and personality. You should create impressions by citing specific scenarios in your life as examples of your dedication and abilities. Be vivid enough to create images in the minds of the person reading the essay.

Focus on Self-Reflection

Let the essay be a reflection of the lessons you learned from personal experiences. Encounters and situations should illuminate values or skills acquired relevant to learning in the target college/ institution.