This document provides tips for writing a college application essay. It recommends beginning with your personality traits, experiences that have shaped you, and your hopes and goals. The first draft does not need to be perfect, and it's okay to try different essay prompts. After writing a draft, set it aside for a day before revising it. When revising, ask if the essay would stand out and be interesting to an admissions officer. Effective revision strategies include expanding on interesting moments and showing strengths through examples rather than just stating them. Proofread the final essay carefully.

1. COLLEGE
ESSAY
B Y N A T E G I L L

3. Thinking about your personality traits
and defining your strengths is a good
place to begin.

4. Then think about experiences you've
had that have shaped you or stand
out as significant in your life.

5. Finally, consider your hopes and goals
for the future. Who or what's inspired
your ambitions? Why are your dreams
important to you?

8. Don't get worry about the details in
your first draft. Let your words and
ideas come naturally–you'll have plenty
of time to revise and edit your essay
later.

9. If you're struggling with one essay
question on an application, feel free to
try another! The Common Application,
for example, offers five open-ended
prompts from which to choose, and it's
often a good idea to try your hand at
more than one. You never know what
might unleash your creative spirit!

10. Once you've got a draft, try to set it aside
for at least a day. It's also a good idea to
share it with a few people–like your
eAdviser–whom you trust to give you
helpful feedback and comments!

12. The first–and most difficult–step in revising
your college essay is to ask yourself: if it
weren't your essay, would you think it was
interesting? In a stack of hundreds of
college essays, would it stand out? It isn't
easy, but if you're not 100 percent satisfied
with your answers to these questions, or if
someone whom you asked to read your
essay tells you it needs work, you should
keep working on it.

13. One effective strategy for revision is to look
for interesting or illuminating moments in
your essay and expand on them. Sometimes,
one sentence from a first draft can become
the foundation for an entire second draft!

14. Remember to show, not just tell, your
readers what you want them to know. Don't
tell the reader your hardworking; instead,
describe the time you worked on a project
every weekend for a month and what
motivated you to do it. That's just an
example–the point is to try to illustrate your
strengths and character through narratives
and examples. Not only does that help you
avoid sounding like you're bragging, it's also
better writing!

15. Finally, always be sure to proofread your
essay! If you're not completely confident in
your ability to catch grammatical errors, have
a teacher, counselor, or your eAdviser look it
over for you!

17. Big Future by the College Board: Tips
for Writing an Effective Application
Essay
The Princeton Review: Crafting an
Unforgettable College Essay
The Common Application 2016-2017
Essay Prompts