College Admissions

College Admissions The best essays sound like they were written by someone your age. They have a 20 - something voice, or a 30 - something voice that is yours alone. They aren't so polished and smooth that they read like the work of a pro. After years of practice reading essays the admissions officers and faculty who make admission decisions are quite astute in picking out the student voice. Your college counselors are there to help, but they can’t if you don’t ask or wait until the last minute to seek guidance and feedback. Make a plan to meet with your college counselor and go over your college list and essays, and ask for feedback on your writing. Your college counselor can provide valuable insight into how to improve your college application essays, so seek feedback on your drafts as soon as possible. Don't too closely follow the pattern of essays you find on the internet or in essay books. Use these for inspiration but start with a completely blank page when you compose your own. I haven't read a lot of good essays in those books anyway. The essays that make up The Common Application & supplements are not just typical pieces of writing, nor are they just another step in the application process. To help you get off to a good start, we’ve put together the following tips and hints. These are comments from our admissions staff who actually read your essays and evaluate them in the admission process. We can’t guarantee results, but this advice might help you get started. Far too many students don’t have anything worthwhile to say in their conclusions to application essays about why they want to attend a particular college or university. We trust you’ll find this information useful as you prepare your college applications. Feel free to contact our admissions staff with additional questions. Your IvySelect college counselor will help you tie together the various pieces of your application in both the academic and extracurricular contexts. Through our strategic vision, you will understand how your school-based and summer activities, as well as your personal and family experiences tie together to showcase your life themes. College essays are an uncommon genre that must catch the attention of admissions officers and illuminate students’ intellect, personality, and potential. Our Senior Counselors have years of experience guiding students in writing essays that make admissions officers take notice. Our veteran admissions counselors are frequently asked to share expert advice about writing compelling college essays. We asked our admissions counselors to share their perspectives on why the college essay matters and what matters most. Workshops at our labs have a maximum of seven participants. College Essay Workshop programs are only available to students who are high school juniors or seniors. We’ll help you demonstrate your vision throughout your application and your essays, so that, in admissions speak, there will be the proper “resonance” across all of your college admissions documents. When students lack professional college admissions guidance, they often will write essays that they think admissions officers want. They may envision a professorial old man sporting a bow tie and dowdy sports jacket as their gatekeeper. Though a few admissions officers may fit that profile, most AO’s do not belong to that demographic. School-based counselors have a lot of students to advise and are very busy, so seek guidance early and often. While it’s important to put considerable effort into all college application components, essays are often the finishing touch and should be treated with great care and consideration. Students can receive Writopia Lab college essay writing instruction at our labs through a College Essay Workshop or Private Sessions. These steps will help you develop a list of specific qualities that are unique to the school. Essay writingis an important part of the college application process. Using the Common Application, you will have to write one major essay, and possibly write a series of smaller essays for each school on their Supplement Forms . The college essay is often the most difficult part of preparing your application. Personal Essay/Pre-College Essay Workshops are available for freshmen and sophomores. You should read a college guide book, methodically review the website, and hopefully, if at all possible, visit the school. Additionally, you might email an admissions counselor at the school with some questions or speak to a current student or alum. (If you don’t know anyone affiliated with the school, try asking your guidance counselor if there are former students from your high school who attend or attended X college.) Peruse a course catalog.