Colleges Are Tracking Applicants Browser History, According To New Report

Colleges Are Tracking Applicants' Browser History, According To New Report When you sit down to write a college application essay, just remember that this is an opportunity to show who you are as a student and who you can become at a university. Admissions officers like Warren are excited to admit students who are passionate, creative, gritty, and driven. One mistake Warren has seen is students who submit the same essay to multiple schools without changing the name of the university in their essay. A student's narrative can help admissions officers understand how their storyline intersects with the institution's purpose. Many schools do not require an essay, and in cases where it's optional, some applicants skip it. Tell the reader something about yourself that isn’t evident in the rest of your application. Think about your best personal trait, your interests, values and goals. Focus on one of these qualities and make it the theme of your essay. For example, your best trait might be determination, creativity, or compassion. Tell a story that makes that trait clear to the reader. Most students choose to write their college essay about a singular experience, which is what I ended up doing as well. Of course, this is not to say that this is the only way to write your essay, but it’s what I felt best grounded mine. Just keep a healthy perspective on its relative importance as you write. In 2017, Carolina Williams earned admission to Yale thanks in part to an application essay about her love of Papa John's pizza. The Common Application, which is accepted by nearly 800 colleges and universities, is a single-serving college application that allows you to create one admissions package for submission to multiple schools. Like everyone else impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, high school juniors are quarantined with a lot of time on their hands. Many have decided to use the extra time to get a head start on college essays â€" after all, applications are due this fall, when they're hoping to be back in high school. It can take some convincing for many kids and parents to believe that when it comes to writing the essays, in particular, college admissions officers care about who students are. For this post, we asked Shania the most frequently asked questions we see from students about how to write college essays. Shania graciously shared her experiences and insights as well as her drafts and the final version of her Common App college essay. One of the best opportunities that you have to introduce yourself to admissions counselors is through your college essays. If you are not 100% confident in your writing skills, it’s better to ask professionals to check your piece of writing. This writer’s style clearly shows off her sense of humor. If one of the purposes of a college essay is to make yourself come to life off the page, then this essay hits the mark. Far from seeming unfinished or unedited, the somewhat stream-of-consciousness style establishes a humorous and self-deprecating tone that makes the reader instantly like the applicant. More than anything else, it is this writing style that elevates what could have been a fairly superficial statement of personal growth into a truly informative story that showcases the author’s personality. Williams' essay brought widespread recognition from news outlets and social media, and demonstrated how admissions essays can help students add a personal touch to an otherwise faceless process. The piece highlighted her distinct literary style and fun personality, and it's a model that other applicants should emulate. However, I felt like I spent too much on background information, and my essay lacked an overarching concrete experience for readers to grasp onto. Provide evidence by citing specific instances from your life. This is no time to write in generalities or in a broad sweeping style. Tell a story that comes visually alive as well as intellectually alive. I know that this is not a creative writing assignment, but in March after an admissions officer has read thousands of essays, the one that stands out is the one that leaves you with a sense of place and time. Once at an essay writing seminar, I heard an essay from Stanford that told the story of a bowling trophy and what it meant to this person at a young age. The essays should reveal their personalities, passions, dreams, weird talents, favorite foods, sickest playlists, inexplicable loves and undeniable quirks. When writing your college essay, avoid creating a list of your activities and accomplishments. While many students stress over their essays, it's important to remember that this is just one component of the admissions process, and rarely the decisive factor. That doesn't mean that the essay is unimportant; it does give you an opportunity to directly make your case to the admissions committee.