How to Write an Application Essay: Tips, Topics, and Apps

So, you’ve decided to enroll in one of the universities abroad. Among other requirements, you constantly meet the demand to submit an application essay, personal statement or statement of purpose. In fact, these terms are almost identical: this is an essay about yourself and your goals, explanation why do you want to apply to this educational institution and choose a particular study program.
However, there is a slight difference: an application essay is usually required when you apply for undergraduate majors and minors, while personal statement is most often required for graduate programs.
The admission office can specify the essay topic and general requirements. You may be asked to tell about your personal achievements, express your opinion on a certain issue or reasons why you’ve decided to choose this study program.

How to write an admission essay?
Let’s figure out how to write an essay that will stand out among the other students’ submissions. Below, you will find some useful tips:
- Decide on universities you plan to enroll and make a list of priorities. Why? Firstly, study programs may vary depending on the chosen institution. Secondly, the topic of your admission essay depends on a university. At the same time, avoid sending the same paper to different institutions.
- Choose your topic. As I mentioned earlier, pay close attention to the essay requirements. The admissions officer may ask you to explain why you’ve decided to become a lawyer, continue your education in doctoral studies, tell about achievements in a certain field, etc. However, if there are no specific conditions, and you still don’t know what to write, just keep reading this article. Below you’ll find several topics for an essay about yourself.
- Take notes. To reduce stress when writing an assignment, always carry a small notebook and write down interesting ideas. Perhaps, you will be inspired by a classmate’s speech or a teacher’s lecture. Maybe, during a morning run, something will happen that is worth to mention in your essay.
- Create an outline. Before you start working on the essay, sketch out a rough outline or create a mind map. Determine the logical sequence of your thoughts and ideas.
- Follow “Show, don’t tell” principle. Instead of using general phrases, try to provide examples or tell about something specific that inspired you. For example, replace “I love to teach people” with a story on how you’ve taught to read a younger brother or a neighbor’s child and tell what exactly you liked about it. If you lack examples, or you were inspired by a specific case or someone else’s story, then describe it.
- The best is the enemy of the good. How often do you rewrite the same sentence, trying to make it perfect? How long does this process take? Remember, sometimes it’s faster to edit the entire text than to spend several hours on each sentence.
- Avoid clichés. Imagine yourself as the admissions officer. Every day they have to read tons of essays with the same phrases: “I want to make the world a better place,” “I love people,” “I like computers and everything related.” Boring! Make your work unique. Instead of stereotypes, try to explain how you plan to change the world, what exactly you like about computers, or what attracts you to working with people.
- Remember about dictionaries. You won’t believe it, but even simple words such as “must” and “should”, “may” and “might” have some nuances and peculiarities of use. Therefore, be careful with the choice of words. At your service, there are plenty of useful resources: the Oxford dictionaries, the Merriam-Webster dictionary, and so on.
- Write in a clear and concise manner. Ask yourself: Do I really need this phrase? If a word, idiom or sentence can be removed without losing the quality — get rid of it.
- Do not hesitate to seek some help. Ask your friends and parents to check the finished text. An outsider’s view would help to avoid grammar and style mistakes.
There is nothing difficult in essay writing. Now it’s time to pick up the topic for your assignment.

Admission Essay Topics
Writer’s block is a nightmare of many professional authors, and not just students. It’s quite difficult to focus on one topic and not to copy your resume. Especially when you have no clear understanding of what to write.
Nevertheless, even if you did not have any specific guidelines, you can always try the ideas below:
- Describe your experience, interests or tell about your talents. If you think that any of the above may positively affect your future studies and the decision of the admissions officer, tell your story.
- Recall obstacles and problems that you’ve once faced. No one is immune to failure. Describe how you coped with the turmoil and what conclusions have been made.
- Think about a dilemma or issue that you would like to solve. Explain why it matters to you, what would be the right decision and how do you plan to achieve results.
- Share a story about the event that affected your life and pushed to apply to this study program.
- Tell about your most outstanding achievement. What did you do? Explain why this is so important to you.

Useful Apps for Students
Have you already chosen the topic? Brilliant! Below I will show you several apps and tools that will come in handy when writing an essay or any assignment: from a coursework to a dissertation.
This is an excellent tool for mind mapping. You may ask: how will it help me with my writing? Simple. Organize your ideas and arguments into a logical chain.
Everyone loves kittens. And the Cool.Club team is no exception. For every 100, 200, 500 or 1000 written words you will get a funny picture with a kitten, a puppy or a rabbit. And there’re no distractions. Only you, your writing, and kittens.
This is great text checking tool. You will see what mistakes are made: grammar, style, spelling; and get tips on how to fix them. In addition, the application calculates the readability index.
Did you know that music can help you tune in to work? Brain.fm uses artificial intelligence to generate music that allows you to concentrate on work, relax or even fall asleep. Use your Facebook account to register. In addition, you can set the duration: from 30 minutes to infinity. The first 5 sessions are free.
How often do you catch yourself thinking that you can not find a synonym for the word or use a stereotype? Twinword offers basic functionality for text formatting, as well as a built-in thesaurus. Moreover, there’s a plugin for WordPress. Now you can publish articles right into your personal blog.
You do not need to be gifted to write well. This skill can be developed independently. It is enough to make writing your daily routine. This application allows you to track your activity and for each day you write, points are awarded.
Want more? Join Cool.Club, the club of successful writers, and subscribe to our blog! You will find a lot of useful information about copywriting, productivity, and freelancing.
