How To Write A Great Application Essay
Above all the grades and extracurricular activities, there’s one thing that all college admissions officers look for in an applicant: authenticity.
Luckily, there are steps you can follow to ensure that your application ticks all the right boxes and lets you put your best- and most genuine - self forward.
A great essay is one way to share your story with an admissions committee.
The essays don’t just talk about your experiences, but about you. The people reading your application want to get to know passions, personality and goals — not who you think they want to know. The last thing you want is to get into a school that isn’t a right fit for you.
Let’s get writing!
This is the hardest - and most exciting - step. Before you put pen to paper, here are our top 3 Do’s and Don’ts for university essays.
DO Understand the question Your content needs to be deliberate and well thought-out. Reflect on your experiences and things that are significant to you. Select the one(s) that best answers the question or prompt you are responding to. You have amazing storiescraft them well and let them do all the talking. STEP 01 STEP 02 The simpler your vocabulary, the easier it is to understand. It’s that easy. DON’T TAKE TIME TO BRAINSTORM BEGIN WRITING It’s easy to get caught up trying to tell a perfect story. Take time to read through the question and understand what it is asking from you. That way you can be more concise in your response. Be yourself Read sample essays but don’t copy or imitate. Draw from your personal experiences and remember that people reading your essay want to get to know you. So just be you. Structure your essays The benefits of good structure are endless. Create a seamless experience to capture the reader’s attention with a strong thesis statement, topic sentences and organised paragraphs with evidence that is presented in a logical and cohesive manner. Each essay is a story, not just a series of ideas. Sound like a Thesaurus Write only one sentence or paragraph It’s very hard to try and convince an admissions committee that you’re a good candidate in one sentence- don’t risk it. A carefully thought out response says a lot more about you than a rushed and abrupt answer. Believe it or not, we can tell when you’ve put in effort. Lie While it sounds tempting to just embellish your story or cheat your way to success, getting admitted into a university under false pretenses can have more consequences than you thinksuch as jeopardizing your success when people think you’re capable of something you are not. A great example of what not to do is plagiarise. Ask for feedback from your family, friends, teachers and school counsellors. Having multiple people review your overall application can give you insights into what works well and what is confusing to the reader. Once you’ve gotten feedback, you can go back to Step 1 and go through this entire process as often as necessary until you are satisfied with the outcome. Now you have the tools to create the perfect application.
Good luck and we look forward to receiving your awesome ALU applications!
