Seven Tips on College Essays-新东方前途出国

Every spiel is the same. On every college visit, chipper tour guides gush about their school's gothic architecture, close faculty-student relationships, and how they definitely, positively, without a doubt have "the best dining hall food in the country."

After 3-4 (or perhaps 15) of these tours, you've finally decided on your dream college. You can already see yourself pulling all-nighters in the library or playing

Ultimate Frisbee on the quad, but before you unpack your dorm room starter kit, you have to, well... get in. That's where the college essay comes in. Now it's your turn to sell yourself to colleges — but what do you have to say?

In honor of overenthusiastic tour guides everywhere, here are the Top 7 Tips to Definitely, Positively, Without a Doubt Improve Your College Essay:

1. Focus on the personal, not the academic. The bulk of your college application already tells admissions officers what kind of student you are. The college essay should show what kind of person you are. What concerns keep you up at night? What can you offer to a college, university, or campus? What's your story?

2. Paint a picture of yourself. The college essay isn't a 500-word retelling of your résumé, GPA, or spreadsheet of volunteer hours. It's a story you craft - a narrative to tie together who you are and who you want to be. Let's all breathe a sigh of relief that what you bring to college isn't just your high school transcript; it's your sense of humor, secret talents, generosity to friends and strangers, unflagging persistence, and passion to do/fight for what you love, be that a varsity sport, non-profit, or school newspaper. Use the essay(s) to tell a side of you that can't be found elsewhere on your application. How did a transcontinental move shape you as a child? Why do you pour blood, sweat, and tears into an extracurricular? How did you become a semi-professional part-time juggler? Do you devise your own scientific experiments for fun?

3. Think broadly about your experiences. Senior year can be a rollercoaster of stress, nostalgia, excitement, and fear, and that's how it should be. But it's also the time for introspection. Reflect back on the last three, or three and a half years. What classes have you taken, what extracurricular and volunteer efforts have you made? What kind of friend have you been? How do all these different threads come together to form the friendship bracelet (or cheesy metaphor of your choice) that is you? While you won't cover all of these ideas in your essay, this will help you contextualize your specific essay topic within a broader narrative.

4. Be descriptive and specific. After some thinking, you finally have your topic! But how do you begin? Think of your essay as a mini action movie (with the introspective interludes of an independent, avant-garde film). Begin with something attention-grabbing, the literary equivalent of a car chase or explosion.

It can be some intriguing dialogue, an audacious statement, or anything quirky, funny, or memorable. One tried and true college essay structure is the anecdotal essay — draw your reader in with a punchy, compelling story and then explain it with some backstory and analysis.

5. Narrate, don't summarize. All great essays are great in different ways, but all bad essays are bad in the same ways. Don't summarize. Yes, you joined [insert extracurricular] as a freshman, struggled, then worked your way up to become its beloved president. Congratulations, but that tells your reader nothing that can't be found on your résumé. The essay is unique in its ability to take readers inside your mind and into the narrative at hand. Don't summarize your underdog victory at a fencing competition. Narrate it! What split second decisions or thoughts were racing through your mind? What clever fencing move did you use to joust your way to victory? By giving your reader a front row view of your anecdote, you both show off your writing skills and make yourself a memorable essay and applicant.