Image by Tim Riley 澳大利亚 via Flickr
Brace yourselves: it’s time to write your dreaded admissions essay. Don’t treat your admissions essay lightly. Your essay is one of the biggest ways colleges look at you, your writing ability, and your creativity. Use it like an extension of you: give them a glimpse of who you are! Here are some tips for knocking that admissions essay out of the park.
- Use Active Voice.
Don’t look so puzzled– you took four years of English, right? Active voice simply means the subject is doing the action. Say, “I played the lead role in Annie Get Your Gun,” not “The lead role in Annie Get Your Gun was performed by me.” - Use Concrete Nouns.
The key to good writing? More nouns, less adjectives. Pack your essay full of specific nouns. Don’t say “tree” when you mean “dogwood.” Don’t say “car” when you mean “1967 Mustang.” This will paint a much clearer picture for the admissions readers. - Use Strong Verbs.
You don’t want your essay to read like a Dick and Jane book. “See Student. See Student Excel at Academics. Excel, Student, Excel!” Pick verbs that pack a punch. At a loss for words? Check out this list for a wealth of strong, active verbs. - Outline, Outline, Outline.
Think you can sit down and write your essay out on the fly? Think again. Define a strong structure for your essay before you write it. An outline will give you a solid road map to follow as you write. Whatever you do, do not skip this step.
