What Colleges Require Admission Essays? And Which Ones Require Supplemental Essays?

What Colleges Require Admission Essays? And Which Ones Require Supplemental Essays? The essays can be the most important components of your application. I became president of the California Scholarship Federation, providing students with information to prepare them for college, while creating opportunities for my peers to play a bigger part in our community. The purpose is to flesh out all of your possible ideas so when you begin writing, you know and understand where you're going with the topic. Get your creative juices flowing by brainstorming all the possible ideas you can think of to address your college essay question. Now forget all that, because a successful college application essay is totally different. Madison’s fun writing style left the admissions committee entertained, but more importantly gave us insight into her outlook and personality. The essay illustrates her joy in trying new things and having diverse interests. If you look at the titles of the sample admissions essays on our website, you’ll quickly find that they are simple, short, and not at all fancy. More importantly, they don’t detract from the essay. Your title is a brief compliment to what’s to come, not an opportunity to use a grabber or shock the admissions officer. I was taught essays should be 7 paragraphs long, not 5. My teacher said 3 central paragraphs never gives enough detail to the topic, so we should write 5. You can easily check page count in word processors like Microsoft Word and Google Docs, but for a quick reference use our table below. My teacher told me that I needed to write an essay that had 2500 words. I got marks off for not writing an essay with exactly 2500 words. That’s completely ridiculous but my teacher refuse to reinstate the point she took off because she said 2500 words and not 2498 words. I could’ve just said that my was 2500 words and she would’ve never known the difference. The answer is one page single spaced or two pages double spaced. Now, depending on how you've setup your document your page count may vary slightly, but with Arial or Times New Roman 12 point font and conventional margins you should see similar results. 500 word essays are very common throughout middle and high school English curriculums, especially as book reports, or summaries of current events. They might be fine in a text message, but not in your college essay. Believe it or not, the brainstorming stage may be more tedious than writing the actual application essay. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. One-on-One Advising Work with one of CEA’s expert Advisors to conceptualize, edit and refine admissions essays that stick with admissions and make you stand out. Have another person (or several!) read your essay, whether it’s a teacher, guidance counselor, parent, or trusted friend. You know what you meant to say, but is it clear to someone else reading your work? Have these people review your application essay to make sure your message is on target and clear to any audience. Don’t rely solely on the computer spelling and grammar check. Computers can't detect the context in which you're using words, so be sure to review carefully. I began tutoring kids, teens, and adults on a variety of subjects ranging from basic English to home improvement and even Calculus. As the captain of the water polo and swim team I’ve led practices crafted to individually push my comrades to their limits, and I’ve counseled friends through circumstances similar to mine. I’ve done tons, and I can finally say I’m proud of that. Unfortunately, mental health challenges have become so common these days that many students write personal statements about them and so it can be difficult to stand out. If you are feeling compelled to write about a mental health challenge, consider brainstorming some uncommon connections. This helps us understand how Madison would thrive in a liberal arts academic setting with lots of flexibility where she can find the unique cross-sections of her interests. Jerry’s essay helped the admissions committee understand his background and how he persevered and grew through debate. Although we had already learned about Jerry’s enthusiasm for debate in other parts of his application, this essay gave so much more depth into why this activity is meaningful for him. Given what he shared in his essay, we can imagine Jerry being an active participant both in and out of the classroom. These selections represent just a few examples of essays we found impressive and helpful during the past admissions cycle. It makes sense to me and that is how I’ve always done it. I think five paragraphs is a good number to shoot for when writing, but it isn’t a hard-fast rule you need to hit every time. Each essay is different and require more or less paragraphs depending on the information you need to provide in the writing.