How to Write an Admission Essay

Leaving high school and entering college is an exciting period. You’re not just transitioning from one academic level to another, but you’re also transitioning from being a teenager to a young adult. But moving into your college of choice is no simple task. Not only do colleges require you to have good academic standing, but you also have to accomplish tasks as part of the admission process. One of these tasks is writing your admission essay. So what is an admission essay? Why is it important? And what can you do to ensure that you ace this task? In this post, we give you a brief useful guide for writing an excellent essay for admission.

What is an Admission Essay?

An admission essay, also known as an application essay, is a written piece that answers a prompt provided by the college itself. The prompt is usually non-academic, meaning that it does not test students by asking them to write about topics commonly taught in class. Rather, the topic is usually personal. For instance, it is common for application essay prompts to ask students to write about a memorable life experience, an aspect of their personality, or something that they are passionate about.

In general, this paper provides applicants an opportunity to be more than a name with good grades. It lets them explain their interests that go beyond the confines of a classroom. It can also be a chance for students to display their competency and excitement to get into college or it can be a chance for them to illustrate their chosen career path and advocacy. Simply put, an admission paper lets a college know more about the applicant as a person rather than just a student.

While the topics for this requirement are often personal, it is important to note that colleges still expect your submission to abide by academic standards of writing. It needs to be clear, organized, cohesive, unique, and creative. The writing should also be free of errors. Because of this work’s great importance, it is a source of significant college admissions stress. Many students worry about the things that could go wrong, from failing to write something remarkable to choosing topics that should be avoided. But students needn’t worry anymore, as this post offers a guide for writing an extraordinary application essay.

Steps in Writing an Admission Essay

Like other written works, an admission paper is written following the steps of the general writing process. There are just some variations depending on the specific requirements of the task as well as one's personal approach to writing. The steps, however, are more or less the same as those discussed below:

Step 1: Choose a Topic

Crafting an admission paper starts with choosing a specific topic. Note that the college will give only a general prompt. It is up to the student to narrow this down to a specific topic. But if you do not yet know how to choose an excellent essay topic or are having trouble thinking of one, you can find some inspiration by looking at lists of essay topic suggestions online.

When choosing a topic, it’s best to go with something you are interested in or something that you consider important. Furthermore, you would want to choose a topic that will give you the chance to highlight your capabilities and competency. Hence, choose a topic that will easily lift your game and give you an advantage over others.  If are having difficulties choosing a topic for your college acceptance essay, consider these prompts to get you started:

• Describe a time in your life when you faced a challenge and the steps you took to triumph.
• Share a story of an experience that led to personal growth.
• Narrate an experience in which a long-held belief was challenged.
• Outline your career path and enumerate the steps you will take to achieve your goals.
• Discuss an aspect of your personality or character which you consider as essential to your identity.

Step 2: Prepare an Outline and Formulate Your Thesis Statement

The second step is to formulate your thesis statement, which refers to one or two sentences that express your main message. It is the central idea around which the rest of your paper revolves. Think of it this way: if you have to state your message in one line, then the thesis statement would be this line. Remember that a thesis is usually a claim, which means that it has to be explained and supported by the rest of the paper.

For example, suppose your thesis is this: “Serving as a volunteer in a school for impoverished children in the Global South let me discover the career path I wish to pursue. My goal now is to become a teacher working with marginalized sectors.” The rest of your paper has to discuss how the experience lent clarity to your chosen career. For instance, you may discuss the reasons why you believe this career is best for you. You may also describe your motivations. Did the experience give you a sense of purpose? Did it make you feel fulfilled? Every other part of your paper should work towards communicating the thesis.

Each essay obeys a specific structure, and an application essay for college admission is no exception. Most people, including those in the college admissions board, would prefer reading a work that tells a story and is easy to follow. There are techniques you can use to your advantage, and these include making an effective outline. Beginning your writing process with an outline will benefit not only you but also your readers because it will help them better understand how your work is structured.

The basic structure of your essay features three main parts:

• Introduction: Hook, thesis statement, and the significance of the topic.
• Body paragraphs : An overview of the setting and background, key people involved, climax, and resolution (for narrative essays). Separate points that support the thesis (for non-narrative essays).
• Conclusion: Restatement of the thesis, a summary of the key points, and final thoughts.

Although this is a recommended structure for your college admission essay, you can always go your way if you believe you can deliver something different or unexpected. You are not strictly bound by this norm. Let your creative juices flow to let the readers know that you are a talented and smart fellow whom they would be lucky to have. The most important thing to remember is to keep the content clear and easy to follow.

Step 3: Write Your Essay

In writing your college admission essay, it is vital to consider your readers above all. In this case, you are writing a document to be read by the college admissions board and therefore have to appear professional. This means using formal language and avoiding slang and jargon. Being formal also doesn’t mean being wordy or flowery. Rather, you can use simple everyday language but you also need to be precise in your choice of words. The language you use will set the tone for the essay overall.

The structure of your essay will be decided by the way you want to tell the story. Usually, a college application essay has a narrative approach. This means your content should be presented in chronological order. Meanwhile, you can also write your application essay in a montage structure. This involves choosing specific instances in your life that highlight your skills, qualities, and values. You will then find a way to connect them by the end of the paper. It’s like creating a cohesive big picture out of separate but related details. The structure of your college admission essay must be aligned with the topic or prompt you chose so that the outline will not be difficult to prepare.

Excite your readers by starting the essay with either a question, a verifiable fact, a writing definition, a famous quote, or something thought-provoking. This is your hook. Follow this with some general details about the submission such as your purpose in writing it or information that leads to the topic. End the introduction with your thesis.

The body should then expound on your thesis. If you’re telling a story, use descriptive language that engages the five senses. Make sure you simply don’t tell what happens; rather, bring out the meaning and significance of the experience you are narrating. Do not be afraid to be vulnerable by presenting information that may be less than flattering if the content calls for it. Growth can only be exhibited if there’s an improvement from one state to another.

Remember to stick to your outline and structure whether it be narrative or montage. Both are interesting ways to convey a personal experience. However, make sure you do not turn your essay into a short story. A truthful anecdote or two along with emotional connections will suffice, and after you have established your personal epiphanies, end your college application essay with a thoughtful conclusion that your readers can ponder over.

Also, it helps to read sample admission essays available online. Well-written works will teach you the hallmarks of an excellent essay as well as inspire you to do the same. 

Step 4: Edit and Proofread

The writing process does not end until you are absolutely sure the quality of your college application essay is at its best. It’s important that you start writing your admission essay as soon as you have free time and you already have a topic you want to discuss. This is to ensure you have enough time to edit and proofread your work before the deadline.

In editing your admission essay, make sure you read it multiple times and see if there are any filler details that unnecessarily prolong the content. Also, look for any missing thoughts or sentences that might confuse your readers. Editing gives you the chance to ensure your work is not messy or fragmented. Hopefully, the outline you prepared before writing will help ease the editing process.

In proofreading your admission essay, look for mistakes like ungrammatical sentences, misspelled words, or subject-verb agreement and tense errors. Reading your work once is not enough. Chances are, even if you have read it multiple times you will still find it difficult to spot mistakes. Take a break in between proofreading and imagine that you are reading the output for the first time to see if there are any errors that slipped by you in your previous reading. When you feel like you have done enough but are still skeptical about the quality of your product, it’s okay to ask your friends and colleagues to read it for you. Find someone you trust and let them check if there are any more errors or mistakes that need fixing.

Get Admission Essay Help Now

There’s no shame in admitting that writing an admission essay is hard. Schools designed it to be that way. If you feel that you are not ready and in need of more guidance, you can enlist the assistance of a professional writer. CustomEssayWriter has hundreds of professional and experienced writers who can help you craft an application essay that can dazzle even the most exacting admission boards. And on top of that, they can also complete other essays and more complicated projects like master’s and doctoral theses, dissertations, and term papers.