In this blog, share some of the challenges you experienced while writing the college entrance essays. What are some things you learned from this exercise? What advice would you give students who are just beginning their essays? --Mr. S
I think that the college essay was ok. I think to make it better maybe have an outline due at some point? becuase right now I have the majority of my paper done I just need to close it and tie everything up and I think I would have had an easier time doing that if I made an outline first. Also if I had used all of my class time I would be able to finish it more efficiently.
The college essay was a good introduction into the world of regular/traditional writing. It was not a bunch of repeats but was rather focused and had a point. I'm glad that a teacher helped us write these essays or else I might be a bit lost and not make an impression on the essay readers. As for future seniors, start practicing traditional writing as soon as possible because they no longer have to worry about the WASL.
During the process of writing a college essay, I had most trouble with letting my personality show. I was way too descriptive and required more spontaneity for a more well rounded essay. I took out some parts that were too wordy in the descriptive context, and the essay is already improved. As for advice for students next year, find something, some little aspect that was a cornerstone of your life and use hyperbole to make everyone else believe it was important too. Something fresh, and may seem menial, but make it a big deal. Add some humor to your essay, for an essay that makes you laugh is one you'll like and remember more probably than a plain, intelligently written one.
I believe the college essay process was both challenging and necessary. There were several things I tried to focus on throughout my essay such a a key event to write about, and the style of writing to use. As we head of to college, the writing will get more and more challenging, and I believe the college essay's were a great start. It seems that the more people you can get to read your essay's, the more polished they get. As for some advice for students writing their essay's, I beleive that you should write about something important to you, and be able to share your own voice in the process. This is the only personal piece a college may see.
I would have to say this is a very challenging essay to write. I am just going to pick the top three things I can think about that I discovered during the process.
1) Reflect on a specific topic not general. (i.e. if you are writing about your love of cooking don't just talk about broadly why you like it so much! Talk about a specific moment when you cooked or something...) 2) Use your voice. Although having Mr. Schindler and Mrs. Frost was extremely helpful in the process you ultimately have to do what YOU think.. it has to be your voice. It has to be you that decides when it is THE ESSAY. Take into consideration the comments made, but you can decide what to do with that feedback.. 3) Try to make whatever you are writing about reflect your personality. You want them to be able to get to know a little about you in a few paragraphs. It should be a positive quality that they would like to have in a student. Don't be a thesaurus, that will only show them you can use big words. :)
My biggest challenge was definitely writing an essay that would stand out among thousands of other essays. As I was writing my essay I kept thinking wow, this is really cliche...
My advice for students just beginning is to take their time choosing a topic, especially if it involves discussing an event or experience. I found that the experiences that seemed to be the largest and most obvious weren't nearly as important as the smaller ones. I agree with Molly that you need to make the reader believe that whatever you're writing about is really important.
The first hard thing about the college essay was just trying to find the right topic. Everything that I have experienced in my short 17 years seemed too generic and too boring. I am very greatful for the aid of both Mr. Schindler and Mrs. Frost becuase without them I would not have been able to even choose a topic. The stress level would have been over the top if I had not had thier assistance. Now that I have an essay to work with the process is much easier, I only have to tweak a few things until it is done. If I had to give advice to someone that has not yet started their essay it would be to make a list of everything that they think makes them who they are or even just cool things that they have done, then pick the most obscure and unique one to write about because it will set thier essay apart from all the others.
It has been very difficult for me to write my college essay because it is so different from the regular literary analysis essay that I am used to writing. I found it hard to write about myself, especially without sounding cliche. I think that other students should spend a lot of time thinking specifically about what they want to say about themselves before they write the essay and make sure that their personality comes through. Also, it was difficult for me to balance my description of an event with how that event shaped my character. Remember, it isn't just why you lost the soccer game, or something to that effect, but what that game taught you. As a tip to other students, avoid unneccessary details when explaining an event from your life. It is easy to get carried away describing things, especially if you don't really know what direction your essay should take.
I definately agree with what a lot of people are saying, and I think that Kayleigh's outline idea is really good. For me, it also would have helped to have made a list of specific experiences, skills, events etc. etc. to write about before I actually sat down to write the essay, because as a lot of other students, I found myself feeling like my essay wasn't very unique, and was a bit of a cliche. I would definately advise that future students brainstorm a little more on a variety of topics, unless they have something really unique and specific already in mind. I also would say that it's really important to nail down a good introduction, because that's what I have been trying to perfect over the past few days.
I thought writing the college easy was rather easy, probably depending on the prompt. I felt that is was mainly just connecting creative writing to a certain topic. The best way to write the college is to first decide what your going to write about, of course, but have a "message behind the message" sort of thing going cause i felt that if theres a deeper meaning to what you chose to write about then the whole essay would be enthralling.
i think the hardest part of the essay is picking what to write about. Once you find a topic that will work then it's fairly easy. The main advice i would give to people next year would be that it's never to early to get started. It's better to get done with everything early then to wait and have to do it at the last second.
The advice I would give to an individual who has yet to write their colllege essay would be to not stress too much on the topic. Pick the first thing that comes into your head and OWN IT! It doesn't have to be anything earth shattering, something small works well, just be specific and relate it back to your self. This was a writing assignment that I enjoyed because the guidlines were very general. The process got me excited to go to college.
The college essays aren't really that difficult. They are more annoying than anything. I guess it was alright because at least you could write about what every you wanted, but if the topic sucked then you were sort of out of luck. My advice for students next year would be to not procrastinate and stay organized not just throughout your paper, but in you applications in general.
Some of the challenges I faced while writing my college essay were finding a topic that was unique to me and that other students wouldn't write about, not using cliches, and keeping my word count inside the range it needed to be. Some advice I would give other students would be to plot out just what message you want the reader to get about you and how you plan to create this image before you start writing your essay. Also, use the peer editing and teacher help. It is only a benefit to you.
I found the college essays to be interesting but at the same time not very impressive. I would have thought that colleges would want much more intellictual writings from a student. But at the same time it was a lot less painful than the WASL's five paragraph pointless and tasteless expectations. It was very helpful to have a lot of class time to edit and talk with others about our essays. I learned some very important tips! -Kristy Cottle
I believe that this process of completing a college essay was beneficial for the starting of applying to college. This made me realize that the due dates were coming near and by starting with one of the most hardest parts worked very nicely. I liked also how I was able to have many different teachers and students look at my work so I could have as many different eyes as I could look over my essay. In all I think that the college essay process worked very well.
While writing the college-entrance essays, I reached a road-block in the very beginning, and the very end. First, I had NO clue as to what I wanted to write about and even after making a list of potential topics, I was confused. Finally I decided to just pick one, and be bold and stick to it. So part of the writing process is just picking a solid topic and not wavering back from it. Once I had formulated my ideas it was easy to get rolling, and whipped out the essay in no time. However, when it came to editing time, I realized that I needed to talk more about myself and less about the experience itself. So, I also learned to elaborate about yourself and let the audience (admissions committee) get to know YOU. I would advice beginning students to get started early and use your time in class to the maximum, as well as utilize the teachers!
The challenages part of writing this college essay was when I have to narrow down a topic in which I am most comfort with writing it, and that it would most likely to reflect me as a person. And in addition to that, it was even more difficult for me to write descriptively when the maximum length was 250 words. I am thankful that teachers are helping their students write these college essays. Without Mr.Schindler, I don't think I would have narrowed down to a topic.
Some of the advices for seniors and or students who are starting to write their college essays is that, choose a topic that you can expressively write about, and stay focuse on it, because before I have my final college essay finished, I wrote about four to five essays on one college prompt. It was hard to stay focuse when you can write about anything, and knowing that you have to write about one topic that would most say of you.
Finally, in my opinion I learn that writing in traditional writing form is harder than writing in standard writing form, becasue I was taught to write in standard form. But once I am directed to write a traditional writing, and that I can easily express my thoughts and feelings in words, I think that it would be much easier for me to write about personal writings in this form than in standard form.
The process of writing a college essay was difficult at first, cause we got a list of things not to write about, and after reading the list it was like well what else is there to write about. I like the format of traditional writting a lot better then the 5 paragraph essay layout. Although it felt a little weird writting about myself i dont know why but it was. Some advice would be to start looking up prompts a soon as you can. Then brainstorm topics for each one, the think of things to write about for each one and then choose the one you want to do. You dont know how its going to turn out unless you try it.
I am really glad that we wrote our college essay in class because I think it would have been a lot harder to start it at home by myself. The challenge that I faced was I felt like I should decribe the event itself that shaped me more than how it actually changed me. This took a lot of thinking and I had to swap some paragraphs for others. Thinking of my topic was also a challenge because you really have to think of something that not very many people write about. For future seniors, make sure to actually use the class time to write your essay because you will thank yourself when you can just copy and paste your essay into your applications when you are applying and can forget about that huge part of the application process.
Writing my first college essay was frustrating. I had no clue where to start and what to wright about. However I had heard from a whole bunch of people not to wright about something typical, aka a misson trip or an athletic experience, but that was all the information I had. It took me a long time, but once I chose a topic, my essay literally almost typed its self. My advice to future students writing their college essays would be to be passionate about their topic. This way they will find that it is easy to back up, and easy to explain. I would also tell students to have more than one person, or teacher, edit their essay. Different people have different opinons and experiences and each one will help shape your essay.
I really enjoyed writing my college essay. I sat down before I began writing it and just thought back on what I was going to write about and all of the things I could add. Once I began writing I felt that it was a fun piece of work to be writing. It was about me and I had much more freedom to write about myself than say a specific topic for a book after we read one in class. For people who are just beginning their essay I say that they really need to take the reader to the place and time that they are writing about. And make sure that it has as much in it about you as possible. Make the reader want to keep reading while learning something new and interesting about you.
I am agreeing with what most people are posting about the college essay. It would have been alot easier if at some point we would have had a outline due, then a first reader draft and then our final due. That way we could have gotten our essay to be the best. To seniors coming up next year, i would tell them its NEVER to early to start college admissions. I wish i would have started mine earlier.
The college essay was a good change from the technique that we are normally taught to use on standardized tests and in many classes. I liked that it let the writers own voice be heard and that we were encouraged to not try and sound overly dramatic or unrealistic. Overall my only problem was that my essay seemed originally too long (even though there was no word limit) so I tried to condense it and make sure it stayed intriguing throughout.
I agree with a lot of people in saying that the college essays were challenging. One of the most challenging parts of it, I think, was figuring out what experience to write about. It was difficult to jsut pick one small moment and not be too general. The essay I wrote that I turned in for class was for PLU and the topic was "What are you going to do with your one wild and precious life?" I had a real challenge figuring out what to write becuase you have to stand out in your essay and not say the same thing as everyone else. I agree with the three things that Kelsey said about writing the essay; 1)Pick a small moment 2)Use your voice 3)Try and show your personality
Overall I believe that the college essays were slightly challenging, but simple for the most part. One problem I faced while writing my essay was avoiding sounding generic. The prompts are often cliche, and in turn guide the writer toward stating cliche things or writing in a non creative manner. Besides this, the only other challenge I faced was that of proving my emotion. While writing about my topic, it was difficult to actually SHOW that I was passionate about my topic rather than just state it. I find that often times it sounds more genuine to give a real life example from the situation that occured that is being written about. My advice to other students would be to make sure to pick a topic that addresses the prompt thoroughly, and at the same time is important enough to you that you can write passionately about it.
I had a lot of trouble staying on topic and keeping the focus of the essay on me. Most people, me included, are used to not writing with a self centered, me me me style. This essay forced me to write a little different than I noramlly would. I would advise other people who are starting their college essays to try to focus on events that they have the most vivid memory of so they can write the most realistic retelling of the story.
I found the hardest part of the college essay to be simply choosing what to write about. Many of the prompts were somewhat openended and could be interpreted in several different ways. Once I finally came up with a topic that fit the prompt, I then had to narrow my topic so that I wouldn't be talking about too much. Also, I had to choose one part of my experience to go into detail about and leave the rest out so that my essay would not be too long and so that my essay would portray a strong message about me. These were the difficulties that I found; other than that it was kind of fun to be creative and not stuck to the traditional 5 paragraph essay format.
I liked writing my college entrance essay because I chose to be different and write about my car. My passion for my car has lead me to go to U.T.I. in august and train in the field of performance modifications. I will use all the knoweledge at U.T.I. on my car and of those belonging to customers. The advise I'd give to someone writing their college entrance essay would be to use a hobby or a career path that separates you from the other applicants.
If I were a student in the college prep class I would take strong advantage of this part of the school year. The teacher or teachers that are willing to help edit your essays are very helpful. If possible I would try to have the teachers try to edit them more than once if they are willing. These teachers know what to look for and what not to put into an essay. Take full advantage of them.
The hardest thing for me was choosing what to write about. Chooses a topic was difficult cause we were advised to stay away from clichés. Some thing I learned was that it's really hard to write about yourself, to explain what happened. I was hard for me not to write a 5-paragraph essay. Some advice I would give to the future seniors is 1) pick a college that has an essay first off. 2) Stay away from emotional topics, because you'll get to upset to continue writing. (Unless that feeds into your motivation.) 3) Take your time and ask for help, and have a lot people read it.
I found that my procrastination really hurt the quality of my essay more so than regular essays. I think the copy I turned in was okay but it definitely could have been better. It was really hard coming up with a topic that I could stick with and write about. I think my essay lacks the so what? and needs to almost completely rewritten before I send off to a college. As for other students: personalize. Don't just reveal an event that built your character, talk about your character. the more it reveals who you are rather than what happened in your life to get you there, the better.
I think through this experience of writing our college essays the problem that I have run into the most frequently is not know how to express how I felt or provide intimate details without sounding too corny or using the word amazing. I know colleges don’t want to hear the same sap story over and over but that’s why I wanted to make the readers feel how “amazing” my adventure was. I also had a hard time figuring out a hook for my essay. Something that would do my story justice…but yeah that became really difficult with Mr. Schindler told me that it was unneeded information and I should just take it all out… thanks bud. Overall its been fun writing these essays and getting one step closer to finishing up high school and moving onto college.
I think that the hardest part of writing the college entrence essay was comming up with the topic to write about. I think that most every one would agree on the fact that coming up with an original and interesting topic was the hardest part. It took me a good week to come up with my spacific topic.
If I was to leave a message to future students I would have to say that you should brainstorm with your parents or someone that you have known for a long time. With an outside view it is easier to see things that you may not even think about.
I think the stress we put on ourseves because of the college essay is overrated. If you go into it with your topic picked out and it's something that really interests you or made a large impact on your life, things come relativly quick. I think the hardest part was figuring out what exactly to write about. As long as you focus the essay on you, then you should be fine. I think the biggest piece of advice I could offer is to start looking for topics early and brainstorming before you start working on your essay. It makes things easier to organize that way. Also use the teachers and other students to your advantage, what they have to say really does help make a better paper.
The college essay was difficult to get started. I think it is good to start off with something different than what everyone else would do, but that itself is hard enough and to stay on topic and let your real personality show. I think an outline would have helped, we were rushed to get a first draft in 2 days and it ended as a bunch of ideas into one giant paragraph at first. Once you have a good idea for a topic and let yourself in the writing it was easy from there.
I think that I ran into many of the same problems while writing my college essay that other people in the class did. I found that it was very difficult to figure out what I wanted to write my college essay about but once I finally got my idea, I thought that the essay flowed out onto the paper very smoothly. The only other problem I had was rewriting my intro paragraph to try and hook the reader more, but once again when I finally figured out where Mr. Schindler was trying to get me to go, it all came very easily. My advice to students writing these next year would be to not worry if you cant think of a topic right away because you want to make sure that you are writing about something you are truly passionate about, and that it will come to you in time.
I thought writing my college essay was difficult for a few reasons. First, it was hard writing it because of all the pressure of it being perfect for the colleges, and a large part of the college admission process has to do with your essay. Also, it was difficult because I am so used to writing a standardized, factual five paragraph essay, but the college essay should be completely opposite from that. Some advice to I would give to future students writing their college essays is that they should be prepared to write something dramatically different than they are used to in class, and they should have have many people give them feedback.
I didn't have to many troubles while writing my college essay. I did have a hard time getting a point across while still displaying concrete examples. To make the essay easier i would make an outline of the examples i want to use to get every point across. Then i could have an organized way of writing the essay and refrence back to the example to say it exactly how i want to.
40 comments:
I think that the college essay was ok. I think to make it better maybe have an outline due at some point? becuase right now I have the majority of my paper done I just need to close it and tie everything up and I think I would have had an easier time doing that if I made an outline first. Also if I had used all of my class time I would be able to finish it more efficiently.
The college essay was a good introduction into the world of regular/traditional writing. It was not a bunch of repeats but was rather focused and had a point. I'm glad that a teacher helped us write these essays or else I might be a bit lost and not make an impression on the essay readers. As for future seniors, start practicing traditional writing as soon as possible because they no longer have to worry about the WASL.
During the process of writing a college essay, I had most trouble with letting my personality show. I was way too descriptive and required more spontaneity for a more well rounded essay. I took out some parts that were too wordy in the descriptive context, and the essay is already improved. As for advice for students next year, find something, some little aspect that was a cornerstone of your life and use hyperbole to make everyone else believe it was important too. Something fresh, and may seem menial, but make it a big deal. Add some humor to your essay, for an essay that makes you laugh is one you'll like and remember more probably than a plain, intelligently written one.
Molly Riegel per. 6
I believe the college essay process was both challenging and necessary. There were several things I tried to focus on throughout my essay such a a key event to write about, and the style of writing to use. As we head of to college, the writing will get more and more challenging, and I believe the college essay's were a great start. It seems that the more people you can get to read your essay's, the more polished they get. As for some advice for students writing their essay's, I beleive that you should write about something important to you, and be able to share your own voice in the process. This is the only personal piece a college may see.
I would have to say this is a very challenging essay to write. I am just going to pick the top three things I can think about that I discovered during the process.
1) Reflect on a specific topic not general. (i.e. if you are writing about your love of cooking don't just talk about broadly why you like it so much! Talk about a specific moment when you cooked or something...)
2) Use your voice. Although having Mr. Schindler and Mrs. Frost was extremely helpful in the process you ultimately have to do what YOU think.. it has to be your voice. It has to be you that decides when it is THE ESSAY. Take into consideration the comments made, but you can decide what to do with that feedback..
3) Try to make whatever you are writing about reflect your personality. You want them to be able to get to know a little about you in a few paragraphs. It should be a positive quality that they would like to have in a student. Don't be a thesaurus, that will only show them you can use big words. :)
My biggest challenge was definitely writing an essay that would stand out among thousands of other essays. As I was writing my essay I kept thinking wow, this is really cliche...
My advice for students just beginning is to take their time choosing a topic, especially if it involves discussing an event or experience. I found that the experiences that seemed to be the largest and most obvious weren't nearly as important as the smaller ones. I agree with Molly that you need to make the reader believe that whatever you're writing about is really important.
The first hard thing about the college essay was just trying to find the right topic. Everything that I have experienced in my short 17 years seemed too generic and too boring. I am very greatful for the aid of both Mr. Schindler and Mrs. Frost becuase without them I would not have been able to even choose a topic. The stress level would have been over the top if I had not had thier assistance. Now that I have an essay to work with the process is much easier, I only have to tweak a few things until it is done. If I had to give advice to someone that has not yet started their essay it would be to make a list of everything that they think makes them who they are or even just cool things that they have done, then pick the most obscure and unique one to write about because it will set thier essay apart from all the others.
It has been very difficult for me to write my college essay because it is so different from the regular literary analysis essay that I am used to writing. I found it hard to write about myself, especially without sounding cliche. I think that other students should spend a lot of time thinking specifically about what they want to say about themselves before they write the essay and make sure that their personality comes through. Also, it was difficult for me to balance my description of an event with how that event shaped my character. Remember, it isn't just why you lost the soccer game, or something to that effect, but what that game taught you. As a tip to other students, avoid unneccessary details when explaining an event from your life. It is easy to get carried away describing things, especially if you don't really know what direction your essay should take.
I definately agree with what a lot of people are saying, and I think that Kayleigh's outline idea is really good. For me, it also would have helped to have made a list of specific experiences, skills, events etc. etc. to write about before I actually sat down to write the essay, because as a lot of other students, I found myself feeling like my essay wasn't very unique, and was a bit of a cliche. I would definately advise that future students brainstorm a little more on a variety of topics, unless they have something really unique and specific already in mind. I also would say that it's really important to nail down a good introduction, because that's what I have been trying to perfect over the past few days.
I thought writing the college easy was rather easy, probably depending on the prompt. I felt that is was mainly just connecting creative writing to a certain topic. The best way to write the college is to first decide what your going to write about, of course, but have a "message behind the message" sort of thing going cause i felt that if theres a deeper meaning to what you chose to write about then the whole essay would be enthralling.
i think the hardest part of the essay is picking what to write about. Once you find a topic that will work then it's fairly easy. The main advice i would give to people next year would be that it's never to early to get started. It's better to get done with everything early then to wait and have to do it at the last second.
The advice I would give to an individual who has yet to write their colllege essay would be to not stress too much on the topic. Pick the first thing that comes into your head and OWN IT! It doesn't have to be anything earth shattering, something small works well, just be specific and relate it back to your self.
This was a writing assignment that I enjoyed because the guidlines were very general. The process got me excited to go to college.
The college essays aren't really that difficult. They are more annoying than anything. I guess it was alright because at least you could write about what every you wanted, but if the topic sucked then you were sort of out of luck. My advice for students next year would be to not procrastinate and stay organized not just throughout your paper, but in you applications in general.
Some of the challenges I faced while writing my college essay were finding a topic that was unique to me and that other students wouldn't write about, not using cliches, and keeping my word count inside the range it needed to be. Some advice I would give other students would be to plot out just what message you want the reader to get about you and how you plan to create this image before you start writing your essay. Also, use the peer editing and teacher help. It is only a benefit to you.
I found the college essays to be interesting but at the same time not very impressive. I would have thought that colleges would want much more intellictual writings from a student. But at the same time it was a lot less painful than the WASL's five paragraph pointless and tasteless expectations. It was very helpful to have a lot of class time to edit and talk with others about our essays. I learned some very important tips!
-Kristy Cottle
I believe that this process of completing a college essay was beneficial for the starting of applying to college. This made me realize that the due dates were coming near and by starting with one of the most hardest parts worked very nicely. I liked also how I was able to have many different teachers and students look at my work so I could have as many different eyes as I could look over my essay. In all I think that the college essay process worked very well.
While writing the college-entrance essays, I reached a road-block in the very beginning, and the very end. First, I had NO clue as to what I wanted to write about and even after making a list of potential topics, I was confused. Finally I decided to just pick one, and be bold and stick to it. So part of the writing process is just picking a solid topic and not wavering back from it. Once I had formulated my ideas it was easy to get rolling, and whipped out the essay in no time. However, when it came to editing time, I realized that I needed to talk more about myself and less about the experience itself. So, I also learned to elaborate about yourself and let the audience (admissions committee) get to know YOU. I would advice beginning students to get started early and use your time in class to the maximum, as well as utilize the teachers!
The challenages part of writing this college essay was when I have to narrow down a topic in which I am most comfort with writing it, and that it would most likely to reflect me as a person. And in addition to that, it was even more difficult for me to write descriptively when the maximum length was 250 words.
I am thankful that teachers are helping their students write these college essays. Without Mr.Schindler, I don't think I would have narrowed down to a topic.
Some of the advices for seniors and or students who are starting to write their college essays is that, choose a topic that you can expressively write about, and stay focuse on it, because before I have my final college essay finished, I wrote about four to five essays on one college prompt. It was hard to stay focuse when you can write about anything, and knowing that you have to write about one topic that would most say of you.
Finally, in my opinion I learn that writing in traditional writing form is harder than writing in standard writing form, becasue I was taught to write in standard form. But once I am directed to write a traditional writing, and that I can easily express my thoughts and feelings in words, I think that it would be much easier for me to write about personal writings in this form than in standard form.
~~(Mea)Sovannary Pen
The process of writing a college essay was difficult at first, cause we got a list of things not to write about, and after reading the list it was like well what else is there to write about. I like the format of traditional writting a lot better then the 5 paragraph essay layout. Although it felt a little weird writting about myself i dont know why but it was. Some advice would be to start looking up prompts a soon as you can. Then brainstorm topics for each one, the think of things to write about for each one and then choose the one you want to do. You dont know how its going to turn out unless you try it.
I am really glad that we wrote our college essay in class because I think it would have been a lot harder to start it at home by myself. The challenge that I faced was I felt like I should decribe the event itself that shaped me more than how it actually changed me. This took a lot of thinking and I had to swap some paragraphs for others. Thinking of my topic was also a challenge because you really have to think of something that not very many people write about. For future seniors, make sure to actually use the class time to write your essay because you will thank yourself when you can just copy and paste your essay into your applications when you are applying and can forget about that huge part of the application process.
Writing my first college essay was frustrating. I had no clue where to start and what to wright about. However I had heard from a whole bunch of people not to wright about something typical, aka a misson trip or an athletic experience, but that was all the information I had. It took me a long time, but once I chose a topic, my essay literally almost typed its self. My advice to future students writing their college essays would be to be passionate about their topic. This way they will find that it is easy to back up, and easy to explain. I would also tell students to have more than one person, or teacher, edit their essay. Different people have different opinons and experiences and each one will help shape your essay.
I really enjoyed writing my college essay. I sat down before I began writing it and just thought back on what I was going to write about and all of the things I could add. Once I began writing I felt that it was a fun piece of work to be writing. It was about me and I had much more freedom to write about myself than say a specific topic for a book after we read one in class. For people who are just beginning their essay I say that they really need to take the reader to the place and time that they are writing about. And make sure that it has as much in it about you as possible. Make the reader want to keep reading while learning something new and interesting about you.
I am agreeing with what most people are posting about the college essay. It would have been alot easier if at some point we would have had a outline due, then a first reader draft and then our final due. That way we could have gotten our essay to be the best. To seniors coming up next year, i would tell them its NEVER to early to start college admissions. I wish i would have started mine earlier.
The college essay was a good change from the technique that we are normally taught to use on standardized tests and in many classes. I liked that it let the writers own voice be heard and that we were encouraged to not try and sound overly dramatic or unrealistic. Overall my only problem was that my essay seemed originally too long (even though there was no word limit) so I tried to condense it and make sure it stayed intriguing throughout.
I agree with a lot of people in saying that the college essays were challenging. One of the most challenging parts of it, I think, was figuring out what experience to write about. It was difficult to jsut pick one small moment and not be too general. The essay I wrote that I turned in for class was for PLU and the topic was "What are you going to do with your one wild and precious life?" I had a real challenge figuring out what to write becuase you have to stand out in your essay and not say the same thing as everyone else. I agree with the three things that Kelsey said about writing the essay; 1)Pick a small moment 2)Use your voice 3)Try and show your personality
Overall I believe that the college essays were slightly challenging, but simple for the most part. One problem I faced while writing my essay was avoiding sounding generic. The prompts are often cliche, and in turn guide the writer toward stating cliche things or writing in a non creative manner. Besides this, the only other challenge I faced was that of proving my emotion. While writing about my topic, it was difficult to actually SHOW that I was passionate about my topic rather than just state it. I find that often times it sounds more genuine to give a real life example from the situation that occured that is being written about. My advice to other students would be to make sure to pick a topic that addresses the prompt thoroughly, and at the same time is important enough to you that you can write passionately about it.
I had a lot of trouble staying on topic and keeping the focus of the essay on me. Most people, me included, are used to not writing with a self centered, me me me style. This essay forced me to write a little different than I noramlly would. I would advise other people who are starting their college essays to try to focus on events that they have the most vivid memory of so they can write the most realistic retelling of the story.
I found the hardest part of the college essay to be simply choosing what to write about. Many of the prompts were somewhat openended and could be interpreted in several different ways. Once I finally came up with a topic that fit the prompt, I then had to narrow my topic so that I wouldn't be talking about too much. Also, I had to choose one part of my experience to go into detail about and leave the rest out so that my essay would not be too long and so that my essay would portray a strong message about me. These were the difficulties that I found; other than that it was kind of fun to be creative and not stuck to the traditional 5 paragraph essay format.
I liked writing my college entrance essay because I chose to be different and write about my car. My passion for my car has lead me to go to U.T.I. in august and train in the field of performance modifications. I will use all the knoweledge at U.T.I. on my car and of those belonging to customers. The advise I'd give to someone writing their college entrance essay would be to use a hobby or a career path that separates you from the other applicants.
If I were a student in the college prep class I would take strong advantage of this part of the school year. The teacher or teachers that are willing to help edit your essays are very helpful. If possible I would try to have the teachers try to edit them more than once if they are willing. These teachers know what to look for and what not to put into an essay. Take full advantage of them.
The hardest thing for me was choosing what to write about. Chooses a topic was difficult cause we were advised to stay away from clichés. Some thing I learned was that it's really hard to write about yourself, to explain what happened. I was hard for me not to write a 5-paragraph essay.
Some advice I would give to the future seniors is 1) pick a college that has an essay first off. 2) Stay away from emotional topics, because you'll get to upset to continue writing. (Unless that feeds into your motivation.) 3) Take your time and ask for help, and have a lot people read it.
I found that my procrastination really hurt the quality of my essay more so than regular essays. I think the copy I turned in was okay but it definitely could have been better. It was really hard coming up with a topic that I could stick with and write about. I think my essay lacks the so what? and needs to almost completely rewritten before I send off to a college. As for other students: personalize. Don't just reveal an event that built your character, talk about your character. the more it reveals who you are rather than what happened in your life to get you there, the better.
I think through this experience of writing our college essays the problem that I have run into the most frequently is not know how to express how I felt or provide intimate details without sounding too corny or using the word amazing. I know colleges don’t want to hear the same sap story over and over but that’s why I wanted to make the readers feel how “amazing” my adventure was. I also had a hard time figuring out a hook for my essay. Something that would do my story justice…but yeah that became really difficult with Mr. Schindler told me that it was unneeded information and I should just take it all out… thanks bud. Overall its been fun writing these essays and getting one step closer to finishing up high school and moving onto college.
I think that the hardest part of writing the college entrence essay was comming up with the topic to write about. I think that most every one would agree on the fact that coming up with an original and interesting topic was the hardest part. It took me a good week to come up with my spacific topic.
If I was to leave a message to future students I would have to say that you should brainstorm with your parents or someone that you have known for a long time. With an outside view it is easier to see things that you may not even think about.
I think the stress we put on ourseves because of the college essay is overrated. If you go into it with your topic picked out and it's something that really interests you or made a large impact on your life, things come relativly quick. I think the hardest part was figuring out what exactly to write about. As long as you focus the essay on you, then you should be fine. I think the biggest piece of advice I could offer is to start looking for topics early and brainstorming before you start working on your essay. It makes things easier to organize that way. Also use the teachers and other students to your advantage, what they have to say really does help make a better paper.
The college essay was difficult to get started. I think it is good to start off with something different than what everyone else would do, but that itself is hard enough and to stay on topic and let your real personality show. I think an outline would have helped, we were rushed to get a first draft in 2 days and it ended as a bunch of ideas into one giant paragraph at first. Once you have a good idea for a topic and let yourself in the writing it was easy from there.
I think that I ran into many of the same problems while writing my college essay that other people in the class did. I found that it was very difficult to figure out what I wanted to write my college essay about but once I finally got my idea, I thought that the essay flowed out onto the paper very smoothly. The only other problem I had was rewriting my intro paragraph to try and hook the reader more, but once again when I finally figured out where Mr. Schindler was trying to get me to go, it all came very easily. My advice to students writing these next year would be to not worry if you cant think of a topic right away because you want to make sure that you are writing about something you are truly passionate about, and that it will come to you in time.
I thought writing my college essay was difficult for a few reasons. First, it was hard writing it because of all the pressure of it being perfect for the colleges, and a large part of the college admission process has to do with your essay. Also, it was difficult because I am so used to writing a standardized, factual five paragraph essay, but the college essay should be completely opposite from that. Some advice to I would give to future students writing their college essays is that they should be prepared to write something dramatically different than they are used to in class, and they should have have many people give them feedback.
I didn't have to many troubles while writing my college essay. I did have a hard time getting a point across while still displaying concrete examples. To make the essay easier i would make an outline of the examples i want to use to get every point across. Then i could have an organized way of writing the essay and refrence back to the example to say it exactly how i want to.
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