How do I write a great college essay?

So you’ve visited a few college campuses, you’ve asked some of your teachers for letters of recommendation, and ironed out a stellar resume. Well you’ve left out one of the more important pieces of your application: the college essay. 

Your essay is the one part of your application that you can totally control.  A good college essay will showcase your writing skills, tell a little bit about yourself, and have some personal touches.  A great college essay is much harder to come across, but here are some tips when you’re thinking about what to write:

Be unique – PC received nine thousand applications last year.  Be as creative as you want while still playing to your writing strengths.

Be personal – We’re trying to get a complete picture of who you are and how you’ll fit on our campus.  The more we know about you, the better. If you are writing about an activity, event, or person that has been important to you, be sure to focus on why it has been important to you, and what influence that event or person has had on who you are.

Follow instructions   - Be mindful of the topic that you chose.  If you think your essay is going off on a tangent someplace, it probably is.

No clichés or gimmicks – If you got your idea from somewhere or someone else, we’ve probably read it or something like it before.  Use those creative muscles!

PROOFREAD – Let other people read your essay before you send it to a college.  This essentially is your first college assignment, so you’ll want to make sure that it’s grammatically perfect when it’s all said and done.

Have fun! – We know it’s tough, but the essays that will make the best impressions will be the ones where we can tell that students were having fun when they wrote it. 

Plan Ahead – Writing an essay the week before applications are due probably won’t work out too well.  Write a rough draft or an outline early and then go from there.