College Application Essay Samples



Jul 16, 2020 Welcome to college essay examples heaven. In my opinion, one of the best ways to write a successful college essay for your college application is by learning from real college essay examples that worked. Apr 24, 2019  On its admissions page, Hamilton lists multiple college essay examples written by students admitted to the school. Though Inzer declined to single out one essay, she says that the examples offer a.

You already know how to write an academic essay: you start with an introduction, throw in a thesis statement, find about three paragraphs’ worth of evidence, and wrap it all up with a tidy conclusion…

Now forget all that, because a successful college application essay is totally different.

The purpose of the admission essay

Your college application essay needs to breathe life into your application. It should capture your genuine personality, explaining who you are beyond a series of grades, test scores, and after-school activities. But that’s not nearly as scary as it seems, because you get to choose what to share and how to share it.

Take a minute and think about the college or university admission officers who will be reading your essay. How will your essay convey your background and what makes you unique? If you had the opportunity to stand in front of an admission committee to share a significant story or important information about yourself, what would you say? The college application essay is your chance to share your personality, goals, influences, challenges, triumphs, life experiences, or lessons learned. Not to mention why you're a good fit for the college or university—and why it's a good fit for you. These are the stories behind the list of activities and leadership roles on your application.

One of the most common struggles students encounter is resisting the urge to squeeze everything they’ve seen, done, and heard into their essay. But your application essay isn’t your life story in 650 words. Instead, pick one moment in time and focus on telling the story behind it.

Admission officers realize that writing doesn’t come easily to everyone, but with some time and planning, anyone can write a college application essay that stands out. One way to do that is to work step-by-step, piece-by-piece. The end result should be a carefully designed, insightful essay that makes you proud. Take advantage of being able to share something with an audience who knows nothing about you and is excited to learn what you have to offer. Brag (without being overly boastful). Write the story no one else can tell.

Get to know your prompt

Ease yourself into the essay-writing process. Take time to understand the question or prompt being asked.

College application essay examples nursing

The single most important part of your essay preparation may be simply making sure you truly understand the question or essay prompt. When you're finished writing, you need to make sure that your essay still adheres to the prompt.

College essay questions often suggest one or two main ideas or topics of focus. These can vary from personal to trivial, but all seek to challenge you and spark your creativity and insight.

  • Read the essay questions and/or prompts. Read them again. Then read them one more time.
  • Take some time to think about what is being asked and let it really sink in before you let the ideas flow.
  • Before you can even start brainstorming, define what it is you’re trying to accomplish. Is this essay prompt asking you to inform? Defend? Support? Expand upon?
  • If it doesn’t already, relate the question back yourself by asking, “How does this—or how could this—apply to me?”
  • Avoid sorting through your existing English class essays to see if the topics fit the bill. These pieces rarely showcase who you are as an applicant.

Brainstorm

Get your creative juices flowing by brainstorming all the possible ideas you can think of to address your college essay question.

Believe it or not, the brainstorming stage may be more tedious than writing the actual application essay. 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.

  • Reflect. You have years to draw from, so set aside time to mentally collect relevant experiences or events that serve as strong, specific examples. This is also time for self-reflection. “What are my strengths?” “How would my friends describe me?” “What sets me apart from other applicants?”
  • Write any and all ideas down. There’s no technique that works best, but you’ll be thankful when you're able to come back to ideas you otherwise may have forgotten.
  • Narrow down the options. Choose three concepts you think fit the college application essay prompt best and weigh the potential of each. Which idea can you develop further and not lose the reader? Which captures more of who you really are?
  • Choose your story to tell. From the thoughts you’ve narrowed down, pick one. You should have enough supporting details to rely on this as an excellent demonstration of your abilities, characteristics, perseverance, or beliefs.

Related: 5 Ways to Brainstorm Your College Essays

Create an outline

Map out what you’re going to write by making an outline.

Architects use a blue print. A web page is comprised of code. Cooks rely on recipes. What do they all have in common? They have a plan. The rules for writing a good essay are no different. After you brainstorm, you’ll know what you want to say, but you must decide how you’re going to say it. Create an outline that breaks down the essay into sections.

  • All good stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end, so shape your story so that it has an introduction, body, and conclusion. Following this natural progression will make your essay coherent and easy to read.
  • Strategize. How are you going to open your essay? With an anecdote? A question? Dialogue? Use of humor? Try to identify what the tone of your essay is going to be based on your ideas.
  • Stick to your writing style and voice. It’s particularly important when writing a piece about yourself that you write naturally. Put the words in your own voice. By planning the layout of your essay ahead of time, you’ll avoid changing your writing style mid-story.

Write the essay

Once you're satisfied with your essay in outline format, start writing!

By now you know exactly what you'll write about and how you want to tell the story. So hop on a computer and get to it. Try to just let yourself bang out a rough draft without going back to change anything. Then go back and revise, revise, revise. Before you know it, you'll have told the story you outlined—and will have reached the necessary word count—and you'll be happy you spent all that time preparing!

  • Keep your essay’s focus narrow and personal. Don’t lose your reader. Start with your main idea and follow it from beginning to end.
  • Be specific. Avoid using clichéd, predictable, or generic phrases by developing your main idea with vivid and detailed facts, events, quotations, examples, and reasons.
  • Be yourself. Admission officers read plenty of application essays and know the difference between a student’s original story and a recycled academic essay, or—worse—a piece written by your mom or dad or even plagiarized. Bring something new to the table, not just what you think they want to hear. Use humor if appropriate.
  • Be concise. Don’t use 50 words if five will do. Try to only include the information that is absolutely necessary.

Related: How to 'Show, Don't Tell' to Boost Your Writing

Proofread

The last step is editing and proofreading your finished essay.

You've worked so hard up until this point, and while you might be relieved, remember: your essay is only as good as your editing. Grammatical errors or typos could indicate carelessness—not a trait you want to convey to a college admission officer.

  • Give yourself some time. Let your essay sit for a while (at least an hour or two) before you proofread it. Approaching the essay with a fresh perspective gives your mind a chance to focus on the actual words rather than seeing what you think you wrote.
  • 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. Don’t abbreviate or use acronyms or slang. They might be fine in a text message, but not in your college essay.
  • 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.
  • Read your essay backwards. This may sound a bit silly, but when reading in sequential order, your brain has a tendency to piece together missing information, or fill in the blanks, for you. Reading each sentence on its own and backwards can help you realize not only typos and mistakes in grammar but also any forgotten articles such as “a” or “the.”
  • Read your essay out loud. This forces you to read each word individually and increases your chances of finding a typo. Reading aloud will also help you ensure your punctuation is correct, and it’s often easier to hear awkward sentences than see them.
  • Check for consistency. Avoid switching back and forth from different tenses. Also, if you refer to a particular college in the essay, make sure it is the correct name and is consistent throughout the piece. You don’t want to reference two different schools in the same paper!

Related: College Application Proofreading Tips From an Editor-in-Chief

Tie up loose ends

Celebrate finishing what you started.

Writing the college essay takes time and effort, and you should feel accomplished. When you submit your essay, remember to include your name, contact information, and ID number if your college provided one, especially if you send it to a general admission email account. Nothing is worse than trying to match an application essay with no name (or, worse, an email address such as donutsarelife@domain.com) to a file. Make sure to keep copies of what you sent to which schools and when—and follow up on them! Be certain the college or university you're applying to received your essay. You don’t want all that hard work to go to waste.

Looking for more college application essay help? We have tons of advice here, including lots of examples from real students!

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Are you trying to write your college application essay but don’t know where to start? This post will help you decide what to include in your essay.

What is a college application essay?

The college application essay is your opportunity to show off to colleges your personality and how you think. Many students use the essay as a chance to stand out from the other applicants and demonstrate what they can bring to their campus and student body.

Why do you need a college application essay?

Many colleges require an essay from each applicant. The essay is also required on the Common Application, which is used by more than 800 colleges and universities. Although every college has their own admissions process, most schools and admissions officers take the college application essay into consideration in deciding which students to admit.

Your college admission essay is your chance to use your voice to add to your college application. Many colleges require the essay as a way to hear from the student directly and to get a sense of who you are in your own words. It’s a great opportunity to personalize your application beyond the grades, scores, and other information you’ve provided and can make a difference at decision time.

What are colleges looking for in your application essay?

Colleges are looking for students to show they can write well and build a logical argument with supporting ideas. For some colleges, the essay can indicate whether an applicant is a good fit.

An expert shares that his best advice to any student writing an essay is to answer the question asked and be yourself in your own voice.

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Good College Application Essay Samples

The flexible and individualized learning aspects of Empire State College's programs require students to use and improve their reading and writing skills continually as they study at the college. In order to be successful from the beginning, students need to start with sufficient reading and writing skills.

The quality of your essay will determine your admission to the college.

Your essay will be evaluated on the following areas:

  • how well you answer the essay prompt below
  • how well you organize and develop your ideas
  • grammar, spelling and vocabulary.

Remember to proofread your essay before you submit it.

College Application Essay Examples Pdf

Application Essay Prompt

In a typed essay of at least 300 words, please describe:

  • why you are applying to SUNY Empire State College
  • What you hope to study, and how earning a degree in that field of study will help you achieve your personal and professional goals, and
  • what strengths and experiences (educational, employment, community and personal background) you possess that will help make you a successful student at SUNY Empire State College.

RN to BSN Essay Prompt

In an essay of no fewer than 300 words, please describe:

  1. how earning a higher degree in nursing will help you achieve your personal and professional goals,
  2. ways you would like to personalize your learning while engaging in the degree requirements to achieve your goals,
  3. your strengths and experiences (educational, employment, community and personal background) that will make you a successful student in our learning environment.

Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School for Labor Studies Essay Prompt

In a typed essay of at least 300 words write a response to either A or B:

(A) “Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.” (James M. Barrie)
Write an essay in support of the above passage by Barrie. Make a clear point and then explain and illustrate your answer with your own experiences, observations or readings.

(B) “Get happiness out of your work or you may never know what happiness is.” (Elbert Hubbard)
Write an essay in support of the above passage, by Hubbard. Make a clear point and then explain and illustrate your answer with your own experiences, observations or readings.

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Empire Opportunity Program Essay Prompt

In an essay of at least 300 words, please describe:

  • Why you are applying to the SUNY Empire State College Educational Opportunity Program
  • How will the SUNY Empire State College Educational Opportunity Program improve your academic experience?

College Application Essay Samples

The essay will be evaluated on the following areas:

College Application Essay Examples

  • How well the questions are answered
  • How well the students ideas are organized and developed
  • Grammar, spelling, and vocabulary