subject: College Essay Mistakes- Make no mistake in them [print this page] College Essay Mistakes- Make no mistake in them
It's that time of the year, where the huge hassle starts of where to apply, deadlines to meet etc. Yup, it's the essay writing for college admission. The very first advice anyone would give is to start early. Filling out an application form is no joke. Colleges of all fields, whether they are science, medical, arts, literature, dramatics etc, take their educational services seriously and thus they most amiably want to recruit serious students as well. Two things that must be kept in mind, that college essays are more like psychological testing, they want to know the who, what, why, when, how, yes and no of you, so being truthful is the only option because there might an interview later on that can cause some embarrassment if they find out that some of it was a fake, and second read and re-read the question; get help if you are confused. Let's begin step by step.
The first mistake that is always and commonly made is the repetition in college essays. Students end up writing the same thing about themselves, which has already been written in the application form. Write something new (Usually there are questions in the college essay so no worries there to help you better understand what the college needs from you).
Analyze yourself. Make a list of the Five W's and a H. Prepare a list of your everyday hobbies, personalities that have influenced you, dreams, your strength and weaknesses (But mention the weakness only when it has been recommended in the college essay). The reason behind all this when a student starts writing, there are too many things that come to mind and sometimes the most insignificant and yet vital part gets amiss. You can ask your parents, friends, relatives any one for advice because the third party has the better view of you, sometimes.
Don't try to put the spotlight on yourself. Most students write how wonderful they are, their grades, societies they have joined and activities that have done etc. It's all good but there is really no need for that because your college application already has the certificates etc. And there is also no need for extra praising of the college itself, they already know that, but they don't know about you, so keep focusing on yourself. They want to know what you can give to the college itself.
The third which can even be called as Careless and Common Sense Mistake are the grammatical, punctuation marks and spelling mistakes. When you are done with college essays, show it to your family and friends and ask them to proof read and edit it. Even flawless college essays get rejected if there is any spelling mistake.
Make sure that your college essay has defined sentence and topic wise structure, or else if it's all a jumble of thoughts, then the examiner will be at a loss of words. Make a rough draft to avoid problems. Don't write things that can make them realize that you have low self esteem are in self-doubt, the examiners can read through the college essays, so be confident, and believe you have value.
