College 101

College 101 Submit it, and treat yourself to something nice â€" like your favorite film, a run, quality time with your dog or whatever it is that you enjoy. Ask people you trust for their feedback, but don’t let anyone else tell you how you should write it. This is your story, or some small but significant part of it, as told or reflected upon by you. Don’t let stupid mistakes pull down the quality of your essay. Proofread this thing more than any essay you’ve ever written. To identify the first steps to starting an essay. But what’s so wrong with having a wide range of interests? This is inherently not a bad, nay, it’s a good thing for a college applicant. These are just filler words that we lean on for convenience. To craft an outstanding essay you have to get past these overused descriptions. When writing about an experience like this, it can be really easy to get wrapped up in all the cool things that happened. To succeed in the long-term, you need to think strategically. This article explores concrete ways to apply strategic thinking in your life. Here's a list of 42 awesome college tips to make the most of freshman year and beyond. After you’ve checked for mechanical errors, you need to go back through your essay and edit it. Formatting and presentation cannot replace substance, but they can certainly enhance the value of an already well-written essay. Tell us something different from what we’ll read on your list of extracurricular activities or transcript. Essays should have a thesis that is clear to you and to the reader. Your thesis should indicate where you’re going and what you’re trying to communicate from the outset. Look for things like consistency of tone, style, and form. If you need some help, check out this guide from Purdue. Sadly, one of the easiest ways to stand out is to have correct spelling and grammar. Feel free to tell us about a time you stumbled, and what happened next. Don’t be afraid to reveal yourself in your writing. Focus on one event, one activity, or one “most influential person.” Tackling too much tends to make your essay too watered down or disjointed. Especially if you’re recounting an event, take it beyond the chronological storytelling. Begin thinking about answers to the common application questions and review the pre-writing techniques. You’re trying to show who you are and what you’re about. Furthermore, they likely know nothing about the subject of your essay. Even if they do, they certainly don’t have the same knowledge and perspective that you have. To close this gap, you need to be as specific as possible. You need to talk about what you learned, about how this experience changed you, and how it helped form who you are today. To do this, you need to get away from simply summarizing events. For instance, let’s say you spent a summer during your high school years doing a homestay in another country while learning a new language. Remember, you’re not Sergeant Joe Friday writing up a police report. And you’re certainly not telling your story just for the heck of it.