College Life
Pro Tips for Writing a College Essay
Get top-notch insights and strategies with our pro tips for writing a college essay. Elevate your writing skills today!
This article was published on October 25th, 2023.
Everyone wants to write a good college essay.
After all, why not? Most colleges and universities require their learners to have good skills in creating papers of many types.
For those in a need of some guidelines, this short review can offer you a few useful tips.
Let’s Get Started: Writing a College Application Essay
What’s an application essay? It’s a piece of writing that allows you to present yourself as best as you want to a potential admission board.
It will be among the key documents that will represent you as a person.
It means that writing a college application essay can be decisive in whether or not you’ll get accepted into a chosen institution.
However, it also means that you have a full chance to make it as good as you can by simply tapping into your potential.
- Get the prompt.
Although some universities want you to send applications with a free theme, others are much more specific.
Regardless of how well you write, don’t forget the key points required of you.
- Choose the narrative.
People have been incredibly creative in developing stories that show them from the wildest of angles.
Usually, they are either very sad, very inspiring, or both.
Occasionally, students like to make funny application essays, but we’d rather stay away from it for one simple reason: everyone has a different sense of humor, so it’s better to play it safe.
- Use a unique and compelling story.
Read a few examples and try to understand what makes them interesting and what was already told too often to be fascinating.
You can write about anything from the day you destroyed your wardrobe and redesigned it to the day you saved an old lady.
- Be honest.
Don’t make yourself look too great and awesome if that’s not really true.
People like reading about those who are ready to ask for help or to laugh at themselves.
- Read it aloud to others.
Always ask people who have good writing skills and aren’t afraid to offer you a little bit of advice.
It will greatly help you to know what works in your text and what doesn’t.
Writing is important because it can represent your abilities even in this tech-driven world.
No one will understand how outstandingly impressive it is to write a text that’s a manifestation of your personality until they do it themselves.
And while you may think that you can’t do it or that you don’t have talent, there are many guidelines and classes you can try to become more confident in your writing.
It’s an outstanding investment in a career and learning because a good writer always stands out.
However, if you need fast help from professional writers, you may ask help from CustomWritings college essay writing service.
Alternatively, you can talk to people with more experience than you do and ask them for some suggestions. Don’t get discouraged!
Related: College Essay Format -The Best Tips to Format Your College Essay
How to Write a Good College Essay from Scratch
- Determine the essay type.
Before you write a college essay, read all the instructions and try to understand what kind of writing your professor wants from you.
A personal essay is very different from a compare and contrast essay and so on.
You will adjust everything from searching information to creating a specific format based on the type of essay.
Ask your educator if you can.
- Collect information.
Create a separate document in any program you use and put all the links and sources in there.
If you have a good understanding of the topic, start dividing the topics of information into separate paragraphs.
- Always make an outline.
Many beginner students think that it’s a waste of time, but it can actually save you a lot of resources and effort.
Don’t make something too fancy; just think about all the body paragraphs, introduction, and conclusion.
Remember that the word count should be relatively equal between all body sections.
- Add reliable sources.
Don’t use Wikipedia or online encyclopedias to prove your point.
Most professors won’t count them as scholarly sources and can even decrease your grade for that.
Opt for reliable journals and magazines with a clear publication date and an author’s name.
- Proofread a few times.
If you’re good with your college essay writing, you don’t need to edit and reread your text many times.
Nonetheless, if you’re a beginner and don’t know all the grammar and punctuation rules, better use an online proofreading service.
Some are free and others are paid; we won’t put any suggestions here because everyone has their own budget.
Main Mistakes in Writing College Essays
Everyone makes mistakes when creating college essays. These are the common ones.
- Using too informal language.
Everything from writing a college admission essay to composing a persuasive text requires students to use academic formal language.
So, it should be without contractions, personal pronouns such as “you” or “we,” and overly simplistic words.
Of course, every essay has its own requirements, but most colleges will ask you to not write as if you’re in an online chat with your friends.
- Summarizing someone else’s words.
Aside from the situation when your educator specifically asked you for a summary, college level papers require you to add critical thinking and analysis to your pieces.
So, if you’re only starting your writing journey at a uni, the best way to make an effective entrance is to show that you know how to think critically and independently.
- Using AI.
Alright, some might falsely believe that because AI writes adequate sentences it means that anyone can use it for their works.
In reality, AI often plagiarizes text, makes it nonsensical, and writes false information.
In some cases, it can write adequate texts, but they won’t be unique.
And if you want to connect your life to writing, better to avoid it.
Besides, professors hate it.
- Ignoring objective criticism.
Some educators state that their students continue emphasizing that they have their unique style that shouldn’t be corrected.
That might be true, but college texts have their specific structure and demands.
Other people can get sad after the first not perfect grade.
Be positive about criticism! Remember that learning gets you to the next level.
Still, if the person helping you is rude, ignore them.
Related: How To Create the Best Essay Outline – The 2023 Student Guide
Pick Up a Pen and Go for It
Now that you’ve received some tips about getting your writing smoother, you can start trying it all out.
Perhaps you’ll start writing well immediately.
Or maybe it will be harder than you anticipated due to some individual reasons.
Don’t give up. A lot of people who struggled eventually became much better than those who were ahead of them.
Start with baby steps, and soon enough, you will make running strides!
