Self Expression as a Key to an Effective College Entrance Essay
Friday, October 16th, 2009Students often look beyond themselves when they brainstorm essay topics, be it for a college entrance essay, a Macbeth essay, a reflective essay or a personal Essay. Instead of presenting their own view points on a particular topic they tend to incline towards the most widely accepted point of view. Such an attempt makes their essays dull, vague, ambiguous and duplicate.
So where to look for resources when you are challenged with the task of Essay writing and more so when you have to write a college admission Essay? The answer to this is very simple. Your best resource is your own experiences. Writing from one’s experience not only provides you with a unique content but also gives you a newer perspective that makes your essay original, self expressive and interesting.
How to Express yourself in your College Entrance Essay.
Introspection is a primary key to writing an original college entrance essay. Introspect with brainstorming, recollecting moments in your life that made a difference, remembering people who helped you grow into an better individual, thinking of setbacks in your life that gave you determination, achievements that strengthened your belief. It could be anything from your childhood dreams that you saw materialize to your future goals and aspirations that you strive to make a reality.
When you have done enough brainstorming it is time to become specific and take hold of one moment close to you. It could be an anecdote, a memoir, a daily chore, just anything that made a difference to you, no matter how small.
Once you have an essay topic to write on, it is time to do some practical research. Do considerable research about the college or colleges you apply for. You can also have a look at the essay prompts given by various colleges. This gives you a sufficient idea of the specifications the admission officers might be looking for in a good college admission essay.
On the basis of your personal brainstorming and the college research choose your essay format. Your personal Essay can be a descriptive essay or a reflective essay depending on the event you choose to write on.
Now it is time to bring your thoughts into writing. Make a rough essay outline. You might at first find yourself at loss of appropriate words. Imagine writing a journal entry or talking to a friend. Your first draft may be very far from your actual essay but once you get into the flow of writing about yourself you will perform better in your subsequent and final draft.
The way you present an ordinary event into a life changing personal experience depends entirely on your expression. Begin by retelling an event and the manner it affected you.
Describe how such an impact was crucial to your developing conscience. This will automatically present to the reader the personality behind the words.
Suggest your personality rather than cleanly stating it. Avoid describing yourself in adjectives, instead present a story to the reader that depicts your personalty. The representation need not necessarily be rigid. Take help of literary devices like similes, metaphors, allusions, appropriate quotations to bring your point home.
The more creativity you spill into your writing, the more original and reflective your college Entrance Essay becomes. By following the above mentioned tips you can personalize your college Entrance Essay at the same time making it unique, original and interesting. This not only helps you get better edge over your competitors but also gives you an opportunity to you cover up your SAT scores and come at par with the meritorious students. Prior brainstorming and Introspection helps you become expressive and let you write on any personal essay topic without any essay help.
