Common Application Essay Writing
Thursday, December 15th, 2011Tips to Write a Winning Common Application Essay
The Common application is a procedure used by many colleges and universities to admit students to their institutes. This mode of admission procedure takes into account letter of recommendations, common application essays along with the grade point average and test scores as an evaluation criteria. This is fast becoming a trend among many good colleges as it focuses on the overall development of a candidate and gives average and creative students an opportunity to cover up their scores.
Though every college has different evaluation criteria, there are tips that can be universally applied to all forms of personal writing, especially a common application essay writing, as evaluators generally look for candidate’s personal development.
You can write a winning college application essay as you will have an optimum time to reflect and write about your experiences, along with taking essay help from provided by Custom essays UK. However if you plan to write essay on your own, here are five tips to write a winning common application essay:
- Mention aspects not asked in other application columns:
When filling a common application form you will be asked to provide details on various fields: personal and educational data, work experience, family details, academic honors and achievements, extra curricular activities. If you repeat any of the qualifications, you defeat the purpose of the question. The skill is to make your common application diverse. Hence, when you write essay, make sure there are no repetitions. If a point has been mentioned in one of the columns, avoid mentioning it in your essay.
- Reveal Personal characteristics not your achievements
As mentioned above, if you discuss your achievements and honors in your common application essay, you will defeat the purpose of essay writing as the details are already mentioned in your application. Let your essay reveal your personality traits that are not reflected through your academic achievements. Such experiences should be driven from life and must reflect your intellectual, personal or spiritual growth or understanding.
- Bring that epiphany element
We all have a Eureka moment in our lives, time when things around us take a unique meaning and leave us with a life changing experience. No matter how relevant such experiences are to our academic life, they do bring a change in our vision and our understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Try to manifest that experience in your essay and show how a day to day event has a spark of enlightenment in it.
- Use Teasing Signposts
The most engaging and compelling common application essays teases its reader with subtle hints. You have to make sure your reader enjoys reading your essay. Open your essay providing signposts hinting your perspective. You may use a relevant quotation and juxtapose it with your experience, changing its context and meaning.
- Give a twist to your essay structure
Want to add creativity to your essay structure? Use various modes of narration to suit your essay. This helps you to communicate not only with words, but with their placement and impact on the reader. A good essay makes effective use of all the components to leave the desired impact on the reader.
