Learn how to write a college essay, what to write about, and how to set yourself apart from other essays so your application has the best chance of success!
Writing a great college essay that sets you apart from other college applicants can be a challenge. Sometimes you only have a page to write an essay that grabs a college’s attention and adequately shows what a great applicant you are.
There are many things you can do to help make your college admissions essay a great one, so you have the best chance among a sea of other applicants. Learn how to write a good college application essay so you can stand out and get into your dream school!
What Should I Write My College Essay About?
College essays are either open-ended, allowing you to pick what you write about, or they have a specific prompt you need to write about.
If an essay gives you a prompt, then it’s very important that you write about the prompt they give you. Part of what will make your essay acceptable is how well you answer their prompt. Some college admissions even over supplemental essays where you can pick from a few prompt options.
But if you aren’t given a specific prompt, then it will be up to you to choose your topic. Here is where you can have some freedom to pick a great topic to show why you would make a great student in this program.
How to Pick a College Essay Topic
If you aren’t given a specific topic to talk about, then there are several standard types of college application essay prompts you can choose from.
There’s the personal essay, a why this essay, an extracurricular activities essay. or a community service essay.
- Personal statement essay
- Why this college essay
- Community essay
Pick the college essay topic that best shows the school that you are a good fit for this school or program and that you are an exemplary school student.
How to Write a Personal Essay For College
A personal essay, a personal statement essay, a personal challenge essay, or a personal experiences essay is all about you. So, how do you write a college essay about yourself?
You want to share important personal insights you’ve learned, challenges you’ve overcome, or experiences that have shaped you academically.
- Share personal insights you’ve learned.
- Share challenges you’ve overcome.
- Share experiences that shaped you academically.
Pick something significant you have learned, a challenge you were able to find success over, or another experience that taught you a lot and write about one of those things.
And don’t forget to relate it as much as possible to academics and your ability to be a great student for the admissions officer to accept into the school. They want to see that you will be a good student and a great addition to their university’s student body.
How to Write a Why This College Essay
A why this college essay, a why this school essay, or a why this program essay is all about why you picked this school to apply to. Whether this school is your dream school, or a secondary pick, you want to write as if this were your dream school.
- Share why you picked this school
- Share why you picked this program or major
- Outline your academic plans
You want to share why you picked this school, why you picked this program or major, what you plan to do with everything you gain from this school, and why you are a good fit for this school.
How to Write a Community Essay
A community essay, a community service essay, or an extracurricular activities essay is all about your involvement in the community around you.
- Share your community involvement
- Share what you have learned
- Relate what you’ve learned to academics
You want to share how you are an involved member of your community, what you have learned in the process of being involved, and how this involvement relates to your potential as a college student.
What to Not Write About in College Essays
A college essay should be personal, unique to you, and relate to your academic endeavors and plans as much as possible. Admissions officers want to learn more about who you are as an individual, as a member of society, and as an academic. This will help them determine whether your acceptance will add value to their school.
A college essay should not be about someone else or not relate in any way to your academic plans and goals. If college admissions officers cannot glean the information they need from your essay to determine whether you would be a good addition to the school, then your essay won’t serve its ultimate purpose.
Let’s review what not to write about in college essays so your writing keeps the readers' attention and properly serves its purpose in highlighting the pros of accepting your application.
- Avoid Cliches. Overused topics and cliches won’t help your essay stand out from other applicants. Make sure you are trying to be as original and unique as possible. Even if you have similar experiences to talk about, you can still provide a unique perspective or more personal academic interests, goals, and plans.
- Avoid Controversial Topics. Controversial or polarizing topics can be very difficult to tackle in a tactful way. Your application reader could be anyone, and you don’t want to accidentally alienate or offend any potential reader.
- Avoid Inappropriate Topics. College essays are like a written conversation with someone you are meeting for the first time. If the subject matter is something you wouldn’t bring up in an in-person interview, then it may not be appropriate for a written essay.
- Avoid Negativity. When speaking about challenges or setbacks you’ve faced, remember to be reflective in a positive and optimistic way. Readers will want to see how you overcame difficulties and what you learned moving forward.
- Show Don’t Tell. You are essentially selling yourself in an admissions essay, but you want to sell yourself tastefully, not boastfully. Remember to show your exceptionalism and let what you show speak for itself, rather than asserting your good qualities to the reader through telling instead of showing.
- Avoid Very Casual Language. The setting of a college admissions interview is formal or in the very least, business casual. Let your writing reflect that semi-formal tone as you write in a professional and respectful manner.
How to Write a College Application Essay
Now that you know what to write about and what not to write about, let’s learn how to write a college application essay. Everyone’s writing process looks different, but if you’re having trouble finding yours, here’s a good place to start.
Step 1: Write a Thesis
Start by writing a thesis for your essay. A thesis is a sentence or 2 that summarizes the main point your essay wants to convey.
Start by writing your essay’s main focus in however many sentences or bullet points you need to get your point across. Then, narrow that content down to a single short and sweet sentence.
This thesis sentence can then appear in your introductory paragraph and also help you write your essay’s title.
Step 2: Outline Your Essay
Start drafting your essay by writing out bullet points for all the key points you want to make. Think of your thesis or focus sentence as your main point and think of these bullet points as your secondary points.
Once you have a bulleted list of things you want to talk about, organize those bulleted items into however many paragraphs you need to fit your essay's word count.
For example, you might find that some points can be grouped together so you end up with a few bulleted items under paragraphs a, b, and c.
Step 3: Write an Intro, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusion
Now that you have outlined your plans for the intro, body paragraphs, and conclusion, it’s time to start writing your bulleted items into paragraph form.
Expand upon all of the key points in your draft until you have a few clear and concise sentences to thoroughly explain each point to the reader.
And don’t forget to sandwich your essay with an introductory paragraph that introduces yourself and your essay's main focus (the thesis), and a conclusion paragraph that wraps up the main point your secondary points (the body paragraphs) helped to prove.
How to Write a Hook for a College Essay
A great college essay will have a great hook that grabs the reader’s attention, piques their interest in what you have to say, and showcases your personal writing style. An interesting essay has a good hook that will set your application apart from others.
Pick something interesting that will grab attention like:
- Tell a story
- Ask a thought-provoking question
- Use some descriptive or creative writing
- Share an interesting fact
How Long Should a College Essay Be?
If your college essay prompt has a word count, a character limit, or a minimum page requirement, then your essay length should follow this requirement. Make sure you check the prompt or instructions for a specific length requirement first.
If there is no specific college essay length requirement, then in general your college essay should be about 500 words long.
