How To Write An Admission Essay

How to Write an Admission Essay

Writing an admission essay is the first step towards joining the university. Every student who wishes to join university needs to write and submit an admission essay to their university of choice. The skills and expertise in which an admission essay is written, therefore, play a great role in catching the eye of the Admission Board members and it paves the way for you to get into your favorite university. Before diving into the ‘How’, there are a few things that need to be considered.

1. Why Write an Admission Essay?

Before writing an admission essay, you need to understand why you should write one. First of all, an admission essay is an opportunity for you to express yourself. An admission essay also makes it possible for the Admissions Board to get to know a student’s personality, learn about their interests, as well as their goals and aspirations. This way they the board members can select who is the most suitable to join their institution. While a student’s grades matter a great deal too, an impressive admission essay can act in your favor and force the Admission Board to overlook unsatisfactory grades.

2. Decide which University you want to apply to.

This is a very important issue to put into consideration, as being sure of which schools you want to apply to will help you to do further on the university’s background before writing an admission essay. Background information of the school is a very useful guide to a well-written essay. Most universities look for the same things in the college applications that land on their desks, such as grades, extracurricular activities, skills and talents, proof of integrity, work experience, recommendations, and anything that will reveal the character and personality of the student applicant. Therefore, knowing which package a certain university prioritizes will give you ideas on what to include in your essay.

3. What should be in your Admission Essay?

Thousands of students apply to college every year and this means that the Admissions Board receives just as many application essays. However, a majority of these applications do not get past the ‘received’ stage mainly because they are not appealing. An impressive essay needs to be captivating at a glance and this can be achieved by following certain steps and organizing one’s thoughts:

• A great essay needs to follow the prompts for the university that one is applying for. These prompts are all the things that are important and prioritized by the school that you want to apply to. These can be learned by doing online research on the university of interest and ensuring that you make them the foundation of your essay. These prompts vary from university to university; personal goals, past achievements, motivations, experiences, etc.
• The topic that you choose for your essay has to be captivating. A boring topic will have the reader drop your application as soon as they start reading it. An interesting topic, however, will keep the reader interested until the end. Some of the most interesting topics to write about are; an interesting story about/from your childhood, a description of an event that taught you a certain lesson that changed your life, an explanation of what motivates you, These are a few of some of the most popular yet important topics that you can write about in your admission essay.
• A good essay should not have any grammar mistakes. Grammatical errors are the quickest way to have your letter be disqualified before there is a chance to read it. When an essay has poor grammar, it will not matter how good the story is. Therefore, you have to use proper spelling, grammar, and maintain a positive note.
• An application essay needs to be short and straight to the point. Remember that there are thousands of applications to choose from and the Admissions Board wants to spend as little time going through them as possible. A long essay will, therefore, be immediately disregarded. An essay of between 500-600 words is recommended.

4. How to write your Application Essay

• The most important thing to remember about ‘HOW’ to write an application essay is that you have to be as unique as possible. Make sure that all your ideas are original and realistic. Universities want to select students whose skills and talents they can nurture, thus, originality and uniqueness are key.
• Your story should not be fictional unless this is a requirement by the university to test your creativity on fictional stories.
• Try as much as possible to appeal to the emotions of the reader, without overdoing it. This can be achieved through the use of the right amount of humor, metaphors, and other helpful literary devices.
• Your essay should also not be complicated or have any complicated twists that may need to take time for the reader to understand. The story chosen should be simple yet captivating.
• If there are some admission questions that you have to answer in your essay, ensure that all your answers cover all the questions without straying out of topic.
• Follow the simple essay format for your application essay; an eye-catching introduction, body paragraphs, and a satisfactory conclusion.

Many students find writing an admission essay as a difficult task, but it is not. Proper skills and background knowledge will propel you in the right direction with these kinds of essays. By following these simple steps, you are sure to write an impressive admission essay and get into the university of your choice. All the best!!