Summer is Primetime for Writing College Application Essays

By Amanda Lough

As the school year winds down and summer season begins, it’s important for rising seniors and parents of college-bound high school students to understand the necessity of writing the college application essay during these sunny months. In this article, we’ll explore why tackling this crucial task early on can lead to a smoother application process and increase your chances of standing out among your competitors. 

Beat the Fall Rush: Start Crafting Your College Application Essay Now

Waiting until the last minute is a recipe for stress and mediocre essays. Writing your essay during the summer allows you to beat the business of the fall. Many students wait until the last minute to start their essays, which leads to unnecessary stress and compromises the quality of their work- when the school year sets in, they become consumed by homework, extracurricular activities and outside jobs and are unable to dedicate the time needed to write an excellent essay. You want to be able to focus on your academics when you need to, and your essay should not have to fall by the wayside because of that. By starting early, you have ample time to pick a prompt that resonates with you, brainstorm ideas, conduct research, and craft a compelling essay without feeling that crunch.

Unleash Your Creativity: The Benefits of Summer for Essay Writing

The relaxed summer atmosphere fosters inspiration and allows for self-reflection. The slower paced nature of summer provides an ideal environment for unleashing your creativity! With fewer academic pressures and time constraints, you can let your imagination run free and explore unique perspectives. Dive deep and see where your thoughts take you. Take advantage of this downtime to reflect on your experiences, values, and goals- this will result in a more authentic and engaging essay that captures the attention of admissions officers.

Engage in Meaningful Experiences: Gather Material for Your Essay

Exploring summer activities, internships, and travel can help you create experiences that can enrich your essay and make it stand out. Summer offers a wealth of opportunities to engage in meaningful experiences that can enhance your essay. Whether it’s participating in internships, volunteering, traveling, or pursuing personal projects, these experiences provide valuable material to incorporate into your essay. Stay away from cliches, and avoid rehashing your extracurricular list- admissions officers will see that on your application! By sharing specific anecdotes and lessons learned through these other experiences, you will make your essay more vivid and memorable to admissions officers.

Time for Reflection: Developing a Unique Narrative

Summer break provides an opportunity for introspection and discovering compelling personal stories. During summer break, time is on your side and you have the luxury of intentionally taking time to engage in introspection. Reflect on moments that have shaped you, challenges you’ve overcome, ways that you have grown and lessons you’ve learned. Perhaps incorporate some of the experiences mentioned in the paragraph above if you’ve had the opportunity to do any of them. Your essay is your one opportunity to use your voice, and stand out from who you are “on paper”. Developing a unique narrative that showcases your character and resilience will make your essay memorable and distinct. 

Seek Feedback and Edit: The Importance of Revision

Utilize the summer months to share your essay with mentors, teachers, and school counselors for valuable feedback. Communicate with the trusted adults in your circle prior to reaching out to them in the summer- have a conversation with them before the school year ends so that they are aware that you’ll be sending them your essay for review. With fewer academic commitments, they are more likely to have the time and availability to provide thoughtful insights and suggestions for improvement. After you receive this feedback, start polishing your work. Edit, edit, then edit some more! This revision process is crucial for refining your essay and making it the best it can be.

Enjoy a Head Start: Lessen the Burden of the College Application Process

By completing your essay early, you can reduce stress, allowing more time to focus on other application components in the fall. Getting an early start on your college application essay lessens the burden of the overall process. Once your essay is completed, you can shift your focus to other essential components, such as standardized tests, recommendation letters, and extracurricular involvement. This proactive approach reduces stress and allows you to manage your time effectively throughout the application process.

All students applying to college want to give themselves an edge over everyone else in the application pool. By choosing to write your college application essay during the summer months, you’re gaining a significant advantage over those who wait until the fall. The relaxed atmosphere, ample time for reflection, the ability to seek feedback, and the opportunity to engage in meaningful experiences all contribute to the creation of a compelling essay that truly reflects your unique qualities and experiences. So, take advantage of the summer break and get a head start on this crucial part of the college application process.

 

College Application Resources for Seniors and Rising Seniors

Putting the finishing touches on early applications? Shifting your focus to regular decision deadlines?

Either way, here are a some timely resources to help you uplevel your college applications and essays right now. Also, these are great resources for rising seniors to prepare for college application season in the spring.

5 College Application Resources to Use Right Now

Read Here

Supplemental Essay Guides for 70+ Colleges

We've created tons of school-specific guides with analyzed essay examples to get you inspired.

Read Here

How to Craft a Successful Common App Activities List

How do you order your activities? Quality over quantity—or not? How do you fit years of love, sweat, and tears into 150 characters? Read here for more.

Get Access Here

Step-by-Step Video Courses

Get access to 30+ hours of video lessons & step-by-step guides for students.

Our courses cover everything from brainstorming great topics to outlining, drafting, revising, and polishing compelling applications and essays.

Watch Here

How Colleges Evaluate Applications (Webinar Recording)

In this session, Tom Campbell (CEG Community Manager, college counselor, and former admission officer at Pomona College) goes behind the scenes to share an overview of how many selective colleges review applications once you've hit "submit."

Watch Here

How to Write a Great "Why Us?" Essay (Video)

Some colleges look more closely at their school-specific supplemental essays than the personal statement—especially the "Why Us?" essay. Why? It can give them clearer insight into why you think their school is a great fit for you. Don't sleep on this one. (Specificity = key)

 

Essay Guides and Essay Examples

Read essay guides from students who have been accepted to their dream schools. 

College Advisor Essay Guides 

 

College Presentations from ACT - Check out These Tips from the Experts!

Your College and Career Planning Journey Starts Here!

View the following videos recorded at a recent live event, and read the questions and answers from each session. You'll learn from the experts how to prepare for college and career – from finding scholarships to transitioning to life on campus.

Jump to Sessions:  College Planning | Career Navigation | Paying for College

 

Ask The Experts: Advice from College Admissions Directors

Applerouth is hosting “Ask The Experts: Advice from College Admissions Directors” on March 29 at 8PM. The panel includes

Admissions Directors from Georgia Tech, Cornell University, and The George Washington University. This free online event will include topics such as:

§ Testing: What does “test optional” really mean? 

§ Classes & Grades: How do honors, AP, IB, and dual enrollment classes factor into the process? 

§ Essays: What are colleges looking for in students' essays?

§ Extracurriculars: How should students use their time outside of school? 

§ College Visits: With some colleges opening up to campus visitors, is it better to visit in person or remotely?

Register online: https://www.applerouth.com/signup/?scheduleid=488951

Or go to applerouth.com/events and use event code: M488951

Three (MORE) Messages Parents of High School Students Need to Hear About College Admission

By Rick Clark

 

…and we’re back. As mentioned in Part I, I decided to write these two blogs specifically for my friends, neighbors, and other adults in my life who now have kids in high school or considering college. As such you are welcome to read and consider, read and ignore, or not read but still forward or share.

1.  The admissions essay. First, not all colleges require students to write an essay or respond to short answer questions on their application. Those who do include writing as an opportunity for students to bring voice and personalization to an otherwise heavily box, number, and line- filled application. In reading essays, admission reviewers simply want to get a sense of students’ ability to express themselves or provide insight into their character, background, motivations, and so on. As a result, essays matter. Nobody adds questions or prompts to their application just to make it longer. We read. We share. We glean insight from student writing.

However, just as much as a comma splice or failure to underline the name of a book in an essay is not going to keep a student from being admitted, the essay in general is not going to be the thing that “gets your kid in.” Anyone who tells you otherwise: a) has never worked on a college campus b) has a vested (usually monetary) interest in convincing you otherwise c) that’s it. There is no C—other than their pulse on college admission. Is it wise to have someone look over an essay for feedback? Absolutely. Should students put thought, effort, and care into their writing for colleges? Undoubtedly. But as a parent or a supporting adult please do not edit out your kids’ voice/style, or pressure them to write about something they don’t genuinely value or believe has been impactful to them, because in doing so you rob the application of the very qualities we are hoping to see in their writing. More here. Bottom line: Essays are not the magic bullet/Hail Mary/death nail/Lazarus factor people believe them to be.

 2. High School/Club Sports vs. College Athletics. Too many conversations leap from “my kid is talented in (insert sport here)” to they’re going to play in college and “get a full ride scholarship.” Consider this: fewer than two- percent of high school athletes receive athletic scholarships, and most of those only cover a percentage of tuition, housing, meals, books, fees, and so on.

As your athlete has success at higher and more competitive levels, it is exciting to imagine them playing in bigger stadiums, in front of more people, or even on TV. My hope is you will focus more on the day to day and week to week of supporting, encouraging, and enjoying watching your athlete play club and high school sports, than speculating about or assuming where it may lead. Keep saving for college. Keep pushing your student to excel in the classroom. Be proud of them for who they are and what they’ve accomplished– and be sure they know it. In other words, don’t convince yourself there is an inverse correlation between the number of trophies or media coverage and the number of dollars you will be spending on college. It may play out that way, but in the overwhelming number of cases, it won’t. Dream killer or friend? You decide. Stay grounded, stay humble, and stay focused on being able to finance a college degree without dependence on a full athletic scholarship.

3. Quality of institution is not correlated with admit rate, ranking, or any other singular number or metric.

Whether it be an effort to simplify, ego, or buying into the false narrative around selectivity and rankings, parents and supporting adults too often reduce a student’s options, limit their perspective, and curb their ability to explore based on numbers.

Admit rate: When I arrived at Tech, we were admitting well over 60% of applicants. Just a few years ago we sat around 40%. This year’s class will see an admit rate below 20%. Are the students significantly smarter, more talented, or more destined for future success? Absolutely not. Students we admitted at 60% are running companies now and sitting on boards of major organizations. I’m not going to go down the rabbit hole of how different colleges count differently on apps received or admits issued, but the bottom line is selectivity level is not a proxy for academic quality. Most colleges in the country admit more students than they deny. If the best match for your student has an admit rate that is 20 points higher than another one they are admitted to, don’t let your ego or a false narrative cloud your judgment.

Ranking: The students at Tech who are currently sophomores applied here when we were ranked number five in the nation for public universities. Within a month of enrolling here, we’d dropped to number eight, and this year we are number 10. I’ve yet to see a student transfer because of this change—because nothing has changed. Same great students, important research, and valuable network/job opportunities. I  urge you to not draw firm (arguably arbitrary) lines, whether it be at number 10, 50, or 100. College is a big decision. College is expensive. College cannot be reduced to one number. Don’t fall into that trap. And for the love of all things holy, friends, if you are going to ascribe any value to a singular number or deem it an authoritative signpost, examine the methodology and ask yourself if your values are in line with their calculations.

In most cases, leading or pushing your student to limit or dictate their choice of where to apply or attend based on one number (or even small set of numbers) is short-sighted bordering on irresponsible.

Since there won’t be a part three to this series, let’s conclude this way. I know it’s challenging supporting your student through high school, and particularly through the college experience. So, while I do hope you will legitimately consider everything I have shared in this blog and the one prior, I also want to sincerely thank you.

editorial cartoon

Thank you for loving your kids.

Thank you for advocating for them.

Thank you for wanting them to have a better life and more opportunities and experiences than you have had.

Thank you for encouraging them and supporting them, even when they drive you nuts, roll their eyes, mumble one-syllable responses, or keep you up late at night worrying.

Thank you for washing the same dishes and clothes a thousand times.

Thank you for driving to and from practice and sitting through hours of swim meets or dance or music performances (just to hear or see your child perform for a fraction of that time).

Do I wish you wouldn’t disguise your voice in order to procure your daughter’s admission portal password? Sure.

Would admission officers prefer to come in the morning after releasing admission decisions, get a cup of coffee, and check the scores from the night before, rather than having parents outside (or in the parking lot) wanting to appeal or provide 13 additional recommendation letters? Yep.

Do I enjoy having my competence, intelligence, or soul brought into question based on an admission decision? Not particularly.

Nevertheless, as the parent of two kids, I get it. The truth is you are doing what you always have–loving them, protecting them, and providing for them. And since you absolutely do not hear this enough– THANK YOU!

Author: Rick Clark

Rick Clark is the Director of Undergraduate Admission at Georgia Tech. He has served on a number of national advisory and governing boards at the state, regional, and national level. Rick travels annually to U.S. embassies through the Department of State to discuss the admission process and landscape of higher education. He is the co-author of the book The Truth about College Admission: A Family Guide to Getting In and Staying Together, and a companion workbook published under the same title. A native of Atlanta, he earned a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a M.Ed. from Georgia State University. Prior to coming to Tech, Rick was on the admissions staff at Georgia State, The McCallie School and Wake Forest University. @clark2college View all posts by Rick Clark

 

6 STEPS TO START YOUR COLLEGE ESSAY - GUIDE FOR JUNIORS

From CollegeData

Getting started on your college essay can be one of the hardest parts of applying to college. Our advice? Take it one step at a time.

Most counselors and students who have applied to college recommend getting started on your college essays early -- the summer prior to senior year, if possible. If you find yourself putting it off, or if you’re experiencing essay anxiety, take a deep breath and try this 6-step plan.

STEP 1. REVIEW THE ESSAY PROMPT(S)

Take 15 or 20 minutes to simply look at the essay prompts. The Common Application and Coalition Application release their prompts during the spring prior to senior year.

• Common App essay prompts
• Coalition App essay prompts

If you’re applying to colleges that require an essay but don’t accept the Common App or Coalition App, check the website of the colleges to which you are applying to see if their application and essay is available. Most colleges post their applications in August.

Don’t worry about choosing a topic yet. At this point, just think about what you want colleges to know about you, beyond your grades and test scores. As the Colorado College Admissions Department advises: “Take the time to think carefully about what you want us to know about you.”  

STEP 2. START BRAINSTORMING

On another day, look at the prompts again. Do any of them invoke personal experiences that demonstrate a unique aspect of your personality? Your academic passions? Your ability to learn and grow from your experiences? Or another quality you want colleges to remember? Write down everything that comes to mind.

STEP 3. TEST DRIVE A FEW TOPICS 

Some of the students profiled in CollegeData’s Road to College Student Stories have told us that when they connected with an essay topic they were truly passionate about, their essay practically wrote itself. How do you find that topic?

Spend at least a few afternoons or evenings writing about the experiences you brainstormed in Step 2. Write freely and don’t edit yourself at first--just get your words and ideas on paper.

When you’re finished free writing, ask yourself:

• Which topics were easy -- or even fun-- to write about?
• Where did you have the most to say?
• Which piece of writing seems to reveal the “real you” and your genuine voice?

Remember that your essay does not have to be about a harrowing hardship, tragic loss, or a jaw-dropping adventure. As the Wellesley Admissions Department advises: "An essay about some small, even insignificant-seeming thing can be more powerful than an essay about how you’ve saved the world or overcome tragedy.”

STEP 4. WRITE A (TERRIBLE) FIRST DRAFT OR TWO

Once you have selected your topic, you can start structuring your first draft. But don’t expect your first, or even third or fourth draft, to be perfect. Give yourself time to write multiple versions, and plan to walk away from your essay for at least a couple of days so you can come back to it with a fresh perspective.  

Keep in mind that you may be able to use parts of the early drafts of your essay -- writing that didn't make it into the final version  -- for supplemental essays or other parts of your application.

Warning: Be careful about being overly influenced by online essay examples.

While reading essays submitted by other students can be helpful, reading too many might put the voices of other students in your head. Your essay should be uniquely yours. As the Princeton Admissions Department advises: “This is your opportunity to display your best writing as well as your ability to convey ideas in your own voice.”

STEP 5. GET FEEDBACK FROM A TEACHER, COUNSELOR, OR OTHER PEOPLE YOU TRUST  

Some questions to ask the readers of your essay:

• Does the essay ring true to them?
• Does the language sound like you?
• Did they find any parts of it unclear or difficult to understand?

STEP 6. WRITE AS MANY DRAFTS AS YOU NEED TO 

Revise and get feedback until you feel confident that your essay says what you want it to say. Then have a teacher, counselor or another person you trust proofread your essay to ensure there are no grammatical or punctuation errors and that it is clear and easy to read.

With your essay finished, you can then work on the other parts of your applications. Good luck!

Opinion: How to write an interesting college essay from a boring prompt

Taken from CTPost

With the imminent deadline for college applications, students are scrambling to complete the dreaded personal essay. As an instructor of college-level writing, the years I’ve spent teaching students on the other side of the college admission process has left me thinking about what I might say to prospective students.

Essays come in all shapes and sizes — some are breathlessly creative, others poignantly policy-oriented. For me, at least, the best student essays stand out for how well they show the nuances and complexities of how the author thinks.

College essays are difficult to write because they address broad prompts. But if you take time to separate out the parts that comprise the prompt’s implied argument, you might revise the prompt to suit your needs and curiosities. You might create a question that you’d love to answer.

Here’s a prompt: “The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?”

Many students might begin by listing all of the hard times they’ve experienced over the years. But what if you feel you have nothing remarkable to report?

To develop a response, we need to understand what the prompt is asking us to do. At a basic level, the prompt is asking us to take the claim — “The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success” — and supply evidence. But to merely check these formulaic boxes would be a missed opportunity. Rather than listing out experiences that may relate to the prompt, another way to go about prewriting is to perform surgery on the prompt. We can look for what rhetoricians call a warrant: “a general assumption or principle that links the evidence to the claim.” For example, the idea that you need to write a good college essay to get into college assumes, among other things, that you want to go to college.

Playing around with warrants can be fun. For example, a meme about mistakes circulating on the internet shows the picture of an obviously photo-shopped penguin holding two cymbals ready to crash over a sleeping polar bear. The inspirational poster parody reads that, like obstacles: “We learn from our mistakes” and underneath it in smaller font: “Today you will learn a lot.” Of course, the humor of this meme is that the penguin will soon learn the effect of waking a sleeping bear. That lesson, however, won’t serve the penguin for long since waking a predator close by leads to serious trouble. In this humor, we can spot a warrant: there is an expectation that time passes between our mistakes and what we learn. Moreover, there will be future events at which time one can apply this new learning.

The best thing to do with warrants in an argument is to challenge them. What if we don’t learn from obstacles? What if the things we learn now don’t lead to later success? What if they drift into oblivion?

Now it’s your turn: can you think of a time when you didn’t learn from obstacles? What did you learn from the experience of not learning from obstacles? Or, thinking on a broader sociocultural level: If we don’t always learn from obstacles, then why are educational institutions asserting that we could or should learn from obstacles?

The steps are as follows: (1) Challenge the warrant and ask why. (2) Use the questions you come up with like a new prompt. (3) Write an essay that responds to a question for which you do not have an answer at the outset. Write to explore the question and look for answers. One question I’ve wondered about, for example, is “Why is learning from mistakes so fundamental to postsecondary pedagogy in the United States?” Does it always work? Does it ever cause harm?

So before you begin to write your response to the prompts, pause to ask questions back at them. If you find yourself asking a question to which you don’t have an answer, and it’s one that you’d really like to have an answer to, then dive in. Begin free writing. Perhaps you’ll recognize the college essay application process not for what it is but for what it could be: a chance to explore the habits of mind that shape how you understand the world and to nudge readers to question the way they think.

Heather Klemann is a lecturer in the English Department at Yale University.

Top Tips for Revising Your College Admission Essays

by Ethan Sawyer, The College Essay Guy

So you’ve been working hard and now have a solid draft of your college admission personal statement in hand. Awesome! But after you’re done celebrating, you’ll start to wonder, now what? Coming up with the big idea and just writing it can be the toughest part of the process, but revision is also key. Students often ask how many times they should revise their essay. The answer will vary from student to student, but most of my favorite essays each year went through five to 10 drafts before we called them “done.”

5 steps to level-up your essay draft

Here are five steps you should take to level-up your personal statement draft—think of it as taking your work from a seven to a 10!

• Step 1: Go through your essay and highlight the first line of each paragraph in bold. This will set you up for the next step.
• Step 2: Read the bolded lines aloud. As you read, you’ll probably notice that some parts make sense and some don’t.
• Step 3: Write a new outline in which all the bolded lines flow together. Essentially, what you’ll be writing is the skeleton of the essay, which is like a mini version of your essay with only the most important points. Once you’ve written this new outline, paste the bolded lines into a blank document.
• Step 4: Rewrite your paragraphs so each one fleshes out the topic sentence. Why paste the new outline into a new document and start over? Because it’ll take longer if you don’t. Trust me.
• Step 5: Step away from the essay for at least 30 minutes. Go for a walk. Get something to eat. Do anything else to clear your mind. When you come back, put the first sentence of each paragraph in bold again. Read them aloud to see whether they tell a very short version of your overall essay.

If they don’t, rewrite them so they’re more transitionary and properly maintain the flow of your essay. If they do, you should have a solid revision, one that’s ready for feedback from a trusted counselor, teacher, or other supporter in your life.

Asking for feedback

When asking for feedback about your essay, don’t just ask someone what they think about it or if they like it. Help them focus on what your colleges of interest are looking for. Attach your essay in an email and ask:

• Is it clear what my topic is?
• Are the examples in each paragraph strong, specific, and visual?
• Is it clear what values I’m trying to show in each paragraph?
• Do you spot at least two or three moments where I answer, “So what?” in the essay?

Seeking this feedback with specific requests of what to focus on will get you more of what you're looking for without getting lost in choosing words to sound smarter or defaulting to a laundry list of activities that’ll just end up muddling your story.

Related: How to Tell Your Story in Your Application Essay

The great college essay test

Once you get feedback, it’s time for what I like to call “the great college essay test.” Read your essay aloud—or have someone else read it to you—then evaluate the essay based on the following criteria:

• Core values: Can you name at least four or five core values present in your essay? Do you find a variety of values (autonomy, resourcefulness, healthy boundaries, diversity)? Or are the values redundant (hard work, determination, perseverance)?
• Vulnerability: Does the essay sound mostly analytical or like it’s coming from a deeper, more vulnerable place? After reading it, do you feel the admission reader will know more about and feel personally closer to you?
• Insight or “so what?” moments: Is your personal statement drawing important and interesting connections between different sides of who you are? Can you identify at least three to five “so what?” moments of insight in the essay? Are these moments predictable, or are they truly illuminating?
• Craft: Do the ideas in your essay connect in a logical but not too obvious (aka boring) way? Can you tell your essay represents a series of carefully considered choices and a lot of time revising several drafts? Is there anywhere you lose interest while reading? Where can words be cut? Which part isn’t revealing as much as it could be?

Polishing up your essay

You’ve made it to the end and there’s one last thing to do: It’s time to polish and proofread that essay until it gleams. For this step, it’s nice to get a little help, so here are two of my favorite resources for syntax and grammar:

• For phrasing and word choice, try Hemingway Editor, which will help you choose strong words for an impactful essay. Important note: You don’t have to agree with all their suggestions, but putting your text through their app is a great exercise.
• For editing and proofreading, Grammarly is a great tool to scan for spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors. You can even download it to your web browser for easy access. Another important note: No app is perfect, so be cautious to accept all of Grammarly’s suggestions as well.

Related: College App Proofreading Tips From an Editor-in-Chief

And there you have it—after first drafts and more drafts, your personal statement is done. Check that off your college admission to-do list. Now, onto your supplemental essay responses—which can be equally as important when it comes to applying to specific schools. Good luck!

Free College Essay EBook

Download this free ebook from WOW Writing Workshop on how to write your college essays.

 Free Ebook

 

Secrets to Writing an Amazing Scholarship Essay

Who doesn't want free money for college? Answer: no one! Here are some tips to help you write an amazing scholarship application and win that award.

by Tayler Butters
CollegeXpress Student Writer

A blank page can be one of the most intimidating factors to overcome when writing. There are a million different things you could say, but writer’s block is real. And the stakes feel even higher when you’re writing a scholarship essay—there is money on the line after all. So how can you write an amazing scholarship application? Here are a few ways to maximize your chances of winning those awards.

Get all the info

There’s a lot of information that comes with scholarships like due dates, notification dates, GPA requirements, and location/school restrictions. Read the fine print to make sure you fit the criteria so you don’t waste a ton of time just to find out you aren’t eligible. Then add all important dates to your planner or calendar app on your phone so you don’t forget them! It's important to stay organized and keep track of every deadline.

Make sure you really understand the prompt

I cannot stress this enough: read the prompt, then read it again. This is coming from personal experience. There have been numerous times I’ve proofread my essay and attached it to my scholarship application online only to realize my essay didn’t really answer the prompt. It's also helpful to read the prompt as you’re writing your essay, just to make sure you’re staying on track.

Related: College Essays vs. Scholarship Essays: What’s the Difference?

Make a (rough) outline

No, you don’t always need to make a two-page MLA-formatted outline with a cover page for your essay. However, you do need to brainstorm what you want to say. Think about what points you want to make that would best answer the prompt. If you think of one really good sentence or idea, write it down! Nothing is worse than having a big epiphany for your essay just to forget it. 

Just write

Once you have an idea of what you want to write and you know exactly what point you need to make, sit down and write it. It doesn’t matter if you think it isn’t that great. Just get every thought you have down—editing will come later. Also, don’t pay too much attention to the word count. It's okay if you go over; you can cut down on that later when you edit. It might even happen naturally as you cut out extra stuff that doesn’t really add to your essay.

Use your real life

Don’t just list off your basic qualities in your essays! Anyone can say they’re smart or brave or kind. You need to show how great you are. Find a story that relates to the prompt that can demonstrate all your good qualities. Talk about how you used teamwork to win the biggest football game of the season or how you used your communication skills to organize a big event for your school.

Related: Make Your Scholarship Applications Stand Out in a Crowd

Edit, edit, then edit again

Nothing you ever write on the first try is going to be perfect; in fact, sometimes it's bad (and that’s okay!). Reread your essay, fix any grammatical or spelling errors, and make notes of the things you want to change. Sometimes you’ll need to add an entirely new paragraph or trash one entirely. Tweak your essay until you feel confident about it. 

Get an extra set of eyes

You may finish writing your essay and think it’s absolutely flawless and there’s no way you won’t win the scholarship, but it helps to have other people look at it as well. If you’re close with any of your teachers (preferably your English teacher), get them to read over the essay for you. They might help you fix tiny errors you looked over or make suggestions you never would have thought of. If a teacher isn’t an option, a friend or parent will work too!

Related: 15 Helpful Tips to Make Your Admission Essays Shine

College is expensive and, unfortunately, we can’t all be blessed with a full ride to our dream school. That’s why little scholarships are so important, and it's even more important to put your best foot forward when applying for them. Good luck!

Find the scholarships you can really win on CollegeXpress using our Scholarship Search tool.