College Essay

1. On Writing the College Application Essay: The Key to Acceptance and the College of your Choice
   

   Writing the college application essay can be frightening, exciting, and laborious (much like writing a book review). The desired result is to make the essay stand out from 1000 othersto make the college admissions officer blink his or her heavy eyelids. Bauld gives entertaining and thought-provoking methods of accomplishing the task. His use of examples and corresponding responses from admissions officers is excellent. Despite the title, this book has value for anyone preparing to write. Annelle R. Huggins, Memphis State Univ. Libs. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

2. 100 Successful College Application Essays

   The essay is the one part of the college application that allows an admissions committee to get a glimpse not only of what you are (grades, scores, club member), but of who you are. "Applicants are constantly advised to 'put their best foot forward,'" says Fred Hargadon, the dean of admissions at Princeton University and a contributor to this book. "But I must confess that I always liked the ones who put both feet forward." That doesn't mean that your essay needs to shock. It means you must put everything you've got into it. It means that "if you think the college might receive even one other essay like yours," according to Brooks School college counselor William K. Poirot, "rewrite it."
   
   The bulk of this book, as its title promises, comprises 100 examples of successful college-application essays. There are those who believe that reading essays will make you a better essay writer and those who don't. But reading these essays--and the experts' comments on them--will help you figure out what you want to write and how best to write it. From the essays included here, one surmises that the narrower your focus, the more effective the essay, as long as your narrowness doesn't cross over into insignificance. What matters most is not what you write about (these essays take on late-night TV game shows, self-induced baldness, the picture on a bag of Goldfish crackers, a family drive on the New Jersey Turnpike, and even a seven-inch plastic Godzilla), but what you do with your subject matter. --Jane Steinberg

3. How to Write a Winning College Appliation Essay

   When there are kids out there reading How to Write a Winning College Application Essay and taking author Michael James Mason's College Essay Workshop, you can hardly afford to be left behind. Mason's method requires a lot of hard work, but, as he says in his introduction, "There is no shortcut to writing an essay you are proud to send to the colleges of your choice." Mason recommends putting aside two hours a night for two weeks straight to accomplish this onerous task, which in the long run isn't much of a hardship, considering the possible payoff. During those two weeks, you will come upon your best subject matter by exploring 26 different aspects of yourself. "You don't have to be a star scholar or a superhero to write a great application essay," Mason says. "You just have to show on paper that you know some things about yourself and that your life has meaning and perspective." Mason knows what admissions officers are looking for, and he knows what they dread (he happens to be married to one). This terrific book also includes insightful chapters on the SAT II: Writing Test, financial-aid essays, and graduate-school application essays. --Jane Steinberg

4. 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays: What Worked for Them Can Help You Get into the College of Your Choice

   With increased selectivity by colleges across the board, students feel more pressure than ever to craft an application essay that will sway admissions offices in their favor. This newly revised and diverse collection illustrates proven strategies for tackling the college essay. Each essay was used by a Harvard student on his or her application and is followed by analysis by the staff of The Harvard Crimson, who help give perspective on what works well and what detracts from an otherwise compelling essay. A thorough introduction also explains how to avoid common essay pitfalls, find your voice, and emphasize your strengths. 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays is an inspiration to every student whos staring at a blank computer screen having trouble expressing what truly sets him or her apart.

5. Essays That Worked for College Applications: 50 Essays that Helped Students Get into the Nation's Top Colleges

   The competition to get into college has become as intense as the stress caused by the dreaded application procedure -- and the most feared part of that process is no doubt the personal essay. Just how in the world can one sum up an entire life, a winning personality, a commitment to higher learning -- in one essay? As you will discover in Essays That Worked For College Applications, there is no such thing as a "right" or "wrong" essay. One student writes about Oreo cookies. Another writes about her thumb-sucking. And a third about the death of her father. From the thousands submitted each year, the essays in this book were named the best by admissions officers at the nation's top colleges. Some of the pieces are serious, some are offbeat, but every essay gives a special insight into the student's personality -- an insight that grades and test scores cannot reveal.

6. The College Application Essay

   Sarah Myers McGinty wants you to keep the college-application process in perspective. Don't panic, she says. "The goal of this process is not to sell an ideal image of yourself. It is to find the right school for you." But of course once you've found that school, you do have to convince its admissions officers that the school wants you as much as you want it. McGinty's The College Application Essay discusses such topics as recommendation letters and college interviews, but its main focus is the essay. Essay questions vary from school to school (this book is loaded with specific examples), but McGinty groups them into three categories: the "tell us about yourself" question, the "why do you want to attend this particular school" question, and "the creative question" (which asks you to comment on an issue, a hero, a book, a quotation, the future, or the like). How you write is as important as what you write, and whatever you do, don't get someone else to write it for you. "Admission people usually can tell," warns McGinty. "If they mark the essay 'DDI,' they've concluded that 'Daddy did it.'"
   McGinty also gives some attention to non-traditional, or "high risk," essays. While not for everyone, the high-risk essay can work wonders when you chances of getting into a given school are slim. "We'll take a risk for the right reason," says Simmons College admissions dean Deborah Wright, and perhaps you should, too. After all, says McGinty, "I am sure in the final hours of committee meetings on 'gray zone' applications, no one has ever said, 'Hey, wait a minute, what about that kid who wrote the essay about his family?'" --Jane Steinberg