college admissions essay editing

college admissions essay editing

The Importance of College Admissions Essay Editing

1. The Power of a Well-Edited Essay

The Difference an Editor Makes: A Power Beyond Words As college admissions become increasingly competitive, with more students looking to gain a diploma and gain acceptance to their dream schools, the importance of admission essays is on the rise. Various colleges require different criteria in their applicants; one universal element across all institutions of higher education is writing an eloquent essay that provides a snapshot of the writer’s virtues and interests. Although many alphas are well-qualified for academic or extracurricular achievements, few are capable of translating these successes into clear and concise words. This makes their state problematical, as a well-written essay may be the dividing line between acceptance and rejection for a prospective student. The rigors of academic essay have propelled a professional editor’s business into the academic world. A well-polished essay offers a significant advantage over other students with comparable academic credentials. A report in the New York Times discusses the use of professional editors by college applicants; it states, “Some of the best essays,” he said, “were written by students who dared to interpret who they really were and what they really wanted, with panache often equaled by mature professional writers. But far more often, the most memorable essays are often well-written disaster stories by otherwise capable college students; it presents a valuable glimpse of the editorial power on essay writing, and the potential loss for unedited essay writing. High school seniors often compare stories and tactics for college application, and some have learned the significance of a well-edited essay through unfortunate experience. Lora Shinn, a Seattle Times columnist, tells the story of a student whose essay became the joke of a college admissions office. He had written a personal account that contained a “vivid depiction of a car crash that led to his brother’s DUI, which revealed a positive life lesson he’d learned from the experience.” Though the story itself would have been impactful, the student lacked the skill to execute his words in a manner that reflected his positive moral, and left it open to interpretation. It was taken in a strictly literal sense, and the student was the subject of ridicule as the office members suggested his brother was a nominee for a Darwin Award. The essay missed its intentions, and now serves as an exaggerated example of what not to do when editing an essay.

2. Enhancing Your Story and Voice

When it comes to an applicant’s GPA, the reality is that it is a universal number that can’t be altered, and a single grade point can make a substantial difference in the outcome of a student’s application. Other students may partake in standardized testing and submit their scores for colleges to see. While obtaining the necessary GPA and test scores are important to the admissions process, it is just the average numbers of the student body that will give colleges a very general idea of each applicant. Grades and test scores fail to portray many non-academic characteristics, and it is those features that will truly set a student apart from others. The college admissions process has become fiercely competitive, and a single point on a GPA or SAT score can make a drastic difference among applicants. It is critical to bring the right kind of attention to one’s GPA and test scores, without the wrong attention being drawn to a simple mistake that may change the outcome of an application. With the college admissions process becoming more and more impersonal, the importance of a well-written essay is of great significance. An applicant’s admission to a specific college can depend greatly on the expression in an essay. This essay will not impact the admission decision and be the sole defining point for an application, but it is the right platform for an applicant to truly express themselves, allowing themselves to stand out among other applicants. A student’s story and voice are two things that can’t be communicated through average numbers and scores. With the opportunity to tell a story in an essay, a student has the opportunity to explain the circumstances that led to a GPA and/or test score that may not accurately reflect the student’s capability. Students who have exceptional academic performance also have the opportunity to explain what has inspired them to desire attending college and why a certain college is an ideal place for them to pursue their aspirations. The potential for a student’s story to truly set them apart from other applicants is a feasible one. Whether it is a success or a failure story, it is human nature to enjoy reading something of interest, and a well-expressed story in an essay can be that defining point.

3. Crafting a Compelling Introduction

Now, a compelling introduction is always a backbone for every college admission essay. The introduction of an essay is incredibly important; it’s what makes the readers want to read more. It has to be interesting enough to catch the reader’s attention, but not too strange that it throws off the reader. A great introduction will “invite us in,” make us comfortable, and easefully begin the story. The easiest way to do this is to map the essay’s ideas via a written narrative. This type of introduction requires a tangible entry point or bridge to the thesis. This is the hardest part of the essay for many kids; they are unsure how to set up stories that are not overtly obvious in how they relate to the thesis. This is also a fine line for students that are trying to come across interested in writing about a topic, but not veering off into too tangential of a topic. This style is the most common because it is the easiest to write. If this is the type of introduction that your student chooses to employ, be cognizant of their overuse of story or writing a narrative that is all an account of something happening. These types of essays can be quite dry for the reader, and it would be in the student’s best interest to attempt to add in some sort of character.

4. Strengthening Your Arguments and Evidence

Global conceptual editing requires you to do what amounts to a rethink of your essay. You need to work out what you are trying to say, and you may need to go back to the reading and note-taking stage if you are not clear about this. As you are reading, you need to bear your topic and intended purpose in mind. Note-taking can then be focused on what the text says about your topic and can involve revisiting work you did on the text for other purposes. With a clear idea of your topic and purpose, you can plan a strategy for taking relevant information from the text and organizing it in your essay. But if during writing the topic seems to become complicated or muddled, or it turns out that there is not an obvious message emerging from the essay, you may need to rethink your approach to the text and your overall strategy. If you are reviewing the essay on the screen with no drafts to hand, then it may be best to abandon the current file and start a new one. For experimental working, try saving drafts at different stages, renaming them each time. This will enable you to backtrack when global problems arise and also locate drafts if you realize you have gone wrong with some local level editing! Another means of attacking conceptual problems is to add marginal comments to your essay, questioning its logic, cogency, or relevance to the topic.

Your problems may be quite deep-rooted, or you may be further ahead in the writing process than you think, judging by the amount of material you have generated. If you feel that your essay is not really coming together at all or that you still have a long way to go before the writing begins to do justice to your intelligence and hard work on the subject, then you may need to work more on problem-solving of the global type before tackling local level problems.

After the initial analysis and evaluation stages of the editing process, you should have a clear understanding of where you stand in terms of the effectiveness and persuasiveness of your work. It is at this point that the first editing decisions should be made. These can be divided into two broad types: a. Proof of Rule (PoR) level editing, for conceptual and coherence problems, and b. Surface-level editing for other issues.

5. Polishing Your Essay to Perfection

This is where you need to make sure your essay is perfect. Check the spelling, grammar, punctuation, and make sure your use of capital letters reflects your understanding of standard written English. If possible, run your draft through a spell checker and grammar checker, or get a friend to do this for you. The last step is to check the overall flow of your writing, making sure that each sentence works with the one following it. Also, check that your writing clearly answers the essay prompt and stays on topic from beginning to end. If your essay is still over the word limit, you may need to go back and make revisions. Once you are happy with your draft, read it one more time and follow the revision marks to make one final draft. This is the one to proofread, and if possible, hand it off to a friend or teacher to read over. Their fresh eyes can give you a new perspective and help you catch errors that you may have overlooked due to your familiarity with the piece. Remember that in the end, even the best writers need to revise their work.