how to end a college admission essay

how to end a college admission essay

Tips for Concluding a College Admission Essay

1. Summarizing Your Key Points

Whether or not you are familiar with the concept of a concluding move, consider it akin to a comprehensive closing case that only the best attorneys present. You have proven your thesis. The last thing left on your college essay will be the conclusion. Often this will be a set of paragraphs which will make a claim that will be a summation of your development, a reiteration of your thesis, and finally an explanation of why that argument is valid. Imagine your reader as the tourist that you are guiding through your argument. After answering the question “So what?”, you will have created a vital link. Your reader will not forget what he’s read up to this point, he did not pass through the experiences of your essay only to drop off at the end. The paragraph starting with a restated thesis takes everything gained from the above paragraphs and states that the author has proven this thesis, often in the first or second sentence. This paragraph works to show your reader that in it the essay has been completed and understood and that there is no reason to continue on.

2. Reflecting on Personal Growth

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? It was not until my senior year in high school that I got any clue as to what I would really like to do for a career. I had taken the courses required to be eligible for a university, but I was still lacking some classes required for certain majors. I wasn’t even sure of what I wanted to major in, but I knew I had to choose quickly to be admitted to a university as my parents would not allow me to go to a community college. With my part-time job and classes to get me into a university, I was greatly devoting my time to battle.net playing a popular game by Blizzard, Diablo II. One day I decided to do a search for any kind of job involving video games. It was then that I stumbled onto an article explaining web development and video game design. I was stunned at the money one could make designing games, and it wasn’t a very long road until I was set on it for a career. This new aspiration made me far more serious about my education. After I had figured out what I wanted to do, I had to go back and tell my parents what my plan was for a career. They were quite upset at my decision, for they thought I could become something like a doctor. I convinced them that building games was my dream and I just wanted to do something I would enjoy, and they eventually agreed I was making a smart decision as they saw how hard I was working to finish school. This is definitely a choice I would not stray from if I were given the chance to take it back. My determination and passion towards this goal driven me to succeed and it felt great now to realize what burning persistence actually feels like.

3. Expressing Future Goals and Aspirations

I believe in the importance of earning a college degree, but I believe it is also important to truly understand what you want out of that degree before you jump right in. I think with the freedom to pick and choose your courses, college is the best time to understand what exactly you want to do with your life. I know in some way I want to be involved with medicine as a career. Whether it is through research, patient care, or some other form, I know that I want to be a giving person, and work in a field where I can help people. This conviction that I want to help people also led me to an interest in a career in public health. I feel that with it, I can do global good for many people, because as long as there are health disparities in this world, there is work to be done. A career in medicine is still the likely the final goal, as I want to do the most direct good for people and I know that I will still have great interest in the life sciences.

Applicants to college often spend much time thinking about what they should write in an essay about future goals. They know they want to write about something important, but they may not know what direction to take it and they may not have all their goals narrowed down or understood at this point. And they don’t want to write a generic essay that could be about any college in any country. A general answer might be: “My goals and my aspirations for the future are to flourish in my education and eventually lead to a career in medicine.

4. Emphasizing Fit with the College

The first step is to research the school. This can be easily done online by looking at the school’s mission statement, objectives, and what the college values. Once these things are found, the student can compare them to his/her own values and general college goals. By doing this, the student can see if the college will be a good fit and if it is, how the college can help the student reach his/her goals. After comparing goals and values, the student should choose specific attributes about the college that will help achieve his/her goals. This might mean looking at the college major or program of study and discussing how it is or will further help the student reach his/her career goals. This also might mean becoming involved in an organization or club based on a value that the student holds. All these things are things that the student will hope to get out of the college experience. By stating what those experiences are and how they will help the student reach his goals, it is showing the college exactly the type of student the applicant will be and also shows the value the student is likely to bring to the campus.

This is a very important aspect of the college admission essay. This portion of the essay should focus on the student’s reasons for wanting to attend the school while also looking at what the student can contribute to the college. There are three steps to help students tell a college what they hope to gain from the college experience as well as inform the college what they might contribute.

5. Leaving a Lasting Impression

The last ten lines can leave the reader with a positive lasting impression of you. In the conclusion, avoid summary since the essay is rather short to begin with the reader should not need to be reminded what you wrote. Instead, consider the last lines as a continued opportunity to prove your point, to tell your story, and to pull your reader in. Imagine the last five minutes before the undertaker seals the lid. You want to do everything possible to leave the best impression. For example, the following is from an essay that told the story of a family’s travels throughout Europe. The “lift” is merely the last line of the essay. What better way to truly learn the culture of another country than to view the unadulterated, impulsive actions of a child? Say, a five-year-old French boy in a public park? Observance of such situations, I have found, can bring life to a standstill, as the child’s seasoned innocence can, in an instant, draw a complete stranger into a conversation on a topic he hadn’t thought of in years… It is rather amazing, the things one can learn when he steps out from an insulated environment and immerses himself in the world beyond. But that’s the topic of another essay.