university admission essay examples

university admission essay examples

Strategies for Writing a Compelling University Admission Essay

1. Introduction

An essential factor for writing a compelling university admission essay is having a deep understanding of what you will be dealing with in the essay, i.e. the prompt from the university. This understanding will provide the valuable basis needed to reflect who you are and what you wish to achieve on the university grounds. An understanding of the prompt also enables you to focus your energies on what is needed and avoid wasting time on what is not needed. Steps for understanding the prompt include: – Study and analyze the prompt. Underline the keywords and nouns that are used. This is to ensure that you know exactly what is required to be done by the essay. – There may be more than one part to the essay prompt. If this is the case, take steps to make sure that your essay covers all parts of the essay, and not just one thought. – If the essay is not restricted to a certain topic that you may choose from, then think about different stories that are related to the topic and how they would compare to each other. Plan the story that may be the most persuasive or interesting. This may work well for you in constructing the essay.

2. Understanding the Purpose of the Admission Essay

At the very core of writing a compelling admission essay is a deeper understanding of the role to be played by the essay. As a high school senior seeking admission in a reputed college, you’ll no doubt be competitive; hence it is mandatory to look for any available advantage now to better your prospects. This includes the admission procedure. To secure an edge, it’s necessary to prepare and present an essay that is not only engaging, it is also astonishing. And asked what an astonishing essay is! It is one that leaves an indelible impression on the admissions officer and compels him to grant you admission over the thousands of other applicants. An admission essay can be broadly described as a narrative written by a prospective student applying to some college, university or graduate school. It is designed to depict the individual assuming the task of writing it… truly that now of an aspirant, a contender, a future scholar. It will provide some background information on a specific event or situation, generously bring an account of plans for the future and will conclude by claiming to why said person must be considered for admission. Now, the chief reason why so many students fail in this endeavor is because they cannot conceive a clear depiction of their selves at the time of writing. Let’s put in in simpler terms. They don’t know what they are talking about! So, because the lack of a definable perception on what they were and are writing about, they are unable to pen it in a convincing manner. This results in an unclear and expectedly unconvincing presentation.

3. Crafting an Attention-Grabbing Opening

Instead of: An opening should be unique and using clichés is unnecessary. Clichés are phrases that are overused that they are not effective anymore. Statements like “I have always wanted to study..”, “I am applying for an admission”, or “Every since I was young..” are all clichés. The reader already knows that you want to get in the program, otherwise you wouldn’t be applying! Next, you would want to grab the reader’s attention. You really want to begin with a scene. Give a picture of what sparked your interest in the field or what pushes you to obtain your goal. Do not just tell the reader what you have done. Go into details and form a picture. This will make your paper more vivid and make it easier for you to tell the whole story. A statement of purpose can be a longer autobiography. Try to begin with a memorable adage or line of dialogue. This is a tip often suggested by writers. Now that you have set the stage, bring in the plot. Plan what you want to say in the next paragraphs. Make sure to address every point, but make it interesting. A statement of purpose should be a story. You want to make the reader want to know what happens next. This is the reason why it is essential to print out what you have written and read it: if you get bored re-reading your statement, then someone else will as well. Step back and view this as a whole, does it have a nice flow? Are you showing instead of telling?

4. Showcasing Your Unique Qualities and Experiences

University admissions staff read hundreds of applications, and they do look for students who are a good match both academically and personally. Colleges want to know what you’re looking for in your next school. What are you striving to achieve educationally? Where do you want to be in 20 years time? What is the one thing that you can’t live without? Sometimes the best way to get a clear picture of a student’s goals and character is to hear it straight from the student. So while students can show that they are passionate about X and it is worth something to them, it’s still better for an admissions counselor to read the application essay and assess the level of significance than to see a generic list of activities. It is important to engage in some self-examination and take the opportunity to articulate what it is that makes you who you are. This can be done through brainstorming such as freewriting. In freewriting, anything goes, and the goal is to get all your ideas down on paper without being concerned with grammar, punctuation, or organization. This exercise may be run with various prompts including charts and lists or written as a pseudo letter. This type of exploration is generally more effective than a personality or career aptitude test. High school students are often presented with the results of MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) without truly understanding what their four-letter “type” really means. The self-examination process should be a rewarding journey and will eventually lead to an increased level of self-understanding. This should be obvious in the tone of your essay. A student who is comfortable in his own skin will produce a more coherent and persuasive composed self-portrait than one who is grasping at straws to find an easy answer to a tough question.

5. Concluding with Confidence and Impact

Concluding your university essay with confidence means an exclamation point or a full stop. Being overconfident or assuming one has done a good enough job will definitely put your application at the risk of being bogged down – a conclusion on its own is not an arrogant assumption, even though there is no need to talk about your weaknesses since you have already discussed them. But assuming one has done a good job can be an assurance you are not prepared to stand by. In a roundabout way, in conclusion still comes out implying that there are more good points in the essay, which is the assumption that it has been a job well done. We are trying to say we never know the quality of our job, the reader or audience has the final judgment, and one must not assume they have made a good impact. Thus, the safest way to conclude is to summarize the essay at the very end, leaving the reader with all the main points we have spoken about. This is the ideal way to conclude because you are only reminding the reader about the things that have been mentioned. For example, ending a love letter to someone “these are the reasons why I love you.” By summarizing, you leave the point as it is, and that is very important. A conclusion must not digress from the essay, and it must not introduce any new points. A summary is ensured to have the reader thinking about all the things they have read, and this has the best impact of all. A concluding statement is weak and digresses from the essay. A concluding question is even weaker because it requires an answer, and any answer to a new question would probably be misunderstood. People find it hard to believe that a simple statement is the best way to conclude an essay, but in conclusion, a statement leaves an impression on the reader, and that is exactly what we are trying to do. For an old person, it is an easier decision to retire before they can no longer perform their duties at a satisfactory level. This is much the same as the essay. A good conclusion is a suitable ending to a good essay. Always remember, a conclusion is the ending, and it should not be an anticlimax.