5 Tricks For Choosing Your College Essay Topic

5 Tricks For Choosing Your College Essay Topic I told in detail the vivid memory I had, gave an example of a time during school I lived by my mantra, and talked more about how the language barrier affected my life, and made me who I am today. The hardest part of the process was coming up with an idea. I wanted to pick a moment, or a story, that really stuck with me throughout life. After trying to start essays, only to give up on them a quarter of the way through, I stumbled upon an old essay I had written in 8th grade. The prompt of the essay was to talk about something that you struggled with and overcame. Many college applicants worry that they have nothing to say, that nothing significant has happened to them. Sophie shows us that one need not have climbed Mount Everest, experienced great personal tragedy or found a cure for cancer to write an effective essay. All of these essays rely on connecting with the reader through a heartfelt, highly descriptive scene from the author's life. It can either be very dramatic (did you survive a plane crash?) or it can be completely mundane (did you finally beat your dad at Scrabble?). Either way, it should be personal and revealing about you, your personality, and the way you are now that you are entering the adult world. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. All colleges advise applicants to have their essays looked over several times by parents, teachers, mentors, and anyone else who can spot a comma splice. Your essay must be your own work, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting help polishing it. To me, that was the language barrier between my grandfather and me. My grandfather speaks fluent Vietnamese, while I only speak English, so throughout my entire childhood communication was lacking. Although he spoke broken English, the opportunity to tell anecdotes, give advice, and more were nonexistent. Upon arriving at the GMA studio, we were given four essays to review, with no identifying characteristics other than numbers. Our task was to identify the fake essay that had been purchased off the internet instead of written by an actual applicant. Out of the four of us, all with significant backgrounds in selective college admission and counseling, none of us were able to do so. Sophie's essay is strong because the focus is local. I reread that essay four to five times before I decided that it was going to be my college essay topic. This is a sample personal description, which you may be asked to write when it comes to fulfilling an application to university. At Houston Endowment, I learned the ins and outs of the workings of a non-profit foundation. I even had the privilege of personally speaking one-on-one with non-profit executives around Houston. Accustomed to American schools that are relatively orderly and organized, it took time to adjust to India’s disorderly schools. I've picked two essays from the examples collected above to examine in more depth so that you can see exactly what makes a successful college essay work. Full credit for these essays goes to the original authors and the schools that published them. Want to write the perfect college application essay? No spelling mistakes, no grammar weirdness, no syntax issues, no punctuation snafusâ€"each of these sample college essays has been formatted and proofread perfectly. If this kind of exactness is not your strong suit, you're in luck! Just as I started feeling comfortable with the unusual teaching methods of my new school, my parents transferred me to a more “cultural” school. With a total of seven students in the entire school, we learned in literal shacks. Sally Ganga is a member of College Coach’s team of college admissions experts. Prior to joining College Coach, Sally was a senior admissions officer at The University of Chicago, Reed College, and Whittier College. To learn more about Sally, be sure to read her bio on getintocollege.com. Even though in many ways these sample college essays are very different from one other, they do share some traits you should try to emulate as you write your own essay. For writing the actual essay, because I had planned and articulated my thoughts so methodically, words just flowed out of my fingertips into my computer.