How do I write a college essay?

A major concern that most students have when entering a university is the college application essay. It is used as a filtering option by the university administration to get the best students.

Though it is not mandatory to have excellent writing skills, nevertheless people with good writing skills tend to get selected than the ones who do not have.

With time, writing skills can be improved. But there are other set of problem other than this which can become hurdle while writing a college application essay.

10 things to avoid while writing a college essay

1.Lengthy essay: Like every essay, even college application essay has a word limit. Word limit is specified so as to evaluate them in lesser time. Because there might thousands of applications which humanly cannot be evaluated if there are written like a thesis.

Most of the applications get rejected because of the crossing the upper limit of the word count. It also takes cleverness to write about yourself in a limit set.

2.Must be precise and concise: An essay which is written in the aspect of college application must be written in a precise and concise manner. Precise because it is about you and must be limited enough to tell about yourself.

3.Resume must not be replicated: There is a great difference between a resume and a college application. Resume has more of professional approach whereas college application essay gives an opportunity to introduce yourself in a better manner. This platform must not be missed and written just like another resume.

4.Achievements should be mentioned and not bragged about: Every single person achieves something in their lives. These achievements can be put on the essay. Mistakenly, many students turn these achievements into brag.

Care must be taken not to over showcase your talents and be modest about them.

5.Unique: Unique things about you which make you different from others must be portrayed in the college application essay. Most essays fail to impress the university administrator because they lack a unique theme in them. Repeated voice or a theme can be harmful for your selection. 

6.Using informal language: Jargons, use of contractions and informal language; these are few of the examples of a bad practice of writing a college application essay. Such practice must be avoided to bring out better essay.

7.Choosing the right topic: A good topic will lead to a better essay. The first step in writing a winning application essay is to choose a topic on which something can be written. Not choosing a mundane subject or selecting an alien topic, there should be balance in between these.

8.Proofread your essay well: Once a college application essay is written, chances are that it might contain some errors which can harm its quality. Therefore, the content must be proofread well several times to get that perfect essay. 

9.Transitional statements: An essay must have a structure to it thereby creating a perfect essay. Each section in a structure must be well connected. This will help in building an essay with perfection.

10.Getting off the topic: A common problem that must be avoided is getting off the topic.Many a times when an essay is written having in-depth research to it, there might be chances that it will get off the topic and focus more on secondary information.