College Essay Essentials

College Essay Essentials Whether it’s alumni from your school, older delegates you’ve met at conferences, or chairs who are already in college, MUN provides a network of people you can reach out to for advice. While not everyone who does MUN makes it their main activity, many invest a considerable amount of their time and energy into it. Model United Nations is a large part of their personal growth as a high school student, and they can leverage their MUN experience to get into college. Caroline’s admissions consulting service has helped students get into Harvard, Stanford, UPenn, and Columbia. And most importantly, proofreading lets you check for any clumsy mistakes in your spelling, punctuation and grammar. You want the reader to gain a good overall impression of your essay, but this won't happen if you've left silly mistakes in. How can colleges be trusting without being naïve? The keys are making sure that a student's application has integrity and that decisions are made on information that hasn't necessarily been verified, but is verifiable. Exhibit #2 is the Operation Varsity Blues scandal. As we enter a new admissions cycle one, of the challenges for our profession is mitigating the damage done by that criminal conspiracy and trying to restore public confidence in the college admissions process. I responding by suggesting that he call the dean of admissions at his first-choice college and ask him the same question. The essay needs to be a reflection of the student’s creativity, writing ability and personality; not the parent. Some of the best college application essays are written about small moments that are meaningful to the applicant. You’re the only person with your exact combination of personal qualities, beliefs, values, and experiences, so you don’t need to lie or exaggerate to make your essay unique. In fact, it’s important to write in your authentic voice and avoid using “fancy” vocabulary just to impress admissions officers. Writing about yourself can be a slippery slope, which is why it is best to stick to the truth and leave the lies behind. In the end, the admissions committee is just looking for insight into your mind and character. It’s up to you to show them through your writing just what you can add to their school. Parents are also a great second pair of eyes for grammar and spelling errors. I would still suggest that a English professional still read over the essay for expert editing purposes. However, parents should not try to change the voice of the student, which can be difficult to refrain from. Last year's Operation Varsity Blues scandal means that college admissions can't return to business as usual. We need to ensure that the admissions process is fair and equitable, that we don't allow those with money to cut in line and that we don't reward those who make things up or embellish their credentials. We shouldn't abandon a process based on trust, but we also need to make decisions based on information that is verifiable. Yes â€" always use the appropriate terminology as this will get you marks, but before you use a term always be sure you know its meaning and how to use it correctly! Asking someone to read your finished essay will allow them to point out any confusions, inappropriate words or sentences that they feel could be made shorter. You can read books and blogs about how to get into competitive colleges, but the best source of advice comes from speaking with people who’ve already done it. His reluctance to do so showed that he already knew the answer. I hammered home the point that misrepresenting himself was wrong and an honor offense, and that colleges are interested in authenticity rather than heroism. I told him that any college admissions officer would detect instantly that the story was not genuine. Parents may know other details about the student that they should include in the essay. Remember that the purpose of a college admissions essay is to help admissions officers get to know you. If your essay is filled with lies and exaggerations, then you’ve missed the point entirely. Many students will try to include complicated sentences and long words to make their paper sound more academic. The reader should never have to go through a sentence more than twice to find out its meaning.