Last Updated on May 26, 2023
Aspiring for a college degree is a wonderful thought. It shows you have mature mind on young shoulders. You are thinking of a bright and comfortable future for yourself or your family. Having said that you must also think about building up your profile when applying to the college of your choice to pursue a career you are passionate about.
In these times of cut-throat competition just good grades are not enough to get you into a valuable program in a prestigious college. What many undergrad school aspirants tend to ignore is the college admission essay component which could actually mean make-or-break situation as far as admissions to HBCU institutions go. If you did not work hard enough on your essay, the chances are there may be a couple of letters of rejection waiting for you in your mailbox. So do not take that chance.
Before you prepare for your college admission essay get one thought straight out of your head altogether. Do not even bother plagiarizing essays downloaded from the internet. There are multiple software tools available even for free that will detect where you copied your essay in a matter of milliseconds. Plagiarism has zero tolerance in any educational institute of repute and if you are caught it means automatic disqualification.
Treat your college essay as though you were preparing a resume for a well paying job. You must work on selling yourself even if you are not comfortable doing so. If you do not, someone else will and your dreams could be shattered. Please provide concrete examples on how and where you demonstrated abilities to lead a pack or have stood out in a crowd with exemplary performance. Universities love to showcase achievers in their promos and alumni newsletters as this is a way to attract more enrollments.
Try to create a new essay for each application. A generic essay can also be detected by academic administrators who have been reading essays for ages.
Do not talk just about your academic potential. Remember, in the outside world interpersonal skills matter more than your academic knowledge. Talk about how you can influence people with your persuasive nature and how you make good company by making sensible jokes and interesting conversations. Also feel free to include your interest in extra-curricular activities especially in clubs, sports, dramatics or just outdoor activities.
A degree or diploma program is synonymous with commitment. You need a drive and determination to complete your 2, 3 or 4-year curriculum despite setbacks and odds. Hence, you must demonstrate you have these attributes and how you have used it in the past when handling high-pressure situations.
Break each subject into paragraphs and make sure you are smoothly moving from one topic to another. Do not just ramble on from item to item as this may show you are easily distracted. Remember you have a 500 word limit to follow, so you must use a thesaurus or dictionary to look for the right words or phrases to illustrate your points.
Last but not the least, do not forget to use spell checker and correct grammatical errors before attaching it to your application.
Amarendra is doctor and blogger. He is passionate about sharing various tips on education, career, and health in fellow websites.
