How To Write Good College Essay

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How to Write a Good College Essay
REASONS FOR WRITING AN ESSAY
The essay is meant to persuade admission officers about one’s suitability to join their colleges. The essay is used to evaluate writing and communication skills. It shows the admission officer a side of the student that is not revealed by academic statistics by providing useful information, including attitudes, history, creativity and interests, as well as a student’s goals and values.
Admission officers aim at creating a community. They, therefore, require to desire to establish how a student best fits into that community, the student’s contribution to the community and unique points of the student.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
The essay is evaluated based on various factors:
1. Writing style such as sentence and paragraph structure
2. Adherence to the essay topic.
3. Thesis formation.
4. Theme discussion. 5. Logic.
6. Creativity and nuance.
7. Distinctiveness and finesse.
CHOOSING A TOPIC
It is vital to choose a topic that is most appealing to the student. What matters most is not the topic, but delivery. More importantly, the college is not interested in whether the answer is right or wrong. The primary interest is in ascertaining who the student is and how his or her mind functions.
There are no bad essay topics. Students should, however, be vigilant when dealing with topics such as friendship predicaments, death of pet, philosophical or religious epiphanies, cynicism, parent-bashing, poor taste essays, plain solutions to world issues, or any topic that implies that the student does not envision life beyond high school.

Students should always remember to answer the question.
FIRST DRAFT
The topic should be narrowed down to be as precise as possible. Brainstorming is a great technique for coming up with ideas for the essay. Any potential ideas on the preferred topic should be scribbled down, and the good points worked into a rough outline.
Next, come up with a rough draft. After reading it severally, out loud if possible, evaluate the writing to verify whether or not the essay focuses on the chosen topic, the question has been answered satisfactorily, level of detail and preciseness and the voice used in the essay.
POLISHING THE ESSAY
Hook the reader by using an interesting opening line. The first few sentences may be eliminated to let the essay start fast. Details should be added where necessary to enrich the essay and make it more interesting. The reader should be able to pick out personal issues about the student, but not too personal that the essay sounds like a confession. Tightfisted use of sentimentality is advocated. Do not try to astound the admission officers by telling them what they want to hear.
Also, it is noteworthy to stay clear of complicated terminology when simpler terms suffice. It does not help to try to portray one’s intelligence by opting for topics that make one sound smart. What might help is being confident enough to be imaginative, unconventional and concise.
The essay should come alive to the intended reader by detailing actions rather than listing them down. Starting early is the key to a good essay. Once all this is done, request a friend, parent or tutor to go through the second draft and ask for opinions that might help improve the essay. Attention should be paid to the recommended essay length.
NAVIGATIONAL HAZARDS
Although the minor details are not the crucial parts of the essay, always try to make a good impression on the admission committee by proofreading the essay before writing the final draft. Spelling mistakes and word choice should be carefully checked. Points of caution may include writing the correct school, proficiency in the subject matter, humor, and plagiarism.