Take a look at this garden. What do you notice? Can you ignore the beautiful sunflowers rising above the roof? They are strong and determined, yet soft and happy.
If you are applying to college this fall, you need your own sunflower moment. You want the college admission counselors to see who you are. The easiest way to do this is to make of list of your three most dominate traits. Are you: responsible, kind, compassionate, intellectual curious? Start with a longer list and narrow it down.
Then ask your friends, siblings, parents and coworkers to do the same. Settle on the words that come up the most. Remember that how we think people see us and how they see us may be different, so both of these perspectives would be useful during essay process.
Now you use a story to write an essay (think thesis, body paragraphs and conclusion) about you. I know that we don't like to talk about ourselves, yet in this case it is necessary. But, you need to walk that thin line between ego and confidence. An easy trick to keep your ego at bay is instead of stating the words you chose to symbolize you, describe them. Instead of saying, "I am determined", maybe you want to mention "that I figured out how to create cold fusion after many fails." same message but much softer approach.
Your essay is the only way colleges can pick one candidate over another if all other things are equal. Imagine how hard it is to read thousands of essay and remember them. Make their job simple. Give them the key to who you are and shine like the sunflower.
If you are applying to college this fall, you need your own sunflower moment. You want the college admission counselors to see who you are. The easiest way to do this is to make of list of your three most dominate traits. Are you: responsible, kind, compassionate, intellectual curious? Start with a longer list and narrow it down.
Then ask your friends, siblings, parents and coworkers to do the same. Settle on the words that come up the most. Remember that how we think people see us and how they see us may be different, so both of these perspectives would be useful during essay process.
Now you use a story to write an essay (think thesis, body paragraphs and conclusion) about you. I know that we don't like to talk about ourselves, yet in this case it is necessary. But, you need to walk that thin line between ego and confidence. An easy trick to keep your ego at bay is instead of stating the words you chose to symbolize you, describe them. Instead of saying, "I am determined", maybe you want to mention "that I figured out how to create cold fusion after many fails." same message but much softer approach.
Your essay is the only way colleges can pick one candidate over another if all other things are equal. Imagine how hard it is to read thousands of essay and remember them. Make their job simple. Give them the key to who you are and shine like the sunflower.
RSS Feed
