College Essays: What to write about? Help!!!!

College Essays
1

I am currently a rising senior in high school and am trying to get all of my college essays done before school starts.

I’ve done so much research on this topic; however, I am still quite lost on what I should write about. I feel so misguided. I’ve read many essays online that have worked and it seems that most of them are small anecdotes in the applicants life that they are using to showcase personality traits. Although, I am a bit lost as there are obviously so many small little anecdotes in my 17 years that I could write about. I think that people take this approach to make their essays more interesting to read but I’m just afraid of choosing the wrong one or at least not choosing the story that could have been better.

I’m also not even sure if writing about a little story in my life is better than writing about a larger event or elaborating on something that is in my resume. On one hand you can go into major detail and use a descriptive writing style, but on the other hand writing about a big event in your life is more traditional and the classic approach.

So I guess in summary, the problems at hand are 1) I don’t know which direction to go in when writing these essays and 2)I don’t know specifically what the subject matter should be.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. This process has been extremely frustrating as I feel that I am a pretty good creative writer and would like to showcase my skills. If I could only have a bit of guidance and not be so blind in this I probably would have them done by now! haha

2

What I would do is make a list of all the things you could talk about/ all the significant things in your life that set you apart from your friends. From this list I would just chose two or three things and write essays about each of them. Basically you’re going through what most kids go through which is wanting to just be able to write the perfect essay, but it’s not that simple. You just need to write and basically word vomit for lack of a better term about different topics, and then from there you edit edit edit and chose the best essay out of all your options. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, just brainstorm and write.

3

Would like like to swap essay’s with me? I could read yours and you could read mine!

4
  1. Grab the reader's attention Use your hook and catch the fish. Once you have him on the line, expand.
  2. Give a candid view into who you are and what makes you tick. Dare to be honest. And then be more honest.
  3. What you write should mean something to you, and should tie into where you see your future leading you.
  4. Follow the instructions. If a prompt asks about something, address it......don't go off road into the next county.
  5. Honor the word count maximum. The Readers are tired. Don't irritate them by thinking you deserve a couple hundred more words than everyone else when the limit is specifically stated.
  6. Edit, rewrite, cut the fat, and edit again. And rewrite. And edit. Again.
  7. Your essay is your sales pitch. What sets you apart? What qualities do you have that are in short supply? Show don't tell. Why pick you over everyone else?
5

Ok thanks so much! These tips help and I think your right about the major writers block is stemming from anxieties over having the perfect essay… thanks again!