<p>OK, a lot of people say when they're posting up their stats</p>
<p>"My essay should be good" or "I'm going to write an amazing essay"</p>
<p>Now, how does one tell if one's essay really IS good? Presumably most applicants are going to put some real effort into their essays, and they obviously think the essays they've written are good enough. </p>
<p>Just how do you know?</p>
<p>Some important things: </p>
<p>spelling and grammar
good style and smooth flow
rigorous writing (does the writer make good use of the 500 words allowed, does the essay appear to have been self-edited and tweaked, etc)
overall unity and coherence
topic and tone
demonstration of character</p>
<p>It's hard to be objective about your own writing, which is why people often ask others to look over their essays.</p>
<p>Anytime you try to write an essay that meets a definition of "good", it will end up being formulaic at best.</p>
<p>I remember this line from Finding Forrester when William tells Jamal "A lot of writers know the rules of writing, but they don't know how to write," and I think its pretty relevant to the college essay. The best way to write is from your gut, like Forrester advocates.</p>
<p>When people say that they'll have a good essay I suppose its because they've been writing essays of a certain standard with some regularity in school, or as Beck mentions, they've had other people look over it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Anytime you try to write an essay that meets a definition of "good", it will end up being formulaic at best.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I disagree. It takes more than carefully put together sentences to make a good essay, but you don't have any hope of writing a good essay without carefully put together sentences.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>"I'm going to write an amazing essay"<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>I've helped local hs students by reading their college essays. Many think their essays are good. In fact, one essay had been read by 2 English teachers, one of which wrote on the paper that this was the best she had seen this application season. IT WAS AWFUL!! The problem is that the kind of writing practiced in high school (essays critiquing literature, etc.) is NOT the kind of reflective writing that you need to write an effective essay.</p>
<p>I'd read CC poster Carolyn's tips on writing college admissions essays posted on admissionsadvice.com. Her two articles on writing admissions essays are right on!</p>
<p>College essays take a different kind of writing than standard high school english class stuff, but strong fundamental writing abilities are still important. </p>
<p>Good writing is more than catharsis, and sometimes people seem to forget that.</p>
<p>Sure you need those carefully put together sentences, but if you're applying to a top school that requires a top of the line essay, you sure as hell better be stringing sentences together properly without too much thought.</p>
<p>Then again, if you gotta think really hard to string sentences together, by all means go ahead. But don't get too caught up in weaving those paragraphs that you lose sight of writing a sufficiently poignant essay.</p>
<p>I love my essays, my prose isn't elite, but...they are all memorable-the most important trait for an essay. When the adcoms are discussing my application, they WILL remember me.</p>
<p>good essay's always sound natural. yes, they should have structure and grammer and all that jazz, but if it doesn't flow as you read it (or even as you write it) there is a problem. when I write any essay or long draft Ii always just write. I write whatever pops in my head about the subject , I treat it like a conversation with the paper then i switch things around later.. BUT NEVER USE FIRST PERSON. even if it's not specified whether you should or shouldn't , don't. noone is interested in your opinion. I found that out the hard way, with a big fat F!</p>
<p>Do not give advice if you do not know what you are talking about. We are talking about the College admission essays, for which you have to use plenty of I, me and we. Your advice applies only to formulaic research/persuasive essays. Even for persuavice essays, you can break the rule of not using I if you are a good enough writer.</p>
<p>That previous post does have one good point, however. Do not write opinions. Instead, write about things and events as vividly as you can, so that your opinions can be gathered from them. You still have to state your opinions, but do so with plenty of support.</p>
<p>For writing, you have to know the rules to break them. And breaking the rules is a way to distinguish your essay from those of other applicants. Read The Element of Style, and get honest feedback from your teachers. Ask yourself if you feel comfortable just writing whatever you want, whether there is a flair in your writing, and if you find writing easy. If so, congratulations. If not, you will just have to resign yourself to one of the many people who write good but mundane essays.</p>
<p>Yeah I agree with Stupor, yungnhapy it would be a bit awkward if you were, say, telling a story about yourself in a college essay, and you didn't use "I" at all. Third person angle never goes too well. But OP just make sure they can see who YOU are, that's what they're searching for, not seeing if you followed the rubric.</p>
<p>My essay was written entirely in the first person and it got me where I wanted to be.</p>
<p>Parden me, sir! you don't have to be so rude. apparently I misunderstood the topic of the conversation.</p>
<p>3 quickies:
BE CREATIVE-Colleges look for creativity in essays
BE YOURSELF-Your true "voice" should show through
SHOW, DON'T TELL</p>
<p>yungnhapy: writing in first person in an essay doesn't necessarily give you an F. it all depends on the kind of essay you are writing and the intended audience. although of course, it may be a little more difficult for most ppl to pull off an A with a first person essay. verrry doable though.</p>
<p>There is only one measure of a college essay's success:</p>
<p>Does it allow an adcom to visualize a vibrant, thoughtful, and a engaged teenager who will contribute something of interest to the campus community?</p>
<p>That's it. The whole enchilada. So the first challenge is to look at the things you like to do (or think or whatever) against a similar list of things the school may find interesting and try to identify something that is on both lists -- and is sufficiently important to feature on your application in a precious essay slot. Once you've identified that, what event or experience could you use to illustrate that "thing"?</p>
<p>I believe the easiest way is to bring one small event or experience to life in a way that lets the reader SEE the teenager through actions and thoughts rather than read descriptions and sweeping generalizations. Let the actions and the event serve as a metapor or "snapshot" of the student's interests.</p>
<p>amen........</p>
<p>Do essays in which a person changes work well? Are 500 words enough for an essay that aims to show a development in the person?</p>
<p>"When the adcoms are discussing my application, they WILL remember me."</p>
<p>What an ego!</p>