<p>Being a huge procrastinator, I have recently discovered amongst my peers that I have to start working on my common app/supplementals, now... So I guess my question is how do I get started??? What is the process? Writing a 2 page essay seems extremely easy but I know this a process that should take months, so I am stuck on what to tackle first.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Honestly, if you pick the right topic, the essay shouldn’t take months. Mine took about 6-7 hours total of brainstorming, writing, and editing time. </p>
<p>And I had the same issue as you–I had no clue what to write about! So here’s what I did: I made a list of characteristics that I felt defined me well. Wrote them down on a sheet of paper. Then I went to bed. The next morning, I wrote down any more characteristics that I had forgotten. Then, I crossed off the ones that colleges would learn through my transcript, extracurriculars, teacher recs, or “the additional information section”. The remaining qualities were the ones I focused on in the essay. </p>
<p>This strategy worked well for me. Once I had my qualities, all I had to do was think of an experience/object/memory/comparison/anything that effectivelyreflected them. </p>
<p>Good luck :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. But what are some cliche essays? And what should the essay be like in terms of vocabulary and structure? I also feel like I could just pump out a essay in a few days but I feel like would be missing something since I hear people spending months finishing an essay??</p>
<p>You don’t want an essay that will confuse your reader. While imagery and metaphors are nice, don’t over do it. There are really no cliches when it comes to imagery and metaphors, but you should avoid cliche phrases like “_____ is my passion,” “making a difference,” “my dream,” learning from mistake" are all considered cliches. While there is nothing wrong with theses ideas, it’s using these phrases that really annoy the readers. Imagine if you have to read 200 essays, and half of them involves applicants telling you what their passion is. What you need to do is rephrase your ideas, or present it in a way that is unique. Instead of stating what your passion is, use an anecdote that leads the reader into your essay, then tell the reader how the anecdote influenced you, or why that was important to you. That will make your essay unique and personalized, both of which readers look for in an essay. As for time, it varies from person to person.The amount of time spent writing an essay is not spent on writing the essay, but brainstorming and polishing it. Time is actually a non-issue here. If your style and material is good, then you already have half the work(brainstorming) cut out for you. So it is not too late to start!</p>
<p>Read the prompt.
Rest on it for a while.
Get inspired (i notice that a lot of times, randomly, i’ll just get a great idea and if i sit down and write my essay then it’s a lot better than if i had tried to force some idea to fit the prompt)
Write!
Rest on it.
Edit.
:)</p>