How to write for an essay topic?

College Essays
1

So, basically every essay website tells you that you’re supposed to make the essay unique, and like a narrative story. However, the essay prompt I have doesn’t really allow me to do that. Here it is:

Provide a 200-400 word essay that addresses the question below. Acceptable formats are .pdf, .doc/.docx, and .txt files. (Maximum size 50MB)
Describe your academic and career plans and any special interests (e.g., undergraduate research, academic interests, leadership opportunities, etc.) that you are eager to pursue as an undergraduate at Indiana University. If you encountered any unusual circumstances, challenges, or obstacles in completing your education, share those experiences and how you overcame them.

Can someone help me figure out what a good way to format/write/create a theme for this essay prompt would be? I don’t want to be bland and be like I want to do this because blah blah blah.

2

Don’t start off by worrying about the wording-- it’s so much easier to edit than to write!

Start off with a rough outline-- figure out what you want to tell them.You can start with bullets if that’s easiest.

Once you have that done, change the bullets into sentences, and add in the details that make this essay uniquely yours.

Then work on an intro/closing.

THEN worry about going back and fine tuning-- taking out the “I want to do this because…” stuff.