I heard it’s a bad idea to boast yourself in the essay, but then I’m not sure how should I introduce my achievements. Also is it a good idea to talk about your awards for essay topics about your talents and achievements (if I already list them in the application)?
Is the essay prompt specifically asking for your awards and achievements?
If this is your common app essay, it isn’t really about touting your achievements. You can do that in the rest of your app.
@bodangles It’s asking about what’s my talent and I want to use my awards to show my talent
@intparent It’s a University of California essay.
I think that you can enumerate your many awards on a resume, that you can attach with your application. Not all colleges allow this, but many (most) do.
Resume also gives you a chance to speak directly to the AdCom in another form.
In the essay, I agree with the above that awards are not the main focus of your essay, even if you’re writing about a talent. One way to work that in might be to focus on your experience prepping for and experiencing a particularly memorable competition or audition, and whether you achieved your goal. Then your resume, as I said above, can list your other awards.
If you feel that you want to list them in the essay anyway, you can summarize them briefly. For an example of how to do that, you might want to look at professional bios. That might help you with the tone. Prof. bios tell the awards, but do not use boastful language.
Okay so here’s an example chosen randomly from the internet (may the doyens of the internet forgive me) with identifying details changed –
@whatcolleges - You can describe your talent without listing awards or accomplishments (or by casually mentioning them in passing). Talk about what inspires you to engage in the activity that you have a talent for and how you have developed your talent over time.