<p>Okay</p>
<p>Am I the ONLY person freaking about the essay part of the application?</p>
<p>I keep procrastinating more and more. I need to get my apps in! I've been writing essays, but they are so AVERAGE. What's worse is that I give it to my dad, he makes a few tiny corrections, and deems it good. I KNOW ITS NOT.</p>
<p>WHAT TO DO?</p>
<p>Anyone else feel me?</p>
<p>I feel you hard.</p>
<p>It’s down to the wire now, not much time left, and I STILL can’t seem to write any essays! It’s freaking me out, because I definitely don’t want to settle on something sub-par, but there just isn’t much time left.</p>
<p>Writer’s block sucks :[</p>
<p>Yeah it does :(</p>
<p>I’m going to feel so much better if I can actually get my applications in!</p>
<p>What about your english teacher? Did you get any help from him/her?</p>
<p>I can’t believe I’m going to spend my entire xmas vacation doing college apps while my family goes on a vaction. argh.</p>
<p>Quick tips from a CC essay grader</p>
<p>-remove the essay completely of passive verbs and only use active verbs.
-from the active verbs you use, modify them to ellicit the proper emotional
emphasis on each section. EX: While a sentence may require to use the word
hate, another may require you to use the word abhor.</p>
<p>-get a word or >4 word phrase and tie it into your essay in the intro paragraph,
2 body paragraphs, and the conclusion paragraph to nest together value states.</p>
<p>-if you feel wild, throw in a mild cuss word.</p>
<p>implementing those quick tips should drastically improve your essay.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Why? I think it is good to use active AND passive, because in some sentences it sounds better. But I am non-english speaker, so could you please explain?</p>
<p>Every. Word. Counts. All a passive verb does is serve as a timebridge from event to event. It does not create a frame, set a mood, elicit emotions, or instill an image. You want as much of that as possible in a college essay to distinguish yourself. And active verbs allow that because it has associative meanings connected to its word that passive verbs don’t. That’s why in science/research papers you use passive verb a lot, because you want to sound objective. But college essays are all about creativity and persuasiveness.</p>
<p>No help from my English teacher…
I don’t have English this semester, so it was a big inconvenience
and in fact I did give a draft to him, but he never got back to me!</p>
<p>RadronOmega… thanks so much for your tips!
I didn’t give much thought to it, but I’ll now go back and make sure everything is in active voice
I really appreciate it!</p>
<p>i highly disagree, if you write all in active verbs your essay might seem strange because normally people do not speak like that. You should use more active verbs than you think but don’t overdo it.</p>
<p>i agree with nooob, one of my problems is writing with too many active verbs. my writing sounds hyperactive. :P</p>
<p>Aahhhhhh. Alright, I’ll make sure not to over do it! 
<em>begins essay</em></p>
<p>9 out of 10 days i’d blow off this topic for the stupidity of choosing 2 people’s thoughts over one person. But today has been an absolutely horrific, bitter-ridden day. So i’m going to have a petty moment.</p>
<p>So let’s see…</p>
<ol>
<li><p>over 500 essays in over 3 years, with over 70% of them documented for results of students along with other factors of admission.</p></li>
<li><p>I’ve talked with 4 admission officers and keep active email contact with a head of admissions for an ivy league college.</p></li>
<li><p>fomer CC graders who’ve graded more essays than me have personally tutored me on how to approach college essays.</p></li>
<li><p>I’ve published a book.</p></li>
<li><p>And on the official list of CC graders, I have the most recommendations from students of any reader on teh thread without asking them to comment on it.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>But let’s just ignore radronOmega’s opinions and start rushing the essay. </p>
<p>And amanda, you’re not freaking out because of the essay. You’re freaking out because you procrastinated on the most important words you have ever written in your life.</p>
<p>THIS IS THE CULMINATION OF YOUR HISTORY. You highs, lows, profound points of your life. This is your chance to show that you’re not a number, but a person. more important than any class assignment you have ever written, any scribble you have drawn in a day dream, any report you have typed.</p>
<p>And you’re going to PROCRASTINATE on that? Good grief. If you know your essay is average you do something about it. You re-write it. You spend a day at the bookstore and read through great essays. you read poems, narrations, anything to inspire you. You don’t hide in a nervous shell, you break free of it. That separates great from good.</p>
<p>… thinking about college app essays has made me officially crazy…</p>
<p>i have no idea if my essay is great or decent or horrific…</p>
<p>Radron, you’re right. :)</p>
<p>cohellege (haha, nice name)
It’s hard for me to tell how my essay is too! :|</p>