Would anyone like to read my intellectual vitality essay? I really need some tips. This is way too early, as I’m only a sophomore, but I’m applying to nineteen colleges and I want to see what I can write. This will probably change by the time that I actually apply, but I want to get started now.
Thanks guys!!
19?? I suggest that you concentrate instead on developing a passion and excelling in it. Worrying about essays when you’re a sophomore is pointless. You WILL change a lot between now and then. You need to be having experiences so you’ll have something to write about! Enjoy high school and life. 
@MaineLonghorn I have. I really enjoy biology, and will be developing a Youtube account over the summer to teach biology. I overall enjoy science and I’m in multiple science clubs. I also enjoy writing and reading and I will be making a Creative Writing Club next year and I’m in a Book Club right now. Me and one my friends also want to make a charity. I’m pretty all over the place, which is making me extremely worried. I’m also worried that I won’t have enough time to write a good essay because I’m going to study for SATs this summer and then travel abroad the next summer. I’m also in really hard classes for the next two years due to IB Diploma so I may not have time during the school year either.
If you don’t have time in the next 2 years to write a 250 word essay, you are overbooked.
@usualhopeful You’re right. I think if this year if I feel overloaded I’ll take out some extracurriculars or something.
There’s no problem with starting your college search early, but it’s really not necessary to apply to 19 colleges. It’s expensive, time consuming, and chances are you wouldn’t know enough about each school when the time comes to choose which one to attend. Choose around 10 that seem like a good fit for you.
Also, you can PM me your essay if you want.
@annana yeah, I think I’ll remove some of my reach schools. Thanks so much for being interested in reading it, though!
it is not too early to start preparing for college application /essays. My D started it at freshman year and will be matriculating at Stanford, and , she too, applied to a lot ( more than 19!) I am convinced her essays are what made the difference for Stanford and all her other reach schools ( despite being an unhooked Asian, with low/mediocre subject test scores in the 600s, having failed 2 AP tests, no sports). What really helped her in the process was reading lots of books on “College application& essay writing” borrowed from the library ---- reading thru hundreds of essays /getting tips from “experts” helped her tailor her own writing, and it was at least 6months of editing before she arrived at stellar essays. Good luck!
@iska123 thanks so much for the support! It really means a lot, as I’ve been getting a lot of heat not just from here for starting so early.
Before you begin to write your essays, refine your grammar and syntax. Develop your own voice, but seriously… Don’t start your essays this early. Summer between junior and senior year? Yeah. Cool. Do that. But as a sophomore, it’s way too early to begin writing application essays. Your voice will change. Your perspectives will change. Your passion (major choice) might change.
Knowing HOW to write a college essay will help you immensely, and you can start on that now, but you shouldn’t be writing an essay for the currently-existing prompts. 1: They might change. 2: You WILL change.
For now, though… Don’t write essays now for colleges to which you’ll be applying in 1.5 years. Take ONE blow-off class if you must (in your senior year)-- such as aiding or the like-- and spend that hour each day creating and refining your essays. I shared my documents with multiple friends to make sure that 1: these essays sounded like me. 2: they didn’t have glaring errors.
I never took creative writing, but I do consider myself a creative writer, and I write in my spare time. I considered myself a stellar writer in 10th grade, but I REALLY developed a voice in 11th grade. I tried to start essays after 10th grade, impassioned and ready for college… But I had dramatically different topic choices between sophomore and senior year.
I started my essays for one of my reach schools early summer between junior and senior year. I refined them; I spent spare moments rereading them for errors or places to improve… But my best essays were for my other reach school. I did those in a week… and got into MIT. Time is GREAT for checking for errors, but passion and inspiration are what really count most.
In summation… know how to write a college essay. But don’t write them… yet. The time will come. The time is not sophomore year.
What schools have a late April due-date? Zuh? @FootballDad70
I think what colleges hate is when students, instead of focusing on having a well rounded, fun, and impactful time at high school, focus on using high school as a stepping stone to college. Do things because they’re meaningful to you. Don’t do things because you think they’ll look good for college – colleges usually roll their eyes when people talk about “starting their own charities.” I think you’re actually starting wayy too early, you haven’t had the time to develop meaningful leadership or intellectual maturity yet.