<p>I've seen a lot of student essays and so many make the same mistakes that I thought I'd mention something to PARENTS to keep in mind.</p>
<p>The most important thing that an essay should do is make the college want to admit that person.</p>
<p>I read through essays that might be brutally honest, but instead make me think, I wouldn't really want to include that person into the class I'm trying to create. Reference to drugs, drinking, explaining bad behavior, intense shyness, ... Why do kids think that delving into their flaws or dark feelings will make a college want them?</p>
<p>On the opposite end are those that brag. Colleges also don't want self-centered braggarts coming into the mix either.</p>