I have really good standardized test scores and really good grades in English but my college application essays will be terrible. I know a lot of big words for standardized tests(since I like to learn vocabulary to know what people are talking about in life) but I don’t like to use them in essays because they are superfluous. Also, the problem is that revising usually doesn’t make my essays better, so more time doesn’t really help. Doing things efficiently is what I excel at, so all the time to write college essays doesn’t help me. I did really well in English because we did a lot of timed writings and the other students in my class were just as bad or worse at writing, and my English teacher was too nice to fail everyone. So will college admissions officers be really confused by my application? Thanks!
Well, good essays are a critical part of each application. “Big words” don’t make an essay compelling. But writing something that illuminates a part of your personality or life experience, that is not evident elsewhere in your application, can make a significant contribution to your candidacy. Pick a prompt that shows you in the best light. My D wrote about an old horse barn where she really felt comfortable. No big words in it. After seeing a note from an adcom member who said how it resonated with her, I finally read it. It was wonderful.
Thank you for the response. I do appreciate your advice, although I’m not really sure if it’ll help since I’ve read a lot on writing college essays and talked to past applicants at my school, but my writing skills are just too poor. Thanks for taking your time to write out a thoughtful and detailed response though,
The way to improve poor writing skills is practice, practice, practice. You’ve got an entire summer.
Thanks for the advice, but I’ve practiced a ton of writing for several years now and I’ve been writing college application essays for most of the summer. I really do appreciate your advice, time, and constructive feedback though!
How long has your summer been so far?
Got out like May 18th