College Bound Mentor

College Bound Mentor Narrow your list, focus on a small event and expand with details. Your thesis statement should reveal your message, one that encompasses both personal reflection and analysis. Develop the arc of your essay with an introduction, body and conclusion. Be specific and use examples from your own life. Provide some details to help the reader see the setting and understand you better as a person. From the perspective that you have gained in life, discover the message or story line that is unique to you. Colleges want to get to know the real you, so be sure to weave your unique voice into your content wherever it fits most authentically. She works directly with students, and trains school counselors, English teachers and independent educational consultants. A college application essay is all about reflection; it’s an opportunity for applicants to share something meaningful about themselves. Sally Rubenstone is a veteran of the college admissions process and is the co-author of three books covering admissions. She worked as a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years and has also served as an independent college counselor, in addition to working as a senior advisor at College Confidential since 2002. If you'd like to submit a question to The Dean please email us at It’s where you have the time to get creative and excited about sharing your story without being restricted by formal writing rules. Approaching the essay can seem daunting, but like with everything else in your college search, the best way to approach it is to get organized early! Since the essay will take a significant amount of your time from brainstorming all the way through your final edits, start thinking about it early in August or September. After Ye Luo rewrote his essay with a narrower, deeper focus, he was accepted by a number of colleges, including Wesleyan University, where he is now a freshman. He hasn’t yet declared a major, but he’s studying Chinese in Wesleyan’s College of East Asian Studies. It combined parts of my initial drafts into something completely new. I wrote three distinctly different full drafts for my Common App college essay, all speaking about my Asian-American identity in different ways. Each full draft also had a number of smaller edits. My third essay draft started with the idea “I’m not afraid to speak up. I refuse to stay silent.” I brainstormed how I came to have this character trait and intersections of it with my Asian-American identity. I ultimately told the story of slam poetry night at Governor’s School, the first time that I really pushed myself out of my comfort zone to speak about a racial issue. My final draft is multifaceted, showing my personal growth in context of the frustration and empowerment rooted in my Asian-American identity. Jot down notes you have about the topic without any sort of order to them; this will allow you to get out a free flowing of ideas. If you start early, this will be one of the most rewarding parts of composing the essay. After you’ve exhausted your early ideas, it’s time to begin a more structured approach to writing your essay. Pull together all of your notes into an outline that has a clear introduction, body, and conclusion to give your ideas a more defined order. You want the story to be thorough without any loose ends. Once you’ve chosen your prompt, it’s time to begin brainstorming! Use anecdotes, interpretations, and observations that are unique to your life and demonstrate how you think and write. Now you’re ready to review the essay prompts you need to address. Once you’re familiar with the prompts, set them aside and dive right into putting your thoughts on paper. You’re not writing a research paper, and you don’t need to impress them with the SAT word of the day. College admissions professionals are regular people just like you, so write something that connects with them as a human being, and you’ll be in a great position. For more ‘how to’ tips about the process of essay writing, see “Writing the College Essay”. Start early and be prepared to write several drafts. Write in the first person, craft an interesting narrative, check the tone and strength of your voice, and sharpen your grammar skills. Do not try to be something you are not or try too hard to impress. Colleges love to see students who are very self-aware and that are taking the time to share who they truly are in their own voice.