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Essay Guides and Essay Examples

Your best college essay: tips for writing a college essay that helps you stand out.

Your college essays are a key chance to set yourself apart in the college admissions process. A strong college essay will showcase all of your unique qualities that will help you succeed on a college campus. Avoid the fatal mistake of leaving your college essays until the last minute. Instead, reserve enough time to craft a college admission essay beyond compare.

Keep in mind that the average acceptance rate for college applicants is 68% , but the rate for your dream school may be even lower. For example, many of the best colleges in the U.S. , including Ivy League universities, have single-digit acceptance rates. Admissions departments across the U.S. received well over a million Common App applications for the 2022-2023 school year. Many schools are growing more competitive every year, so it’s more important than ever to stand out.

Your personal essay and supplemental essays can easily get lost in the wave of other applicants. In truth, only the best college essays will rise to the top, so it is important to make sure yours is among them.

CollegeAdvisor’s resources will guide you through the entire process, including key information on:

Selecting college essay topics.

  • College essay ideas
  • Types of college essay prompts
  • How to write a great college essay

College essay format

  • How to start a great college essay
  • How to start a ‘why this college’ essay
  • How to end college essays

Writing about yourself isn’t easy, but you can also find more great tips on how to write a college essay for individual schools at CollegeAdvisor.com. As you begin, keep in mind that knowing how to write a college essay is the mark of a great candidate. 

American University Essay

American University Essay 2022-23 American University Essay: Quick Facts Does American University require any supplemental essays? Yes. There is one 150-word American University essay that students must complete—the “Why American […]

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Not sure how to approach the Amherst essays? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Amherst supplemental essays will show you how to write strong Amherst essays to maximize your chances of admission. […]

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Amherst College Supplemental Essays 2023-24 Wondering how to get into Amherst? The key is the Amherst essays. Your Amherst supplemental essays are a critical part of making your application stand […]

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Apply Texas Essays 2023 If you live in Texas or plan on applying to schools there, it’s likely that you’ve heard of the Apply Texas portal. At Texas schools, the […]

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Babson College Supplemental Essays 2023-24 Do you have your heart set on attending Babson College? Well then, your Babson supplemental essay will be a critical part of your application. In […]

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Barnard Essay Examples – Introduction If you are looking for Barnard Essay examples you’ve come to the right place. But, before we dive into how to write Barnard supplemental essays […]

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Barnard Supplemental Essays 2023-24 One of the key steps to getting into Barnard is writing your Barnard College supplemental essays. Like many top schools, Barnard uses supplemental essays to learn […]

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Not sure how to approach the Baylor University essay? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Baylor application essay will break down the Baylor essay prompts, showing you how to write an engaging […]

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Bentley Supplemental Essays 2023-24 Wondering how to approach the Bentley supplemental essays? If so, then this article is for you. We’ll start by going over Bentley essay expectations, including how […]

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In this Boston College Essay Guide, we will cover how to approach the 2020-2021 Boston College supplementary essays. For more guidance on personal essays and the college application process in […]

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Boston College Supplemental Essays 2023–2024 A private liberal arts college in the town of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, Boston College is ranked among America’s top 50 colleges by U.S. News. This […]

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Boston University Essay 2023-2024 As admission to Boston University becomes more competitive, the Boston University essay continues to be incredibly important. Although essays are often the most time-consuming part of […]

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In this Boston University Essay Guide, CollegeAdvisor.com Admissions Expert and BU graduate Sally Kim will cover how to approach the 2020-2021 Boston University supplementary essays. For more guidance on personal […]

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Boston University Supplemental Essays 2022-2023 Do you need help writing your Boston University supplemental essays? Then this Boston University supplemental essay guide is for you. First, we’ll look at each […]

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Not sure how to approach the Boston University supplemental essays? CollegeAdvisor.com’s Boston University Supplemental Essay 2021 Guide will show you exactly how to write engaging Boston University supplemental essays to […]

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Bowdoin College is a classic New England liberal arts college located in Brunswick, Maine, just 3 miles from the ocean, 30 minutes from Portland, and 2 hours from Boston. Bowdoin […]

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Bowdoin Supplemental Essays Widely considered one of the best liberal arts schools, Bowdoin College has a rigorous admissions process. However, well-written Bowdoin supplemental essays can help your application stand out. […]

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Brandeis Supplemental Essays  One of the most important parts of your Brandeis application is the Brandeis supplemental essays. Like at many other top schools, when you apply to Brandeis University, […]

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Not sure how to write Brandeis supplemental essays? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Brandeis supplement essay will show you exactly how to write engaging Brandeis University supplemental essays and maximize your […]

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Brown Essays Examples  If you’re applying to Brown University, reading Brown essays examples can help you begin to craft your own supplements. The Brown supplemental essays are a critical part […]

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The following essay examples were written by several different authors who were admitted to Brown University and are intended to provide examples of successful Brown University application essays. All names […]

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In this Brown University Essay Guide, CollegeAdvisor.com Admissions Experts Nick and Elinor will cover how to approach the 2020-2021 Brown University supplementary essays. For more guidance on personal essays and […]

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Brown Supplemental Essays 2023-2024 If you’re wondering how to get into Brown, a solid strategy begins with strong Brown supplemental essays. With most colleges and Ivy League universities going test-optional, […]

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Brown University supplemental essays are a key part of your application to Brown University. Not sure how to approach the Brown University essay prompts? With tips from a current Ivy […]

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In this PLME and Brown-RISD Essay Guide, we will cover how to approach the 2020-2021 supplementary essays for Brown University’s specialized undergraduate programs. For more guidance on personal essays and […]

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Bryn Mawr College Supplemental Essays  As one of the top liberal arts colleges in the nation, Bryn Mawr College is looking for intellectually curious applicants—with some writing chops. Therefore, knowing […]

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Bucknell Supplemental Essay 2022-23 A top private liberal arts college, Bucknell University is located in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. If you are considering applying to Bucknell, you’re likely a motivated student with […]

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In this California Institute of Technology essay guide, we will give tips for applicants to best express themselves in their personal statements as prospective Caltech students. For more guidance on […]

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Caltech Supplemental Essays 2022-23 Quick Facts- Caltech Essays What are Caltech’s supplemental essays? The Caltech supplemental essays are listed on the Common App website. You can also find the Caltech […]

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Carleton College Supplemental Essay Carleton College is among the most sought-after liberal arts colleges in the Midwest—and one that requires strong supplemental essays. In this guide, we’ll provide details about […]

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In this Carnegie Mellon University essay guide, we’ll be diving into some tips to help future applicants best represent themselves in the Carnegie Mellon University supplemental essays. For more guidance […]

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Carnegie Mellon Supplemental Essays 2023-24 Carnegie Mellon University is renowned for its unwavering commitment to academic excellence, especially in engineering and computer science. As one of the nation’s top universities, […]

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Not sure how to approach the Carnegie Mellon essay prompts? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the CMU supplemental essays will show you exactly how to write engaging Carnegie Mellon essays and maximize […]

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Not sure how to approach the Case Western supplemental essays? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Case Western Reserve University supplemental essays will show you exactly how to write engaging Case Western […]

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Claremont McKenna Supplemental Essays 2023-24 Curious about how to get into Claremont McKenna? As a liberal arts school, Claremont McKenna cares deeply about how you think, write, and experience the […]

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Clemson Essay Prompts 2022-23 Most of the top colleges and universities in the country require applicants to complete additional essays beyond the regular Common Application or Coalition Application essay. Clemson […]

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Colorado College Supplemental Essays Founded in 1874, Colorado College is a private liberal arts college located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The school is home to approximately 2,000 undergraduates. As part […]

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Columbia Essays Examples Are you interested in applying to Columbia University? If so, Columbia essays examples are a great way to start considering your own essay strategy.  As with any […]

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Columbia Supplemental Essays 2023-24 Columbia University is a highly ranked private institution located in New York City. It is not only one of the most sought after colleges in New […]

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The following Columbia University essay examples were written by several different authors who were admitted to Columbia University. All names have been redacted for anonymity. CollegeAdvisor.com has shared these essays […]

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In this Columbia University Essay Guide, we will cover how to approach the 2020-2021 Columbia University supplementary essays. For more guidance on personal essays and the college application process in […]

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Not sure how to approach the Columbia essay prompts? With tips from an Ivy League graduate, CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Columbia University supplemental essays will show you exactly how to […]

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Common App Transfer Essay — Introduction If you’re considering transferring colleges, you’ve likely started thinking about your college transfer essay. At CollegeAdvisor, we’re here to fill you in on the […]

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Cornell Supplemental Essays 2023-2024 Cornell University is one of the most competitive schools in both New York and the nation. In recent years, the Cornell acceptance rate has only gotten […]

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In this Cornell University Essay Guide, we will cover how to approach the 2020-2021 Cornell University supplementary essays. For more guidance on personal essays and the college application process in […]

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Cultural Diversity Essay & Community Essay Examples If you’ve started to research college application requirements for the schools on your list, you might have come across the “cultural diversity essay.” […]

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In this Dartmouth College Essay Guide, we will cover how to approach the 2020-2021 Dartmouth College supplementary essays. For more guidance on personal essays and the college application process in […]

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Not sure how to approach the Dartmouth essay prompts? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Dartmouth application essays will show you exactly how to write engaging Dartmouth supplemental essays and maximize your […]

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Dartmouth Essays Like many schools, Dartmouth College requires supplemental essays as a part of the admissions process. Through the Dartmouth essays, you can showcase elements of your application that may […]

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Dartmouth Essays that Worked – Introduction Are you interested in learning more about how to get into Dartmouth? Dartmouth is a highly-ranked Ivy League institution with a competitive applicant pool. […]

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Drexel Supplemental Essays 2022-23 Located in the heart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Drexel University is undeniably an excellent school for students to add to their college lists. The school has over […]

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Duke Essays 2023-24 Writing college essays is an integral part of crafting an impactful application narrative, and the Duke essays are no exception. Duke University is one of the most […]

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Duke Essay Examples Often confused for an Ivy League university because of its prestigious reputation, Duke University is one of America’s top schools. While not a member of the Ivies, […]

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In this Duke University Essay Guide, CollegeAdvisor.com Admissions Experts Anya (Duke ‘17) and Gagan (Duke ‘13) will cover how to approach the 2020-2021 Duke supplementary essays. For more guidance on […]

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Duke Supplemental Essays 2022-2023 Lauded for its academic excellence, Duke University is one of the most elite universities in the nation. If you want to stand out in the admissions […]

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Elon Supplemental Essays 2023-24 All applicants to Elon University must complete the Elon supplemental essays. Moreover, each Elon application essay helps you craft a strong application. Every year, Elon admissions […]

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Emory Essays  Emory University, nestled in Atlanta, Georgia, is known for its commitment to intellectual rigor and interdisciplinary exploration. The Emory essays offer students a great chance to stand out […]

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In this Emory University Essay Guide, we will cover how to approach the 2020-2021 Emory supplementary essays. For more guidance on personal essays and the college application process in general, […]

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Emory Essays that Worked Are you wondering how to get into Emory University? As a sought-after college for many students, applicants interested in Emory must pay great attention to each […]

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Not sure how to approach the Emory essay prompts? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Emory supplemental essays will show you exactly how to write engaging Emory supplemental essays and maximize your […]

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Extracurricular Activities Essay Examples – Introduction  As you work through your college applications, you may come across a version of the extracurricular activities essay. Many college application requirements include an […]

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Fordham Supplemental Essays 2022-2023 Fordham Supplemental Essays: Quick Facts How many essays does Fordham require? So, does Fordham have supplemental essays? The answer is yes, Fordham gives students the opportunity […]

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George Mason Supplemental Essays 2023-24 College essays play an important role in the admissions process, just as they do at George Mason University. While there is only one George Mason […]

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Not sure how to approach the George Washington essays? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the George Washington University supplemental essays will show you exactly how to write engaging George Washington essays and […]

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Georgetown Supplemental Essays 2023-24 Supplemental essays are an important part of every college application, and Georgetown is no exception. Each Georgetown essay is an opportunity for applicants to share something […]

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Georgetown Supplemental Essays: 2022-2023 Georgetown Essay Guide Quick Facts: Does Georgetown have supplemental essays? Yes. You will be required to answer three Georgetown University essay prompts as part of the […]

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In this Georgetown University Essay Guide, CollegeAdvisor.com Admissions Experts and Georgetown graduates Brynlee and Tamara will cover how to approach the 2020-2021 Georgetown University supplementary essays. For more guidance on […]

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Georgia Tech Essay 2022-23 Georgia Tech Essay: Quick Facts Does Georgia Institute of Technology have supplemental essays? Yes. In addition to your Common App Personal Statement, you will craft a why […]

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Georgia Tech Essays 2023-24 Georgia Institute of Technology is a public university in the University System of Georgia, located in Atlanta. As one of the nation’s premier research universities, the […]

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Harvard Supplemental Essays 2023-2024 If you’re applying to Harvard, you might be wondering how to approach the Harvard supplemental essays. Harvard is one of the most prestigious schools in the […]

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Photographer: Benjamin Rascoe | Source: Unsplash The following essay examples were written by several different authors who were admitted to Harvard University and are intended to provide examples of successful […]

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The oldest university in the United States and one of the most renowned higher education institutions in the world, Harvard is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a few […]

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In this Harvard University Essay Guide, CollegeAdvisor.com Admissions Experts Jesper (Harvard ‘19), Julia (Harvard ‘21), and Miranda (Harvard ‘19) cover how to approach the 2020-2021 Harvard supplementary essays. For more […]

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Not sure how to approach the Harvard essay prompts? With tips from a Harvard graduate, CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Harvard supplemental essays will show you exactly how to write engaging […]

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Not sure how to approach the “Why Harvey Mudd” essay and other Harvey Mudd essay prompts? With advice from a trained Admissions Expert, CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Harvey Mudd supplement […]

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Haverford Supplemental Essays Interested in applying to Haverford College? Well, the Haverford supplemental essay is a crucial part of your overall application. As one best colleges in Pennsylvania, Haverford is […]

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Not sure how to write an Indiana University supplemental essay? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Indiana University application essay will show you exactly how to write an engaging Indiana University supplemental […]

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Ivy League Essay Examples Ivy League colleges like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are notoriously competitive. By reading Ivy League essay examples, students can prepare for the application process. The best […]

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Not sure how to approach the Johns Hopkins essay prompts? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Johns Hopkins supplemental essays will show you exactly how to write engaging Johns Hopkins essays and […]

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Johns Hopkins Essays – An Introduction Writing college essays is one of the hardest parts of the college application process. If you’re wondering how to get into Johns Hopkins, you’ll […]

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Johns Hopkins Supplemental Essays 2022 – 2023 In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to approach each of the Johns Hopkins essays. But before diving into how to write […]

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Lehigh Supplemental Essays 2023-24  If you’re wondering how to get into Lehigh University, this guide to the Lehigh supplemental essays is for you. To craft a strong and compelling application, […]

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Not sure how to respond to the Lehigh supplemental essays?  CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Lehigh University supplemental essay questions will show you how to write strong Lehigh supplemental essays and […]

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Macalester College Supplemental Essays 2023-24 Students applying to Macalester College will be faced with an important decision: should I complete the Macalester College supplemental essays? Without a doubt, the answer […]

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Not sure how to approach the MIT essay prompts? With tips from an Ivy League graduate, CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the MIT essay questions will show you exactly how to write […]

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In this Massachusetts Institute of Technology Essay Guide, we will cover how to approach the 2020-2021 MIT supplementary essays. For more guidance on personal essays and the college application process […]

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MIT Essays that Worked – Introduction In this guide, we’ll provide you with several MIT essays that worked. After each, we’ll discuss elements of these MIT essay examples in depth. […]

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Not sure how to approach the Morrill Scholarship essay? With tips from an Ivy League graduate, CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the OSU Morrill Scholarship essay will show you exactly how to […]

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Mount Holyoke Supplemental Essays  If you want your application to stand out to Mount Holyoke Admissions, you’ll need to write compelling Mount Holyoke supplemental essays. The Mount Holyoke prompts can […]

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NC State Supplemental Essay Examples North Carolina State University is a highly-ranked public research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Holding the #72 spot on the U.S. News Best National Universities […]

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Not sure how to approach the “Why NYU” essay prompt? CollegeAdvisor.com’s “Why NYU” Essay Guide will show you exactly how to write an engaging “Why NYU” essay to maximize your […]

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In this New York University Essay Guide, CollegeAdvisor.com Admissions Experts Elinor and Shruthi will cover how to approach the 2020-2021 NYU supplementary essays. For more guidance on personal essays and […]

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The following essay examples were written by several different authors who were admitted to Northwestern University and are intended to provide examples of successful Northwestern University application essays. All names […]

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In this Northwestern University Essay Guide, you’ll find tips on how to best respond to the supplemental essay prompts for Northwestern. For more guidance on personal essays and the college […]

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Not sure how to approach the Northwestern essay prompt? With tips from a Harvard graduate, CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Northwestern supplemental essays 2021 will show you how to write an […]

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Notre Dame Essay Examples Feeling stuck as you begin to write your Notre Dame essay? By reading Notre Dame essay examples, you can prepare yourself to write your own Why […]

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Notre Dame Essay Guide: 2022-2023 Notre Dame Essay Guide Quick Facts:  Not sure how to approach the Notre Dame essay prompts? Our guide to the Notre Dame essay supplemental essays […]

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Notre Dame Supplemental Essays 2023-24 Wondering how to approach the Notre Dame supplemental essays? We’ve got you covered.  The University of Notre Dame, located in the vibrant state of Indiana, […]

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The following essay examples were written by authors who were admitted to New York University and are intended to provide examples of successful NYU application essays. All names have been […]

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NYU Supplemental Essays New York University, also known as NYU, is in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan. NYU is not only one of the best universities in New York […]

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Occidental Supplemental Essays With the Occidental acceptance rate hovering around 30%, many students are eager to make a game plan for how to get into Occidental College. Occidental College, affectionately […]

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Penn State Supplemental Essays 2023-24 With test-optional colleges like Penn State on the rise, mastering the Penn State supplemental essay has never been more important. Beyond seeing a strong academic […]

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Not sure how to approach the Penn State essay prompts? With tips from a Penn State graduate, CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Penn State supplemental essays will show you how to […]

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Found in the heart of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State University (PSU) is a public, land-grant university with a multitude of locations and the primary campus being at University Park, Pennsylvania. PSU […]

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Not sure how to approach the Pepperdine essay prompts? With tips from a Harvard graduate, CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Pepperdine supplemental essays will give you the tools to write Pepperdine […]

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Not sure how to get started on your Pitzer supplement essay? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Pitzer supplemental essays will provide you with the Pitzer core college values, the Pitzer College […]

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Pitzer Supplemental Essays 2023-24 If you’re considering applying to Pitzer, you’ll want to do everything you can to stand out from the other applicants. And that means writing stellar Pitzer […]

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Pomona Supplemental Essays  If you’re planning to apply to Pomona College, you’ll also need to prepare to write several Pomona supplemental essays. Each Pomona essay that you write should expand […]

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Princeton Supplemental Essays 2023-24 If you’re wondering how to get into Princeton, the Princeton supplemental essays play a major role in the admissions process. In this Princeton essay guide, we’ll […]

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Princeton Essay Examples – Introduction  Are you wondering how to write the Princeton supplemental essays? Then this Princeton essay guide is just what you need! In fact, we’ll look at […]

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In this Princeton University Essay Guide, we will cover how to approach the 2020-2021 Princeton supplementary essays. For more guidance on personal essays and the college application process in general, […]

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Princeton Supplemental Essay 2022-2023 There are seven Princeton University supplemental essays that all applicants must write. While this may feel daunting, take comfort—each Princeton supplemental essay is on the shorter […]

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Purdue Supplemental Essay 2022-2023 Purdue Supplemental Essay: Quick Facts What are Purdue University’s essays? In addition to the Common App essay, students must also complete the Purdue supplemental essay prompts.  […]

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In this Rice University essay guide, we’ll be diving into some tips to help future applicants best represent themselves with the Rice University supplemental essays. For more guidance on personal […]

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Rice Supplemental Essays 2023-2024 The Rice University supplemental essays play an integral role in any student’s “how to get into Rice” plan. As one of the top universities in the […]

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Rutgers Supplemental Essay Rutgers University, located in New Jersey, is celebrated as one of the premier public universities in the nation. Consequently, Rutgers Admissions carefully review thousands of applications, each […]

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Not sure how to approach the Rutgers essay prompts? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Rutgers supplemental essays will show you how to write engaging Rutgers essays and maximize your admissions odds. […]

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Santa Clara University Supplemental Essays 2022-23 Santa Clara University is a research university located in California. If you want to stand out in the SCU admissions process, the Santa Clara […]

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Smith Supplemental Essays  If you’re considering applying to Smith, you’ll need to tackle the Smith essays. Smith College stands out as one of the premier private liberal arts colleges in […]

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Spelman College Supplemental Essays 2023-24 Are you wondering how to write the Spelman essays? Like other highly-ranked colleges, the application process at Spelman College is competitive. However, understanding how to […]

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About St. Olaf College St. Olaf College is a small, private liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and is listed as one of the […]

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Stanford Supplemental Essays  The Stanford essays form a critical part of the application process. Like at many top schools around the country, when you apply to Stanford, you’ll complete school-specific […]

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Stanford Essays Examples – Introduction Located in sunny California, Stanford is a top choice school for many students. In this guide, we’ll look at the Stanford supplemental essays. Then, we’ll […]

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In this Stanford University Essay Guide, CollegeAdvisor.com Admissions Experts Michele, Becky, and Matthew will cover how to approach the 2020-2021 Stanford supplementary essays. For more guidance on personal essays and […]

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Not sure how to approach the Stanford essay prompts? With tips from an Ivy League graduate, CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Stanford essay prompts will show you exactly how to write […]

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Swarthmore Supplemental Essays  Writing the Swarthmore supplemental essays is an important step for any applicant hoping to gain admission to this competitive school. Swarthmore College is one of the best […]

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Syracuse Supplemental Essays Looking for guidance on how to get into Syracuse? One key part of your application is the Syracuse supplemental essays. Namely, the Why Syracuse essay will play […]

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TCU Supplemental Essays 2022-23 Located in Fort Worth, Texas, TCU is one of the top 100 colleges in the nation. So, as you prepare to apply, you should think carefully […]

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Texas A&M Supplemental Essays 2023-24 If you’re thinking about how to get into Texas A&M, you’ve probably come across the Texas A&M supplemental essays. Texas A&M is one of the […]

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Not sure how to approach the Texas A&M essay prompts? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Texas A&M application essays will breakdown the Texas A&M essay requirements and show you exactly how […]

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Texas Tech Essays 2023-24 If you’re a student looking to learn how to get into Texas Tech, this guide is for you. One way to stand out from other applicants […]

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Tufts Essay 2023-2024 If you’re considering applying to Tufts this cycle, you’ve come to the right place. In order to know how to get into Tufts and impress the admissions […]

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Tufts Supplemental Essays 2022-2023 If you’ve already started researching how to get into Tufts, stats like the The Tufts acceptance rate may make the Tufts application seem daunting. Getting familiar […]

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Tulane Essay Guide: 2022-2023 Tulane Essay Guide Quick Facts: What are Tulane’s supplemental essays? Each Tulane essay for the 2022-2023 application cycle is posted on the Common App site. The Tulane […]

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UC Essay Prompts 2023-2024 Students applying to UC schools must be prepared to answer the UC prompts as part of the application process. Each year, the University of California receives […]

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UChicago Essay Examples  As one of the world’s top-ranked universities, the University of Chicago deeply values inquisitive and creative learners. For that reason, UChicago essays that worked are some of […]

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The following essay examples were written by several different authors who were admitted to University of Chicago and are intended to provide examples of successful UChicago application essays. All names […]

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UChicago Essay Prompts 2023-24 If you’re looking to learn more about the UChicago essay prompts, you’ve come to the right place.  Located in Hyde Park, Illinois, UChicago is one of […]

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UIUC Supplemental Essays 2023-24 If you’re interested in attending UIUC, writing effective UIUC essays is an important step toward gaining admission. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), located in […]

UNC Supplemental Essay Examples

UNC Supplemental Essay Examples The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one of the top public universities in the United States.  Many students wonder how to get into […]

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UNC Supplemental Essays 2022-23 UNC Supplemental Essays: Quick Facts How many essays does the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill require? The UNC supplemental essays come in two categories. […]

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Not sure how to approach the UC Personal Insight Questions? With tips from an Ivy League graduate, CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the UC essay prompts will show you how to write […]

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The following essays were written by several different authors who were admitted to University of California (UC) schools and are intended to provide examples of successful UC essays. All names […]

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University of California, Berkeley, is part of the 10 campuses of the UC system and has been ranked consistently as one of the top public universities in the world. It […]

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In this University of California essay guide, CollegeAdvisor.com Admissions Experts and UC alumni Angela, Kaitlin, and Zoë will discuss how to best respond to the University of California Personal Insight Questions (PIQs). For […]

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Not sure how to approach the UChicago essay prompts? With tips from one of our Admissions Experts, CollegeAdvisor.com’s UChicago supplement essay guide will show you exactly how to write engaging […]

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In this University of Chicago Essay Guide, CollegeAdvisor.com Admissions Experts Arielle and Caroline will cover how to approach the 2020-2021 University of Chicago supplementary essays. For more guidance on personal […]

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Not sure how to approach the University of Florida supplemental essays? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the University of Florida supplemental essays will show you exactly how to write engaging UF supplemental […]

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Not sure how to approach the UIUC essay prompts? With tips from an Ivy League graduate, CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the UIUC essay prompts will show you exactly how to write […]

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University of Maryland Supplemental Essays 2023-24 Wondering how to write your University of Maryland supplemental essays? If so, you’re in the right place. The UMD essay prompts are unique, both […]

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Not sure how to approach the University of Miami essay prompts? With tips from an Ivy League graduate, CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the University of Miami supplemental essays will show you […]

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University of Miami Supplemental Essays 2023-24 Wondering how to write your University of Miami supplemental essays? For many students, writing the University of Miami essays can feel like a daunting […]

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The following University of Michigan essay examples were written by authors who were admitted to University of Michigan (UMich). All names have been redacted for anonymity. Please note that CollegeAdvisor.com […]

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To write a standout college essay, you will have to be creative and original. This means you should avoid the overused typical college essay ideas, such as:

  • A historical figure you admire
  • Your favorite place to visit
  • How you saved the day by making a winning sports play

These and other similar college essay topics are too common, so they won’t help you stand out . Even if you have to use a prompt that looks like this, try to attack it in an unexpected way. You don’t want your college essay to be just one of many cliché college essays that don’t inspire your reader.

Other potentially ineffective college essay ideas to avoid in a college admission essay are those that provide too much personal detail. For example, if you want to write about a serious accident and how you overcame your injuries, avoid taking a deep dive into the medical procedures and details about the accident itself. That is not how to start a college essay. In fact, you could end up putting off members of the admissions committee rather than intriguing them. Instead, a good college essay idea would focus on how you turned a challenge into an opportunity. 

Avoid poetry and fiction

Also, don’t turn in a long poem or a piece of fiction in lieu of a college essay. This advice applies to supplemental essays as well. Although your creative prose might reveal aspects of your spirit and personality, creative writing is a college essay format that admissions teams don’t always appreciate. Your college essay should teach your readers more about you —not your poetry chops. 

That said, creativity is still important in college essays. Your college essay should highlight your ability to illustrate points with strong imagery. The best college essays will use vivid imagery, strong language, and a well-structured form to highlight key parts of the writer’s identity. 

Additionally, boasting about your personal achievements in college essays often does not present your character in the best light. This doesn’t mean you can’t highlight your accomplishments in your college essays. However, if you want to describe an accomplishment, add context. Don’t use language that is too self-congratulatory or prideful. Of course, you can be proud of your achievements. But, the best college admission essay is one that exudes confidence, not arrogance.

College essays are no joke

The best college essays also do not solely rely on humor or jokes to engage an audience. Humor is quite subjective, so what tickles your funny bone may not have the same effect on others. Try not to overuse humor in your college admission essay. 

Instead, take a tip from college essays that worked. Use unique descriptions and insights that help your readers understand who you are. If that includes humor, feel free to add in a few clever jokes throughout your college admission essay. However, don’t use them to distract from the actual content of the essay itself. 

In addition, resist the urge to write a college essay that reads like a travelog. Describing the weather in the South of France does not reveal much about who you are and why a college should accept you. Your college essays need to be about you! 

At times, you might be asked to write a college essay about someone else. These essays might seem deceptive, but at their core, they should still center around you. Think about someone you know or a historical figure you admire. How do their experiences and values relate to your life? What about them engages you, and how does that speak to your identity? 

Stay positive

When writing a college essay, you should also avoid making negative observations about the school you’re applying to (or even other colleges). Admissions officers want their students to have a  positive outlook. So, avoid negativity and criticism in your college essays.

One way to accomplish this is to select college essay topics you care about. Choose a theme that reveals your passion and positivity. Get started with some brainstorming strategies to help you identify a few great college essay ideas. 

Additionally, take advantage of CollegeAdvisor.com’s library of webinars to help you create an application that showcases your personal narrative. Your college admission essay should work in conjunction with your extracurricular and academic interests to show who you are as a whole person. So, as you write your college essays, keep your application narrative in mind. 

After brainstorming

Once you’ve identified some viable college essay topics, see how they compare to some popular topics for college essays that worked, including :

  • A college essay on the valuable lessons you learned from a setback or failure
  • A college essay reviewing how anc accomplishment inspired your growth
  • An essay topic about the ways in which gratitude has broadened your horizons
  • A unique college essay about how your favorite hobby adds dimension to your academic interests
  • A college essay detailing how one experience impacted your life and goals for the future

These structures give you room to tell a story about who you are and how you’ve grown. However, if you’re not careful, these topics can become cliché. So, if you opt to write your college essay on a common topic, make sure it has your own personal spin. 

Most importantly, use your own voice and be sincere in any college essay you write. Admissions committees do not want to read the same college essay topics over and over. Instead, they want to see college essays and supplemental essays with fresh voices and thought-provoking. 

College essays that worked are insightful, authentic, unique, and personal. So, as you draft your college essay, keep these qualities in mind. 

Different kinds of College Essay prompts

The personal statement .

Typically, the longest essay you will write in the college application process is your primary College Essay or Personal Statement. This essay will be based on college essay prompts set forth by the Common App and Coalition App.  These college essay prompts typically include an array of predetermined topics as well as an option to write on a subject of your choice. You can find the college essay prompts on each application website. 

The Common App and Coalition App typically release their college essay prompts in the summer before application season begins. That way, they’re available several months before your college applications are due. This gives you ample time to research college essays that worked and develop your own strategy for getting started on a college essay.

The Common App publishes its college essay prompts online each year. The Coalition App college essay prompts are also available online. Additionally, if you are planning to submit your college applications through QuestBridge , you can find the college essay prompts on its website. QuestBridge also offers valuable hints on how to write a great college essay.

School-specific essays

You will also likely be required to write school-specific essays as part of your college application process. These school specific essays, also called supplemental essays, are different from your primary college essay or personal statement. However, supplemental essays are just as important, if not more so, to admissions officers. 

Supplemental essays differ between schools and application systems. So, do your research on which college essays you will need to write well before your college application deadlines.

More on supplemental essays

Each university creates its own supplemental part of the college application. Most schools require you to write supplemental essays specific to them. These are a school’s way to assess how you would fit into their specific school community. They also give you the chance to show each school why you are a good fit!

Some schools ask applicants to write more than one supplemental essay. Some supplemental essays consist of several short questions and one longer supplemental essay. The typical college essay length for a long answer is similar to that of your regular college essay, around 400-650 words.

College essay length requirements for short answer questions are likely to be around 150-200 words. Before you start writing, research  the colleges you are applying to. First, find out the type, number, and college essay length of the supplemental essays they ask for. Then, take your time to learn more about each school and its values—this can help you write an essay sure to stand out. 

Supplemental essay example

For example, if you apply to New York University , the supplemental essay is school-specific. NYU wants its applicants to answer the question “Why NYU?” in a 400-word essay. Specifically, the NYU supplemental essay prompt for 2021-2022 was worded as such:

We would like to know more about your interest in NYU. What motivated you to apply to NYU? Why have you applied or expressed interest in a particular campus, school, college, program, and or area of study? If you have applied to more than one, please also tell us why you are interested in these additional areas of study or campuses. We want to understand – Why NYU? 

For a college essay prompt like this, you’ll want to start by researching NYU. Then, choose one or two things about NYU that intrigue you. Don’t be too general, and don’t just talk about going to school in New York—instead, show why you would thrive at NYU specifically, and highlight what you would bring to their campus. 

You can get more tips on writing a great supplemental essay at CollegeAdvisor.com. We’ve curated supplemental essay guides for all of the top 100 colleges.

Short answer essays 

Others, like University of Southern California , ask for a series of short response questions alongside their supplemental essays. Short responses questions tend to be around 100-150 characters, but they vary based on school. 

As you write your supplemental essays and short response answers, keep the required college essay length in mind. Also, remember that shorter essays aren’t always easier. Give yourself plenty of time to write a standout 150-word essay; don’t leave it until the last minute. 

“Optional” supplemental essays

In addition to any required college essay prompts, some schools list their supplemental essays as optional. However, if you are applying to a top-tier school, it’s a good idea to answer all prompts, optional or not. Instead of seeing these optional essays as added work, think of them as an invaluable opportunity to share more about yourself.

That said, there are certain cases where you should skip the optional supplemental essay. For example, if the supplemental essay asks you to expand on any extenuating circumstances that impacted your application, and you don’t have any, don’t make something up. These supplemental essays are designed for students to explain an extremely low grade in a class or a personal event that affected their academic performance. In some cases, this will not apply to you. So, don’t feel pressure to answer those types of supplemental essay questions. 

Schools with no supplemental essays

You may also find during your college application process that some universities do not require any supplemental essays. 

State universities like the University of Colorado-Denver and the University of Pittsburg do not ask for supplemental essays. Nor do some liberal arts schools like Lawrence University , Colby College , and Middlebury College . Take these schools’ policies as another incentive to make your personal statement shine. 

How to Write a Great College Essay

Test scores, your GPA, and the list of extracurricular activities you’re involved in provide admissions committees with a sketch of your accomplishments. Your college essay is your opportunity to fill in the rest of the story . 

If your test scores are good but not exceptional, your college essay can convey how exceptional you really are. If your GPA is less than flawless, a great college essay can help strengthen your application.

However, there is no shortcut to writing a college essay that stands out. You will need to spend time brainstorming, drafting, and editing your college essay. College essays that worked for past applicants were not written in a day, or even a week. It can take a few months to write a college admission essay that you’re proud of. 

Check out these hints to write the best college essays possible:

  • Choose college essay prompts that fit: The college essay prompts you choose should provide an opening for the topics/stories you have decided to discuss.
  • Know your parameters: Before you begin, make sure you are clear on the required college essay length and college essay format.
  • Create an outline : Organization is critical to writing a college essay that shines, so structure your ideas into a formal outline to guide you as you write. This will also help you get started on a college essay if you’re feeling stumped.
  • Start out strong: Come up with a “hook” in the first few sentences of your college essay that grabs your readers and reels them in. For example, “On New Year’s Day 2020, my life changed forever.”
  • Write a rough draft: Do not plan on writing a college essay in a couple of hours. Treat your first effort as a draft that you will reread and revise until it is perfect.
  • Follow your outline: Keep your essay prompts and college essay ideas firmly in mind as you write your first draft; you can revise it later to make it one of the best college essays possible.
  • Do not go over the college essay length for any of your college essays: Pay attention to college essay length requirements, especially with supplemental essays. Also, do not deviate from standard college essay format. Doing so indicates that you cannot follow instructions.
  • Use proper grammar and accurate spelling: Resist the urge to use slang or texting abbreviations in any college essays.
  • Observe the rules of best college essays: Breaking college essay format rules or deviating from the college essay prompts will not earn you any points. Be prepared to showcase your excellence as a writer—within your given parameters. 

It’s also a good idea to review the websites of your colleges of choice to see whether they offer guidelines on how to write a strong supplemental essay. In addition, research guides on how to write a great college essay from other resources .

You should also follow the college essay format mentioned in your college essay guidelines , if there is one. If the application does not specify a college essay format, use the standard MLA guidelines for how to write a college essay.

While some colleges may not place any importance on format, most schools expect college essays to meet strict academic standards. So, do not rely on your memory for correct grammar, spelling, and vocabulary definitions. When in doubt, look it up.

How to Start a College Essay

Choosing your college essay prompts and structuring an outline for your college essay format is a great beginning. Now, you’ll probably wonder, how do you start a college essay?

The best method for getting started on a college essay is creating a thesis statement . This is a single-sentence response to the college essay prompts you choose to tackle. It states your topic and the main point of your college essay.

A strong thesis statement forms the foundation of the best college essays. It should be clear and concise. The following paragraphs of your college essay should then provide supportive examples and/or evidence to prove your thesis.

Let’s take a look at the Johns Hopkins “Essays that Worked” page for some examples. For college essay prompts like, “ Describe an obstacle or challenge that you struggled to overcome ,” your thesis statement should be clear and compelling. Your thesis could be, “When I transferred to a new bigger high school and joined the squash team, I discovered how rewarding it is to push myself outside of my comfort zone.” 

When you’re getting started on a college essay like this , start with a bit of context. Then, make sure each paragraph directly relates to the thesis statement and reveals something crucial about you . For example, you might describe a distinct strategy or action that pushed you out of your comfort zone. Was it the fast pace of the sport, or maybe the shyness you felt meeting new people? You might also highlight a specific moment when you overcame insecurities and conquered new challenges. However, don’t try to tackle all of these questions at once; instead, choose one story, and stay focused on your narrative and its relevance to your life. 

Finally, make sure that your essay reflects something crucial about who you are. Don’t just tell an interesting story—instead, explicitly connect this story to your identity and growth. To return to the squash team example, your essay might show how you persevere in the face of difficulty and that you are not afraid to learn from new experiences. 

What about the ending?

So, once you’re this far, you’ll begin wondering how to end a college essay. In most cases, the final paragraph of the best college essays will return to your thesis. Then, it will offer a conclusion that puts the entire experience into context.

In our example about joining the squash team at your new high school, your college essay might conclude with, “The experience showed me that the more I push myself outside of my comfort zone, the more my comfort zone grows.” This sentence shows the reader the relevance of your essay beyond its topic—that is, it shows how your experience helped you grow not just as a squash player, but as a person. 

The above example shows how to end a college essay on a positive note. It will leave your readers feeling good about your experience, just like you did. It also gives you room to talk about how you will apply your new faculties in college. That’s the best strategy when it comes to how to end a college essay.

Key Components of the Best College Essays

Many colleges, including Harvard and the University of California , no longer require you to submit SAT or ACT test scores. In the absence of these scores, an even greater emphasis falls upon your supplemental essays.

That means to get into top schools, you must focus on creating one of the best college essays in response to the college essay prompts. Your college essay provides much-needed insight into both your academic talent and your character.

Before you submit your college admission, check your college essay against the following tenets of how to write a college essay. 

Does your college essay do all of these things?

  • Communicate your unique character: What you reveal about yourself in your college essays both answers and expands upon the college essay topics.
  • Write with an authentic voice: Your college essays should sound like you, so unless you frequently use complex language or long words, avoid them in both your college essay and supplemental essays.
  • Don’t be too broad: College essays should cover a single concept in depth rather than skimming through several concepts. For example, instead of talking a little about each of the jobs you’ve had in your life, focus on one key experience. Anywhere from 1-3 examples is a good amount to aim for in each of your college essays. 
  • Provide evocative details: The best college essays draw readers in with interesting and enriching details. Remember to show, don’t tell, when writing a college essay.
  • Use specific language/imagery: Put your readers in the scene with adjectives and images that help them see, smell, touch, taste, hear or otherwise feel the event or emotions you describe. That is a common trait of college essays that worked. 
  • Tell a story with a beginning, a middle and an end: The best college essays don’t skip around in a confusing manner. Instead, strong college essays simply relay events as they actually happened.
  • Contain excellent grammar and spelling : The best college essays are virtually flawless in terms of mechanics. You don’t want to distract from your college admission essay with something as small as a misspelled word. 
  • Stay within the college essay format parameters: Show respect for the standard college essay format. Edit until your college essay falls within the stated word limit for college essays. If your essay is too long, you may be denied admission for not following the required college essay length. 

How to Write a College Essay About Yourself

No matter which of the college essay prompts you choose, the story, observations, and reflections should ultimately reveal more about yourself than your test scores and extracurricular activities do. Your college essay is the place to let your personality shine. 

Remember, you are pitching yourself as an excellent fit for a particular university. So, your college essays should present you in the best possible light.

However, you may have never written a personal essay before. So, you’re stuck wondering how to write a college essay about yourself. The trick to writing about yourself is avoiding some of the common pitfalls of autobiography. Avoid describing yourself in such a way that garners sympathy rather than admiration. Try not to sound too negative or bad-tempered. 

For example, instead of indulging in self-pity, describe how a specific challenge has made you stronger. That’s the best approach to the question of how to write a college essay about yourself. Focus on your reactions, your growth, and your takeaways. Communicate how you’ve transformed a negative experience into a positive opportunity for learning and growth.

As you brainstorm college essay ideas and wonder how to start a college essay, remember that you are not the only hero in your story. Your college essay can also mention those who helped you with an important accomplishment. Describing your relationships with others is also a good way to write about yourself. In fact, it illustrates your humility and gratitude, two admirable character traits. However, at the end of the day, stay focused on yourself. 

When thinking about how to write a college essay about yourself, at all costs, be truthful. There’s no need to exaggerate your victories. That’s one of the top takeaways from how to write a college essay. Tell the truth, and be yourself.

In addition, use descriptions that support your thesis statement. If you want your readers to understand your empathy for others, describe a situation that illustrates this rather than just saying so. Relay an anecdote about a time you helped someone without an ulterior motive.

Finally, explain how a story, experience, or accomplishment changed you or broadened your outlook. Don’t just state it; show it .

Find the college essay topic that works for you

Some college essay topics are more personal than others. Some college essay prompts inspire intensely personal reactions. The trick to choosing the right college essay prompts is to find one that allows you to reveal your character without getting overly personal .

The college essay topics you choose should reveal something about who you are and why you will be an asset to a college. If you feel that the best college essay topics are particularly sensitive ones, the best approach is honesty. Focus on the positives , and show how your trials have made you stronger. 

You do not have to give details that might be off-putting to your readers. Try to use each of the college essay topics as a window into your character and the kind of adult you want to become.

How to Start a “Why This College” Essay

You will likely come across college essay prompts asking , “Why this college?” One or more of your supplemental essays will likely be a version of this question. We frequently refer to these essays as “Why School” essays, and they are some of the most common college essay prompts you will encounter.

What is the admissions team trying to find out from these types of college essay prompts? It could be several things:

  • How much do you know about a college you are applying to?
  • Are you serious about attending if you get accepted?
  • Do you have a realistic view of the school’s academics and campus life?
  • Will you be a good fit for this particular college?

You should always do your homework before answering these college essay prompts. Research the course offerings, the faculty, the location, dorm life, and study abroad programs. All of these details will be helpful when you’re wondering how to start a “why this college” essay. 

Also, read student reviews to get a perspective from the inside. Then, come up with a definitive and specific answer to each of the “why school” essay prompts that you must answer.

Schedule a campus visit

Before you start a “why this college” essay, visit the campus in person, if possible. Not only will it help you come up with college essay ideas, but also, visiting a school is one of the best ways to show your interest in attending.

Many college admissions officers throughout the U.S. place value on your demonstrated interest (DI) in the college when considering your application. In fact, 16% of colleges consider your DI to have considerable importance.

Rather than just walking around the school campus, try to make an appointment in advance to speak with someone from admissions. When you show up in person, on time and eager, your admissions counselor will be able to connect your application and college essays to a familiar face.

Take a guided tour with a current student. Eat in the cafeteria. Attend a weekend event. Then, you can speak with authority in your college essay when you describe what draws you to the school.

Focus on the school in your college essays

Even though you’re applying to more than one university, you don’t need to mention that in your “why this college” essay. Instead, stay focused on each individual school as you write your school-specific college essays. 

Furthermore, when writing a college essay, put yourself in the role of a student at the school in question. What features do you love? What activities will you join? How would you, personally, embody the mission of the university?

Things to avoid

One thing to avoid in a “why school” essay is mentioning the school’s national rankings. Such statistics are not in themselves a reason to attend. Instead, write about how the school’s philosophy and academic approach align with your own.

Additionally, admissions officers already know about the school’s history, founders, reputation, and graduation rate. Your essay should offer information they don’t know, such as why you chose to apply or how that specific college would nurture your academic growth.

Use the two-part answer strategy

Having trouble deciding how to start a “why this college” essay? As you approach these college essay prompts, think of your essay as a two-part answer. First, describe the intellectual appeal of the college and the ways it speaks to your interests. Second, your “why school” essay should also mention how you will give back as a student.

For example, maybe you want to start a club for other West African students like yourself. Or, maybe you want to work with kids in the school’s inner-city community outreach programs. Colleges will be impressed that you already know how you’d contribute to their campus. 

Examples of College Essays That Worked

Part of the research you do as you begin planning your college essay should be reading college essays that worked. These college essay resources and examples of college essays can offer more expert insight. 

Since supplemental essay prompts are college-specific, use the essays-by-school resource from CollegeAdvisor.com. For example, if you want to apply to the University of Pennsylvania , find out all you can from people who have successfully gained admission to UPenn. Read actual examples of UPenn college essays that worked on our website.

Do your research on each supplemental essay requirement—UPenn asks for two supplemental essays. Along with actual essay prompts, find resources that provide example college essays that worked. These college essay resource pages also offer quick tips for how to write a college essay about yourself.

Our library of resources also includes advice from former admissions officers. This can give you even more insight into how to approach different college essay prompts. With help from our team of experts, you’ll find out what essay topics are most impressive to admissions officers and some tips on past college essays that worked.

At CollegeAdvisor.com, you can read actual examples of college essays that worked. They illustrate what admissions teams look for in a successful supplemental essay. You can also find out how to write a college essay about yourself that is effective.

Final thoughts on College Essays

Generally speaking, the more selective the university, the more important it is to submit stellar college essays. For example, schools like Harvard typically accept less than   5% of those students who apply.

Most of the applicants to selective schools have the best academic records, scores, and teacher recommendations. So, college essays can make a huge difference. 

Think of your college essay, then, as a chance to further your quest for college acceptance. Make the most of it. Find solid resources on how to write a college essay. Then, produce well-planned, well-written college essays that show your readers who you are.

In a 2019 survey of college admissions departments nationwide, respondents ranked the college essay fifth in importance among admissions materials.

First on the list was the student’s high school GPA. Second was the average grade earned in college prep courses, and third was the academic reputation of the student’s high school. Fourth on the level of importance was SAT/ACT scores, and then the essay. However, now that so many schools are test-optional, college essays have become even more important.

Even at larger schools like the University of Minnesota , which accepts about half of those who apply, your college essay carries weight.

Within a large pool of candidates, it’s more important than ever to stand out. Excellent college essays will attract the eye of discerning readers. So, learning how to write a college essay is well worth your time.

A second pair of eyes can make a huge difference on your college essays. However, choose your readers and editors carefully. Choose who to ask how to write a college essay—not everyone can provide the right kind of support. You might ask a teacher, advisor, or family member for a second opinion. 

Finally, focus on what you can control. Nobody can predict if certain college essay prompts will be more of a hit with a particular admissions office. It’s impossible to know beforehand how to write a college essay that will click with all your readers. So, strive to write a college essay that best represents you. 

Rely on what you know about each college and how that intersects with your personality, interests and academic goals. Once you’ve figured that out, you should have a good idea how to write a great college essay.

Beyond the College Essays: College Interviews

Although many universities have made applying easier by eliminating standardized tests and financial aid steps, some colleges still consider applicant interviews to be an important part of the admissions process.

It’s a good idea to do your research or touch base with the admissions office before you visit a college. Then, you’ll know whether you can schedule an interview during your visit.

Larger schools send out admissions representatives to various cities or lean on a network of alumni to conduct interviews on their behalf. If your chosen college is among these schools, you can usually schedule interviews during their visits.

Typically, a college interview does not carry as much weight for getting into a school as your GPA or college essay. This is especially true if interviews are optional.

If a college does mandatory interviews , though, they will have some bearing on your acceptance. Prepare in advance and dress to impress, and you will make a positive impression at your interview.

Just like the prep for a college essay, preparing for a college interview involves some research about each specific college. As you gather information, start making a list that includes specific reasons why you want to attend. It’s sure to be one of your interview topics!

Also, as questions arise during your research, take notes. Some of the answers you can find with a quick search of the college website or on CollegeAdvisor.com . If you cannot find an answer to one of your questions, jot it down so you have something to ask at your interview.

Other popular interview questions you may encounter include:

  • What should I know about you that I won’t find out from your application?
  • What do you enjoy doing outside of school?
  • Tell me about a mistake you made that became a positive learning experience.

Keep in mind during your interview that how you answer questions is just as important as the answer itself. Try to relax and be yourself. Getting to know you is your interviewer’s primary interest. Think of your interview as a conversation, and try not to stress. 

It’s also a good idea to:

  • Know the interviewer’s name and how to say it.
  • Smile often, and offer to shake the interviewer’s hand when you first meet.
  • Be prepared to begin with rapport-building small talk.
  • Practice good grammar when you speak.
  • Listen carefully and take time to think as needed.
  • Close the interview with a positive comment.
  • Afterward, send the interviewer a thank you note.

Write down your impressions once you’ve completed your interview. Some of the topics you discussed or information you learned could become great college essay ideas. Also, if the colleges on your shortlist do not conduct pre-application interviews, that places more importance on your college essays and supplemental essays. Make sure your personality shines through especially as you compose your “why this college” essay.

Beyond the College Essays: Recommendation Letters

In many ways, the letters of recommendation from your teachers are similar to your college essays. They should tell the truth, talk about your character, be interesting, and be concise. However, you typically don’t have a lot of control over what is said in your recommendation letters. So, you should take care with the aspect you can control: who you choose to write the letter.

You should choose a teacher who knows you well and taught you recently. Ideally, this would be a junior year teacher. Teachers who had you freshman year are not the best choice, as you haven’t been in their classroom for three years. A sophomore year teacher is okay for one of your letters, but try not to have two sophomore teachers writing your recommendation letters. 

Although your teachers will likely submit their recommendations directly to the college admissions office, be sure to ask them to send you a copy too. Most of your teachers will probably agree.

However, if you sign a waiver in your application that waives your right to review your application file, you can’t legally access official copies of your recommendations. Many schools ask you to sign these waivers, so don’t expect to be able to view your recommendations. 

You should be sure to ask teachers for recommendations early. That gives them plenty of time to write a great letter that sings your praises.

However, since truthfulness is a hallmark of a strong recommendation letter, you should ask faculty members that know you well. You don’t want a letter that provides only vague information and faint praise. Ask those teachers with whom you have built rapport over your years in high school. They’ll be familiar not only with your GPA but also your personal character.

Sometimes it takes advance planning to build rapport with your teachers, but it is rewarding in many ways. Often, a coach you have played sports for and also taken classes from is a great choice.

CollegeAdvisor can help

We offer extensive resources at CollegeAdvisor.com for students at every stage of the college admissions process. We add new information about college admissions and college essays constantly, including exclusive webinars with former admissions officers.

Use CollegeAdvisor to research universities like Princeton . Narrow down your choices based on reliable information, and learn how to optimize your chances of admission.

When you join CollegeAdvisor, you’ll have access to our best tips about college admissions from students, former students, and former admissions officers at top universities. You’ll get expert advice on writing college essays that work from students who are attending their dream schools.

We have more than 400 Admissions Experts and former Admissions Officers available to meet with you, discuss your needs, and provide support. To date, we have helped students from the U.S. and 60 countries worldwide gain admission to Ivy League and Top 50 colleges across the nation. 

Applying to college is hard—you shouldn’t have to do it alone. Get started with CollegeAdvisor today.

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How to Write a College Essay | A Complete Guide & Examples

The college essay can make or break your application. It’s your chance to provide personal context, communicate your values and qualities, and set yourself apart from other students.

A standout essay has a few key ingredients:

  • A unique, personal topic
  • A compelling, well-structured narrative
  • A clear, creative writing style
  • Evidence of self-reflection and insight

To achieve this, it’s crucial to give yourself enough time for brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

In this comprehensive guide, we walk you through every step in the process of writing a college admissions essay.

Table of contents

Why do you need a standout essay, start organizing early, choose a unique topic, outline your essay, start with a memorable introduction, write like an artist, craft a strong conclusion, revise and receive feedback, frequently asked questions.

While most of your application lists your academic achievements, your college admissions essay is your opportunity to share who you are and why you’d be a good addition to the university.

Your college admissions essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s total weight一and may account for even more with some colleges making the SAT and ACT tests optional. The college admissions essay may be the deciding factor in your application, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurriculars.

What do colleges look for in an essay?

Admissions officers want to understand your background, personality, and values to get a fuller picture of you beyond your test scores and grades. Here’s what colleges look for in an essay :

  • Demonstrated values and qualities
  • Vulnerability and authenticity
  • Self-reflection and insight
  • Creative, clear, and concise writing skills

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

It’s a good idea to start organizing your college application timeline in the summer of your junior year to make your application process easier. This will give you ample time for essay brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

While timelines will vary for each student, aim to spend at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing your first draft and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Remember to leave enough time for breaks in between each writing and editing stage.

Create an essay tracker sheet

If you’re applying to multiple schools, you will have to juggle writing several essays for each one. We recommend using an essay tracker spreadsheet to help you visualize and organize the following:

  • Deadlines and number of essays needed
  • Prompt overlap, allowing you to write one essay for similar prompts

You can build your own essay tracker using our free Google Sheets template.

College essay tracker template

Ideally, you should start brainstorming college essay topics the summer before your senior year. Keep in mind that it’s easier to write a standout essay with a unique topic.

If you want to write about a common essay topic, such as a sports injury or volunteer work overseas, think carefully about how you can make it unique and personal. You’ll need to demonstrate deep insight and write your story in an original way to differentiate it from similar essays.

What makes a good topic?

  • Meaningful and personal to you
  • Uncommon or has an unusual angle
  • Reveals something different from the rest of your application

Brainstorming questions

You should do a comprehensive brainstorm before choosing your topic. Here are a few questions to get started:

  • What are your top five values? What lived experiences demonstrate these values?
  • What adjectives would your friends and family use to describe you?
  • What challenges or failures have you faced and overcome? What lessons did you learn from them?
  • What makes you different from your classmates?
  • What are some objects that represent your identity, your community, your relationships, your passions, or your goals?
  • Whom do you admire most? Why?
  • What three people have significantly impacted your life? How did they influence you?

How to identify your topic

Here are two strategies for identifying a topic that demonstrates your values:

  • Start with your qualities : First, identify positive qualities about yourself; then, brainstorm stories that demonstrate these qualities.
  • Start with a story : Brainstorm a list of memorable life moments; then, identify a value shown in each story.

After choosing your topic, organize your ideas in an essay outline , which will help keep you focused while writing. Unlike a five-paragraph academic essay, there’s no set structure for a college admissions essay. You can take a more creative approach, using storytelling techniques to shape your essay.

Two common approaches are to structure your essay as a series of vignettes or as a single narrative.

Vignettes structure

The vignette, or montage, structure weaves together several stories united by a common theme. Each story should demonstrate one of your values or qualities and conclude with an insight or future outlook.

This structure gives the admissions officer glimpses into your personality, background, and identity, and shows how your qualities appear in different areas of your life.

Topic: Museum with a “five senses” exhibit of my experiences

  • Introduction: Tour guide introduces my museum and my “Making Sense of My Heritage” exhibit
  • Story: Racial discrimination with my eyes
  • Lesson: Using my writing to document truth
  • Story: Broadway musical interests
  • Lesson: Finding my voice
  • Story: Smells from family dinner table
  • Lesson: Appreciating home and family
  • Story: Washing dishes
  • Lesson: Finding moments of peace in busy schedule
  • Story: Biking with Ava
  • Lesson: Finding pleasure in job well done
  • Conclusion: Tour guide concludes tour, invites guest to come back for “fall College Collection,” featuring my search for identity and learning.

Single story structure

The single story, or narrative, structure uses a chronological narrative to show a student’s character development over time. Some narrative essays detail moments in a relatively brief event, while others narrate a longer journey spanning months or years.

Single story essays are effective if you have overcome a significant challenge or want to demonstrate personal development.

Topic: Sports injury helps me learn to be a better student and person

  • Situation: Football injury
  • Challenge: Friends distant, teachers don’t know how to help, football is gone for me
  • Turning point: Starting to like learning in Ms. Brady’s history class; meeting Christina and her friends
  • My reactions: Reading poetry; finding shared interest in poetry with Christina; spending more time studying and with people different from me
  • Insight: They taught me compassion and opened my eyes to a different lifestyle; even though I still can’t play football, I’m starting a new game

Brainstorm creative insights or story arcs

Regardless of your essay’s structure, try to craft a surprising story arc or original insights, especially if you’re writing about a common topic.

Never exaggerate or fabricate facts about yourself to seem interesting. However, try finding connections in your life that deviate from cliché storylines and lessons.

Admissions officers read thousands of essays each year, and they typically spend only a few minutes reading each one. To get your message across, your introduction , or hook, needs to grab the reader’s attention and compel them to read more..

Avoid starting your introduction with a famous quote, cliché, or reference to the essay itself (“While I sat down to write this essay…”).

While you can sometimes use dialogue or a meaningful quotation from a close family member or friend, make sure it encapsulates your essay’s overall theme.

Find an original, creative way of starting your essay using the following two methods.

Option 1: Start with an intriguing hook

Begin your essay with an unexpected statement to pique the reader’s curiosity and compel them to carefully read your essay. A mysterious introduction disarms the reader’s expectations and introduces questions that can only be answered by reading more.

Option 2: Start with vivid imagery

Illustrate a clear, detailed image to immediately transport your reader into your memory. You can start in the middle of an important scene or describe an object that conveys your essay’s theme.

A college application essay allows you to be creative in your style and tone. As you draft your essay, try to use interesting language to enliven your story and stand out .

Show, don’t tell

“Tell” in writing means to simply state a fact: “I am a basketball player.” “ Show ” in writing means to use details, examples, and vivid imagery to help the reader easily visualize your memory: “My heart races as I set up to shoot一two seconds, one second一and score a three-pointer!”

First, reflect on every detail of a specific image or scene to recall the most memorable aspects.

  • What are the most prominent images?
  • Are there any particular sounds, smells, or tastes associated with this memory?
  • What emotion or physical feeling did you have at that time?

Be vulnerable to create an emotional response

You don’t have to share a huge secret or traumatic story, but you should dig deep to express your honest feelings, thoughts, and experiences to evoke an emotional response. Showing vulnerability demonstrates humility and maturity. However, don’t exaggerate to gain sympathy.

Use appropriate style and tone

Make sure your essay has the right style and tone by following these guidelines:

  • Use a conversational yet respectful tone: less formal than academic writing, but more formal than texting your friends.
  • Prioritize using “I” statements to highlight your perspective.
  • Write within your vocabulary range to maintain an authentic voice.
  • Write concisely, and use the active voice to keep a fast pace.
  • Follow grammar rules (unless you have valid stylistic reasons for breaking them).

You should end your college essay with a deep insight or creative ending to leave the reader with a strong final impression. Your college admissions essay should avoid the following:

  • Summarizing what you already wrote
  • Stating your hope of being accepted to the school
  • Mentioning character traits that should have been illustrated in the essay, such as “I’m a hard worker”

Here are two strategies to craft a strong conclusion.

Option 1: Full circle, sandwich structure

The full circle, or sandwich, structure concludes the essay with an image, idea, or story mentioned in the introduction. This strategy gives the reader a strong sense of closure.

In the example below, the essay concludes by returning to the “museum” metaphor that the writer opened with.

Option 2: Revealing your insight

You can use the conclusion to show the insight you gained as a result of the experiences you’ve described. Revealing your main message at the end creates suspense and keeps the takeaway at the forefront of your reader’s mind.

Revise your essay before submitting it to check its content, style, and grammar. Get feedback from no more than two or three people.

It’s normal to go through several rounds of revision, but take breaks between each editing stage.

Also check out our college essay examples to see what does and doesn’t work in an essay and the kinds of changes you can make to improve yours.

Respect the word count

Most schools specify a word count for each essay , and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit.

Remain under the specified word count limit to show you can write concisely and follow directions. However, don’t write too little, which may imply that you are unwilling or unable to write a thoughtful and developed essay.

Check your content, style, and grammar

  • First, check big-picture issues of message, flow, and clarity.
  • Then, check for style and tone issues.
  • Finally, focus on eliminating grammar and punctuation errors.

Get feedback

Get feedback from 2–3 people who know you well, have good writing skills, and are familiar with college essays.

  • Teachers and guidance counselors can help you check your content, language, and tone.
  • Friends and family can check for authenticity.
  • An essay coach or editor has specialized knowledge of college admissions essays and can give objective expert feedback.

The checklist below helps you make sure your essay ticks all the boxes.

College admissions essay checklist

I’ve organized my essay prompts and created an essay writing schedule.

I’ve done a comprehensive brainstorm for essay topics.

I’ve selected a topic that’s meaningful to me and reveals something different from the rest of my application.

I’ve created an outline to guide my structure.

I’ve crafted an introduction containing vivid imagery or an intriguing hook that grabs the reader’s attention.

I’ve written my essay in a way that shows instead of telling.

I’ve shown positive traits and values in my essay.

I’ve demonstrated self-reflection and insight in my essay.

I’ve used appropriate style and tone .

I’ve concluded with an insight or a creative ending.

I’ve revised my essay , checking my overall message, flow, clarity, and grammar.

I’ve respected the word count , remaining within 10% of the upper word limit.

Congratulations!

It looks like your essay ticks all the boxes. A second pair of eyes can help you take it to the next level – Scribbr's essay coaches can help.

Colleges want to be able to differentiate students who seem similar on paper. In the college application essay , they’re looking for a way to understand each applicant’s unique personality and experiences.

Your college essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s weight. It may be the deciding factor in whether you’re accepted, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurricular track records.

A standout college essay has several key ingredients:

  • A unique, personally meaningful topic
  • A memorable introduction with vivid imagery or an intriguing hook
  • Specific stories and language that show instead of telling
  • Vulnerability that’s authentic but not aimed at soliciting sympathy
  • Clear writing in an appropriate style and tone
  • A conclusion that offers deep insight or a creative ending

While timelines will differ depending on the student, plan on spending at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing the first draft of your college admissions essay , and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Don’t forget to save enough time for breaks between each writing and editing stage.

You should already begin thinking about your essay the summer before your senior year so that you have plenty of time to try out different topics and get feedback on what works.

Most college application portals specify a word count range for your essay, and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit to write a developed and thoughtful essay.

You should aim to stay under the specified word count limit to show you can follow directions and write concisely. However, don’t write too little, as it may seem like you are unwilling or unable to write a detailed and insightful narrative about yourself.

If no word count is specified, we advise keeping your essay between 400 and 600 words.

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PrepScholar

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 177 college essay examples for 11 schools + expert analysis.

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College Admissions , College Essays

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The personal statement might just be the hardest part of your college application. Mostly this is because it has the least guidance and is the most open-ended. One way to understand what colleges are looking for when they ask you to write an essay is to check out the essays of students who already got in—college essays that actually worked. After all, they must be among the most successful of this weird literary genre.

In this article, I'll go through general guidelines for what makes great college essays great. I've also compiled an enormous list of 100+ actual sample college essays from 11 different schools. Finally, I'll break down two of these published college essay examples and explain why and how they work. With links to 177 full essays and essay excerpts , this article is a great resource for learning how to craft your own personal college admissions essay!

What Excellent College Essays Have in Common

Even though in many ways these sample college essays are very different from one other, they do share some traits you should try to emulate as you write your own essay.

Visible Signs of Planning

Building out from a narrow, concrete focus. You'll see a similar structure in many of the essays. The author starts with a very detailed story of an event or description of a person or place. After this sense-heavy imagery, the essay expands out to make a broader point about the author, and connects this very memorable experience to the author's present situation, state of mind, newfound understanding, or maturity level.

Knowing how to tell a story. Some of the experiences in these essays are one-of-a-kind. But most deal with the stuff of everyday life. What sets them apart is the way the author approaches the topic: analyzing it for drama and humor, for its moving qualities, for what it says about the author's world, and for how it connects to the author's emotional life.

Stellar Execution

A killer first sentence. You've heard it before, and you'll hear it again: you have to suck the reader in, and the best place to do that is the first sentence. Great first sentences are punchy. They are like cliffhangers, setting up an exciting scene or an unusual situation with an unclear conclusion, in order to make the reader want to know more. Don't take my word for it—check out these 22 first sentences from Stanford applicants and tell me you don't want to read the rest of those essays to find out what happens!

A lively, individual voice. Writing is for readers. In this case, your reader is an admissions officer who has read thousands of essays before yours and will read thousands after. Your goal? Don't bore your reader. Use interesting descriptions, stay away from clichés, include your own offbeat observations—anything that makes this essay sounds like you and not like anyone else.

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Technical correctness. No spelling mistakes, no grammar weirdness, no syntax issues, no punctuation snafus—each of these sample college essays has been formatted and proofread perfectly. If this kind of exactness is not your strong suit, you're in luck! All colleges advise applicants to have their essays looked over several times by parents, teachers, mentors, and anyone else who can spot a comma splice. Your essay must be your own work, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting help polishing it.

And if you need more guidance, connect with PrepScholar's expert admissions consultants . These expert writers know exactly what college admissions committees look for in an admissions essay and chan help you craft an essay that boosts your chances of getting into your dream school.

Check out PrepScholar's Essay Editing and Coaching progra m for more details!

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Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar.

Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges.

Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now :

Craft Your Perfect College Essay

Links to Full College Essay Examples

Some colleges publish a selection of their favorite accepted college essays that worked, and I've put together a selection of over 100 of these.

Common App Essay Samples

Please note that some of these college essay examples may be responding to prompts that are no longer in use. The current Common App prompts are as follows:

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. 2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? 3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? 4. Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you? 5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. 6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Now, let's get to the good stuff: the list of 177 college essay examples responding to current and past Common App essay prompts. 

Connecticut college.

  • 12 Common Application essays from the classes of 2022-2025

Hamilton College

  • 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2026
  • 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2022
  • 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2018
  • 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2012
  • 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2007

Johns Hopkins

These essays are answers to past prompts from either the Common Application or the Coalition Application (which Johns Hopkins used to accept).

  • 1 Common Application or Coalition Application essay from the class of 2026
  • 6 Common Application or Coalition Application essays from the class of 2025
  • 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2024
  • 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2023
  • 7 Common Application of Universal Application essays from the class of 2022
  • 5 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2021
  • 7 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2020

Essay Examples Published by Other Websites

  • 2 Common Application essays ( 1st essay , 2nd essay ) from applicants admitted to Columbia

Other Sample College Essays

Here is a collection of essays that are college-specific.

Babson College

  • 4 essays (and 1 video response) on "Why Babson" from the class of 2020

Emory University

  • 5 essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) from the class of 2020 along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on why the essays were exceptional
  • 5 more recent essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on what made these essays stand out

University of Georgia

  • 1 “strong essay” sample from 2019
  • 1 “strong essay” sample from 2018
  • 10 Harvard essays from 2023
  • 10 Harvard essays from 2022
  • 10 Harvard essays from 2021
  • 10 Harvard essays from 2020
  • 10 Harvard essays from 2019
  • 10 Harvard essays from 2018
  • 6 essays from admitted MIT students

Smith College

  • 6 "best gift" essays from the class of 2018

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Books of College Essays

If you're looking for even more sample college essays, consider purchasing a college essay book. The best of these include dozens of essays that worked and feedback from real admissions officers.

College Essays That Made a Difference —This detailed guide from Princeton Review includes not only successful essays, but also interviews with admissions officers and full student profiles.

50 Successful Harvard Application Essays by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson—A must for anyone aspiring to Harvard .

50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays and 50 Successful Stanford Application Essays by Gen and Kelly Tanabe—For essays from other top schools, check out this venerated series, which is regularly updated with new essays.

Heavenly Essays by Janine W. Robinson—This collection from the popular blogger behind Essay Hell includes a wider range of schools, as well as helpful tips on honing your own essay.

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Analyzing Great Common App Essays That Worked

I've picked two essays from the examples collected above to examine in more depth so that you can see exactly what makes a successful college essay work. Full credit for these essays goes to the original authors and the schools that published them.

Example 1: "Breaking Into Cars," by Stephen, Johns Hopkins Class of '19 (Common App Essay, 636 words long)

I had never broken into a car before.

We were in Laredo, having just finished our first day at a Habitat for Humanity work site. The Hotchkiss volunteers had already left, off to enjoy some Texas BBQ, leaving me behind with the college kids to clean up. Not until we were stranded did we realize we were locked out of the van.

Someone picked a coat hanger out of the dumpster, handed it to me, and took a few steps back.

"Can you do that thing with a coat hanger to unlock it?"

"Why me?" I thought.

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame. Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally. My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed. "The water's on fire! Clear a hole!" he shouted, tossing me in the lake without warning. While I'm still unconvinced about that particular lesson's practicality, my Dad's overarching message is unequivocally true: much of life is unexpected, and you have to deal with the twists and turns.

Living in my family, days rarely unfolded as planned. A bit overlooked, a little pushed around, I learned to roll with reality, negotiate a quick deal, and give the improbable a try. I don't sweat the small stuff, and I definitely don't expect perfect fairness. So what if our dining room table only has six chairs for seven people? Someone learns the importance of punctuality every night.

But more than punctuality and a special affinity for musical chairs, my family life has taught me to thrive in situations over which I have no power. Growing up, I never controlled my older siblings, but I learned how to thwart their attempts to control me. I forged alliances, and realigned them as necessary. Sometimes, I was the poor, defenseless little brother; sometimes I was the omniscient elder. Different things to different people, as the situation demanded. I learned to adapt.

Back then, these techniques were merely reactions undertaken to ensure my survival. But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The question caught me off guard, much like the question posed to me in Laredo. Then, I realized I knew the answer. I knew why the coat hanger had been handed to me.

Growing up as the middle child in my family, I was a vital participant in a thing I did not govern, in the company of people I did not choose. It's family. It's society. And often, it's chaos. You participate by letting go of the small stuff, not expecting order and perfection, and facing the unexpected with confidence, optimism, and preparedness. My family experience taught me to face a serendipitous world with confidence.

What Makes This Essay Tick?

It's very helpful to take writing apart in order to see just how it accomplishes its objectives. Stephen's essay is very effective. Let's find out why!

An Opening Line That Draws You In

In just eight words, we get: scene-setting (he is standing next to a car about to break in), the idea of crossing a boundary (he is maybe about to do an illegal thing for the first time), and a cliffhanger (we are thinking: is he going to get caught? Is he headed for a life of crime? Is he about to be scared straight?).

Great, Detailed Opening Story

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame.

It's the details that really make this small experience come alive. Notice how whenever he can, Stephen uses a more specific, descriptive word in place of a more generic one. The volunteers aren't going to get food or dinner; they're going for "Texas BBQ." The coat hanger comes from "a dumpster." Stephen doesn't just move the coat hanger—he "jiggles" it.

Details also help us visualize the emotions of the people in the scene. The person who hands Stephen the coat hanger isn't just uncomfortable or nervous; he "takes a few steps back"—a description of movement that conveys feelings. Finally, the detail of actual speech makes the scene pop. Instead of writing that the other guy asked him to unlock the van, Stephen has the guy actually say his own words in a way that sounds like a teenager talking.

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Turning a Specific Incident Into a Deeper Insight

Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

Stephen makes the locked car experience a meaningful illustration of how he has learned to be resourceful and ready for anything, and he also makes this turn from the specific to the broad through an elegant play on the two meanings of the word "click."

Using Concrete Examples When Making Abstract Claims

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally.

"Unpredictability and chaos" are very abstract, not easily visualized concepts. They could also mean any number of things—violence, abandonment, poverty, mental instability. By instantly following up with highly finite and unambiguous illustrations like "family of seven" and "siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing," Stephen grounds the abstraction in something that is easy to picture: a large, noisy family.

Using Small Bits of Humor and Casual Word Choice

My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed.

Obviously, knowing how to clean burning oil is not high on the list of things every 9-year-old needs to know. To emphasize this, Stephen uses sarcasm by bringing up a situation that is clearly over-the-top: "in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed."

The humor also feels relaxed. Part of this is because he introduces it with the colloquial phrase "you know," so it sounds like he is talking to us in person. This approach also diffuses the potential discomfort of the reader with his father's strictness—since he is making jokes about it, clearly he is OK. Notice, though, that this doesn't occur very much in the essay. This helps keep the tone meaningful and serious rather than flippant.

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An Ending That Stretches the Insight Into the Future

But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The ending of the essay reveals that Stephen's life has been one long preparation for the future. He has emerged from chaos and his dad's approach to parenting as a person who can thrive in a world that he can't control.

This connection of past experience to current maturity and self-knowledge is a key element in all successful personal essays. Colleges are very much looking for mature, self-aware applicants. These are the qualities of successful college students, who will be able to navigate the independence college classes require and the responsibility and quasi-adulthood of college life.

What Could This Essay Do Even Better?

Even the best essays aren't perfect, and even the world's greatest writers will tell you that writing is never "finished"—just "due." So what would we tweak in this essay if we could?

Replace some of the clichéd language. Stephen uses handy phrases like "twists and turns" and "don't sweat the small stuff" as a kind of shorthand for explaining his relationship to chaos and unpredictability. But using too many of these ready-made expressions runs the risk of clouding out your own voice and replacing it with something expected and boring.

Use another example from recent life. Stephen's first example (breaking into the van in Laredo) is a great illustration of being resourceful in an unexpected situation. But his essay also emphasizes that he "learned to adapt" by being "different things to different people." It would be great to see how this plays out outside his family, either in the situation in Laredo or another context.

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Example 2: By Renner Kwittken, Tufts Class of '23 (Common App Essay, 645 words long)

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver. I saw it in my favorite book, Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go," and for some reason, I was absolutely obsessed with the idea of driving a giant pickle. Much to the discontent of my younger sister, I insisted that my parents read us that book as many nights as possible so we could find goldbug, a small little golden bug, on every page. I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Then I discovered a real goldbug: gold nanoparticles that can reprogram macrophages to assist in killing tumors, produce clear images of them without sacrificing the subject, and heat them to obliteration.

Suddenly the destination of my pickle was clear.

I quickly became enveloped by the world of nanomedicine; I scoured articles about liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, targeting ligands, and self-assembling nanoparticles, all conquering cancer in some exotic way. Completely absorbed, I set out to find a mentor to dive even deeper into these topics. After several rejections, I was immensely grateful to receive an invitation to work alongside Dr. Sangeeta Ray at Johns Hopkins.

In the lab, Dr. Ray encouraged a great amount of autonomy to design and implement my own procedures. I chose to attack a problem that affects the entire field of nanomedicine: nanoparticles consistently fail to translate from animal studies into clinical trials. Jumping off recent literature, I set out to see if a pre-dose of a common chemotherapeutic could enhance nanoparticle delivery in aggressive prostate cancer, creating three novel constructs based on three different linear polymers, each using fluorescent dye (although no gold, sorry goldbug!). Though using radioactive isotopes like Gallium and Yttrium would have been incredible, as a 17-year-old, I unfortunately wasn't allowed in the same room as these radioactive materials (even though I took a Geiger counter to a pair of shoes and found them to be slightly dangerous).

I hadn't expected my hypothesis to work, as the research project would have ideally been led across two full years. Yet while there are still many optimizations and revisions to be done, I was thrilled to find -- with completely new nanoparticles that may one day mean future trials will use particles with the initials "RK-1" -- thatcyclophosphamide did indeed increase nanoparticle delivery to the tumor in a statistically significant way.

A secondary, unexpected research project was living alone in Baltimore, a new city to me, surrounded by people much older than I. Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research. Whether in a presentation or in a casual conversation, making others interested in science is perhaps more exciting to me than the research itself. This solidified a new pursuit to angle my love for writing towards illuminating science in ways people can understand, adding value to a society that can certainly benefit from more scientific literacy.

It seems fitting that my goals are still transforming: in Scarry's book, there is not just one goldbug, there is one on every page. With each new experience, I'm learning that it isn't the goldbug itself, but rather the act of searching for the goldbugs that will encourage, shape, and refine my ever-evolving passions. Regardless of the goldbug I seek -- I know my pickle truck has just begun its journey.

Renner takes a somewhat different approach than Stephen, but their essay is just as detailed and engaging. Let's go through some of the strengths of this essay.

One Clear Governing Metaphor

This essay is ultimately about two things: Renner’s dreams and future career goals, and Renner’s philosophy on goal-setting and achieving one’s dreams.

But instead of listing off all the amazing things they’ve done to pursue their dream of working in nanomedicine, Renner tells a powerful, unique story instead. To set up the narrative, Renner opens the essay by connecting their experiences with goal-setting and dream-chasing all the way back to a memorable childhood experience:

This lighthearted–but relevant!--story about the moment when Renner first developed a passion for a specific career (“finding the goldbug”) provides an anchor point for the rest of the essay. As Renner pivots to describing their current dreams and goals–working in nanomedicine–the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” is reflected in Renner’s experiments, rejections, and new discoveries.

Though Renner tells multiple stories about their quest to “find the goldbug,” or, in other words, pursue their passion, each story is connected by a unifying theme; namely, that as we search and grow over time, our goals will transform…and that’s okay! By the end of the essay, Renner uses the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” to reiterate the relevance of the opening story:

While the earlier parts of the essay convey Renner’s core message by showing, the final, concluding paragraph sums up Renner’s insights by telling. By briefly and clearly stating the relevance of the goldbug metaphor to their own philosophy on goals and dreams, Renner demonstrates their creativity, insight, and eagerness to grow and evolve as the journey continues into college.

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An Engaging, Individual Voice

This essay uses many techniques that make Renner sound genuine and make the reader feel like we already know them.

Technique #1: humor. Notice Renner's gentle and relaxed humor that lightly mocks their younger self's grand ambitions (this is different from the more sarcastic kind of humor used by Stephen in the first essay—you could never mistake one writer for the other).

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver.

I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Renner gives a great example of how to use humor to your advantage in college essays. You don’t want to come off as too self-deprecating or sarcastic, but telling a lightheartedly humorous story about your younger self that also showcases how you’ve grown and changed over time can set the right tone for your entire essay.

Technique #2: intentional, eye-catching structure. The second technique is the way Renner uses a unique structure to bolster the tone and themes of their essay . The structure of your essay can have a major impact on how your ideas come across…so it’s important to give it just as much thought as the content of your essay!

For instance, Renner does a great job of using one-line paragraphs to create dramatic emphasis and to make clear transitions from one phase of the story to the next:

Suddenly the destination of my pickle car was clear.

Not only does the one-liner above signal that Renner is moving into a new phase of the narrative (their nanoparticle research experiences), it also tells the reader that this is a big moment in Renner’s story. It’s clear that Renner made a major discovery that changed the course of their goal pursuit and dream-chasing. Through structure, Renner conveys excitement and entices the reader to keep pushing forward to the next part of the story.

Technique #3: playing with syntax. The third technique is to use sentences of varying length, syntax, and structure. Most of the essay's written in standard English and uses grammatically correct sentences. However, at key moments, Renner emphasizes that the reader needs to sit up and pay attention by switching to short, colloquial, differently punctuated, and sometimes fragmented sentences.

Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research.

In the examples above, Renner switches adeptly between long, flowing sentences and quippy, telegraphic ones. At the same time, Renner uses these different sentence lengths intentionally. As they describe their experiences in new places, they use longer sentences to immerse the reader in the sights, smells, and sounds of those experiences. And when it’s time to get a big, key idea across, Renner switches to a short, punchy sentence to stop the reader in their tracks.

The varying syntax and sentence lengths pull the reader into the narrative and set up crucial “aha” moments when it’s most important…which is a surefire way to make any college essay stand out.

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Renner's essay is very strong, but there are still a few little things that could be improved.

Connecting the research experiences to the theme of “finding the goldbug.”  The essay begins and ends with Renner’s connection to the idea of “finding the goldbug.” And while this metaphor is deftly tied into the essay’s intro and conclusion, it isn’t entirely clear what Renner’s big findings were during the research experiences that are described in the middle of the essay. It would be great to add a sentence or two stating what Renner’s big takeaways (or “goldbugs”) were from these experiences, which add more cohesion to the essay as a whole.

Give more details about discovering the world of nanomedicine. It makes sense that Renner wants to get into the details of their big research experiences as quickly as possible. After all, these are the details that show Renner’s dedication to nanomedicine! But a smoother transition from the opening pickle car/goldbug story to Renner’s “real goldbug” of nanoparticles would help the reader understand why nanoparticles became Renner’s goldbug. Finding out why Renner is so motivated to study nanomedicine–and perhaps what put them on to this field of study–would help readers fully understand why Renner chose this path in the first place.

4 Essential Tips for Writing Your Own Essay

How can you use this discussion to better your own college essay? Here are some suggestions for ways to use this resource effectively.

#1: Get Help From the Experts

Getting your college applications together takes a lot of work and can be pretty intimidatin g. Essays are even more important than ever now that admissions processes are changing and schools are going test-optional and removing diversity standards thanks to new Supreme Court rulings .  If you want certified expert help that really makes a difference, get started with  PrepScholar’s Essay Editing and Coaching program. Our program can help you put together an incredible essay from idea to completion so that your application stands out from the crowd. We've helped students get into the best colleges in the United States, including Harvard, Stanford, and Yale.  If you're ready to take the next step and boost your odds of getting into your dream school, connect with our experts today .

#2: Read Other Essays to Get Ideas for Your Own

As you go through the essays we've compiled for you above, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Can you explain to yourself (or someone else!) why the opening sentence works well?
  • Look for the essay's detailed personal anecdote. What senses is the author describing? Can you easily picture the scene in your mind's eye?
  • Find the place where this anecdote bridges into a larger insight about the author. How does the essay connect the two? How does the anecdote work as an example of the author's characteristic, trait, or skill?
  • Check out the essay's tone. If it's funny, can you find the places where the humor comes from? If it's sad and moving, can you find the imagery and description of feelings that make you moved? If it's serious, can you see how word choice adds to this tone?

Make a note whenever you find an essay or part of an essay that you think was particularly well-written, and think about what you like about it . Is it funny? Does it help you really get to know the writer? Does it show what makes the writer unique? Once you have your list, keep it next to you while writing your essay to remind yourself to try and use those same techniques in your own essay.

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#3: Find Your "A-Ha!" Moment

All of these essays rely on connecting with the reader through a heartfelt, highly descriptive scene from the author's life. It can either be very dramatic (did you survive a plane crash?) or it can be completely mundane (did you finally beat your dad at Scrabble?). Either way, it should be personal and revealing about you, your personality, and the way you are now that you are entering the adult world.

Check out essays by authors like John Jeremiah Sullivan , Leslie Jamison , Hanif Abdurraqib , and Esmé Weijun Wang to get more examples of how to craft a compelling personal narrative.

#4: Start Early, Revise Often

Let me level with you: the best writing isn't writing at all. It's rewriting. And in order to have time to rewrite, you have to start way before the application deadline. My advice is to write your first draft at least two months before your applications are due.

Let it sit for a few days untouched. Then come back to it with fresh eyes and think critically about what you've written. What's extra? What's missing? What is in the wrong place? What doesn't make sense? Don't be afraid to take it apart and rearrange sections. Do this several times over, and your essay will be much better for it!

For more editing tips, check out a style guide like Dreyer's English or Eats, Shoots & Leaves .

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What's Next?

Still not sure which colleges you want to apply to? Our experts will show you how to make a college list that will help you choose a college that's right for you.

Interested in learning more about college essays? Check out our detailed breakdown of exactly how personal statements work in an application , some suggestions on what to avoid when writing your essay , and our guide to writing about your extracurricular activities .

Working on the rest of your application? Read what admissions officers wish applicants knew before applying .

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

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The recommendations in this post are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links PrepScholar may receive a commission.

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Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

So much is at stake in writing a conclusion. This is, after all, your last chance to persuade your readers to your point of view, to impress yourself upon them as a writer and thinker. And the impression you create in your conclusion will shape the impression that stays with your readers after they've finished the essay.

The end of an essay should therefore convey a sense of completeness and closure as well as a sense of the lingering possibilities of the topic, its larger meaning, its implications: the final paragraph should close the discussion without closing it off.

To establish a sense of closure, you might do one or more of the following:

  • Conclude by linking the last paragraph to the first, perhaps by reiterating a word or phrase you used at the beginning.
  • Conclude with a sentence composed mainly of one-syllable words. Simple language can help create an effect of understated drama.
  • Conclude with a sentence that's compound or parallel in structure; such sentences can establish a sense of balance or order that may feel just right at the end of a complex discussion.

To close the discussion without closing it off, you might do one or more of the following:

  • Conclude with a quotation from or reference to a primary or secondary source, one that amplifies your main point or puts it in a different perspective. A quotation from, say, the novel or poem you're writing about can add texture and specificity to your discussion; a critic or scholar can help confirm or complicate your final point. For example, you might conclude an essay on the idea of home in James Joyce's short story collection,  Dubliners , with information about Joyce's own complex feelings towards Dublin, his home. Or you might end with a biographer's statement about Joyce's attitude toward Dublin, which could illuminate his characters' responses to the city. Just be cautious, especially about using secondary material: make sure that you get the last word.
  • Conclude by setting your discussion into a different, perhaps larger, context. For example, you might end an essay on nineteenth-century muckraking journalism by linking it to a current news magazine program like  60 Minutes .
  • Conclude by redefining one of the key terms of your argument. For example, an essay on Marx's treatment of the conflict between wage labor and capital might begin with Marx's claim that the "capitalist economy is . . . a gigantic enterprise of dehumanization "; the essay might end by suggesting that Marxist analysis is itself dehumanizing because it construes everything in economic -- rather than moral or ethical-- terms.
  • Conclude by considering the implications of your argument (or analysis or discussion). What does your argument imply, or involve, or suggest? For example, an essay on the novel  Ambiguous Adventure , by the Senegalese writer Cheikh Hamidou Kane, might open with the idea that the protagonist's development suggests Kane's belief in the need to integrate Western materialism and Sufi spirituality in modern Senegal. The conclusion might make the new but related point that the novel on the whole suggests that such an integration is (or isn't) possible.

Finally, some advice on how not to end an essay:

  • Don't simply summarize your essay. A brief summary of your argument may be useful, especially if your essay is long--more than ten pages or so. But shorter essays tend not to require a restatement of your main ideas.
  • Avoid phrases like "in conclusion," "to conclude," "in summary," and "to sum up." These phrases can be useful--even welcome--in oral presentations. But readers can see, by the tell-tale compression of the pages, when an essay is about to end. You'll irritate your audience if you belabor the obvious.
  • Resist the urge to apologize. If you've immersed yourself in your subject, you now know a good deal more about it than you can possibly include in a five- or ten- or 20-page essay. As a result, by the time you've finished writing, you may be having some doubts about what you've produced. (And if you haven't immersed yourself in your subject, you may be feeling even more doubtful about your essay as you approach the conclusion.) Repress those doubts. Don't undercut your authority by saying things like, "this is just one approach to the subject; there may be other, better approaches. . ."

Copyright 1998, Pat Bellanca, for the Writing Center at Harvard University

Empowerly secures $15M for its college counseling services

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Empowerly , an edtech startup that specializes in college counseling and career guidance services, raised $15 million in a recent funding round led by Conductive Ventures, the company announced today. The new capital will go toward growing its services, building out its AI-powered products and developing its first mobile app, which is set to launch in the U.S. by the end of 2024. Empowerly has raised $30 million to date.

“The past year has been challenging for the entire startup ecosystem, and some are saying this has been one of the worst funding environments in the past decade,” co-founder Changxiao Xie says. “This round is a testament to the platform and services we’ve created, from our recruitment of former Ivy League admissions officers to the ways we’ve leveraged data and machine learning to evaluate and improve students’ outcomes from high school to college and beyond. We’re working with more students and families than ever before and seeing fantastic outcomes year over year, and are excited to keep up the momentum.”

The company’s funding comes at a time when admissions season is becoming more competitive than ever, and high school counselors aren’t always equipped to provide expert advice on college-related issues. According to Common App’s Research Brief , there has been a substantial surge in college applications, with 3,353,516 applications sent to the thousands of schools on the Common App for the 2023–24 academic year, up 65% from 2019–20 (2,028,507).

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Image Credits: Empowerly

“Last year was one of the most competitive college admissions seasons of all time,” co-founder Hanmei Wu tells TechCrunch. “Some Ivy Leagues, like Yale, reported the lowest acceptance rates they’ve seen in decades. Yet, students still aren’t getting the right support. The counselor-to-student ratio is over 400-to-1, and students are feeling left behind just like I did years ago.”

Founded in 2018, Empowerly aims to take the pressure off students, who may spend anywhere from 60 to 200 hours applying to colleges. After a 30-minute free consultation with a student, Empowerly designs a customized plan that includes services like college counseling, essay editing, financial planning, admissions reviews, internship prep and matching, research mentorship and more. Students meet regularly with counselors and can speak with essay specialists, pre-professional specialist mentors and former admissions officers from top universities. Empowerly has a network of over 100 college counselors who focus on areas such as pre-med, engineering, STEM, business, law and humanities, among others.

Pricing for each service varies but the company shares that its “comprehensive counseling packages” are typically $5,000 and above. One Reddit user reported paying about $1,600 for 16 private essay sessions on Empowerly, while another user claims to have paid $9,000 for its service (yet didn’t say which specific services they paid for).

Empowerly touts its proprietary technology — The Empowerly Score — as the main differentiator between its competitors, which include CollegeWise , Solomon Admission Consulting and AcceptU . The Empowerly Score evaluates a student’s extracurricular activities (sports, community service, and clubs), achievements (awards and leadership roles), academics, and essays, then leverages predictive machine-learning models to generate a single score, highlighting the areas that students should improve to better compete against other applicants.

“It is the only predictive technology that can also quantify subjective material,” Xie notes. “Our tens of thousands of data points and proprietary internal datasets also help students and counselors receive the most up-to-date information on what schools and competitive summer programs care about seeing in applicants (including standardized tests, essay strategy, etc.), what new programs are available this year that may not have been available last year, what opportunities are best fit for particular student profiles, and what scholarships students may qualify for.”

The scoring system helps Empowerly counselors understand which areas students should focus the bulk of their time, whether that be practice taking more standardized tests or signing up for additional extracurriculars.

“Each of the top 200 U.S. universities (with more colleges being added) has a benchmark associated with its admissions difficulty level, and our platform and counselors compare the student’s Empowerly Score to these benchmarks to understand what areas the student is strong in or needs additional work,” Xie added.

The company also offers several experience-focused programs for students to enhance their college applications. For instance, Empowerly connects high school students with virtual internships at startups in the Bay Area. Students can also meet with PhD students who have studied in labs at prestigious schools like Columbia, Brown, and MIT.

Additionally, Empowerly joined the Sequoia marketplace in July 2023, providing its services as an employee benefit to working parents.

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College Essay FAQs

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General FAQ

Why is the college essay important.

By the time admissions officers start reading your college essay, they already know all about your grades and test scores, your extracurriculars and your family background. What they don’t know is what you’re like in person. What are your outstanding personality traits? What is it like to spend a day with you? What motivates you to take action? What are the events that have had a meaningful impact on your life? When trapped within the confines of a generic college application, so many students look the same. You would not believe how many good students and club leaders there are, or the number of students who achieve perfect scores on the SATs. The only way to make yourself stand out is to show admissions what makes you an individual. The essay is your one true chance to show it, and it can make all the difference between rejection and admission.

Who needs college essay advising services?

In short, pretty much everyone. The average college admissions reader spends 2-3 minutes on a student’s personal statement, which means each student has about a commercial break’s worth of time to make a lasting impression on the person who has randomly been selected to seal their academic fate. Whether you are applying to an Ivy League institution, a renowned private university or a selective state school, it is important to make those minutes count.

But why do I need a college essay advisor when I have a perfectly free English teacher?

We at CEA love all English teachers (some of us even used to be English teachers), and find they can be an effective supplementary resource during the admissions essay writing process. But if you have an English teacher who can execute a full year’s worth of curriculum while giving each of their students’ application essays the attention it deserves, then you have a superstar on your hands. Most English teachers have their plates full simply teaching their demanding course load for each quarter, and though many are talented writers, few are familiar with the specific requirements of each individual college or the style in which the personal statement is written. Though Junior and Senior English class is a great place to start for the brainstorming and drafting of your personal essays, CEA’s services can help push your piece to the next level. With this task in particular, personal attention is key.

I have already drafted my essay- is it too late to use CEA?

Unless it is 11:30pm with an essay due at midnight, it is never too late to work with CEA. We want you to be thrilled with the writing you submit to the admissions board, and find there is almost always room for improvement. Not only that, we have extensive experience with and insight into what admissions committees are looking for when they read through a student’s essay. A fresh pair of eyes, free from the bias of the teachers and parents that know a student intimately, are always an asset. Do you love your essay? Does reading your essay make your brain launch into a Disney-fireworks-style celebration of uncontainable glee? If not, it’s probably not too late to work with us.

I’m not applying to Ivy League schools. Do I still need CEA’s services?

The pool of students applying to college gets ever more competitive as a college education cements itself as more of a requirement and less of a choice for young professionals. This competition is expanding across the board in schools of all levels, and students of all abilities are beginning to seek help outside of their school-given resources. Don’t sell yourself short or miss your chance to push your application to its greatest potential. When admissions decisions start to roll in, you don’t want to wonder whether you could have done more to make your application the absolute best it could be.

What is the difference between a personal statement and supplemental essays?

The Common Application personal statement comprises 650 words (or less) in response to one of seven essay prompts. The personal statement is just as it sounds: an essay that reflects something personal about the student’s life, and we use the prompts as a launch point for finding an essay subject that is tailored to each student’s specific interests and style.

Supplemental essays have become increasingly popular over the years, and especially in response to recent changes to the Common Application. These essays are often found in the supplemental portion of a school’s application and must be completed in addition to the personal statement. Supplemental essays range in length and scope on subjects that range from deeper explorations of a student’s collegiate and academic interests like, “Why do you want to attend Boston University?” (250 words) to more amorphous topics like, “What is your favorite book and why?” (Brown University, 450 words). Students who work with CEA are often encouraged to nail down their personal statement topic first, and supplemental essays are then completed in priority order according to submission deadlines.

Pro tip: Ivy League applications often have extensive supplements, as do many other top-tier schools and honors programs.

One-On-One FAQ

What does a college essay advisor do.

We tell a lot of jokes. (Some of them are even funny!) We eat too much ice cream. We also help students brainstorm ideas, conceptualize winning essays, outline concepts from beginning to end, and edit final drafts to perfection. We assist with everything from the Common Application’s personal statement to short answers, supplemental essays and scholarship essays. Because we have over a decade’s worth of experience in admissions essay advising, we have seen it all — and this allows us to guide students away from the trite treatment of overdone essay topics and into the realm of the truly personal narratives that admissions is looking for. We are also pretty great at helping students overcome writer’s block and other challenges related to these often daunting and high-pressure assignments and are always happy to lend a supportive ear for parents and students, alike.

Who writes the essay, the advisor or the student?

A few things about CEA’s essay advisors: We don’t eat carrots. (We just don’t like them.) We don’t go to bed before midnight. (We’re busy beavers.) And we definitely don’t write essays for our students, though we are more than happy to advise, reflect, inspire, analyze, edit, and aid students in unearthing and expressing their most poignant and captivating personal stories. Ghostwriting essays for students is unethical. And the admissions boards know when it happens. Also, our lives aren’t interesting enough to fill 10,000 unique essays. We leave that to our brilliant students.

Who is responsible for the research and factual information contained within each essay?

That would be you! Here’s why. Each student knows the details of his or her life better than any of the CEA advisors ever could. If you lie to us, your essay will contain lies. Don’t do this! It makes for terrible essays. The truth of your life is far more interesting than any lie you could conceive and keep up.

We also hold parents and students responsible for the factual accuracy of information researched about schools for supplemental essays. Most of our advisors know the specifics of each school up-down-and-sideways, but it is still impossible to familiarize ourselves with every program, every professor, and every club at each school. If you tell us something exists, often we will double check it to make sure, but no matter what it is still ultimately your responsibility to ensure your facts are straight. We are writers, not fact-checkers. So students, parents and CEA advisors must truly work together to make these essays as compelling and accurate as they can be.

Parents, what’s in it for you?

Fighting? What fighting? By now you, the parents of pre-college-age students, have realized that teenagehood is tough. Don’t take it personally. Who is the one person your child doesn’t trust for opinions about essay subjects, writing style, school choice? It’s not your fault. We were all like this once. But we at CEA are not just expert essay writers, we are slick mediators, navigating the territory between parental and teenage desires and bringing the disparate parties together in harmony. How do we get your kids to cooperate with us? It’s magic. We’ll never tell. Also, our advisors are young and cool and relatable. Also, your kids will probably listen to us simply because we’re not you. Twisted, isn’t it? But it works!

Kids, what’s in it for you?

Nagging? What nagging? We totally get it. We were there. What is worse than parents bugging you about one of the most stressful and daunting assignments of your academic career thus far? CEA’s job is to take the pressure off- off your parents, sure, but mostly off you. We want you to be happy with the final product. At the end of the day, we are on your side. Because your parents are not applying to school, you are. So let’s get that brain unstuck. And if you work hard for us, we’ll take you out for ice cream.

Does CEA provide references?

Absolutely. References from a wide selection of former CEA clients are available upon request. Simply send us a message in our Contact Us section, and we will be happy to connect you with someone who has employed us in the past.

Where are you located?

CEA HQ is in New York City, but we have advisors all over the continental US. We have found that it is much easier for everyone to meet remotely, in order to accommodate crazy extracurricular schedules, long commutes, and distant time zones.

Which is better, working in person or remotely over phone and email?

We live in the age of technology. Let’s use it! Though we loved working with students in person, we have found over the years that successful essays are easily brainstormed, outlined and edited via phone, email and Skype. We attract clients from across the country and around the world, in places as far as Singapore, Dubai and The Netherlands. Besides, this way none of us have to deal with traffic (we hate rush hour).

How long do CEA’s essay editing services take?

Writing effective personal statements and other admissions essays is a process. Even with our help, brainstorming powerful ideas and tweaking artful wordplay takes time, which is why we urge our students to begin the process as early in the year as possible. Clients should expect multiple drafts to pass back and forth between advisor and student before an essay is finalized. The time taken to complete applications in full varies depending on the number of schools applied to and the complexity of those schools’ applications, and we ask clients to please keep this in mind throughout the process. We are happy to estimate a more specific timeline for the completion of all applicable essays before we begin working together.

How much do your services cost?

Because every student is bound to apply to a unique set of schools, each requiring a different amount of time and effort, CEA finds it most helpful to give parents personalized quotes to fit each student’s very specific needs. Please call CEA HQ at 347-927-9232 or use our contact form , and we will be happy to discuss pricing and provide you with a quote asap.

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Sponsored content | rainy, cold week ahead for bay area weather, sponsored content, sponsored content | 5 best essay writing services in 2024: review of legit college paper websites.

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  • High-quality, plagiarism-free papers.
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  • Quick price calculator.
  • Support agents can sometimes be slow.
  • Free revisions are limited.

PaperHelp is a trusted essay writing service with many professional writers and academics ready to help you with any college task. Prices start from $13.00  per page, and there is a price calculator available on their website so that you can have an idea of the cost of your paper before ordering it.

The order process is quite simple; you only need to fill out the order form with your assignment details. What’s cool about PaperHelp is that this college writing service doesn’t require you to provide any personal information you’re not willing to share – only your email is required to place an order.

After placing an order, the system will match it with a professional in 10 to 15 minutes, and the online paper writer will start working on your order immediately.

With PaperHelp’s academic writing service, you can get updates on your order status by email, SMS, or simply by checking your account control panel. Their support team is available 24/7, ready to answer any questions or concerns.

You can try their services at a discounted price, as they offer a 10% discount for first-time users (use the LWS10 code during checkout). This way, you can better understand whether this is the solution for you without spending big bucks.

Lastly, their loyalty program allows you to accumulate credits on each order, which can later be used toward future assignments.

#2. BBQPapers  — Best for Research Papers and Dissertations

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  • Excellent paper quality.
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  • Active and responsive support team.
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  • Free revisions.
  • A loyalty program offers generous lifetime discounts.
  • No price calculator to get an instant quote.

BBQPapers is the best college essay writing service in the USA in terms of quality and professionalism. It has a team of over 500 professional essay writers who have delivered over 100,000 papers to tens of thousands of customers over the years.

This company has been especially recognized for its papers’ quality and great customer service. While this isn’t the cheapest service, the quality output is well worth it. For this reason, we think this is the top choice for papers that require rigorous research and extensive analysis.

To order a paper, you must sign up and calculate the price while filling out the order form, which is less convenient than using a price calculator. After receiving the final version of your paper, you will have ten days to request revisions and send your comments on how the college essay writer could improve their work.

Prices start at $9.94 for proofreading, $11.70 for editing, and $17.55  for writing. You can get a 15% lifetime discount on all your future papers if you buy more than ten essays from BBQPapers.

BBQPapers offers a 10% first-order discount for new customers, so be sure to use the code HELLOBBQ to claim it.

#3. EssayPro  — Best for Balance Between Quality and Affordability

EssayPro  Best for Balance Between Quality and Affordability

  • Ability to pick your own writer.
  • Direct communication with a professional writer is possible.
  • Unlimited revisions.
  • Free plagiarism report.
  • No price calculator.
  • Reports of typos and grammar errors in final drafts.

EssayPro is a legit essay writing service that connects professional writers with college students who need an excellent assignment on short notice. Their primary services include writing, rewriting, editing, and proofreading.

The ordering process is easy. All you need to do is complete a form detailing your assignment details and upload the necessary files. Professional college essay writers will then bid on your assignment, and you can pick one based on pricing, rating, number of completed orders, job completion rate, and customer reviews. Writers will also provide a free plagiarism report at your request.

Once your paper is ready, download it and request revisions if necessary. EssayPro can help you with a research paper, admission essay, lab report, thesis, or academic dissertation. This site covers all high school, college, and university writing assignments.

Their prices start at $11.40 , but there is no price calculator to quickly estimate the cost. EssayPro operates as a bidding-based platform, and professional paper writers offer the final price. The most prominent standout feature of EssayPro is that their prices don’t dramatically scale depending on the urgency of your paper and stay roughly the same across all deadlines.

For this reason, EssayPro is the top pick for students who need their papers written urgently and are looking for a good balance between price and quality.

#4. ExtraEssay  — Best for Last-minute College Papers

ExtraEssay  Best for Last-minute College Papers

  • Great quality.
  • On-time delivery guarantee.
  • 15% discount for first-time customers.
  • Urgent turnaround time available (1 hour, 3 hours, 6 hours).
  • Price calculator to get a quick cost estimate.
  • Decent reputation, lots of positive essay writing service reviews.
  • Slightly more expensive than other services.
  • Documented negative experiences with some support agents.
  • Plagiarism report costs $15.

ExtraEssay has been writing college papers since 2016. During this time, they have amassed a large team of over 3,500 experts who can help you with all writing emergencies.

They offer a wide range of college essay services and do not only focus on academic assignments. You can use this service for some non-conventional tasks like PowerPoint presentations, retyping (handwriting to word), rewriting, paraphrasing, equation solving, and more.

Similarly to EssayPro and PaperHelp, ExtraEssay has a cost estimator for your convenience. The prices are on par with BBQPapers, with basic essays starting at $13.00  per page. Choose the type of paper you want, and select your academic level, deadline, and preferred word count to receive the total cost of your order. If you need to reach them, their team is available 24/7.

One of the unique features of ExtraEssay is that it’s the only website that offers a 1-hour delivery. However, this urgency level only applies to short essays of up to three pages.

Although they can deliver your work quickly, we found that some writers at ExtraEssay can struggle to provide complex, university-level assignments on short deadlines. It might be better only to use their urgent academic writing services if you find yourself in a pickle and need a simple assignment produced on very short notice.

Overall, even though this academic writing company sits in fourth place in our list of the best paper writing services, ExtraEssay is a relatively good choice for anyone who’s looking for good quality at a fair price.

#5. WritePaperForMe  — Best Cheap Essay Writing Service

WritePaperForMe  Best Cheap Essay Writing Service

  • Cheap services, good quality.
  • Quick & timely delivery.
  • Installment payments for big orders.
  • College essay writers are available 24/7.
  • Free unlimited revision.
  • Price calculator.
  • Slow customer support.
  • Plagiarism reports are offered for a fee.
  • Sometimes, you have to copy-edit your paper to adapt it to your writing style and language.

When it comes to cheap essay writing services online, you have to be extra cautious. Writing is a complex activity, so the lower the price, the higher the chance that you will get a carelessly written, maybe even plagiarized, paper that you won’t be able to submit to your instructor.

However, this isn’t the case with WritePaperForMe, as this is one of the few legit essay writing services that provide well-written, original papers at a low price. If your budget is tight, this is the perfect option to choose. The company mostly works with knowledgeable ESL writers from Kenya to offer a quality service at a low price. Prices here start at only $6.99  per page.

They will blow you away with the range of services they offer. So, whether you need a case study, a PowerPoint presentation, college essay help or assistance with mathematical assignments, WritePaperForMe will accommodate you.

To make their professional essay writing services even more accessible, they offer customers to pay in installments for expensive papers, as they understand that you might not be able to provide the lump sum right away.

FAQs: College Essay Writing Service Explained

You’re probably desperate to write your paper if you found yourself typing ‘write my college essay’ into Google search.

This can indeed be a challenging task. For this reason, we answered some of the most common questions that students seek answers to when choosing an essay writing service.

What if I am not satisfied with my paper?

This is a common concern when ordering essays online, and it is entirely justified. Thankfully, all the paper writing services presented in this article offer a free revision service. If you are not satisfied, you can send detailed comments to the writer, and they will make the necessary adjustments to your paper.

The least flexible college essay service on this aspect is PaperHelp, which only allows three revisions. All the other services will offer unlimited revisions, at least for some time after product delivery.

If revisions don’t help, you can ask for a full refund. However, in most cases, you must explain why you did not find the work satisfactory.

How far in advance do I need to order?

It is important to try your best to request an assignment as early as possible. Most of the essay writing websites featured in this article have a very short deadline of three hours, except for WritePaperForMe, which has a minimum deadline of six.

However, even the best and fastest writers cannot produce a well-researched 30-page assignment in under three hours. But the best essay writing services will undoubtedly deliver if you need a short assignment done at the last minute.

Will a native English speaker write my essay?

Most websites allow you to choose between a native English speaker or an ESL online essay writer. An ESL writer is usually cheaper and sometimes better if you’re not a native speaker of English yourself.

If you choose PaperHelp, for instance, you must select a writer from the TOP category to guarantee a native English speaker from the U.S., Canada or the U.K. However, a writer from the TOP category will cost up to 50% more.

Is buying essays online confidential and safe?

When using a paper writing service, confidentiality is a must. EssayPro and PaperHelp provide complete anonymity, even when using their services and speaking to their writers and representatives.

Other than that, these websites take the highest precautions to protect your financial information by offering secure payment options. Lastly, none of the featured companies will ever share your personal information with third parties unless you provide them with written permission.

Are essay writing services legit?

Yes, legitimate essay writing services exist, but it may take some time to find a trustworthy service if you’re ordering for the first time. If you read Reddit threads dedicated to college paper writing services, you will see hundreds of positive reviews about companies that write essays for you.

Besides, some reputable websites are dedicated to helping students find reliable essay writing help online by collecting customer reviews on assignment writing services.

Where do essay writing companies find their professional essay writers?

Every essay writing company is different, therefore the approach to hiring writers can differ from one company to another. Most companies hire freelancers all across the globe to be able to provide essay writing services round the clock and in any timezone.

Successful candidates usually hold at least a bachelor’s degree in a field that they apply to and successfully pass a few grammar tests to be able to get access to students’ orders.

Some other companies also have in-house teams of writers. These professionals typically proofread and copy-edit all the academic writing assignments done by freelancers and improve the content if it lacks depth, research, or has any stylistic flaws.

Will my paper be plagiarism-free?

If you turn to a reliable essay writing service for help, you can rest assured that the content you will receive is original. A professional essay writer will craft a paper tailored to your requirements. Besides, you will remain its sole owner because reputable companies never resell the academic papers they write.

Some academic writing companies like BBQPapers and EssayPro provide originality reports free of charge to give you peace of mind that your essay is unique and free from plagiarism.

Are essay writing services legal?

One aspect that many students ponder over is whether it is legal to use a professional essay writing service. Plenty of misinformation is spreading, leading some students to think that purchasing a paper from an essay writing website could be illegal.

Let’s make one thing absolutely clear. It can never be illegal to purchase a written piece of work. The student simply requests a paper, and an expert essay writer provides a written piece of content that matches the requirements.

This is a transaction between a company and an individual, and nothing could imply a breach of legality. You can be sure it is safe and legal to use online essay writing services. No laws exist against using such services, regardless of what you may have been told.

Moreover, any trustworthy essay writing site has a clear disclaimer and a terms/conditions page that outlines the terms of use. It shows that these services are acting within the law and are not breaking any regulations.

A custom essay writing service is a third party that provides assignments, reports, and essays for personal private use. Therefore, the website is not liable for what happens with its content.

Reliable Essay Writing Services: Summing Up

Hopefully, this article gave you a better understanding of the topic and helped you find an essay writer service that could perfectly match you. Getting qualified college paper help  is easy if you know what to look for.

Each college paper service is unique, with its advantages and disadvantages, and it is up to you to pick the one that will help you achieve the best result possible. Life gets busy, and sometimes, we just do not have the time to dedicate hours and hours to writing essays. These services can be true lifesavers and free up some time for you to focus your energy on other important goals.

We will leave you with this final tip: if you ever request a writing service, provide detailed instructions. This information will help writers produce high-quality papers that match your expectations.

Article paid for by: Ocasio Media The news and editorial staffs of the Bay Area News Group had no role in this post’s preparation.

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Teachers Say They Have Little Influence in Curriculum Debates

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As debates over whether and how topics of race, gender, and sexual orientation should be taught in K-12 schools continue across the country, new national survey data of teachers, students, and the American public reveals how complicated the discussion can get.

In a new Pew Research Center report , 71 percent of teachers said they don’t have enough influence in what K-12 public schools teach in their given area. Sixty-one percent said principals have about the right amount of influence and 58 percent said their state government has too much.

While 53 percent of teachers in the nationally representative survey said that debates over instruction on race and LGBTQ+ issues have had neither a positive nor negative impact on their work, 41 percent said these debates have had a negative impact on their ability to do their job. Many of the teachers (58 percent) identified with or leaned toward the Democratic Party. About 35 percent identified with or leaned toward the GOP, according to the report.

A recent RAND Corporation study also found that two-thirds of teachers nationwide are deciding on their own to limit discussions of political and social issues in class, including those in states without laws restricting such instruction.

“When we’re finding that teachers, even when they are not subject to laws and regulations, are still censoring themselves, then that’s a big indicator of the power that teachers feel they have in these debates, and the consequences of fears of professional reprimands, even when they don’t explicitly have those [laws and regulations],” said William Rodick, the P-12 practice lead for the Education Trust, an advocacy and research organization. (Rodick was not involved in the Pew study.)

The survey also found that communities had different feelings about the topics of race and gender, even though they are often lumped together. At least 18 states have passed legislation limiting instruction in both of these topics.

For instance, 48 percent of the surveyed teachers in the Pew study said parents should be able to opt their children out of instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity. However 60 percent said parents should not be able to opt their children out of instruction on racism or racial inequality.

Survey data also found topics of race are far more likely to come up in classrooms than LGBTQ+ topics, especially in English and social studies classrooms, said Juliana Horowitz, the associate director for social trends research at the Pew Research Center.

And while attitudes among teachers and the general public on these topics of instruction largely fell along party lines—with Democrats more likely than Republicans to be open to these instructional topics—there was no political division among teachers when it came to feeling they lack influence over topics of instruction.

A complicated picture of what to teach

The new Pew data came from three surveys, among them an online survey of 2,531 U.S. public K-12 teachers conducted from Oct. 17 to Nov. 14, 2023, as part of the RAND American Teacher panel. Separately, 5,029 U.S. adults were surveyed from Nov. 9 to Nov. 16, 2023, as members of the Ipsos Knowledge Panel. And 1,453 teens ages 13-17 were surveyed from Sept. 26 to Oct. 23, 2023, through Ipsos.

Among the findings, most teachers (64 percent) said students should learn that the legacy of slavery still affects the position of Black people in American society today. In a separate 2022 parent survey by the Pew Research Center, only 49 percent of parents agreed, marking a bit of a divide in perceptions, Horowitz said.

And on the topic of gender identity—specifically, whether a person’s gender can be different from or is determined by their sex assigned at birth—half of public K-12 teachers said students shouldn’t learn about this in school. However, 68 percent also said topics of sexual orientation and gender identity rarely or never came up in their classroom in the 2022-23 school year.

Among teens, 38 percent said they feel comfortable when topics related to racism or racial inequality come up in class. A smaller share of teens (29 percent) said they feel comfortable when topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity come up.

More Black teens than white or Hispanic teens said they were uncomfortable with topics of race coming up in class, yet Black teens were also the most likely to say they wanted to learn how the legacy of slavery still affects the position of Black Americans today.

That seeming contradiction could be because students were not asked about their attitudes on these topics outside of class, Horowitz said. And there also weren’t questions specific to student classroom experience.

“Racism has never been discussed in a substantial way that actually connects to policy and history,” said Rodick with EdTrust.

He added that there’s a tendency to frame topics related to race and gender identity as additional or a change to traditional instruction, yet these topics are often already covered. Students learn about straight historical figures, or are asked to discuss racism in a way superficially or historically that is disconnected from their lived experiences.

Where to go from here

For Horowitz, the survey findings speak for more nuanced conversations around curriculum debates, including an acknowledgment that teachers feel they don’t have much influence in these decisions.

Rodick also calls for a more nuanced and localized approach to the debate.

“We’re having these discussions in media and in political discussions that are very removed from the conversations that parents and families and students are having with their teachers and administrators in schools,” he said. “I think we would be well served by grounding our discussion in the reality of what teachers are grappling with uncertainties about instruction. How are they then communicating with parents? How are they having these discussions with students?”

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Hey there, i'm dyllen nellis, i am a college admissions coach and undergraduate at stanford university studying my self-designed major: human-centered design & engineering. after getting accepted to every university i applied to , i began sharing my strategies on youtube, working directly with students, and continuing to research college essay strategy every year since. i believe the college application process is more than just getting into college, it's about using specific strategies to effectively convey your values , experiences , and potential to colleges. my system emphasizes the necessary pre-production work that will save time and prevent stress by implementing strategy , structure , and storytelling into every essay. not only will you maximize your chances of acceptance , but you will also unlock a stronger understanding of yourself . my team and i have worked with thousands of students across the globe , whom have been accepted to stanford, harvard, columbia, upenn, ucla, usc – just to name a few 😉.

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  1. College Admissions Expert Reacts to College Essay Advice

  2. The most basic “Why Us” essay you’re probably writing

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COMMENTS

  1. College Essay Advisors

    Our expert Advisors work with students one-on-one to help them write stellar admissions essays and gain acceptance to top schools across the country.

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    The course helped me so much throughout my college application process. It really allowed me to add structure to the process and identify what I needed to work on.The workbook was amazing at helping me organize my ideas and evaluate what I truly wanted to convey in my essays.The videos and curriculum integrated into the course really helped me tell my story and be proud of my writing.

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    CollegeEssayAdvice.com My Story Hi, I'm Dyllen. I am a current Stanford student interested in the intersection between design, technology, and storytelling. When I applied to college, I sought out numerous articles, books, and videos to gain valuable insight into the college application process. What I learned was indispensable.

  4. College Essay Guides

    College Essay Guides - Find the 100 Free Info at College Advisor Home » Essay Guides Essay Guides and Essay Examples Read essay examples and essay guides to help you get accepted to your dream college. Your Best College Essay: Tips for Writing a College Essay That Helps You Stand Out!

  5. 35+ Best College Essay Tips from College Application Experts

    1. know that the best ideas for your essay—the perfect opener, a great twist, a brilliant insight—often come when you least expect them. That's why it's a good practice to keep a reliable collection system with you at all times as you're preparing to write your essay. It could be your phone. It could be index cards.

  6. College Essay Guy

    College Essay Guy - Personal statement and college essay tips, guides, resources, consulting, and webinars for students, parents and counselors.

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    How to Write a College Essay Step-by-Step TABLE OF CONTENTS (Click to scroll) Brainstorming your college essay topic How to structure & outline a college essay Montage structure The difference between a boring and a stand-out personal statement A quick word on "common" or "cliché" topics The "home" essay: a quick case study

  8. How to Write a College Essay

    What do colleges look for in an essay? Admissions officers want to understand your background, personality, and values to get a fuller picture of you beyond your test scores and grades. Here's what colleges look for in an essay: Demonstrated values and qualities Vulnerability and authenticity Self-reflection and insight

  9. 177 College Essay Examples for 11 Schools + Expert Analysis

    Technique #1: humor. Notice Renner's gentle and relaxed humor that lightly mocks their younger self's grand ambitions (this is different from the more sarcastic kind of humor used by Stephen in the first essay—you could never mistake one writer for the other). My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver.

  10. Dyllen's College Essay Advice

    All. All. Dyllen Nellis. The Ultimate Guide to Craft Your Story. Available until. An Interactive Guide to Develop, Structure, and Strategize a Successful College Essay. Dyllen Nellis. % COMPLETE. $111.

  11. Hello

    The 4-Part Framework for Building a Standout Application. (Striking the balance between presentable and 100% authentic!) How You Can Win $20,000+ in Scholarships. (Your dream school could be more affordable than your safety!) The Strategy to Position Yourself as a Top-Notch Applicant. (Using the values and stories that already exist within you!)

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    The time spent with her Advisor has had a lasting impact on my daughter's confidence and writing skills (as evidenced by her AP Lit grades, and other writing assignments), and this will go with her to college. It may not be part of CEA's positioning, but it should be - the intangible benefits are as important as the direct ones.

  13. Admissions Edge: Passion Project and College Essay Course

    Craft powerful college essays that capture the true you. Get accepted to your dream schools. ...WITHOUT Sacrificing Your Authenticity, Exploiting Your Trauma, or Wasting Time on Endless Mediocre Essay Drafts! Join FREE for 14 Days! Post trial, it's just $97/month, cancel anytime "This course made the whole process much more manageable!"

  14. PDF Strategies for Essay Writing

    Harvard College Writing Center 2 Tips for Reading an Assignment Prompt When you receive a paper assignment, your first step should be to read the assignment

  15. 27 Outstanding College Essay Examples From Top Universities 2023

    This college essay tip is by Abigail McFee, Admissions Counselor for Tufts University and Tufts '17 graduate. 2. Write like a journalist. "Don't bury the lede!" The first few sentences must capture the reader's attention, provide a gist of the story, and give a sense of where the essay is heading.

  16. Ending the Essay: Conclusions

    So much is at stake in writing a conclusion. This is, after all, your last chance to persuade your readers to your point of view, to impress yourself upon them as a writer and thinker.

  17. College Essay Advisors : The #1 College Essay Consulting Service

    College Essay Advisors (CEA) can help you craft the compelling college admissions essay you need to win over the admissions board. In the context of an ever more competitive college application pool, a student's common application and supplementary essays can make the difference between leaving a lasting impression, or getting lost in a pile of similarly qualified applicants.

  18. Passion Project AI

    I am a college essay expert and undergraduate at Stanford University studying my self-designed major: Human-Centered Design & Engineering. After getting accepted to every university I applied to, I began sharing my strategies on YouTube, working directly with students, and continuing to research college essay strategy every year since.

  19. Empowerly secures $15M for its college counseling services

    Empowerly, an edtech startup that specializes in college counseling and career guidance services, raised $15 million in a recent funding round led by Edtech startup Empowerly raised $15 million in ...

  20. How to Format a College Essay: Step-by-Step Guide

    Again, we'd recommend sticking with standard fonts and sizes—Times New Roman, 12-point is a standard workhorse. You can probably go with 1.5 or double spacing. Standard margins. Basically, show them you're ready to write in college by using the formatting you'll normally use in college.

  21. High School Students Think They Are Ready for College. But They Aren't

    In 2019-20, 65.4 percent of first-year undergraduate students took a remedial course in math; 42.1 percent did so in reading or writing, according to the most recent data on the subject available ...

  22. Personal Statement and College Essay

    In short, pretty much everyone. The average college admissions reader spends 2-3 minutes on a student's personal statement, which means each student has about a commercial break's worth of time to make a lasting impression on the person who has randomly been selected to seal their academic fate.

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  24. Free Resources

    I am a college admissions expert and undergraduate at Stanford University studying my self-designed major: Human-Centered Design & Engineering. After getting accepted to every university I applied to, I began sharing my strategies online, working directly with students, and continuing to research college essay strategy every year since. I believe the college application process is more than ...

  25. Teachers Say They Have Little Influence in Curriculum Debates

    As debates over whether and how topics of race, gender, and sexual orientation should be taught in K-12 schools continue across the country, new national survey data of teachers, students, and the ...

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