How to Start Your College Essay

Writing an essay is already as difficult as it is, how much more writing an essay for a college application? No pressure, that’s what you keep telling yourself. But it’s hard not to feel any pressure when your piece of writing could be your ticket to the most prestigious university in the country.

Still no pressure, right?

College essays are often diverse in terms of its topic. Luckily, a lot of colleges and universities allow college essays to be just about anything. Although this may be an even bigger challenge to some, you can actually take this opportunity to your advantage.

Overview of a College Essay Structure

A standard essay contains various information that is often located at specific sections of the essay. Based on the different parts of an essay, you begin by introducing your arguments, analyzing the data that you have gathered, providing counterarguments, and then concluding your point. When you think about it, an essay actually answers questions that a reader might ask. Even when your subject is something personal, it still answers the questions: what, how, and why.

Developing the Three Parts of an Essay

There are three parts of a standard essay, namely: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.

Introduction. There are several ways to start an essay, so this would solely depend on the concept you have in mind. It’s important to keep your introduction brief, yet interesting. It should have the ability to motivate your readers to continue reading your essay.

Body. Most people would consider this as the serious part of an essay, where supporting information regarding the topic is thoroughly discussed. The key for constructing the body of your essay is to identify the main ideas that you want to emphasize. With these ideas, you are able to elaborate the purpose of your essay in a discrete, yet effective, manner.

Conclusion. The common mistake in essay writing is turning your essay conclusion into a complete summary. Yes, you may highlight key points that have been mentioned in your essay but you need to refrain from repeating what has already been stated. You need to conclude or make a call to action to properly end your essay.

Writing Tips and Techniques for Your College Essay

  • Clear your mind. Do not overthink. Overthinking will give you a bad case of writer’s block.
  • Start early. Writing your essay at the last minute will cause you to panic. You want your essay to be of top quality, not something written just for the sake of it.
  • Keep it formal. Formality doesn’t always mean that you need to sound like a robotic business executive. This would mean that you should avoid using inappropriate words and expressions.
  • Read other essays. Referring to other free essay examples will help you learn different writing techniques that may be useful when writing your college essay.
  • Be creative. Each one of us has our own unique style. Use this to your advantage by writing an college admission essay based on how you normally express yourself.

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