Writing Tips And Techniques For Your College Essay

Writing Tips And Techniques For Your College Essay When the college explicitly states that scores will not be evaluated, we have listed the policy as “Not Considered.” “Optional” should not be interpreted as meaning that the college uses submitted scores. We recommend contacting the school if you have specific questions. The following table of 360 popular colleges provides a wide range of institutions and policies. For more detail, here are some argumentative essay writing tips. Expository essays compare, explore, and discuss problems. While there's a bit of a storytelling element to them, their purpose is greater than that. It's always to explain some integral concept to the reader. When you write a descriptive essay, you want to involve the reader's senses and emotions. Fortunately, these tips for writing essays can help you along the way and get you on the path to a well-written essay. While this sounds like a lot of steps to write a simple essay, if you follow them you will be able to write more successful, clear and cohesive essays. Huge public schools tend to have more applicants than private schools, as well as limited resources with which to evaluate candidates. Sometimes, applicants write about obstacles they’ve overcome or illicit/illegal topics including arrest, sexual experiences, drugs, and alcohol. In a few cases, these topics have been addressed effectively. But for the most part, it’s better to avoid subjects that could reflect poorly on your judgment and morals. After all, you don’t want colleges to think you’re someone they’d rather not have on campus. In some cases, it depends how you frame the topic. You will need to take the ACT with Writing if you are considering colleges that require the essay. The 8 score is not that out of the norm, so I wouldn’t give it much weight in the decision. About 2/3 of colleges superscore the ACT, so I would send both scores in those cases (that way he has a 36 Reading / 36 Science). It’s less important at schools that do not superscore, but I would still be comfortable submitting both scores. We recognize that the essay is becoming increasingly less relevant in admissions, and we have plans to revisit this list and put the “Optional” schools in better context. I believe the vast, vast majority of the colleges you list as “Optional” similarly don’t even consider a writing score. Colleges with essay optional policies often do not specify whether submitted essay scores will be used for admission. For instance, if church was a major part of your upbringing and is very meaningful to you, you could mention this aspect of your identity in a college application essay. However, it’s important to do so without implying that your religion is better than others or attacking people who don’t practice your religion. College application essays are often the most challenging part of the application process. And while they may not be the most important part of your application, they can differentiate you from similarly qualified applicants. To write an argumentative essay, it's important to research and back up what you say in the text. In fact, it’s important to write in your authentic voice and avoid using “fancy” vocabulary just to impress admissions officers. Remember that the purpose of a college admissions essay is to help admissions officers get to know you. If your essay is filled with lies and exaggerations, then you’ve missed the point entirely. It’s possible that college admissions officers may suspect you’re lying, which is a poor reflection on your ethics and morals. Even if they don’t suspect you’re lying, you’ve missed your chance to showcase the real reasons that you’re a good fit for this school. State schools tend to screen candidates first using GPA and test scores, before reviewing extracurricular activities and essays. At these schools, essays matter less if you have particularly strong academics. The more selective the school, however, the more important essays are. For instance, essays likely matter more at UC Berkeley and the University of Michigan compared to the University of Nebraska or University of Arizona. This is because more selective schools often have more qualified applicants, so essays are used kind of as a tie-breaker. The essay is always important, but just how much it will influence your overall application varies by the school to which you are applying, as well as your individual profile. Of the colleges that superscore ACT scores, I am not aware of any that will not superscore between ACT W/Writing and ACT W/O Writing. If you are applying to the University of California system, I would recommend repeating the essay. Otherwise, you should be able to save yourself the headache. I am not aware of any college that allows the fulfillment of the essay requirement with one test while using the scores from a different exam.