How To Write A College Application Essay

How To Write A College Application Essay Broaden your focus a bit at the end of the essay. A good last sentence leaves your reader with something to think about, a concept in some way illuminated by what you’ve written in the paper. For example, do you have any sentences that start with, “It is” or “It seems that”? These are extraneous words that can be taken out without altering the sentence’s meaning. If your essay is significantly longer than the suggested word count, read through it and highlight everything that is most importantâ€"this includes important points of introspection and supporting evidence. Always think about your audience when writing a scholarship essay. What organization is issuing the scholarship, and how can you tie that into your writing? Pick topics for which you have enough room to elaborate. Do not cite three or four pieces of supporting evidence in an elaborate thesis if you are only allowed 500 words. If you only have a few paragraphs to write your essay, you will likely only have room for one main point of supporting evidence. Keep your thesis short and limit your supporting points, since you always need to set aside plenty of room in your essay for introspection. Use our free and easy online tool for counting characters, words, sentences, paragraphs and pages in real time, along with keyword density and reading level. If your essay deals with a contemporary problem, warn readers of the possible consequences of not attending to the problem. For most essays, one well-developed paragraph is sufficient for a conclusion. In some cases, a two-or-three paragraph conclusion may be appropriate. As with introductions, the length of the conclusion should reflect the length of the essay. Be ready to cut unnecessary segments out in order for your essay to meet the word count. Put your thesis in one of the first three sentences of the introduction if you are writing a 3-4 paragraph essay, and in the first sentence if you are writing a 1-2 paragraph essay. Read through your writing and make sure that every sentence has a specific and unique contribution to the essay. If two sentences convey two only slightly differing ideas, try to find a way to combine them. Use semi-colons, em dashes, or compound sentences if necessary. If you choose to use this approach, remember that it might become necessary to remove information that you had initially deemed important. Here are some tips on how you might cut down your essay. It is not your stories that get you into college, but how they have affected your character and your thinking. You should strive to portray yourself in the best possible light and keep your essay focused on answering the prompt. It is also important to be aware of the complexity of your topic. Describe your main idea, or what the essay is about, in one sentence. You can usually use the essay writing prompt or question to form this sentence. This is often the most difficult paragraph to write. In your conclusion, you should restate the thesis and connect it with the body of the essay in a sentence that explains how each point supports the thesis. Your final sentence should uphold your main idea in a clear and compelling manner. Be sure you do not present any new information in the conclusion. Use a brief narrative or anecdote that exemplifies your reason for choosing the topic. In an assignment that encourages personal reflection, you may draw on your own experiences; in a research essay, the narrative may illustrate a common real-world scenario. If you have time to review your essay before your time is up, by all means do so! Make any revisions that you think will enhance your “rough draft” and be sure to check for any grammatical errors or misspellings. The concluding paragraph must summarize the essay.