Things To Include In Your College Application Essay

Things To Include In Your College Application Essay The reason that teachers don’t assign a number of pages anymore is because it’s too easy to manipulate pages. When students used to write on typewriters, it was common for teachers to assign essays in number of pages. The essay should be in the student’s voice and parent’s are not always the best advisors for this part of the application. The college is learning about you from what you write. Not what anyone else writes including your parent. But, if they start writing the essay know that the college may very well determine that the work was not yours. Is your parent going to write your essays that are assigned by professors while you are in college? The admissions officers reads as 1 out of 1000’s and possibly even 10,000 or more. Your English teacher reads your essay to assign one grade out of many. For the same reason, I do not think English teachers make great admissions essay readers. Your English teacher reads your essay as 1 out of 30. With the adoption of computers in the classroom, teachers switched from pages to work count because it was too easy for the computers to manipulate the font size and page size. By assigning a word count, teachers get a more accurate length of essay than they would if they assigned homework by pages. You absolutely should have a second and even third set of eyes help you edit and proofread your essay. Be sure to pick readers who have strong skills in grammar and usage. I do not believe that parents make good essay editors because they are not admissions officers. They do not know what admissions officers are looking for. Many students do need help selecting a topic and organizing the essay. They should seek guidance from their counselors or teachers for this. However, true editing starts to move into the substantive writing process and in the end the writer of the college essay should be the applicant. Too much assistanceâ€"even from parentsâ€" however well intentioned, serves to undermine the process and raise questions about the legitimacy and integrity of the whole application. Yes, the stakes can seem high, but it is ultimately the applicant’s record and work that is being evaluated and it should be theirs that is submitted as well. The admissions officer reads to determine if they should offer you one spot out of probably relatively very few. Many applicants will have high GPA’s and SAT scores, volunteer in a local organization, or be the president of a club or captain of a sports team. Admissions officers are looking for something, anything, to distinguish your essay from the pile. However, they should not write or re-write the essay. Essay’s should always been seen by someone else to look for grammatical and spelling errors. The college cares how you write not how your parent writes unless they are also applying to the same college as you. Parents may know other details about the student that they should include in the essay. Parents are also a great second pair of eyes for grammar and spelling errors. If your parents fit the bill, there’s no reason they shouldn’t help you polish your essay, but students often find it easier to work with a teacher, counselor or other adult. Parents can become emotionally involved and/or try to influence the content of the essay, which is something you DON’T want. No matter who helps to edit and proof your work, it’s essential that your writing remain your own. Having someone else proofread an applicant’s essay is fineâ€"any writer can benefit from another set of eyes that might pick up a typo or a minor grammar mistake.