How to Write a Great College Essay
Tragically, many students view their college essays as a burden rather than as an opportunity and approach their scholarship applications with more wishful thinking rather than with strategic planning. As a consequence, many thousands of college and scholarship essays are an afterthought; put off until the last minute; written about easy topics; or substituted with a previously written essay for a class assignment. Rather than having their essays reviewed by professional reviewers or college advisers, students have their essays reviewed by parents (who want to see themselves in the essay); language arts teachers (who want to see flowery language and colorful metaphors); college students (who believe themselves experts on essay writing because they were offered admission to a selective school); or worst, other high school students (who are unlikely to be any more knowledgeable of the college admissions process).