In our blog yesterday we suggested students get help doing the college essay by having professionals, teachers or others you trust read it, proof it, and suggest revisions. Actually students usually need all the help they can get, even doing the first draft, because the essay writing instruction they may have had in high school teaches a far different essay than the personal essay colleges require as part of admission.
The college essay requires a friendly tone, not the impersonal tone of many high school subject essays, and the college essay format is less restrictive, not requiring a thesis statement or introductory paragraph but rather an opening paragraph that grabs.
We highly recommend students go out and read some college essays before starting. Good samples of both the personal essays and the shorter essays are availbale in CollegeBasics’ new e-book with good how-to information as well as sample essays.
