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How to Write an Essay - A Beginners Guide

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jerryfrye
How to Write an Essay - A Beginners Guide

Did you know that an essay can be a perfectly acceptable way to check your college admissions material? Given the volume of essays that students write each year, it’s easy to overlook the value of writing one in particular or how to write an essay. After all, isn’t just writing a paper or completing a term project enough to be called an “essayist”? But as you might have already realized, essays aren’t just for stu dents; they’re for everyone.


What you put into them — and how you write them — will determine how well your essay is heard by an admissions committee and what type of response you receive from other applicants who read it as well. Read on to discover the 3 main elements of an excellent essay, tips on structure and pacing, as well as examples from past students that will help you get started.


Define the Problem You’re Trying to solve

Before you even think about how to solve your college essay problem, you need to clearly define the problem you’re trying to solve. The purpose of the essay is to convince the admissions committee that you have the knowledge and experience to be successful in the field you’re applying to. While it’s possible to outline the problem in your essay, a more effective approach is to write about a real-world issue that you’re trying to solve, such as environmental issues, human trafficking, or social justice. Having a problem statement under your belt will help you frame your essay in a way that’s relatable and interesting to admissions committee members.


Build from a Foundation of Research

Once you’ve identified the issue you want to solve, you can turn your attention to building your essay around a research-based foundation. The foundation of your essay should be based on facts, not myths and hearsay — that is, information that has been properly sourced. While you don’t have to be an expert in research to do an excellent essay, it’s important to have a firm understanding of the techniques and information needed to properly curate and organize your research. In your college application essay, you want to make sure that your sources are trustworthy and that you’ve considered the best practices for being reliable and accurate with your information.


Your sources don’t just include books and articles written by people who have knowledge and expertise in a specific field; they also include surveys conducted by organizations such as the American Association of University Professors and the American Library Association. Eastman Kodak, for example, usesasusimplytell.com to report its research and statistics. Libraries also report facts through journals and theses. While you don’t have to be an expert in statistics or library science to do an excellent essay, it’s important to have a firm understanding of the techniques and information needed to properly curate and organize your research.


Find a Focus

After you’ve built your essay’s foundation around facts and research-based claims, it’s time to give your essay a focus. A focus helps your essay — and especially your thesis — stay intact as you tackle the various components required to be successful in the field. In your college application essay, you want to make sure that your focus is related to the issue or issues that you’re interested in solving, such as improving the education system in your home country, solving climate change issues, or ending human trafficking. Having a focus will help your essay stand out from the crowd and keep it on-topic.


Avoid Common Writing mistakes

Once you’ve found a focus for your essay, it’s time to tackle the various elements that make up the actual body of your essay. In your college application essay, you want to make sure that your writing is error-free, from the get-go. This may seem like a simple oversight, but you don’t want your essay to end up in the wrong pile of leaves or a pile of unsold books. Make sure that each word is correct and that there are no spelling or grammar errors. Next, your writing needs to be concise. Keep your text under three to five paragraphs and try to keep paragraphs around four words long. Finally, your essay should be organized. Make sure that each section is headed with an heading related to its content and is followed by a list or a table of information related to the issue at hand.


The Essay is your Personal Statement

At the end of the day, your college application essay is your personal statement, so you want to make sure that it tells the admissions committee what you’re all about. Your personal statement is the centerpiece of your college application, so it’s in your best interest to give it your all. Make sure that each word you use is appropriate, that your writing flows naturally, and that you have examples to support your claims. A great personal statement has a beginning, a middle, and an end — it doesn’t just stop when you’re admitted to college. Your personal statement should tell the admissions committee what you’re all about and why they should choose you as a future student at their school.


Conclusion

There are many ways to write an essay, and the process can be challenging for some students. Fortunately, the payoff is worth the effort. By writing an essay and using the tips and advice provided in this article, you’ll be well on your way to creating a great essay. Use the sample essays provided in the back of this guide as a reference when writing your own essay. You can also visit our blog to get inspiration for your own essay from real students’ work. Now, get to work!

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