Hello! I'm currently an incoming senior and I'm starting to write my college essay (for Stanford). Anyways, I don't really know what to write and I've currently written about 63 drafts. How do I catch their attention? How do keep the admissions officer interested on me?
Thank You.
The best way to get admissions officers interested in you is to write about something that is extremely important to you and is unique to your experience. Make sure no one else could have written your essay. There may be many events, experiences, and influential figures from your past that seem like potential topics, but you should choose one that you can use to make a larger point about how you became the person you are today. It should be something that changed you and shaped your character. This article has additional advice for brainstorming great college essay topics.
After choosing the topic, it's important to come up with a hook that will draw someone in the second they start reading. You might accomplish this by starting in the middle of the story (so the reader is plunged into the world of your essay right away) or making a general statement about the topic of your essay but including an interesting specific detail that sparks the reader's curiosity. Throughout the essay, you can hold interest by including specific details, emotional language, humor, or dialog to bring your story to life. Above all, be sure that your essay has a strong thematic core and uses a specific element of your life to arrive at a valuable insight.
This is a step-by-step guide to writing a college essay that might help you think more about how to structure your ideas. You can also check out some examples of successful essays students have written in the past.