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Health & Fitness

How to Write a Successful College Admissions Essay

Some tips on how to write a successful College Admissions Essay.

Are you thinking about the best way in which you can write an impressive and successful college admissions essay? They tell an apocryphal tale about a student who applied to an Ivy League college and was admitted there. It seems that the Dean of Admissions of that college sent him a message of "Dear Mr. X YZ, we have received your application. This is the serial number that we have allotted to you. Please refer to this number when communicating with us." Back went his answer. "Dear Sir, I have applied to a number of colleges and I have allotted this serial number to your college. Please refer to this number when communicating with me. "The college authorities had a sense of humor and they decided that they needed this enterprising person with initiative, ambition and farsightedness!

Ah! Those were the days, my friend, but unfortunately these tactics would not work for you at all nowadays. Your application would be rejected because you did not try to impress the college authorities with an erudite, well written, logical and impressive college admissions essay.

It was way back in 1975 that 15 colleges decided to admit students based on a 500 word + college admissions essay. 488 schools have decided to adopt this method today. So you can imagine how cut-throat the admission competition is.

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So, without much further ado let us concentrate on how best you can choose the right topic and subject for your college admissions essay.

Here are some essay prompts from which you can choose the best subject –

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· Ethical questions and dilemmas are always very popular with the college authorities. The evaluation of a risk, achievement, triumph and accomplishment which made you evaluate your priorities and then make the right decision, according to your conscience is a praiseworthy topic. Concentrate on moral dilemmas touching on your own self-respect and personal integrity.

· Write about a national, international or local social issue or concern. Choose a topic which affects you or about which you feel strongly. Keep well away from religious discussions and bigotry. No ranting, please. Good colleges do not want potentially explosive firebrands.

· Write about a fictional character, a historical figure, or a person who made a significant effect, bearing, influence and impression on your own life and personality. It could be your enthusiastic fourth grade teacher who imbued her students with a lifelong love for mathematics or for science; it could be Benjamin Franklin; thinker, philosopher, and statesman, Abraham Lincoln or even Walt Whitman… Or perhaps, you would want to talk about a book or a work of art which impressed you very much. The choices are endless!

· You could also write about your own personal background or the social atmosphere, moral perspective or ethnic influence which has had a positive impact on your own lifestyle. Have you been abroad? Describe your experiences and impressions of a culture so different from your own. Compare the American lifestyle with the one you met during your travels. Add some color and human interest to the narration, so that the college authorities understand that you are capable of fitting in a diverse, multicultural and vibrant college community.

“Oh my,”you say, "you guys are really stressing me out with the prompts given above and I so do not need that sort of tension right now!” Relax! Do you know that some students tweeted their essays to the Dean's office? That means they managed to write something about themselves in less than 140 characters! Now that is very enterprising of them, but I would suggest you take the help of experienced counselors and tutors who can give you the best advice on how to write a successful college admission essay!

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