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The key to writing an application essay is finding your voice. You can imagine the massive volume of college application essays the admissions staff has to wade through every year, so make yours stand out! Even if the application essay prompt seems to be very specific, it is still possible, and necessary, for you to find a way to get an idea across that is unique and that reveals something interesting, profound, and different about yourself.

Photo by Valeriana Solaris

You may think a college application essay is supposed to read like a résumé, like a list of your greatest accomplishments and intellectual triumphs. And of course, an application essay is supposed to demonstrate your aptitude, but the best way to do that is through refining your voice and remaining true to it in your essay (while being sure to spell everything right!). To do this, write in a way that portrays you in the truest sense. Don’t censor your voice or numb it with analytical jargon—big, impressive words—like you might with a European history paper.

Above all, tell an important story; use your writing to reveal who you are and what’s in your heart. No matter what the prompt or essay question, you can write in a way that makes it yours. Remember, you want your reader to like and get to know you, so to do that, you need to speak to them through your writing like you would a friend. By this I mean, write like you are talking to a friend in the sense that you want to tell them something compelling about yourself; not in the sense that you will throw your spelling and grammar out the window in the name of a funny story. Ultimately, Your application essay needs to be congenial—friendly—while demonstrating your ability to relate a specific idea to your reader.

Here are some ways to make your college application essay do just that:

1. Thesis: Every essay MUST have a thesis; without one, your paper will be thrown in the trash. Even cooking recipes have a thesis—a goal, an idea, a point of view, that drives the piece forward, that gives it shape and meaning. Even if you are telling a story about the first time you learned to ride your bike, do it with an agenda, or an idea: What did that teach you? Why was that so important? Once you decide on this perspective or the argument you want to make, state it in your opening paragraph, either the first sentence or the last. I like to put it at the end because it leaves room for a strong hook (see below) as the first sentence.
2. Hook: Tuesday, October 23, was the day I vowed to never eat asparagus again. The introduction is the most important part of your application essay because it contains your thesis, and because it determines how the reader will read the rest of your essay. First and foremost, you want them to read it with interest, so you need to start the essay with a hook. The first sentence of this paragraph is an example of a hook.
3. Keep it to the point: This means 1) keep it concise 2) make your point often. Concise means editing out all that isn’t necessary to make the point you are making in your thesis. Make your point often by tying what you write in each paragraph into your original thesis by making the introductory and conclusive sentences of each paragraph relate to your thesis. So, if you’re saying that learning to ride a bike was a metaphor for learning to trust yourself, every paragraph you write in support of this idea should start with a sentence that states what you’re going to prove (write about) in that paragraph, and the last sentence of the paragraph should explicitly say how that relates to your thesis of learning to trust yourself. This way, your essay will be coherent, and there will be flow between your paragraphs (and ideas).
4. Make your conclusion count: Don’t just restate your thesis in the conclusion; rather, find a new way to express your idea, or write something that leaves your reader thinking, or interested enough to find out more about who you are. That way, they might just let you in!
5. Edit until you hate it: If you start out liking your paper, read it to yourself, read it to your parents, and read it out loud—you will eventually hate it. This is a good sign, it means you are editing as much as you should be. And the best way to edit is getting fresh eyes on your paper after every draft; or better yet,  find some fresh ears—reading your paper out loud is the BEST way to edit. Trust me, just try it. You should write multiple drafts, and get as many sources of advice as possible. DO NOT leave any spelling errors or silly grammar mistakes; it will make your reader think that you did this essay out in-between your math and Spanish homework.

*For more advice on grammar, spelling, and other technicalities of writing, I highly recommend you check out Little, Brown Handbook (11th Edition) or The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition. These are great writing resources that you can use for all future writing, not just the college admissions essay.

Remember, if you aren’t sure what to write about for the ‘free choice’ essay, dig into some of your old creative writing, or maybe a journal. If you still feel stuck, just start typing about what you would like someone to know about you, or start writing your first impressions after reading the essay prompt. Eventually—I swear by this technique—you will come to one awesome sentence that you can use as your thesis.

Start early and good luck!