DO's

• Carefully choose your topic. Be sure to choose something that is personal to you and that you will enjoy telling a story about. Do not try to figure out what the admission officers want to read. Write what you know and care about.
• Choose a moment in time rather than an "event". Long diatribes about vacations, sporting championships, tragedies are very commonplace in essays and therefore are quite boring to admission readers. Select a moment in time - some time in your life when something you saw/did made you look differently at that person, place or thing.
• Show your personality. The admission officer wants to know more about you through your essay. Do not be afraid to show your sense of humor, your passion for or against a controversial topic. Show the "you" that is not apparent in the rest of your application.
• Be creative. Of all the essays we've read, the vast majority have answered the questions in the same format. Step outside the box and do something different. Make your essay stand out! There are days when admission counselors read close to 75-100 essays (in addition to everything else in the application). The 1st paragraph tells the reader how creative you are and how eager he/she will be to read the rest of the essay.
• Use imagery, anecdotes, stories. Actual events make a story more believable. Generally, when you write from the heart, the story is much better told.
• Be brief. Stick to the suggested length as stated in the application. If no length is stated, no more than 2, double-spaced, typed pages will suffice. Even if you have a great essay, if it is several pages in length it may not get read thoroughly because of the volume admission people read in a tight time frame.
• Prepare a rough draft. After you write your first draft, let it sit for a day or two. Then, go back and look at it with a fresh perspective and keep improving it.
• Get it proofread. Choose someone who can be objective with your writing and is a strong writer. Absolutely no cross-outs are acceptable, nor are spelling and grammatical errors. "Spellcheck" on the computer will not suffice for checking your work.
• Answer the question. You'd be surprised at how many students just submit one essay to all colleges to which they apply. This shows lack of interest and laziness on their part and will certainly reflect negatively in the admission process.

DON'Ts

• Use words that are not in your everyday vocabulary.
• Repeat the information contained elsewhere in the application. Talking about your soccer career will be a snoozer to the admission officer.
• Exceed the recommended length.

TOPICS TO AVOID

In general, the following topics are not well-received by admission staff mainly because they are so common in the essay and admission officers get tired of reading about them:

• Family vacation
• The athletic event (championship game, etc.)
• Parent as most admired person
• The autobiography (recounting your accomplishments)

If you feel you must use one of these topics, then your story-telling ability should be of such unique quality that the reader forgets that this is a common topic.