What To Put In Your 500 Word College Application Essay

What To Put In Your 500 Word College Application Essay I feel very lucky to be born in a family which has made me a better person. In my opinion, families are an essential part of one’s being. In this essay on my family, I will tell you why family is important. If you really want to make an impression, let your personality shine through. In some cases, it depends how you frame the topic. For instance, if church was a major part of your upbringing and is very meaningful to you, you could mention this aspect of your identity in a college application essay. However, it’s important to do so without implying that your religion is better than others or attacking people who don’t practice your religion. College application essays are often the most challenging part of the application process. Make sure that your essay is more than a recitation of the accomplishments, activities, and experiences already hashed out in the application. If your essay doesn’t present any new information, it will be dull and forgettable. That is, an assignment, essay or paper will likely be assigned as 1500 â€" 2000 words rather than 3 â€" 4 pages. This way it is much more difficult for the writer to “game the system” by using large fonts and excessive spacing to meet the writing criteria. In most cases, your essay isn’t the factor that determines your admission to college. However, an offensive, off-putting, or forgettable essay can hurt your chances. By avoiding the topics listed above, you’ll ensure that your essay helps â€" instead of hurts â€" your chances of admission. It's much better to think about what you want to say, and then talk through how to best structure it with someone else and/or make your own practice outlines before you sit down to write. However, how you approach the middle part is up to you. And while they may not be the most important part of your application, they can differentiate you from similarly qualified applicants. It can be fine to leave the writing of the introduction for a later stage in the essay-writing process. You could structure your essay more like a narrative, relating an important experience from your life. You could use an extended analogy, where each paragraph is a part of the analogy. You want to adhere broadly to the wisdom that each paragraph should have an identifiable main idea, but a college essay is definitely a great chance to break free from the five-paragraph essay. Oftentimes, you'll need to submit your college essay in a specific file format. The application may only accept certain versions of Word files (i.e. only .doc and not .docx), .rtf or .pdf files. A family serves as the first school to the child where one learns about various things. The basic knowledge about one’s culture and identity comes from their family only. In other words, you are a reflection of your family. All the good habits and manners one has incorporated are from their family only. So just be sure that you are saving your file in an accepted format before you upload it! I recommend .pdf files whenever possible, because they are uneditable and always look the same. While single-spaced essays are usually acceptable, your essay will be easier to read if it's 1.5 or double-spaced. Ellen has extensive education mentorship experience and is deeply committed to helping students succeed in all areas of life. She received a BA from Harvard in Folklore and Mythology and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University. If you are attaching a document, make sure your font is easily readable, your margins are standard 1-inch, your essay is 1.5 or double-spaced, and your file format is compatible with the application specs. You might see college essay templates online that offer guidelines on how to structure your essay and what to say in each paragraph. It will make your essay sound canned and blandâ€"two of the worst things a college essay can be. Some people write their introduction only after they have completed the rest of the essay. Others write the introduction first but rewrite it significantly in light of what they end up saying in the body of their paper. It does not matter if you have a small or big family, as long as you have one.