but to clarify its focus so that you can say all
you want in the limited space allotted
(approximately 300 words).
If your efforts at initiating writing are not
productive and the results of the drafts are
mediocre, then you should try to approach the
problem by placing the title of your topic
on a page and then writing about 15 relevant
questions beneath it. Leave enough space
between questions for responses. The challenge
is to come up with questions, and the
answers can serve to generate a viable topic and
draft the message you seek to send.
If the above formula to find an essay topic
still doesn't produce a satisfactory
response, another approach is to spend an hour
or two a day for five days drafting an
essay outline on five different topics,
possibly using different styles. Allow the essays to
"hibernate" for a weekend, then on the
following Monday read them all through and
select the one that most appeals to you and is
most suitable for use in your application.
Preparation
By the time you have to prepare your
application for admission to college you will have
already written numerous essays. In developing
these you used your own modes of
preparation. This may simply involve expressing
your thoughts on a sheet of paper and
handing it in, or you may have written a rough
draft, set it aside, and then come back
and reorganized and/or edited it. You may also
have given a subject some prior thought
and then prepared an outline to guide your
writing. Finally, you may have used a combi-
nation of approaches to fit each particular
need. In any case, you used the approach you
felt most comfortable with and one that you
believed to be most appropriate for the
project at hand.
For your college application essay, you also
have several approach options at your
disposal. While the reader of your essay at the
admissions office is obligated to thought-
fully review it, your challenge is to take hold
of and maintain the reader's interest as he
or she proceeds.
Since you wish to fit a personal image into the
context of your essay, it may prove
desirable to prepare an inventory of your
attributes. These can be ranked in order of
your estimate of their importance. Such a list
may consist, for example, of the following
qualities:
idealistic
dedicated
broad minded
motivated
competitive
reliable
good listener
determined
energetic
tolerant
ambitious
empathetic
conscientious
realistic
Find a way to demonstrate your individuality by
exemplifying some of your attrib-
utes in your essay. You should try to do so in
a creative manner, even when you have to
respond to some specific question. Thus, you
need not confine yourself exclusively to a
topic in its narrowest perspective. There
usually is a degree of liberty afforded with any
topic so as to get your personal message
across.
Once you have a rough draft of your essay on
paper or in your mind, you have set
the basis for the next step.
Organization of the Essay
There is a simple, basic, three-step pattern
that is recommended in regard to organiza-
tion of your essay. It involves an
introduction, where you present the general theme of
your essay; the body, where you convey in-depth
your message; and a conclusion,
which summarizes the points you wish to
emphasize.
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