Crafting The Perfect College Application Essays

August 04, 2014

College application essays don’t have to make you crazy! AdmitSee offers tons of advice on how to make your application essays great from college counselors, students, and our team members! If you’re just getting started, check out these 7 Do’s and Don’ts for crafting your essays. 

We’ve organized lots of students’ application essays into essay topic packages - unlock a two packages and you get a third free! Also, click here to read about which essay topics you might want to skip (spoiler alert: writing about jail time is not a good idea). But remember sometimes controversial topics work!

Are you an international student? Read examples of application essays from other international students who got accepted to ivy league schools.  Here is advice from AdmitSee’s co-founder Stephanie Shyu about how to improve your writing! Also check out this interview with college counselor Keith for advice on the application process, including his take on extracurricular activities.

The intro is the most important part - a lot of college admissions officers will only read this paragraph and then just skim the rest. You can read thousands of accepted students’ application essay intros totally free on our essays tab! Make sure to have a killer hook - avoid cliche quotes from famous people. Remember, you want to put your best self forward - this is your opportunity to shine. You don’t want to come off like this (unless you’re applying to NYU’s Tisch Program).

Review this final essay checklist to make sure your essay is top notch! Compare it to essays by students who were already accepted to your first choice school. And remember, you can do this! You ARE a big deal!! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!



Browse Successful Application Files

unwakudu21
Yale


Accepted to Yale, DePaul, JHU, Northwestern, UCF, U Illinois, Pitt, Vanderbilt

An inquisitive girl who is always pushing herself to achieve the near impossible.
jessicadai
Brown


Accepted to Brown, Vanderbilt, Smith, Harvey Mudd, Washington, UC Berkeley, Duke, UCLA, Swarthmore

I'm a daydreamer passionate about societal transformation... who also happens to spend way too much time watching makeup tutorials.
BrownBear23
Brown


Accepted to Brown, UMich, UT Austin

Artist, Writer, wannabe-philosopher
jackieee
Princeton


Accepted to Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, CMU, JHU, Duke, USC, BU, Illinois, UMich

Unhooked Asian girl from the Bay Area! Princeton CS '22

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