{"id":203643,"date":"2018-06-07T16:23:25","date_gmt":"2018-06-07T16:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-581638-2158332.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=203643"},"modified":"2024-02-08T03:46:43","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T11:46:43","slug":"the-college-essay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flexcollegeprep.com\/the-college-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"The College Essay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer has already begun and for our rising seniors (Class of 2016), it is the season of the college essay. <\/strong><\/p>\n

All across the country, sixteen and seventeen year-olds are struggling to find the five hundred words that will capture their unique selves and make them stand out among the tens of thousands of other college applicants\u2014all of whom will also have their say. This prospect, which would be daunting for many adults, has some high school students so fazed that it prompts them to say they wish they had experienced adversity simply in order to have something to write about.<\/p>\n

For all the ruckus, however, the college admissions essay remains a wasted opportunity for all too many students. This is largely a result of the misperceptions that surround this particular area of the college admissions process. Many people aren\u2019t even sure how much weight the essay carries in the admissions process, let alone what the college admissions officer is looking for in a student\u2019s essay. In fact, this question is worth tackling right at the onset: Just how important is the college essay?<\/p>\n

As college admission becomes increasingly competitive, the nuanced differences between one student and another are becoming magnified. But the differences are not academic. For instance, whether a student scores 2280 or 2330 on the SAT, whether he earns straight A\u2019s with three AP classes or four, will not have a major impact on the admission process. Instead, personal points of contact (the college essay, the admission interview and other correspondence with the college) are where students can differentiate themselves. In that sense, the college essay is the main way for students to communicate their passions, advance their application strategies and stand out in a crowd. So what exactly is the college essay?<\/p>\n

The college essay is a written response to a prompt (or prompts) in the college application. Depending on the college and major you apply for, the questions can be different. For instance, below are a variety of prompts asked of engineering majors:<\/p>\n