Application Requirements

Application Requirements Asking a teacher, parent, or older sibling is probably the best way to go, since they might be more familiar with what's expected from college admissions essays. College can be difficult, and one thing that admissions officers might be looking for is evidence that you've overcome obstacles and been able to work through hard situations. And an appreciation for the finer point of writing has widened the genres I readâ€"from fantasy to classics, autobiographies to mysteries, nonfiction to adventure and beyond. I still read voraciously, but now I read deeply as well. In middle school my two favorite book series were Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I’ll admit, I was a strange child, and my parents called me spaced cadet because I spent so much time staring off into the air, unknown stories forming behind my eyes. Your admission essay lets you personalize your application. The writing sample you submit will be considered in both the admission and competitive scholarship selection process. Such an essay is intended to leave a positive imprint in the admissions officer’s mind and make them feel excited about you as a person. You can also ask someone else to proofread your essay for you. I started reading more actively, highlighting and noting in the corners. Describing tone, syntax, and diction, a task once painful for me, became simple as I practiced sub-vocalization. I simply slowed down and tried to hear the words in my head. I once condemned poetry as a pretentious and boring, but I realized I was reading poetry completely wrong. In first grade, my mother bought me the first five Junie B. Jones books, and I was hooked. My parents couldn’t figure out why I had suddenly become afraid of the dark until they realized that I was only asking they keep the closet light on so I could stay up all night and read. I loved Junie B’s adventurous spirit and offbeat humor. And most of all, I loved that she was a loud-mouth like me. Like Junie B, I knew what I wanted and I was always ready to ask for it. Running your essay through spell check is important, and having someone you trust read your essay to catch other small mistakes is even better. Admissions officers generally won't dock minor mistakes in punctuation, but grammatical errors always look sloppy. For the first time I could remember, a book had challenged me. At a recent student retreat, everyone in my class was asked to draw a timeline of our lives. There are a lot of ways I could break up my life timeline, from states I lived in to schools I’ve attended, but I could also break it up by my favorite book . The series had all the traditional morals of childhood (be kind to your friends, tell the truth, etc.), but it also taught me that sometimes speaking up is better than sitting down, a lesson I still remember today. Is there a way to find out what essay questions colleges are asking before you start the application process? Would it relieve some of your stress, or help you focus your search on fewer colleges, if you knew what essays you'll have to write? First of all, the very purpose of the college admission essay is to tell a unique story of yours â€" a story that goes beyond academic performance narrative. It’s all about hooking the audience with your traits, passions, interests, plans for the future, and life missions. Luna was weird, probably even a little weirder than me. She thought wrackspurts caused distracted thoughts and read the tabloid magazine of the Harry Potter word,The Quibbler. What I found so appealing about her character was how unapologetic she was about her oddities. When the other students at Hogwarts made fun of her and called her names she responded with kindness, because she knew in her heart she was brave and smart, and didn’t seek anyone else’s approval. I drew on her strength often during the rough and awkward moments of middle school. You have to slow down to appreciate how the words sounds, how they flow into each other and then slowly drift away. I even began to write poetry, after years of telling myself that I was destined to write prose and prose only for the rest of my life. I began to appreciate the nuances of a person’s writing style, how diction, syntax, sentence length, and dialogue could play together like chemicals and making a book simmer, bubble, foam, or explode.