Should you sensationalize your essay for college admission?

One of the hardest things one would ever write in one’s life would be the college application essay.  Aside from answering the given essay prompts and meeting the 500-word requirement, you also have to manage to convince the panel members reading your essay that you are worth that slot.  However, outlining how you can build a nuclear reactor out of art supplies or voicing out your opinions about the current state of affairs in the government won’t actually give these panel members what they want to find out about you, especially if written in grammar or language that doesn’t befit someone who lives in the present.  However, that doesn’t mean you can just type away your essay that it sounds like a blog entry.  Here’s how to craft that winning piece that will get you into college in no time.

*  Tacky vs. tactful treatment of topic

Though admissions panel members really want to read and get to know who you really are, this is not an excuse to get too lax in your grammar and manner of writing.  It may be a little bit helpful if you write in a voice that is your own, holding no pretensions of knowing all about science, philosophy, or life and just letting your personality color your words.  If you express certain sentiments about an issue or topic, do so in a manner that would not come across as preachy or discriminating, but instead show how thoughtful you are about it.  Writing an essay on how much you know about a certain project may make you seem like a knowledgeable person, or someone who just rehashed a research paper.  Instead, be a bit more personable in your approach to a certain issue and look and write about it not as a scientist or a philosopher, but as a high school senior about to enter college.

*  Tasteless vs. witty development of themes

There’s more risk when you’re given the chance to hand in a 500-word essay about anything under the sun and it would determine your chances at a college education.  Though it would be tempting to write about something that would give the impression that you are smart enough, you may fall into the trap of trying to be what you’re not.  It would be best if you stick to topics that are closer to home and that you would know a lot about so that it would be easier to develop the essay around your thesis statement.

*  Slang vs. formal language

Despite the fact that panel members look for an applicant’s personality in the admission essay, this doesn’t mean that you’re going to pass an entry straight out from your blog.  Language and grammar are very important factors that panel members look at when determining one’s eligibility.  Informal or slang terms may be used, if only sparingly or when it befits the topic.  Otherwise, formality or at least propriety, in language is preferred.