A standout college essay has a few key ingredients: a unique topic, an engaging narrative, vivid details, impeccable writing, and a memorable conclusion. Admissions officers read thousands of essays each year, so you must craft an authentic, compelling personal statement that sets you apart.
Here are quick steps for writing a strong college essay:
- Brainstorm unique topics that reveal your authentic voice and identity.
- Select a focused narrative that explores passions, challenges, and realizations.
- Outline a cohesive structure with an engaging arc.
- Hook the reader immediately with vivid storytelling in your intro.
- Use descriptive scenes and details to “show, not tell” your journey.
- Include vulnerable insights about personal growth and lessons learned.
- Craft an impactful conclusion tying your story to larger meanings.
- Revise by improving flow, depth, word choices, and narrative voice.
- Proofread obsessively for flawless grammar and language use.
- Get extensive feedback to refine and elevate your drafts to their fullest potential.
Why do you need a standout essay?
The college admissions essay is a critical component of your application that allows you to stand out as a unique individual beyond academics. While the rest of your application highlights grades, test scores, and activities, the personal statement is your opportunity to showcase your full personality, values, experiences, and fit for the university.
At highly competitive colleges, the essay can be the deciding factor among applicants with similar stellar academic profiles. It accounts for around 25% of how your application is evaluated, and potentially even more now that standardized tests are increasingly optional.
The admissions essay enables you to make a powerful case for why you would be a meaningful addition to the incoming class. It provides a platform to demonstrate your distinctive talents, intellectual curiosities, background, perspective, and potential contributions to the school community.
Rather than just listing achievements, the personal statement allows you to connect with admissions officers through an engaging personal narrative that humanizes your application and highlights your individuality.
What do colleges look for in an essay?
At top colleges, admissions officers are looking for students who will make positive contributions to the intellectual life of their institution. Your essay allows admissions readers to get to know you beyond numbers like grades and test scores.
A great college essay showcases your unique voice, personality, values, accomplishments, and goals in a way your application cannot. Ultimately, the essay allows the admissions team to picture you as a future member of their student body.
Colleges want to see that you can think critically, convey your passion and enthusiasm, overcome obstacles, and tell a captivating story. A standout essay accomplishes all of this while maintaining a positive, authentic tone and strong writing skills.
Steps for writing a college essay
This step-by-step guide will improve your chances of writing a winning admissions essay:
Start organizing early
First, map out a timeline with all the important dates and milestonesThis includes application deadlines for each school, dates for brainstorming sessions to explore potential topics, target dates for when you’ll review your notes and outlines and start writing your first draft, and due dates for having second and final polished drafts ready. Note when you’ll distribute drafts to teachers, parents, mentors, or writing center staff and their deadlines for providing feedback to you.
Create an essay tracker sheet
You may be working on essays for several colleges at once. An essay tracker can help you keep your application requirements and deadlines in one place. For each school, list details like:
- Application deadline
- Required essays and word limits
- Supplemental materials needed
- Key points to cover in each essay
Choose a unique topic
The most engaging college essays share a student’s journey, ideas, passions, or experiences in an introspective, personal way. Brainstorm potential college essay topics that showcase your interests, curiosities, influences, obstacles, or life experiences.
What makes a good topic?
The best essays are richly detailed and have narrative momentum. Look for story ideas that:
- Allow you to be vulnerable and open up emotionally
- Give insight into your core values and personality
- Explore pivotal moments or turning points
- Reveal your intellectual curiosity and passions
- Avoid clichés and controversial topics
Brainstorming questions
As you start brainstorming ideas, ask yourself reflective questions like:
- What was the most difficult challenge I overcame? How did it shape me?
- When did I have to step out of my comfort zone? What did I learn?
- What accomplishments am I most proud of? What drives me?
- What experiences fundamentally changed my perspective or values?
How to identify your topic
When brainstorming ideas for your college admissions essay, you can take one of two approaches. The first is to start by identifying positive qualities that define who you are as a person—traits like resilience, curiosity, creativity, ambition, etc.
Once you have a list of your key attributes, think through real-life situations, challenges, or accomplishments from your past that allowed you to exemplify those qualities.
Reflect on personal stories and moments that showcase the values and strengths you want to highlight. Another approach is to brainstorm a list of your most memorable life experiences first. Then, analyze what those meaningful events reveal about your fundamental values, growth mindset, or dimensions of your identity.
Outline your essay
Before writing a draft, sketch the narrative structure and key points you want to hit. Most successful college essays follow one of two outlines:
Vignettes structure
You string together 2-4 related anecdotes or vignettes in this format into a cohesive essay. Each individual story section should flow into the next with narrative momentum.
Example outline for vignette essay
Single story structure
Alternatively, your essay can follow a more direct narrative arc, like a novel or memoir chapter. Start with an engaging personal story and use it as a window into a deeper insight about yourself.
Example outline for narrative essay
Brainstorm creative insights or story arcs
Draft a short list of the meaningful life experiences, interests, influences, hobbies, skills, obstacles, or goals you may want to include in your essay. Then, brainstorm the stories, challenges, personal growth or self-discovery moments, or creative insights you could weave into your narrative.
| Common Insight | Unique Insight |
| Overcoming an illness/injury | Gaining a deeper appreciation for health and the human body |
| Joining a club/team | Discovering an unexpected passion or skill you never knew you had |
| Dealing with failure | Recognizing unhealthy perfectionist tendencies to overcome |
| Family vacation | Expanding your cultural perspective by immersing in new traditions |
| Difficult class/subject | Developing study strategies tailored to your unique learning style |
| Community service | Realizing privileges you took for granted and need to pay forward |
| New job/responsibility | Building confidence by pushing yourself outside your comfort zone |
| Conflict with friends/family | Practicing healthy ways to communicate, forgive, and understand differing views |
Start with a memorable introduction
With thousands of essays to plow through each year, admissions officers spend just a few precious minutes on your application. To ensure your narrative stands out, you must leverage an attention-grabbing introduction that compels them to keep reading.
Avoid opening with famous quotes, clichés, or self-references about the essay – these predictable techniques fail to differentiate your unique voice and perspective. While incorporating meaningful dialogue or quotes can work if executed thoughtfully, make sure it aligns with and amplifies your overarching theme.
To craft a truly original and engaging opener, consider employing one of these creative methods:
Option 1: Start with an intriguing hook
When you start writing your college admissions essay, you want to grab the reader’s attention immediately. One way to do this is with an intriguing hook. This means you open with a really interesting story or dramatic scene.
You use many vivid and descriptive details to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. This makes them curious to keep reading and discover what happens next in your story.
Example
I’ll never forget the deafening silence that enveloped me as I stepped onto that empty soccer field, with the weight of my first heartbreak weighing heavily on my adolescent shoulders. Just one week earlier, the field had roared with cheers as I chased the ball, jersey drenched in sweat. Now, an eerie sense of loss replaced that familiar thrill as I stared at the two faded goalposts like tarnished guardians, forever barring me from the dream I had just watched slip through the strings of my net.
Option 2: Start with vivid imagery
Another option is to start your essay by vividly describing a powerful moment, feeling, or imagery. With rich details, you let the reader envision the scene through your eyes and understand your perspective.
Example
It was freezing cold outside. The cold wind felt like little knives poking my face. I wrapped my scratchy wool scarf tighter to cover my cheeks. Tiny bits of ice made my eyes water so much that all I could see was white. Our group walked through the deep snow, our boots crunching loudly. Puffs of steam came out of our mouths and noses. Then I saw something big and dark appear through the snow ahead. It was the rocky mountain peaks sticking up into the sky, daring us to keep going toward them.
Write like an artist
Your college application essay lets you get creative with your writing style and word choice. This is your chance to bring your story to life and stand out from other applicants using vivid, descriptive language.
Show, don’t tell
“Telling” means simply stating facts or ideas, while “showing” means using lots of specific details to paint a clear picture in the reader’s mind.
For example, just say, “I love playing basketball.”
But showing more vivid imagery: “Sweat dripped down my face as I dribbled the ball down the court, the rubber bouncing off the squeaky hardwood with every stride closer to the hoop.”
To show rather than tell in your essay, think back clearly on a specific memory or scene. Ask yourself:
- What did I see around me? What were the most noticeable sights?
- What sounds, smells, or tastes were part of that experience?
- How did I feel emotionally or physically in that moment?
Replay the memory in your mind and write down all the vivid sensory details you can recall.
Example
My clammy hands trembled as I tightly gripped the velvet curtain, peeking out at the blinding stage lights and endless seats still filled with hushed spectators. The muffled scent of hairspray and final touch-ups swirled with my shallow breaths backstage as the previous number’s thunderous applause slowly died down. I desperately tried to recall the opening steps, my mind drawing a blank as easily as the beads of sweat on my flushed forehead.
Be vulnerable to create an emotional response
While you don’t need to reveal extremely personal traumas, strive to openly express authentic thoughts, feelings, and impactful moments. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable by sharing meaningful experiences honestly and sincerely will help forge an emotional connection with readers. Demonstrating this level of self-reflection shows maturity and self-awareness.
However, avoid exaggerating simply to gain sympathy. Admissions officers can sense disingenuous writing. Your goal is to compellingly convey heartfelt personal truths through your essay’s narrative.
Example
As I clutched Mom’s trembling hand, the chemotherapy Ward’s antiseptic burning my nostrils, a grotesque new reality sank in. The conquering heroine whoseією encouraged me to dream bigger than the Kansas plains now struggled with pangs of nausea after each treatment cycle. Her favorite novels lay abandoned and unfinished – this impossibly brave woman who had sparked my passion for literature suddenly seemed powerless against her newest adversary. In those dichotomizing moments, my idolized protector became the one I ached to protect.
Use appropriate style and tone
Follow these guidelines:
- When writing your personal statement, aim for a conversational yet respectful tone that allows your authentic voice to shine through. Strive for a middle ground between too formal and too casual.
- Emphasize using “I” statements to share your unique perspective and experiences directly. Don’t recount events in the third person—own your story proudly.
- Stick to vocabulary you’re comfortable with rather than overreaching. Using elevated diction that doesn’t mesh with your typical communication style can come across as arrogant or inadvertently comical.
- Craft lean, descriptive sentences with active voice and minimal passive constructions to maintain an engaging, fast-paced narrative flow. Overly complex wording will bog down your essay.
- Follow standard grammar, spelling, and mechanics rules – unless you purposefully employ literary devices like fragmentation for specific stylistic effects. Overall, err on the side of crispness and clarity.
Craft a strong conclusion
The conclusion is your final opportunity to leave a lasting impression on the admissions officers reading your essay. A strong conclusion helps resolve your narrative and drives home the main point or insight you want them to take away. Two effective approaches are:
Option 1: Full circle, sandwich structure
With this technique, your conclusion circles back to directly re-visit the scenario, imagery, or ideas you opened within your introduction. This creates a satisfying sense of cohesion and completion for the reader.
Example
As I finally regained my breath and felt the cold metal of the chair again beneath me, I realized that this was where I had started – staring at the motivational quote on Ms. Jacobs’ wall: “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” Her words finally crystallized as I reflected on my journey from that initial failure in her classroom to where I now stood, bloodied but emboldened, ready to apply the resilience she had fought to instill in me.
Option 2: Revealing your insight
Rather than circling back, this approach has your conclusion reveal the culminating insight, lesson, or perspective you’ve arrived at through the events and experiences explored in your essay.
Example
While being diagnosed with ADHD early on felt like an insurmountable roadblock, it ultimately illuminated my grit. Each pivotal letdown – being suspended for pranking, getting deferred from my dream college, even getting fired from the inverse laundry job – molded the growth-oriented mindset and unshakable purpose that defines me today. Only by embracing inevitable missteps and detours have I forged the perseverance to conquer any obstacle on my true path.
Revise and receive feedback
Once you have a complete first draft, revising is critical to polishing your essay before submission. Give yourself enough time for multiple revision rounds to elevate your writing.
Respect the word count
Many colleges provide a recommended or hard limit for the essay length. Adhering to the word count shows discipline and your ability to convey your message concisely. If needed, trim unnecessary details or examples to fit within the guidelines.
Check your content, style, and grammar
Beyond surface-level proofreading for spelling and grammar errors, ensure your essay flows logically and maintains a consistent style true to your authentic voice:
- Check for consistent verb tense, tone, and writing perspective
- Ensure clear pronoun antecedents and smooth transitions between ideas
- Scan for unintended vagueness, wordiness, clichés, or inappropriately elevated language
Your goal is substantive writing that engages the reader throughout.
Get feedback
Having others peer review your drafts can illuminate blind spots in clarity, insight, and overall impact. Ask trusted friends, family members, teachers, or a college writing center to provide honest, constructive feedback. Be open to making revisions based on their impressions as readers.
An extra set of eyes can be invaluable for strengthening your narrative flow, descriptive details, and creative voice and delivering your overarching message. Take time to incorporate suggestions that resonate with your vision for the essay.
Don’t hesitate to go through multiple major revisions to refine and elevate your writing to its fullest potential. The revision stage is essential to producing a truly memorable and impactful personal statement.
College admissions essay checklist
Refer to this checklist before submitting your personal statement: