What Students Think about College Essays and how to Edit them

Most important step in the writing process of the college essay.

At Damian SAT ACT Prep Center we train students to think the writing of the college admission essay in 3 distinct phases. Namely Brainstorming, Composition and  Editing. Many students do not have time to perform the third step of the process and will expose themselves to the rigor of the selection process. They will compete with students that had the time to edit, revisit, reformat their essays for a while. However, it may represent the difference between success and failure. Try to look at it as if it would be a regular high school English assignment and you will be OK.

All is good but how can we do that? How can we achieve that level? Here you have the result of a survey we have performed at our Damian SAT ACT Prep Center on 25 seniors preparing for their college applications. It is all about impressing the admissions office of the college of choice. How to achieve the goal? Here are the results of the survey and the pros and cons.

Why do you need to consider the editing phase with an open mindset?

Whether you are preparing for an Early Action deadline or a regular decision deadline, you are likely overwhelmed with academic, extracurricular, familial and social commitments. As a result, you may be tempted to conserve your college application time by rushing through the editing phase. And here comes the big mistake. You should instead approach your admissions essay edits with an open mindset. Don’t become comfortable with your editing. You must be an active editor in order to have a successful and good profile essay.”

Some high school students will need several rereads and sets of revision and indeed it may require several hours of effort. You may also find it advantageous to create an editing “office” that is quiet and will allow you to solely focus on the task at hand. The quality of your revisions is likely to be much higher if you can avoid distracted editing.

Nothing wrong about asking friends and family about the essays. Let them read your essay and see what is their reaction. They will tell you the truth. If they see you in the essay, ti means you have done a good decent job. If they see you in the essay as well as your past and future hopes, that is even better.

Majority of students use online grammar editors for basic small errors, and then have people who had written lots of college essays before, read them.

When identifying which resources to use, consider your weaknesses. Are you prone to relying on passive voice?

Are your sentences very long or unclear? Once you know what you would like to improve, choose at least two different resources for doing so. Keep in mind the honesty of the message you try to convey. The college admission officers read many many essays on a daily basis. They are trained to spot if an essay is written without any substance or real background. They will react and penalize the applicant.

The successful college entrance essay is based on truth, spontaneity as well as good heart. We at Damian SAT ACT Prep we encourage students to present their best moments of charity and giving away in an essay. The genuine aspect of the fact depicted in the essay will make an impression with the college admission officer and will lend an easier acceptance. It is all about being honest, depict a moment in your life when you genuinely helped others and did it with a smile on your face.