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College Admission Essays For Dummies

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John Wiley & Sons, Jun 15, 2011 - Study Aids - 336 pages
The competition to get into your college of choice has never been fiercer. Unfortunately, much of the application process is out of your hands. But one major aspect of the admission process is under your control—your personal statement. Your application essay provides you with the opportunity to let your true, unique and totally irresistible self shine through.

College Admission Essays For Dummies is your total guide to crafting application essays that will make people sit up and take notice. It demystifies the authority figures who’ll judge your work, helps you decide what to write, and then arms you with the knowledge and skills you need to write your essay on time and on target. Step by step, it walks you through the entire essay-writing process, offering priceless tips on how to:

  • Choose the best topic, tone, and structure for your essay
  • Capture the crucial stories that reveal who you are
  • Avoid common pitfalls that can sabotage your application
  • Overcome writer’s block
  • Know how to respond to unusual and off-the-wall essay questions
  • Write successful short answers to specific application questions

College admission guru Geraldine Woods punctures common myths about application essays and tells you what you absolutely must do to write a good one. With the help of many inspiring and instructive killer essays, she shows you how to:

  • Put yourself in the right mental state for writing well
  • Gather ideas, focus on a topic and choose the best structure for your essay
  • Use topic sentences, detail, and strong introductions and conclusions
  • Write a rough draft
  • Show rather than tell your story
  • Make sure your spelling and grammar are pitch perfect
  • Create smooth transitions and avoid repetitions

Your college application essay is your chance to show the committee that you’re more than just a statistic. Let College Admission Essays For Dummies show you how to write “admit-clinching” college essays.

  

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Contents

Confronting Your Application Anxieties
Reclaiming power
Embracing change
Overcoming selfdoubt
Gaining perspective
Rising from the fog of details
Stopping and starting with ease
Part IV

The Admissions Officers
Choosing honesty as the best policy
Timing Is Everything
The mediumrange plan
The shortrange plan
Taking advantage of spare time
Adapting one essay to several questions
Deciding whether the optional essay is really optional
Keeping Perspective
Chapter 2
Collecting the Stories of Your Life
Getting Personal with Impersonal Questions
Identifying Themes in Your Autobiography
Reviewing your life story
Overcoming the Taboo against Bragging
Chapter 3
The Admissions Committee
Keeping Their Attention When Yours Is the 9000th Essay Theyve Read Today
Avoiding Writing Traits Guaranteed to Annoy the Admissions Committee
Machine language
Incorrect language
Clichés
Writing What They Do Want to Read
Chapter 4
Finding the Right Sort of Help
Overseeing the outline
Roughing it
Typing or filling in the blanks
Noting a Few Words about Plagiarism
Swiping ideas
Locating Help When Youre On Your Own
Part II
Chapter 5
Separating Your Inner Creator and Editor
The First Steps
Narrowing down
Not Just for the Army Anymore
Taking the Final Steps
Chapter 6
Matching Personality and Technique
The Techniques
Listing
Freewriting
Reacting to a Specific Question
Chapter 7
Meeting the Major Players in the Structure Game
Chronological order
Survey
Comparison and contrast
Pro and con
Structuring the Career Essay
Chapter 8
Putting Your Thoughts in Order
Checking for Gaps
Staying Flexible
Taking the Final PreWrite Check
Part III
Chapter 9
Getting Down to Specifics
Using All Your Senses
Choosing the Best Details and Ignoring the Rest
Selecting Strong Verbs and Nouns
Nouns
A Little Metaphor Wont Kill You
Chapter 10
Punctuating Your Points with Paragraphs
Drama
Creating a Strong Topic Sentence
Placing Topic Sentences and Details
Topic sentence in the middle
Setting Up a Transition
Repetitive transitions
Chapter 11
What the Lead Does for Your Essay
Quoting the notables
Sharing an anecdote
Intriguing the reader
Previewing the coming attractions
Orienting the Reader
Avoiding Common Pitfalls
Chapter 12
Not a reworded introduction
Not an announcement
Concluding the Essay with Class
Creating a wider context
Completing the experience
Forging the last link in a chain of logic
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Verbs
Pronouns
Complete sentences
Punctuation
Spelling It Rihgt Right
Chapter 15
Getting the 411 on slang
Talking tech
Jettisoning jargon
Keeping it tasteful
Creating Stylish Sentences
Monotony
Awkwardness
Saying It Once and Only Once
Chapter 16
Verifying That Youve Answered the Question
Sounding Strong and Mature
Projecting confidence
Winning without whining
Keeping perspective
Complimenting without flattery
The Top Ten Reasons Why Lists Are a Bad Idea
Checking the Essay One Last Time
Chapter 17
Reading the Directions
Hitting the Word Count Target
Chopping excess words
Adding to the essay
Dealing with Paper Forms
On their form
Applying Online
Faxing ExpressMailing and Other Panic Options
Part V
Chapter 18
Choosing relevant material
Ranging over a long period of time
Taking the story inward
Interpreting the story for the reader
Explaining Your A+ in Recess and Other Academic Experiences
When I Retire at 20 I Will
Daydreaming Your Way into College
Desperate and Other Descriptions
Chapter 19
You Are Who You Know
Writing about Friends and Relatives
Selecting the scene
Interpreting the influence
Relating Strangers Lives to Your Own
Entering the Fictional Universe
Chapter 20
Answering Literature and Writing Questions
Writing creatively
Reacting to a poem or a quotation
Responding to Philosophy and Science Topics
Expounding on Artistic Topics
Discussing Historical or Current Events
Writing an issue essay
Delving into the past
Chapter 21
Saying a Lot in Little Spaces
Answering the Most Common ShortAnswer Questions
Dealing with Why us questions
The transfer question
Responding to Unusual ShortAnswer Questions
Part VI
Chapter 22
Focusing on a Certain Topic Guarantees Admission
Talking about Ordinary Lives Is a Nono
Seeking Help from Lots of People Is a Good Idea
Chapter 23
Of Studies by Francis Bacon
The Solace of Open Spaces by Gretel Erhlich
The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain by Langston Hughes
Chapter 24
Following Directions
Holding Their Interest
Appendix
Parents
Grandparents and extended family
School days
Teachers
General school issues
Your country
The Future
Identity
People
Copyright

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About the author (2011)

Geraldine Woods has taught high school English for more than 25 years and advises seniors every year on college admission essays. She is also the author of Research Papers For Dummies.

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