Why The Admission Essay Is Critical

It is your moment. Your application is about to be read by the admission officer at the college you really want to attend. Unfortunately, it has been a long week, and she has already reviewed hundreds of applications from other students. Many of these students have similar grades, test scores and activities. So what will set your application apart from the others? What will keep your application out of the dreaded pile of denials?

The answer is your college admission essay.

The essay is your single greatest opportunity to distinguish yourself as an individual by sharing who you are, what you have learned and what motivates you. In this decision-making moment, will your essay make the most of this opportunity, or will it fall flat on its face?

It all depends on you. You are the creator of your essay, and your effort and skill will determine its fate. But while your future is in your hands, you are not alone. We are here to help. This book will help increase your chances of writing an essay that makes a difference and helps you to receive that coveted thick envelope--an acceptance letter from the college of your dreams. In this book you will learn how to:

See why colleges value essays. By understanding why colleges require essays and what they hope to learn about you from them, you'll have the insight you need to write a powerful essay.

Select the right topic for you. The right essay topic allows you to write with passion and insight. With the wrong topic, you may be afflicted with time-consuming writer's block or even worse write a lackluster, emotionless essay.

Write a successful essay that works. Our comprehensive writing chapters guide you through the entire process. We take you through the first word on the page to the last period in the conclusion. These are strategies that you need to know to write a successful essay.

Avoid costly mistakes. Learn from our 25 essay disasters the common mistakes that can kill any essay and how you can avoid them.

Save time with recycling. By reusing and editing your writing, you can use one essay for multiple applications. We share tested techniques for doing this effectively.

Understand what colleges want to see in your essay--direct from admission officers. Our distinguished panel of admission officers explain in their own words what qualities make or break essays. This is your opportunity to pick the brains of these experts who have determined the fates of thousands of other applicants like you.

Be inspired from the success of other students' essays. We have brought together over 50 successful essays written by a wide variety of students. Get insight into what worked for these students to gain admission to their dream colleges including Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Duke, MIT, University of Pennsylvania, UC-Berkeley, USC, Northwestern, Brown, Cornell, Bard, William and Mary, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, Dartmouth, Rice and more.

In short, this book gives you everything you need to take control of your essay and create the best one possible. It is critical that through your essay you (figuratively, of course!) grab the admission officer by the collar and give her a reason to admit you. By reading this book you are taking the first steps toward this goal.