7 Ways To Avoid Sabotaging Your Admission Essay

I seriously in the business of the college application essay shortly after I published my book on the letters of recommendation, kit immediately a letter of recommendation, a couple of years.

Those who have bought this book to help with their recommendation letters soon started asking if I wanted to review their admission essays and / or personal statement for them. In some cases, I was asked to write essays and / or statements from scratch.

To do it properly, I had to do a lot of research around the topic of admissions essays. So I did a fairly extensive literature search of what was available on the subject, both online (Internet) and offline (books).

One thing that really struck me was the study, a group of people who seem to go out of their way to sabotage their efforts to enter university. From time to time, I read first-hand experience of the members of the Admission Committee, which received essays and / or personal statements with two or three shots from the beginning, because some of the flagrant violations of supervision, negligence, or high risk.

In fact, it was hard to believe, sometimes, some of the things I've seen in the proposed evidence presented to me. Fortunately I was able to fix most of those before they left. Unfortunately for some people, however, these problems are not fixed, and become the subject of an admissions committee.

Here are seven (7) the most common mistakes that auditors often encounter when reading an essay by taking a personal statement:

First Eliminate spelling and grammatical errors

These are the mistakes most frequently cited. It is not a small consideration. Committee members general admission, see the kind of sloppy errors as a reflection of the candidate's personality and an indication of how they are likely to occur in their studies. He is also the examiner in question the seriousness of the candidate, because they can not even take the time and effort to get an important document correctly.

2. Do not forget to change the name of

This is surprisingly common. It 'amazing how many of the Selection Committee reviewers have mentioned this error rate. It usually refers to a situation in which the candidate wrote the essay "General" and then send it to multiple different programs. This is not a bad thing in itself. But then, for some reason you forget to change the name of the institution or program! So, the last sentence might read: "And 'for these reasons, I believe that Yale Business Program is one of me." The only problem is that this was a question at Columbia! Admission auditors usually this insult, and does nothing to help the candidate.

3. Make that very original

His essay or personal statement should be specific enough so that the admissions committee can gain a good understanding of who you are as a person, and that's exactly why you want to attend that specific institution, and this particular program. Some candidates to complete their tests in generalities and platitudes that could apply to any person and / or program. It does not help the Committee and therefore will not help the candidate. You have to tell their own story in his own unique voice.

4. However, not too original

There are cases where people tend to go too far into the sea in order to inform their uniqueness. People wrote poems, told stories and provided the video, when there was no such requirement. This is very risky and may remove many of the reviewers, rather than endear to you. In general, an extreme approach to this is seen as "grandstanding" or trying to attract attention only because of it. Remember that hundreds (or thousands) of other candidates, said that the instructions are the same as you. The challenge is to make you stand out as different, but in these instructions.

5th Avoid talking "With your hat"

Some people have a tendency to make grand statements or radicals that can not really back-up. Statements like "I'm going to find a cure for cancer" or "I'm going to eradicate poverty in developing countries" is seen as naive and a bit 'boring at the University-wide program.

They are pleasant feelings, but do not show a realistic understanding of the applicant's career and the educational program they have chosen. Make statements that show a genuine understanding of that relationship to the world around you.

6. Answer the question

Admission reviewers often report that many candidates do not address the specific question asked on the application. When this happens, one of three possible scenarios: ... 1) the candidate has taken the decision to ignore the question for some reason, 2) the candidate has not read and / or understand the question, or 3) the applicant has submitted a "generic" multi-program testing and has not taken the time to adapt to the particular issue.

Including through the implementation of various programs to make an effort to adjust your essay or statement when necessary to meet the specific needs of various programs.

7th Follow guidelines

This refers to situations where the state requirement of a special form of words or characters in your essay or statement. Some people seem to completely ignore. Non have been introduced beyond reason. When one does not follow these very specific guidelines, which are or choose to ignore them for some reason, or their "generic" multi-program essay is only to be turned on and not take time to adapt to the specific program. Failure to follow these instructions can wonder if auditors admitted the impossibility of the applicant to follow the instructions will be extended to other sectors, which can affect their studies.

Why do so many people "shot in the foot" by making these avoidable errors? I have no idea.

I'm not sure what the problem is. Perhaps it is because many people feel that they can leave the preparation for the admission essay or personal statement at the last moment, and then things slip through the cracks during the race the last minute. Or, maybe some people think that the essay is not really that important, and probably will not get read.

These two assumptions are severe faults.

In fact, the declaration of staff admission essay is probably the most important part of the implementation of a university or college.

And yes, these essays can not be read. At least once, a bad essay, which will not go into details of the evaluation process. Several times, and a good essay, which will continue until the end of the evaluation process.

All these "bans" are very avoidable errors. So why commit to one of these errors, when there is no need? After all, there is a college and university admissions process sufficiently competitive?

So do not make it more difficult for you (or the jury). Please read the application and do what it says. It will not go wrong if you follow all instructions.