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Your College Essay, Extracurricular Activities and Employment HistoryYour college essay can make a big impact with a little thought and writing skill. Most of your application is black and white. You can’t change your citizenship, test scores or family make up. But with a little imagination and good editing, your essay puts "color" into your application.The College EssaySomewhere in your high school writing class, your teacher probably told you that you should always write for your audience. Keep in mind their interests and prejudices. This is true. But you have to do more in a college essay. Your essay should be something that is as unique as you are. Something that no one else could possibly write about as effectively as you. It should be personal, and simply written. Remember the people reading your essay probably read tens or hundreds of other college essays, so you need to stand out by capturing their interest.Stay away from gimmicks, and don’t be too cute. It’s easy to spot disingenuous writing. So if you were thinking about writing your college essay from the perspective of your grandmother’s cat...save it for another opportunity. Also, stay away from crap, hokey crap, world peace crap. I would rather read about your grass roots efforts to feed the homeless in your neighborhood than your grand design to wipe out world hunger. Keep it real, and make sure it’s true to who you are. Also, it’s better to have a narrow focus than a broad one, since you only have about 500 words. Spend extra time on the opening paragraph and conclusion. Most admission officers won’t spend too much time reading your college essay, so you have to grab their attention at the beginning. Then, in the end, you have to make them glad that they read your college essay all the way through. Once you have your rough draft, go over it with a friend you truly trust. Ask for honest criticism. Remember that good writing is good re-writing. Edit, edit, edit. It’s harder to write a shorter, concise paper than it is to write a longer convoluted paper. Read your college essay out loud, and make sure it sounds like you. You don’t want it to sound pompous or condescending, but be careful not to be too informal, and don’t use slang...it isn’t the proper forum. If you started early enough, let the draft of your college essay sit for a couple of days or a week. Don’t look at it at all. Then pull it back up on the computer, or pad and re-read and edit. Sometimes a clear mind can edit a document with much greater precision. And more importantly, a clear mind may tell you that your original topic may not be the right one at all. For students who scored poorly on the SAT or ACT or had less than stellar grades in high school, your college essay is your chance to show the admissions officer that you are more than a class ranking, or a number on the ACT or SAT. Don’t miss the opportunity. Extracurricular Activities Get involved in school early. It really doesn’t matter what you’re involved in, as long as it’s something you enjoy. Sports, cheer leading, chess club, theater, FFA, journalism and band are all great extracurricular activities to list on your college application. Anything that’s related to your school should be listed here. Next, take it a step further and become a leader in your extracurricular group. When admissions officers are reading your college application, they want to see that you are vested in the activities you're involved in.
 Most colleges would prefer a handful of activities in which you made an impact in your school or community, rather than a list of 45 activities that you sort of participated in. On top of assuming a leadership position, its good to participate in competitions. If you receive awards, or special recognition, it always looks good. It shows you really participated, and became skilled in your particular activity. High School Employment HistoryFinally, colleges recognize that once you’re enrolled in college, you may, by necessity be working too. Your college application is the perfect place to highlight this information. Work history in high school, shows a certain amount of maturity. It also shows organizational and planning ability when you mix high school with a work schedule.The type of job you have in high school can also say a lot about you. If you’re interested in pre-law, and you worked in a law office, it shows you are taking steps toward your goals at an early stage of your education. Working during high school to help your parents support your family speaks volumes about your character. There’s nothing wrong with working at McDonald’s either, it shows you are trying to be self sufficient. Don’t miss the opportunity to show how you were able to blend work into your high school schedule. It can be an impressive addition to your application. Return from College Essay to TutorTrend Home
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