How Sample College Application Essays Can Help You Add Depth to Your Own Essay
Many college applicants feel stressed out when they are asked by the school they’re applying to to write their own personal statements. Imagine: writing personal things about you; divulging personal things to people unknown to you; to be critiqued by people who will judge if you are worthy of the slot you’re vying for, or if that slot is better off given to the “more worthy applicants.” That really is something to rack your nerves!
Organize your thoughts
The objective of writing a personal essay is to allow the selection committee to get a glimpse of how you think and how you are as a person. That is why it is important that, before you start writing, you have to organize your thoughts and plan, so as to market yourself as one of their best applicants. Introduce yourself such as stating briefly who you really are, what you want to be in the future, what experiences you’ve gone through, and how you made them work for you. Follow up by specifying your goals, long-term and short-term, and emphasize your academic values and experiences.
Check out for “depth”
Once you have jotted down your thoughts on paper, check out for “depth.” Remember, this is the one thing that will always reveal how good you are as an applicant. Your writing may be gramatically perfect without any spelling errors and it may be insightful but lacks specificity or depth, then it only shows what kind of person you really are. Don’t forget to use subtopics. These will help you present your ideas in a more systematic manner, and therefore give your writing material more depth.
As you present your ideas, make sure you also have “breadth,” wherein you completely cover your main topic. However, it doesn’t stop there, because your readers will also check for depth. So, the best way to handle this is, before wrapping up your writing, check it again. If after re-reading it many times over, and you’re convinced that your readers will not give comments such as “please elaborate” or “cite some more examples to enlighten us,” then you have successfully written an effective article. But should you still need to add some more depth to your essay, simply cite authors, list facts, and give examples. There are many sample college application essays that you can read for free in the Internet. These essays can be used as a guide in writing your own essay that deeply elaborates on the main topic.
Layering arguments for more “depth”
Another way to add more depth to your essay is by trying to not just present your own arguments on the paper, but to attack it by dealing with the opposing side. For example, you can literally oppose the argument or counter-attack the presented argument. You can also counter-argue the counter-argument, and so on, until you reach that maximum depth this layering of arguments can bring to your piece of essay.
Last, try building a longer essay by expanding on your ideas to create depth and end it with a solid conclusion. Instead of flatly saying, “This is the happiest moment of my life,” you can improve the sentence to read, “This is the happiest moment of my life, not because I am now loved, but because I have learned that you have to love yourself first in order to be loved. I have been liberated.” In this case, you do not only expand your essay, but you also give more meaning and clarity. But remember, kick the habit of “padding” your essay with trivial words. It takes a skill to make your essay longer by adding relevant information to create depth.
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