College application essays?

Question

What type of things do you write on college applications? I have not begun my applications process yet (but will soon) and I am trying to prepare and know what to anticipate.

What will colleges generally ask you to write on the application essay(s)?

Specifically, I am looking at the UC (University of California) schools, but if you don't know what they ask in theirs, whichever ones you know are fine, too.

Thanks in advance!

And also, what does it mean when it says "Very Important Admission Factor: State Residency" ?

Answer 1

They typically ask about significant events in your life, and what made you what your are today and what you think the most important global issue is, and things like that.

"Very important admission factor: state residency" means that it matters a lot to the college if you live in the state where the college is. So if your living in CA and looking at UC schools, thats a really good thing.

Answer 2

What to write on your application really depends on the prompt. Most colleges, however, will give you a very open-ended prompt. However, some colleges may ask you to comment on a book that you like, ask you what you are interested in, or what/who has had the most impact on your life. Treat all these as an opportunity to sell yourself:

What unique experiences have you had?

Did you overcome any difficulties or challenges in life?

Have you accomplished anything significant?

What are you passionate about?

Keep in mind that while selling yourself, you also need to be humble and respectful. Someone much older than yourself will be reading your essay, so know your audience. The way that you present yourself in the essay will be very revealing about your character, maturity, and honesty. You want to come off as a likable young man/woman who is mature and is being honest. It is very bad if your essay comes off as phony.

Lastly, state residency means that if you live in California, you are much more likely to be admitted. Public universities receive a lot of grants from the state, so they have to admit a certain amount of in-state students.

For more questions on admissions or how to draft your essay, visit http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/

There's also a service that lets students sell your application essay online at http://freelancenotes.com . You can see a list of some of the essays at http://freelancenotes.com/document-listi... . If you click on the essays, a lot of them have the question prompts displayed, so you don't have to buy the essay to see what each school asked.

Hope this helps, and good luck with getting into the college of your choices