I think the worst white page syndrome I ever had was when I started writing the college essay. I just didn’t want to sound like everybody else! It turned myself into knots for weeks to find the right way to get started.
In the end, I think I compared me gaining knowledge like the rising sun. Yep, I went that way. Man, I have no idea how I got into the college of my choice. Like that hasn’t been written ten thousand and two times before. What would have helped is if I would have known what some of the worst clichés out there were. Then I might have been able to come up with something truly original.
Well, it’s too late for me. But we might still be able to help you out. Here are some of the biggest clichés you definitely should avoid.
Your entire family history
They’re not reading the essay to hear about your family. They’re reading the essay to learn about you. So don’t tell them about everybody else! No, that doesn’t mean that you can’t use an example of something a family member has done to inspire you and that has led you to take the direction that you’ve chosen. That’s cool because in a way you’re talking about you.
But stick to that example! Don’t talk about what your little sister likes to eat for breakfast. Don’t talk about how your mom does yoga every morning. They just don’t want to hear about that.
Talking about what an inspirational quote means to you
Yes, you can start your essay with a quote from somebody famous. But leave the quote on its own. You can be sure that the person reading your college essay will be able to figure out why it’s there. In fact, there’s a good chance that if you don’t try to explain it, they’ll draw more from it than you can ever put into it yourself.
It’s like the monster you haven’t yet seen in a movie. It’s often scarier than when it finally appears on the real screen. That’s because people’ imaginations are often far more capable than we can be explicit. So use that to your advantage. Leave the quote on its own and talk about other stuff.
How much you learned helping people
Yes, of course, you want to talk about how much you learned. The problem is, you’re still young and you haven’t actually learned that much yet. And so, often when you write about how much you learned, you come off sounding like you haven’t learned much at all, you’re still self-centered and you really need to grow up some more.
That’s exactly what you don’t want them to find out about you.
So instead, talk about what you did, how you feel you helped people and maybe a little bit about how much that means to you.
You didn’t have it together when you were younger, but now you do
Newsflash, you’re still young. You know when your five-year-old brother sounds so naïve when he says ‘when I was younger’ well that’s how you sound when you’re 17 and talking about a few years ago. All you’re going to be able to do is elicit groans.
You still have all of life ahead of you to learn a heck of a lot of lessons. And that’s great. That’s why you’re going to college. The thing is, don’t talk about how wise you already think you are. Yes, I’m sure that you’re much older than you look. But even if you’re five years older mentally than you are physical, still, doesn’t make you half the age of whoever is reading your college essay.
And whatever you might think, age does make you wiser (as well as jaded, admittedly, but that’s another strike against you when you play the ‘I know a lot’ card) so don’t play the ‘oh, I’ve got it so much more together now that I’m not a sophomore anymore’ as that won’t get you admitted, let alone a essay scholarship.
You try to sound like an expert writing an opinion piece
Yes, I’m sure you read a lot of newspaper articles and yes, it’s often a nice style. Don’t copy it. You’re going to sound like a conceited prick (yes, even if you’re a woman). The people that write opinion pieces for the newspaper have a lot of experience and have proven themselves in their field. That’s why people want to hear their opinions. Writing services help you with your writing, choose the most trustworthy - Alltopreviews.com
You’re somebody that has just finished high school. People aren’t jumping to hear your expert opinion on anything. So don’t act like it. Here’s an important thing to remember in college essay writing as well as everywhere else. Never act like you’re smarter than you are. There is no reason for it and it just makes you sound arrogant. In fact, there is research that shows that the more intelligent you try to sound, the stupider you actually sound.
You go that step too far
Yes, of course, you want to stand out. The goal, however, is to stand out so that you get admitted not so that the people in the college admittance office have a good laugh at your expense and put your horror story up on their corkboard.
Don’t tell embarrassing information about yourself unless you’re a 100% sure that doing so will let you show yourself in a better light by the end of the essay. Even then, you might very well want to avoid it. It rarely goes well to tell people how you peed in yourself or were brought home by the cops without any pants on.
Last words
It is tough to write a good college essay. It is hard to stand out. Sometimes it makes you do silly things. Hopefully, you’ll no longer do any of the silly things that I’ve outlined above. Of course, there are still plenty of ways to screw up.
I suggest that before you try out an idea, you definitely the idea by some people first. In that way, you can get their feedback. Don’t worry if one person trashes it while everybody else says it’s a good idea. Some people are always against good ideas. That’s just life. But if everybody but one person says it’s crap, no matter how good that one person says the idea is and how good of a friend they are, it’s probably time to think of another idea.
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