College Admission Essay Format

College Admission Essay Format A policy briefing usually includes an introduction but may conclude with a series of recommendations. Check your assignment carefully for any directions about what to include in your introduction or conclusion. If your essay deals with a contemporary problem, warn readers of the possible consequences of not attending to the problem. If your essay is significantly longer than the suggested word count, read through it and highlight everything that is most importantâ€"this includes important points of introspection and supporting evidence. If you choose to use this approach, remember that it might become necessary to remove information that you had initially deemed important. Here are some tips on how you might cut down your essay. It is not your stories that get you into college, but how they have affected your character and your thinking. You should strive to portray yourself in the best possible light and keep your essay focused on answering the prompt. Keep your thesis short and limit your supporting points, since you always need to set aside plenty of room in your essay for introspection. Like the diner essay above, this sample excerpt from a student at St. Cloud State spruces up something as everyday as a local pawn shop. The plot is the focus of the story and is usually revealed chronologically, but there are sometimes flash-forwards and flashbacks. The first part of your essay will be the introduction and it should begin by telling the reader specifically what topic your essay is addressing. Near the end of your introduction should be your thesis statement, which is a clear and concise statement that presents your argument. The last sentence of the introduction should be a transitional sentence that relates to the first body paragraph of the essay. If you're looking to write a personal narrative essay, here are some tips to get you started. Narration means you're telling a story from a certain viewpoint, and there is usually a reason for the telling. All narrative essays have characters, setting, a climax, and most importantly, a plot. You can only report an essay score by reporting all of your scores . For most essays, one well-developed paragraph is sufficient for a conclusion. In some cases, a two-or-three paragraph conclusion may be appropriate. As with introductions, the length of the conclusion should reflect the length of the essay. A good last sentence leaves your reader with something to think about, a concept in some way illuminated by what you’ve written in the paper. It is also important to be aware of the complexity of your topic. Pick topics for which you have enough room to elaborate. Do not cite three or four pieces of supporting evidence in an elaborate thesis if you are only allowed 500 words. If you only have a few paragraphs to write your essay, you will likely only have room for one main point of supporting evidence. Most of the advice in this handout pertains to argumentative or exploratory academic essays. Be aware, however, that different genres have their own special expectations about beginnings and endings. Some academic genres may not even require an introduction or conclusion. An annotated bibliography, for example, typically provides neither. A book review may begin with a summary of the book and conclude with an overall assessment of it. Be ready to cut unnecessary segments out in order for your essay to meet the word count. Put your thesis in one of the first three sentences of the introduction if you are writing a 3-4 paragraph essay, and in the first sentence if you are writing a 1-2 paragraph essay. Read through your writing and make sure that every sentence has a specific and unique contribution to the essay. If two sentences convey two only slightly differing ideas, try to find a way to combine them. Use semi-colons, em dashes, or compound sentences if necessary. Likewise, if you report your ACT scores, your Writing score will be included. If a school superscores, they will not downgrade you because of the 33. If the essay is optional, I don’t see any reason to submit that test date. We consider only the critical reading and math sections of the SAT for admission. For example, do you have any sentences that start with, “It is” or “It seems that”? These are extraneous words that can be taken out without altering the sentence’s meaning.