Title: Admission Essays: Don t Shoot Yourself In the Foot Word Count: 1229 Summary: Prior to writing my book

on how to write college admission essays, I conducted a lot of research into the whole subject of admission essays. One thing that real ly struck me was how many people seem to go out of their way to sabotage their o wn college admission efforts. Here's what NOT to do. Keywords: college admission, college application, college admission essay, college applica tion essay, personal statement, law school, medical school, graduate school, sam ple, template, write personal statement Article Body: Copyright Shaun R. Fawcett I got seriously involved in the college admission essay-writing business shortly after I published my eBook on recommendation letters, Instant Recommendation Le tter Kit, a few years ago. People who bought that book for help with their recommendation letters soon star ted asking me if I would review their admission essays and/or personal statement s for them. In some cases, I was asked to write their essays and/or statements f rom scratch. To do that properly, I was obliged to conduct a lot of research into the entire subject of admission essays. So, I did a fairly extensive literature search of w hat was available on the subject, both online (Internet) and offline (books). One thing that really struck me in my research was how many people seem to go ou t of their way to sabotage their own college admission efforts. Time, and time again, I read about the first-hand experiences of Admission Commi ttee members who received essays and/or personal statements with two or three st rikes against them from the outset due to some glaring oversight, omission, or r isky strategy. In fact, it s been hard to believe at times, some of the things I ve seen on draft e ssays that have been submitted to me. Fortunately I ve been able to fix most of th ose before they went any further. Unfortunately for some people though, these pr oblems don t get fixed, and end up being submitted to an Admissions Committee. Here s a list of the seven most common mistakes that reviewers encounter when read ing admission essay personal statements: Eliminate Spelling and Grammar Errors Sounds like the obvious one to avoid doesn t it? In fact, this is the most commonl y cited error. It is not a small consideration. Admission Committee members gene rally see these kinds of sloppy errors as a reflection of the candidate s personal ity and an indication of how they will likely perform in their studies. It also makes the reviewer question the seriousness of the candidate, since they can t eve n take the time and trouble to get such an important document correct. Don't Forget To Change the Name

This one is surprisingly common. It s amazing how many Admission Committee essay r eviewers have mentioned this error. It usually refers to a situation in which a candidate writes a generic essay and then submits it to a number of different prog rams. This is not a bad thing in itself. But then, for whatever reason, they for get to change the name of the institution or program! So, the last sentence may read, It is for these reasons that I believe that the Yale Business Program is th e one for me . The only problem being that this was the application to Columbia! A dmission reviewers generally take this as an insult, and it doesn t do anything to help the candidate. Make Sure You're Original Enough Your essay or personal statement must be specific enough so that the admissions committee can gain a good understanding as to who YOU are as a person, and exact ly why YOU want to attend that specific institution and that particular program. Some candidates fill their essays with generalities and platitudes that could a pply to just about any person and/or program. This doesn t help the Committee, and thus won t help the candidate. You ve got to tell your own unique story in your own unique voice. But, Don't Be Too Original There are cases in which people tend to go too far overboard in announcing their own uniqueness. People have written poems, told stories, and submitted videos w hen there was no such requirement. This is highly risky and is likely to alienat e many reviewers rather than endear them to you. Generally speaking, an extreme approach like this will be seen as grandstanding or trying to get attention just f or the sake of it. Remember, that hundreds (or thousands) of other applicants ar e operating within the same stated guidelines as you are. The challenge is to ma ke you stand out as different, but within those guidelines. Avoid Talking Through Your Hat Some people have a tendency to make sweeping or grandiose statements that they c an t really back-up. Such statements as I m going to find a cure for cancer or I intend to eliminate poverty from developing countries are seen as nave and somewhat trit e at the university program level. They re nice sentiments, but they don t show a re alistic understanding by the candidate of the career path and educational progra m they have chosen. Make genuine statements that show a good understanding of yo u in relation to the world around you. Answer the Question Admission reviewers often report that many candidates don t address the specific q uestion posed on the application form. When this occurs, one of three situations is possible: 1.) the candidate has made a conscious decision to ignore the ques tion asked for some reason, 2.) the candidate has not read and/or understood the question, or 3.) the candidate has submitted a generic multi-program essay and ha s not taken the time to adjust it to address the particular question at hand. Ev en when applying to multiple programs, make an effort to adjust your essay or st atement when necessary to deal with the specific requirements of different progr ams. Respect the Guidelines This refers to situations when an application form states a specific requirement for the number of words or characters for your essay or statement. Some people seem to completely ignore these. Don t. They were put there for a reason. When one doesn t follow these very specific guidelines, they are either choosing to ignore them for some reason, or their generic multi-program essay is just being plugged in and they won t take the time to adjust it for the specific program. Ignoring su ch guidelines can make admission reviewers wonder if the applicant s inability to follow instructions extends to other areas that might have implications on their studies.

So then, why do so many people shoot themselves in the foot ily avoidable errors? Beats me.

by committing such eas

I m not sure what the problem is. Perhaps it s because many people assume that they can leave the drafting of the admission essay or personal statement to the very last minute, and things then slip through the cracks during the last minute rush . Or, perhaps some people think that the essay isn t really all that important, an d probably won t get read. Both of these assumptions are serious mistakes. In fact, the admissions essay personal statement is probably the single most imp ortant part of the application to a university or college program. And yes, these essays do get read. At least once, for a poor essay that will not go any further in the review process. Multiple times, for a good essay that con tinues through to the end of the evaluation process. All of the foregoing don ts are very avoidable mistakes. So, why commit one of these errors when there s no need to? After all, isn t the college and university admissi on process competitive enough already? So don t make it extra difficult for yourself (or the Admissions Committee). Read the application very carefully and do exactly what it says when writing your adm ission essay or personal statement. You won t go wrong if you follow all of the in structions.