I have five GREAT Tips for Starting your College Essay!
Your college essay is at heart a narrative that either answers the essay question or answers the question “why are you applying to this school?” Your essay should take the reader through each stage of your decision, but your introduction’s primary role is to grab the reader’s interest and set the stage. And just like an excellent stage play seizes the audience’s attention from the moment the lights turn on the stage, your essay needs to do the same. Be the narrator of your narrative and share with the audience what will be learned about you from reading your essay.
As a writer and former college instructor my advice would be to ignore advice about "the proper way." I always told my students that I already knew what I had asked, I wanted to know what they thought, how they interpreted it, who they were.
Once you’ve drafted your introduction, give it a read. Does the hook sentence grab you? Try reading it aloud and see how it flows into the body of your essay. If it doesn’t pique your own interest, it won’t hold your reader’s! Ask a friend, family member, college advisor or acquaintance to read it and give you feedback on your intro. Try a few different versions of your hook sentence or refine your transition sentence. Make sure your introduction is as strong as can be.
How To Start a College Essay: 9 Effective Techniques
For our college essay introduction examples, we’ve used a few of the common app essay prompts you might see on your application. We’ve included sample introductions for essays from students of various different life experiences and situations to help you!
Your choice of essay topic or the personal experiences you choose to highlight in your essay may also be influenced by the essay prompt or essay question, if the school provides one. If this is the case, you can reflect on which prompt or question resonates most with you or choose to write more than one essay if more than one prompt resonates. For schools that do not provide a question or essay prompt, you can reflect on your future career goals, personal goals or the reasons why you are applying to college.
Here are a few basic do’s and don’ts to help you write a b college admission essay that wins the committee’s hearts from the very first paragraph.
Make sure you also include plenty of specific, descriptive adjectives. The admissions officer will be thankful for your refreshingly creative college essay introduction.
How to Start a College Essay: 8 Killer Tips
Before any writing can begin, we’ll need to start the brainstorming process. This is essentially gathering and writing down the key experiences, significant moments and important lessons you have learned throughout your life. Everyone’s experiences are unique, and the ideas you write down may vary depending on your situation. If you’re a non-traditional college applicant, you might write about the gap year you took after high school, or why you’re going back to college after years of working in your field. International students might write about their decision to study overseas or their experience with culture shock. First time college applicants may draw on their experiences with or the work experiences they’ve included in their .
How to start off a college essay about yourself
Try not to start your college essay introduction with a cliché or a quote. Cliches have been read thousands of times by admissions officers, and they want to see something unique and interesting, not the same old things. And using a quote to start your essay isn’t a good idea, since it is meant to be written in your own words, not someone else’s.
How to Start a College Essay to Hook Your Reader | CollegeVine Blog
The essay is an opportunity to show admissions officers the “real you.” If you have a topic in mind, do not feel pressured to start with the introduction.
How to Write a Compelling College Essay Introduction? + [Examples]
At some point, depart from your story to give some commentary. This doesn't have to be much, but something that drives home the points you're trying to make. Kurt Vonnegut and John Steinbeck were both absolute bosses at this. Basically this is the part of the essay that actually answers the prompt or addresses what you are trying to say. Even here, don't be too sweeping or broad. Just tie the story you're telling to the point you're making. You can be creative here, as Steinbeck and Vonnegut often were. Analogies, similes, and metaphors are all good devices for keeping this part interesting. If it's a really short essay, like a 200 word supplement, you're probably done with it after you finish this. Note that if you tell a really great story, you don't need this at all. (Fun side note: Upton Sinclair probably had the worst case ever of this backfiring on him. In The Jungle, he tried to jump out of the story at the end with his main point, "So we should all be Communists," but what he got instead was "We must reform the meat packing industry." This backfiring probably won't happen to you, but it helps illustrate how this device is supposed to work. Another good example that worked is John Galt's speech in the trial at the end of Atlas Shrugged.). Take the attribute or character trait about yourself that you're showcasing in your story and go one step further by explaining why you did, said, or thought those things. Unpack what it means to you, how you've grown or changed in that area, or what/how you hope to build on those attributes further. If possible tie this in with the larger theme or arc of your overall application too.
College Essay Introduction Examples
The introduction of your essay needs to grab your reader’s attention right away. If it doesn’t, the admissions committee won’t want to read the rest of your essay and you’ll have lost them already. As the college essay counts for a significant part of your overall application, the introduction is crucial for your success.