U.S. college application essays are not only a place to show your writing skills, but also a stage where you can display yourself and your unique characteristics to college admissions officers.

The application essays are very important. The college admissions officers mainly use these essays to understand your personal characteristics and values. Anything which you write down will represent you.

U.S. University Application Essay Writing Time

It is recommended that students start preparations in March or April of the 11th grade or make more use of summer vacation before they enter 12th grade. During summer vacation, there is less academic pressure, and there isn’t that much of a need to participate in extracurricular activities like the summer before 10th and 11th grade. Therefore there should be plenty of time to prepare.

If you prepare early, you will also have enough time to review and revise the essays, then you would be able to submit the application documents during EA, ED as you have already completed the essays beforehand.

Topics and content of essays for U.S. universities

When writing an application essay, the first bottleneck many people encounter is not knowing where to start. The content of the application essay is not a complete description of your life. If you write everything you have experienced in the application essay, it’s pretty tedious and not very effective.

It is suggested that students can focus on their special experiences, interests or a unique story of their own. The content written must be able to show personal characteristics, values or advantages.

Students don’t have to boast about their achievements in the application essay, which is also a mistake a lot of students make. The content which leaves the biggest impression are actually mundane things, like frying fish, commuting from home to school, or chatting during dinner with family.

Before writing the essay, you can ask your family and friends what kind of person they think you are, or what they think is your most distinctive feature.

In summary, the application essay is like telling a story, and this story should show your personal values.

Before writing, it is recommended that you make a draft and write down all the ideas in your mind, without having to modify the grammar or sentences. You can think about the writing processes you’ve done in English class, and follow your own pace to complete it step by step. However, one thing to bear in mind-the first version is not the most perfect, it has to be revised many times. The best essay is completed after many revisions, and the essay you hand in will never be the first rough draft you write.

When writing an application essay, you have to show, not tell.

The following are some of the application essays shared by our counselling students: