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14 Best College Essay Services for 2024 (40 Services Reviewed)

Research conducted by Emily Kierkegaard , PhD, and expert-reviewed by Kevin Wong, PrepMaven Co-founder

Not sure which college application essay coaching and editing service is the best? We compared the top 40 services, created in-depth reviews for 14 of them, and narrowed it down to the 4 best that will help guide you through the process of writing amazing college application essays.

What is the Best College Essay Service?

• PrepMaven  – best college application essay service overall
• College Essay Mentor  – best for individual consultants
• The College Essay Guy  – best for unlimited essay assistance
• College Vine  – best of the big platforms

The best of the rest:

Individual essay consultants:

• College Essay Editor  – small editing team
• Allison Karpf  – former English teacher helping students
• Your College Vision  – former journalist with more affordable rates
• The College Guru  – good on paper but unresponsive
• Sofia Zapiola – budget-friendly application assistance

Mid-size teams:

• Lotus Learning  – focus on health sciences

Large platforms:

• Study Point  – larger platform with mystery editors
• Ivy Select  – larger platform with mystery editors
• Empowerly  – larger platform with mystery editors
• BeMo  – expensive and aggressive with wrong expertise

Schedule a college essay consultation

Best College Application Essay Services in 2024

#1 – prepmaven.

Our Verdict — Best College Essay Assistance Overall Price: $79–349/hour (minimum $510 package) PrepMaven’s one-on-one college essay assistance is the best option overall. Founded by brothers and Princeton grads Greg and Kevin, almost all of PrepMaven’s essay coaches have Ivy-League experience, primarily from Princeton and Harvard. All essay coaches also undergo a thorough training program in PrepMaven’s methods, developed by professional writers with deep understanding of the college admissions process, for helping students to discover the most compelling stories for their essays. Unlike other services, PrepMaven offers college essay assistance at several different price points. At the most accessible rate, students can work with current Ivy-League undergraduates who specialize in writing and have recently aced the college application process. At higher rates, students can work with coaches who are both Ivy-League grads and professional writers (screenwriters, journalists, editors) with many years of experience helping students to craft compelling essays. Interested students can even work directly with founders Greg and Kevin, who have over 15 years of experience helping students through the entire essay-writing process. PrepMaven’s services combine many of the best features of other good options into one, and it’s hard to beat their experience.

Sign up for PrepMaven’s college essay help now

Any student wanting college essay help, at any point in the process, with a range of budgets.

At a glance:

• Cost: $79–349/hour (minimum $510 package)
• Writing coach qualifications: Princeton graduates and professional writers (or current Princeton students); all trained

What we like:

• Ivy League experience —most of their writing coaches are Princeton grads or current students, with some from Harvard and other Ivies
• Different pricing options to meet different families’ circumstances
• More flexible and greater capacity to take on new students compared to individual consultants

Sign up for PrepMaven’s college essay help

#2 – College Essay Mentor

Our Verdict — Best of the Individual Consultants Price: unknown but high Some college essay consulting services consist of just one expert. Of these individual essay consultants, Chris Hunt at College Essay Mentor is our favorite. He combines writing experience as a journalist for the Economist and the Wall Street Journal with personal experience as a graduate of Dartmouth. However, he only works with a small number of students each year, and students need to apply to work with him — he only accepts students with top grades and test scores who are already strong applicants for top schools. Chris offers the option for one-time written feedback, but this only gives big-picture generalizations. (And written-only feedback is always limited.) In order for help with the essay process, students need to purchase a complete essay package.

Students with top grades and test scores who want to work with a one-person business, who have a sizable budget, and who are ready to get started early.

• Cost: $210 for a one-time written essay feedback (big picture only), then $110 per draft feedback; pricing for essay process packages unknown
• Essay coach qualifications: professional journalist, Dartmouth grad
• Professional writing experience as a journalist
• Extensive experience working with college applicants
• Partners with Debra Felix, former Director of Admissions at Columbia, for full application review

What we don’t like:

• One-on-one work is limited to very high-achieving students, who need to apply with a resume : “I limit my one-on-one work to students who I believe will be strong applicants to elite universities. As a rule, this means having high grades in challenging classes, a test score of ACT 34+ or SAT 1500+, and substantial activities outside of the classroom.”
• Works with a limited number of students (60 per year), so often no availability
• All-or-nothing packages don’t allow students to work with Chris for just a few hours or for part of the essay-writing process
• Secretive about pricing (he’ll only give pricing details once he’s reviewed the student’s resume and agreed to work with them), but we expect the minimum cost of working one-on-one to be several thousand dollars

#3 – The College Essay Guy

Our Verdict — Best for Unlimited Essay Assistance Price: $4900 for application to 3 schools, $8050 for application for 10 schools We’re fans of Ethan Sawyer, the original “college essay guy”— his book, College Essay Essentials , is a great guide to the essay-writing process. Ethan doesn’t work directly with many students these days, but he now has a team of consultants who help students follow his principles. Their assistance is really all-or-nothing — they prefer to work with students from the very beginning of the process, and their minimum package is $4900, which includes assistance with essays for three schools. If students are applying to ten schools (a more realistic number for students aiming at competitive colleges), the fee is a hefty $7400.

Students who want unlimited help through the entire process, who have a sizable budget.

• Cost: $4900 (supplemental essays for 3 schools) – $7400 (supplemental essays for 10 schools)
• Essay coach qualifications: mix of Ivy grads and former teachers, some writers/screenwriters; all trained
• Great free resources about the essay-writing process
• Their Matchlighters Scholars Program gives back to the community by providing admissions consulting for select qualifying students
• All-or-nothing packages have a high minimum fee and don’t work for students who want just a few hours of feedback or help with just part of the process

#4 – College Vine

Our Verdict — Best of the Big Platforms Price: $140–180/hour There are plenty of large platforms with large stables of part-time tutors and coaches available to work with students. Of these big platforms, we think CollegeVine has the best offerings. Compared to other large companies, CollegeVine provides more information about their tutors, and students can pick individual tutors to work with from their roster. However, this model is really just a way of finding individual tutors to hire. Tutors don’t receive any training and don’t share a common approach, so it’s a mixed bag. Their rates are fairly high for part-time tutors who don’t have specific expertise and training in college essay consulting. Because CollegeVine is really just a marketplace where individual tutors can find students, the quality and price will vary widely.

Students who want to work with a big company, or those who want a quick session or two to go over their essays.

• Cost: Typically $140–180/hour
• Essay coach qualifications: no specific qualifications, but a few are Ivy League graduates
• Possible to select individual editors to work with from their roster.
• Easy to schedule ad-hoc sessions with a tutor through the website.
• No training or common approach for tutors
• Editors are part-time , with no option to work with full-time college admissions experts
• Relatively expensive for this level of expertise

College Essay Editing Alternatives (that Didn’t Make the Cut)

Individual essay consultants, #5 – college essay editor.

Our Verdict — Small Editing Team Price: Roughly $5,950 for applications to 10 schools College Essay Editor comprises two graduates of Stanford. This means that they have personal experience applying to highly competitive schools. One member of the team also has a college counseling certification, which is a good background for college essays. Based on their website, they appear to focus on the editing and proofreading phase of the essay-writing process. This can be helpful to students, but we recommend working with a service who can help students to uncover their values and brainstorm really great material that allows them to really shine—and if this doesn’t happen at the beginning of the process, it’s much harder to add in later on.

• Cost: $195/1000 words for proofreading, $495/1000 words for 3 rounds of editing and proofreading, or $595/1000 words for unlimited rounds of editing and proofreading; for the purposes of comparison, complete applications to 10 competitive colleges would be around 9,650 words, or $5950.
• Writing coach qualifications: Stanford graduates, one of whom has college counseling certification
• Editors are graduates of Stanford University , and one is a member of NACAC, the national association of college counselors
• They focus on editing and proofreading only , not on the crucial earlier steps of brainstorming and strategy
• Small team with very limited availability
• All asynchronous editing so you won’t be able to cultivate a real relationship with your essay coach.

#6 – Allison Karpf

Our Verdict — Former English Teacher Helping Students Price: $385/hour or $3850 package for application to one school Another option for students looking to hire an individual consultant is Allison Karpf. Allison is a former high school English teacher and a graduate of UC Berkeley who also holds a Masters of Education from Stanford. Her rates are definitely on the higher side, especially for someone who doesn’t have a professional writing background, but she does have extensive experience working with students to craft their essays.

• Cost:  $385/hour or $3850 unlimited counseling (includes supplemental essays for one college)
• Essay coach qualifications: former high school English teacher; Berkeley grad, Stanford MEd
• Lots of experience helping students improve their college essays
• Very quick to respond to client requests
• No professional writing experience or Ivy-Plus undergraduate experience
• High rates relative to other options
• Limited availability , since she works alone

#7 – Your College Vision

Our Verdict: Former Journalist with More Affordable Rates Price: $180/hour, or packages starting from $3500 Laurie Lande is another individual consultant who helps students through the essay-writing process. She comes recommended by other consultants like Chris from College Essay Mentor . Laurie did not herself attend a highly competitive school, so she doesn’t have that personal experience of going through the selective admissions process, but she does have a professional writing background as a journalist for the Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong.

• Cost: $180/hour or packages starting at $3500
• Essay coach qualifications: journalism background
• Affordable pricing , relative to other options
• Not a graduate of a highly selective school

#8 – The College Guru

Our Verdict — Good on Paper but Unresponsive Price: unknown Yet another individual essay consultant is Geanine Thompson from The College Guru. Geanine attended Dartmouth as an undergraduate and also holds an MBA from Duke. She also has a professional writing background as an assistant book editor at Berkley Publishing Group. Like Greg and Kevin at PrepMaven , she combines experience in the business world and at Wall Street firms with experience in education.

• Cost: unknown
• Essay coach qualifications: former assistant book editor; Dartmouth grad, Duke MBA
• Dartmouth graduate and former book editor
• Not responsive to emails and client requests

#9 – Sofia Zapiola

Our Verdict — A budget-friendly, personal essay editor. Price: $80/hour Yet another individual essay consultant is Sofia Zapiola, who offers a mix of essay editing and college application counseling services.

• Cost: $80/hour
• Essay coach qualifications: M.A. from Harvard; certificate in College Counseling from UC San Diego.
• Individual approach, budget-friendly rates, commitment to working within families’ budgets.
• Very few testimonials, so it’s difficult to evaluate how effective she is.

Mid-size Teams

#10 – lotus learning.

Our Verdict — Expensive for Tutor Background Price: $165/hour Founded by a Harvard grad who is a former teacher and veteran of the publishing industry, Lotus learning offers college essay help in the Boston area. They have a small team of tutors, mostly recent grads from good but not Ivy-Plus colleges, and mostly with focus in health sciences.

• Cost: $165/hour (minimum 8 hours)
• Essay coach qualifications: tutors are recent grads, but not Ivy-Plus schools
• Reasonable pricing with flexible packages
• Essay editors aren’t graduates of Ivy-Plus schools and don’t have professional writing experience

Large platforms

#11 – study point.

Our Verdict — Larger Platform with Mystery Editors Price: Rates Between $60 and $120/hr Study Point is a larger essay editing service. They claim to have several decades of experience helping students to craft their college essays, but they do not give information about who their essay coaches are and what qualifications they might have.

• Cost: $60-120/hr, depending on tutor experience
• Essay coach qualifications: unknown
• Larger company with several decades of experience
• Unclear who the essay coaches are
• Lack of statistics about their results

#12 – Ivy Select

Our Verdict — Larger Platform with Mystery Editors Price: unknown Ivy Select makes a lot of big promises on their website about having the best college essay consultants in the business, but they offer no information on who these consultants are, or on their backgrounds. They also brag that each consultant “only” works 20 students in one application cycle, but in our experience, that’s quite high.

• Long list of impressive (but anonymous) testimonials
• Only work with “top students”
• No information on their website about who the editors are
• Each essay coach works with up to 20 students at one time

#13 – Empowerly

Our Verdict — Larger Platform with Mystery Editors Price: High, from $6000/year Empowerly has over 60 college counselors who each work with an average of 5 students per year, in order to have more time to devote to each student. Their counselors come from “different educational backgrounds,” and while they do not provide specific biographical details we can assume that most of their essay coaches did not attend highly selective schools.

• Cost: typically from $6000/year
• Essay coach qualifications: college counselors
• Counselors work with just a few students per year
• You have to upgrade to “Empowerly Elite” to guarantee a counselor with a more selective educational background
• No professional writing experience

#14 – Prepory

Our Verdict — Expensive but with Good Expertise Price: $325/hr Prepory is a college application and career counseling service that offers a comprehensive program for college applications at any stage of the process (including as early as 9th grade). They make a lot of impressive claims about the expertise of their coaches, but it’s quite difficult to actual find much information about their essay coach qualifications.

• Cost: $325/hr
• They have a comprehensive college application program that begins as early as 9th grade.
• Limited information about essay coaches
• High prices

Top 40 College Essay Services Considered

• College Essay Editor
• The College Essay Guy
• College Vine
• College Essay Mentor
• Study Point
• Allison Karpf
• The College Guru
• Lotus Learning
• Summit Prep
• Sofia Zapiola
• Ivy Global / New Summits
• College Essay Solutions
• Your College Vision
• Essay Edge*
• ServicEscape*
• PapersForge*
• QuickWriter*
• JustEditMyEssay*
• JustDoMyEsssay*
• ExpertWriting*
• SpeedyPaper*
• GradeMiners*

* A number of services will edit essays directly for students, or even write portions of the essay for students. We do not condone this. Admissions officers can tell when essays have been written or edited by adults and this can have severe consequences. We have excluded these services from our reviews.

Why are college application essays important?

Can a great college essay alone get you into Harvard?

No. You’ll need your grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities (as well as letters of recommendation and interview) to be outstanding.

But can a mediocre essay be the reason you didn’t get into Harvard?

Yes. There are thousands of amazingly-qualified students who graduate from high school each year. Great grades and test scores might be a prerequisite for admission to a competitive college, but they alone aren’t enough.

College essays are a key component of a student’s application . When done well, they transform a collection of numbers—GPA, class rank, SAT or ACT scores , number of AP classes taken, AP scores—into a glimpse of a real, individual person.

Essays do many things. Good college essays can highlight extracurricular achievements which otherwise would be overlooked in a sterile list. Strong essays often indicate the student’s future plans —how they plan to leave a mark on their college campus and on the world. They can shine a light on unique challenges that a student may have had to face on their journey.

College admissions officers only have a few minutes to spend on each application. College essays need to be original, interesting, and memorable . They need to grab the attention of the admissions officer and persuade them that this is the student out of hundreds or thousands of other similarly-qualified applicants who should be admitted.

College admissions essays are usually unlike any other kind of writing that students have done before. They’re a combination of memoir and marketing pitch, and they need to be creative but also highly strategic. That’s a tough assignment!

What’s more, students are left to figure this assignment out on their own. A thoughtful and generous high school English teacher may provide guidance or offer to read essays and give feedback, but these teachers are responsible for many students, and they’re (usually) not experts in admissions strategies.

There’s another reason college essays are especially important from 2024 on. After the recent Supreme Court decision, the application essay has become one of the main ways that you can communicate how your racial identity has affected your life.

In fact, the New York Times published an article about how important it can be for students to discuss race in their college application essays!

Why work with a college essay service?

You may want to consider a college essay service if:

• You have no idea where to start in order to write your college application essays
• You feel overwhelmed by all of the different ideas you have and don’t know what would be the most strategic for college admissions—and what topics to definitely avoid for college essays
• You don’t know how to craft a compelling stor y
• You’re not sure how to edit and refine what you’ve written
• You have a hard time keeping yourself on track and want an external structure to hold you accountable
• You’re tired of conflict between students and parents about college essays
• You’re aiming at a competitive college (not just the Ivy League!) and know that you need your essays to be outstanding
• Your grades, test scores, and extracurriculars aren’t exceptional, so you need your essay to make your essay stand out from the pack
• You’re unfamiliar with the US college admissions process (a common situation for international students and first-generation families in the US)

Any of these are strong reasons to consider working with a college essay service!

It’s also worth remembering that a lot of the free advice on college’s website isn’t always very clear. For example, NYU’s admissions Senior Assistant Director of Admissions says that “There is no right or wrong way to answer as long as your answer is genuine to you.”

While that’s true, that doesn’t offer much guidance on how to actually write the essay!

Though many college applicants might not mention it, more and more students are using professional college application consultants. Research at the University of Chicago has shown that over a quarter of high-achieving seniors employed private specialists to help with the college application process.

In fact, according to NPR , some companies are even offering college admissions counseling to their top employees as an incentive–that’s just how important professional help can be in the current landscape of college admissions.

It’s important to note that a good college essay service will not write your college application essays for you . This is unethical and illegal. That’s not just coming from us: take it from a school like Princeton, whose website insists on the importance of writing your own application essays.

A good college essay service will guide you through each step of the process , teaching you how to self-reflect and write well while sharing insider insight about admissions strategy .

What makes a good college essay service?

We strongly believe that students need to write their own college essays , and we do not condone plagiarism or “buying” a college essay.

However, writing college application essays requires a completely new set of skills that is rarely taught in high school!

Writing a personal essay is much more creative than simply writing a good paper for English class. It requires a compelling narrative and a great deal of writing craft . A good essay service will teach how to do this kind of writing.

There are many college essay services that will provide only written feedback to students, usually in the form of comments added to an essay draft. (Remember, it’s important that students write their own essays, so avoid any college essay service that will make edits directly to an essay document .)

Written comments can be an effective component of good essay coaching. However, writing college essays is a deeply personal process , and it’s incredibly difficult to guide a student through the process of self-reflection, brainstorming, and planning purely through written comments.

In addition, a great college essay coach will teach students how to do this entire process of brainstorming, planning, outlining, writing, and revising . It’s difficult to learn why an essay coach is advising certain changes through written comments alone.

For these reasons, look for a college essay service with live, one-on-one services , not just written feedback. These days, it’s easy to work with the best college essay consultants in the country over Zoom!

Students need to reflect on their goals, their passions, and what drives them to be the person they are. This requires a great deal of self-awareness and self-analysis . An experienced college essay coach can help draw these ideas out of students through tested introspection techniques and brainstorming exercises .

On top of all of that, students need to be cognizant of which traits and accomplishments will be most appealing to colleges , and which stories will be cliche and boring. Personal statements and supplementary essays need to fit together to tell a cohesive story, and they need to work together with the rest of the student’s application (extracurriculars, grades, and other accomplishments).

In other words, there’s a great deal of strategy here! An experienced college essay service can help students decide how to present themselves in the best possible light .

Furthermore, most students don’t know how to edit effectively . A really top-notch college essay service will also teach students how to edit their own writing —how to reorder sections for better flow, cut unnecessary words to meet a word count, eliminate passive verbs, and make their writing vivid and exciting. Our students are routinely amazed by how transformative this step can be, and how much they learn by doing it together with the essay coach.

Finally, the best college essay services can also help students to make a writing plan and keep them on track , so that parents don’t have to be involved directly.

Ready to work on your college essays? Schedule a free 15- to 30-minute consultation with Jessica or one of our founders.

Best overall: PrepMaven’s tutors offer the highest quality at the best price. With three tiers of tutors, they make it easy to work with an Ivy League undergraduate for as little as $79/hr. Or, families can work with education professionals or Ivy League graduates from $150/hr. PrepMaven’s track record means that you can be sure every hour is being spent productively, so that you can expect real results from the work.

Best for individual consultants: College Essay Mentor. In theory, College Essay Mentor would offer an unparalleled level of individual attention and guidance: his website boasts of some very impressive results. You might find it hard to actually schedule with him, however, since he’s very selective about his clients.

Best for unlimited essay assistance: The College Essay Guy might not offer that personalized attention you get from live, face to face essay coaching, but they do offer unlimited essay editing for up to 10 schools (if you’re comfortable paying a hefty package price).

Best of the big platforms: College Vine will always be a bit of a gamble. Because it’s a tutor marketplace, your results (and costs) will really depend on how lucky you get with your consultant. From our research, however, many of their essay coaches look to have solid track records.

Ready to work on college essays with one of our experienced writing coaches? Schedule a free test prep consultation with Jessica (Director of Tutoring) or one of our founders to see what would be the best fit for your family.

It’s always best to start early and not wait until the last minute to write your college essays! Remember that essays can be used to earn scholarships as well as college admission, so a few months of writing now can pay off with up to $300,000 in tuition saved later. 

We work with students at all stages of the writing process, from I-have-no-idea-what-to-write to final edits. To start working with an Ivy-League writing coach today, set up a quick free consultation with our team.

Schedule a free college essay consultation

Top College Essay Posts

• 14 Best College Essay Services for 2023 (40 Services Reviewed)
• Qualities of a Successful College Essay
• 11 College Essays That Worked
• How to Answer the UC Personal Insight Questions
• How Colleges Read your College Applications (A 4-Step Process)
• How to Write the Princeton Supplemental Essays
• The Diamond Strategy: How We Help Students Write College Essays that Get Them Into Princeton (And Other Ivy League Schools)
• What is the College Essay? Your Complete Guide for 202 4
• College Essay Brainstorming: Where to Start
• How to Write the Harvard Supplemental Essays
• How to Format Your College Essay

Emily graduated  summa cum laude  from Princeton University and holds an MA from the University of Notre Dame. She was a National Merit Scholar and has won numerous academic prizes and fellowships. A veteran of the publishing industry, she has helped professors at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton revise their books and articles. Over the last decade, Emily has successfully mentored hundreds of students in all aspects of the college admissions process, including the SAT, ACT, and college application essay. 

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College Application Essay Editing and Proofreading Services

Set yourself apart in a pool of candidates by submitting a perfect college application essay.

College Personal Statement

A personal statement is your chance to demonstrate your personality from the best side. Our college personal statement editing service will help to make your unique story brilliant, neat, and professional.

College Cover Letter

A cover letter is one more significant paper for admission that can significantly boost your chances of getting into your dream college. With our college cover letter editing, you will have an opportunity to impress the committee and stand out from the rest applicants.

Why Are Our College Essay Services Helpful?

EssayEdge provides college essay editing help for applicants. Our primary goal is to improve your admission papers and make them ready for application. Besides, our services will be perfect not only for those who have some problems with writing skills. Even if you are a perfect writer, it will be great to ensure everything is OK and get professional feedback.

While cooperating with the team of the best college essay editors, you will receive expert comments to improve the quality of your text. Additionally, our experts can give professional advice on content and word choice issues.

Editing a college essay is not only about eliminating mistakes. It’s about polishing the text according to various issues, such as style, formatting, word count, and structure. All these have a crucial role when it comes to leaving a good impression. Thus, the applicant should not only prove that he/she is the best choice but also do it in a professional manner.

How Can We Help You Succeed?

Crafting a perfect college application essay is the first step to succeeding during the admission cycle. Of course, a high GPA and test scores are important. But without a great personal statement, winning the competition will be almost impossible.

The applicants often feel hopeless as they do not know what to tell in their college application essays. Lots of requirements, strict instructions, formatting, and style specificities—all these can blow the applicant’s mind. We understand your pain, so our college essay editor services aim to make you confident in your writing.

The college essay is an important document that can boost your chances of getting into the college of your dream or, instead, spoil everything. It can be compared to your personal profile, where your aim is to create the best impression of yourself. And with the assistance of a professional college essay editor, you will know the way to do it effectively.

No doubt that a great college essay will win the attention of the admissions committee. Our proofreaders are gurus at editing college papers and are ready to share working tips and expert knowledge. We know how to make your admission essay outstanding and highlight your unique academic experience.

Most of our college application essay editors are former students of the most prestigious universities in the US and worldwide. So, they understand how it is to be in your shoes. Moreover, they will share tips and tricks for making your personal statement worthy of the Ivy League schools.

Five Benefits of Editing a College Essay

The admission process is always stressful, and applicants have a lot of doubts concerning their essays.

“Whether it corresponds to all requirements?” “What should I write to impress the committee?” “Who can read my college essay and ensure everything is OK with it?”

These are the most common questions for the applicant.

Receiving feedback is crucial before submitting the application. So, the applicants start searching for someone who will dispel all their doubts. But relatives and friends, in most cases, are not acknowledged in the requirements for admission papers, and their feedback will be rather subjective.

EssayEdge, on the contrary, guarantees professional help with college essays and other documents. Still, it’s not the only advantage of using our premier essay editing services. So, how can you benefit from cooperating with our top editors?

Opportunity to Work With the Best College Essay Editors

We are proud of our professional and experienced team. Most of them are graduates or professors currently working in the most prestigious universities, including the Ivy League. Just imagine that you can cooperate with an experienced college essay editor who will be your future professor at Harvard, Stanford, or Yale!

EssayEdge has years of experience working in this field (12 years on average). Apart from editing and proofreading, they can share useful tips on impressing the admission committee and standing out from the crowd. Of course, high professionalism relates to the high college essay review cost. Still, the experienced and effective assistance of the guru of editing is worth all the money spent, isn’t it?

Personalized Approach to Our Clients

Each client’s story is unique, and we consider all the requirements to make your essay shine like a diamond. The customer can choose the best-fitting college essay helper to cooperate with. Also, our proofreaders work with a wide range of subjects, from business studies and health care to art and social sciences.

You can be sure that the editors will provide thorough proofreading of the text, including a grammar and punctuation check. We do not apply any machine editing and proofreading, like a college essay scanner and so on. Apart from assistance, you will get expert and personalized recommendations on improving the content, formatting, and style of your application essay.

Legal Service and Adherence to Privacy Policies

EssayEdge is a college application essay review service that is legal in the US and worldwide. Our main mission is to polish your writing, eliminate all mistakes, and recommend all possible ways to improve it before you finally send it to the university of your choice.

We edit college essays but do NOT write admissions papers for our clients. Therefore, EssayEdge has nothing in common with the services that violate the academic integrity policies. Instead, your uniqueness is the most significant value to us. The customers know their strong sides and can share the most impressive facts from their academic path. And our task is to make the final touches to make it look perfect.

Opportunity to Boost Your Chances of Successful College Admission

The competition became considerably higher during the last admission cycle. And it continues to increase from year to year. As a result, it becomes harder for the admissions committee to choose the best candidate. Sometimes, even high test results are not enough to stand out from the crowd of applicants.

After the SAT became optional, the application essays became the tool for candidates to impress the committee. That’s why it should be brilliant if you do not want to miss your chance to get into a dream college. With EssayEdge college essay assistance, you will be confident that your college application document corresponds to all the requirements.

Professional College Essay Editing and Proofreading Without Damaging Your Unique Style

Our main task is to make your college essay better, but not damage it. Our team unites the best experts in college admissions essay editing and proofreading. And they will do their best to keep your unique style, as your unique story is sacred to us.

EssayEdge is about a variety of college essay services. For instance, a Premium Package has a number of benefits. You will get online consultations with the chosen proofreaders. They will help you brainstorm ideas and share useful tips on making your essay correspond to all instructions and keep your personal manner of writing.

EssayEdge > College Essay Editing

Why Choose Us

College application.

There are hundreds of candidates applying to the same college, so you should submit a competitive package of documents and edit your college essay thoroughly.

College essay editor from EssayEdge knows how to get beyond your transcript and let the admission officer realize why you should be accepted over other qualified applicants. With application essay editing help, you’ll show why you deserve a spot in next year’s class.

You write this essay to introduce yourself and show your potential contribution to the community. Personal statement brainstorming with our editors can help express your thoughts effectively.

This type of essay describes why you want to enter a specific college. Professional brainstorming with our experts may help you define your goals and write them down.

A well-written admission essay is your chance to stand out. Always submit additional essays if you have a chance to do so, focusing on your personality or the diversity that you will bring to the school.

A resume helps you explain what you’ve done outside of class, and how much time you devoted to it. It shows what you’ve accomplished. Remember to include part-time jobs or other obligations.

The letter of recommendation from your teacher will give colleges insight into how you perform academically within the classroom. We can help you find out what kind of letter will work best for you.

A cover letter is an essential part of your application package, so try to invest enough time in writing it. Our editors will ensure that your letter covers all the information related to the college of your choice.

Types of documents

Docs we can help with.

Writings essays often seems to be the biggest part of your application. Colleges always request some required and optional writing questions, so be sure to read your application instructions carefully.

Our editors are experienced in working with various types of essays; they will help you polish each document.

Work With Professional Editors

Our customers come back to us because our editors do their best to see our students succeed. They provide unrivaled help, guiding students through the application process.

"I am experienced editing undergraduate and graduate school application materials, academic papers and theses."

College; Graduate; Law; MBA; Medical School;

"What started out as a part-time job to pay for my college tuition quickly grew into a passion for admissions essay editing and counseling."

College; Graduate; Law; MBA; Medical School; Premier package;

"My aim is to ensure your unique skills, experience, and attributes are highlighted and shine through in your essays."

College; Cover Letter; Dental; Graduate; Law; MBA; Medical School; Premier package;

"I perfect a client's writing while also addressing critical areas that need improvement, all while maintaining the client's unique voice."

"I have a unique perspective on the college admissions process and on the job application process."

"I am excited to help take your writing to the next level."

College; Education; Graduate; Law; MBA;

" I improve an essay through specific and constructive feedback."

“I’m here to help you unleash the power of your writing through clarity, language, and structure.”

College; Law; MBA; Medical School;

"I pride myself on my detail-oriented and conscientious editing skills that I am sure to tailor to the individual needs of each client."

"I can handle most tasks, including resumes and applications for college and graduate studies. "

"I like to work on essays for graduate programs (Master’s and PhD) in any discipline."

College; Graduate; MBA;

I love supporting students with admissions essays, cover letters, academic essays, theses and dissertations.

College; Education; Graduate; Law; MBA; Premier package;

"My approach focuses on clarity and conciseness"

" I am experienced editing admissions essays, recommendation letters, as well as academic papers and theses."

College; Cover Letter; Graduate; Law; Medical School;

"I enjoy getting to know my customers and helping them reach their undergraduate and professional goals."

"I have a deep love for the written word and have thoroughly enjoyed my time working with high schoolers to strengthen their writing skills."

"I find great joy and satisfaction in crafting precise language, and in helping people tell their stories with honesty and style"

"I am well versed in working with both undergraduate and graduate application essays."

"Send me your admissions essays, research proposals, academic papers, and theses. Let’s get to work!”

College; Education; Law; MBA; Medical School;

"My goal is to work with customers and help present their ideas in their own words in a professional and grammatically sound manner."

"I love supporting students so they can achieve more in their academic writing, from theses to admissions materials like personal statements."

"I enjoy helping clients tell their particular stories: who they are at heart and how they got to where they are now in their lives."

"I am looking forward to helping countless new students achieve their academic aspirations."

College; Cover Letter; Graduate; Law; MBA; Medical School;

"I’m a hands-on writing and editing coach. Let's work together to create an essay that stands out from the pack! "

How it works

Getting started is easy.

Place order

Provide the files you need help with and choose the type of service. Select your editor or let us recommend an expert.

Complete payment

Pay online using our secure payment methods, such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.

Track your order

Log in to your personal customer area and track the process of transformation of your essay.

Download the final version of your essay, send it to an educational institution of your choice, enjoy a new chapter in your life.

Choose the Offer That Works Best for You

Proofreading

You did a great job and almost finished your essay, but you still need a final check. Our editor will proofread your work for typos and grammatical errors, providing you with minor constructive suggestions.

0 - 600 words $69

601 - 1,200 words $99

1,201 - 1,800 words $129

1.801 - 2,400 words $159

+2,400 words $12 per + 100 words

24-hour rush +$59

You have a half-finished essay, but you still need proofreading and expert critique to strengthen your writing. Our editor will help improve your style and will provide a detailed review of the essay structure, content, and tone.

0 - 600 words $149

601 - 1,200 words $199

1,201 - 1,800 words $239

1,801 - 2,400 words $279

Second reading +50% of order price

You need a package of documents that are consistent in style and complement each other. Submit 3+ documents in one order, and we will assign one editor to work on them. The editor will polish all your docs and add suggestions on style and tone.

1,800 - 2,400 words $229

2,401 - 3,000 words $289

3,001 - 3,600 words $399

3,601 - 4,200 words $459

4,201 - 4,800 words $519

72-hour rush $119

You need comprehensive assistance to start writing your admission essay. Our editor will guide you through the process, from topic brainstorming to the finished piece. The second reading is included in this package.

0 - 600 words $379

601 - 1,200 words $429

1,201 - 1,800 words $479

1,801 - 2,400 words $529

What Our Customers Say

Using such services as application essay editing, brainstorming and proofreading, our customers have successfully submitted their applications.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please check Frequently Asked Questions to learn more about our service and the ways we can help with your school application.

Is it crucial to edit my college essay?

Can college essay editors write a perfect essay for me, does editing a college essay take a lot of time, do i have a chance to have a face-to-face consultation with the editor.

Check our FAQ for more detailed information

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Do you have more questions? We are always here for you.

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Admissions Essay Editing Fast, Affordable, Professional

Embark on your academic journey with confidence using our premier admission essay editing service. Our skilled editors, with years of experience, meticulously refine and elevate your college essays, ensuring they stand out in the competitive admissions landscape. Count on our editing services to enhance the clarity and impact of your application essays, guiding students towards a successful path to university acceptance.

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• Admissions Essay Editing

Elevate Your College Application Essays

Crafting impactful college application essays is a pivotal step in securing admission to your desired university. Our admission essay editing service is designed to elevate your essays , ensuring they stand out in the competitive admissions landscape. Our team of experienced editors, with years of expertise in college admissions, provides meticulous editing. We understand the significance of presenting a polished and compelling narrative that reflects your unique voice, academic prowess, and aspirations.

Our dedicated editors specialize in enhancing the clarity, coherence, and overall impact of your college essays. Whether you're a prospective student or a seasoned writer, our editing services cater to diverse needs. We offer insightful feedback to refine your writing and present a well-crafted application. The feedback loop between our editors and students fosters a collaborative approach, resulting in essays that resonate with admissions committees and increase your chances of acceptance .

Explore the transformative potential of our admission essay editing service through the lens of client reviews. Our satisfied students attest to the positive impact our editors have on their application essays. From personal statements to college application essays, our editing services aim to amplify your narrative, showcasing your strengths and unique qualities. Take the first step towards a successful college application by partnering with our seasoned editors who bring years of experience to ensure your essays reflect the best version of you.

Expert College Application Essay Editing to Help You Stand Out

Navigating the competitive landscape of college admissions requires more than just well-written essays—it demands a strategic and nuanced approach. Our admission essay editing service is your key to standing out among applicants, offering expert guidance to refine and elevate your college application essays. With a team of seasoned editors boasting years of experience, we specialize in providing comprehensive editing services tailored to enhance your narrative and capture the attention of admissions committees .

Our dedicated editors understand the intricacies of crafting compelling college application essays that align with the unique ethos of different universities. We offer valuable feedback to strengthen your writing and ensure it reflects your academic prowess and personal journey effectively. From polishing grammar and style to amplifying the impact of your personal statement, our Student services empower you to present a cohesive and convincing application package.

Embark on your journey to university acceptance with the assurance that our expert college application essay editing service is committed to your success. Explore the transformative power of client reviews that attest to the effectiveness of our editing services. By partnering with us, you not only refine your essays but also gain a strategic advantage , positioning yourself as a standout candidate in the competitive college admissions process.

Professional editing and proofreading are now even more affordable.

With Scribendi's 10% student discount, you can take your documents to the next level. Our expert editors can enhance your admission essay. Simply use the coupon code on our Student Discount page to start improving your writing today. Don't miss out on this limited time offer!

What will you receive with the Admission Essay Editing Service? 

• A revised document in which the spelling, typing, grammar, and other distracting errors have been corrected
• Revisions to improve clarity and precision
• Tracked changes so that you can see and review all the revisions that have been made
• Critical commentary that addresses areas of concern and potential issues
• Suggestions to help you improve the writing and the focus of the essay
• A short summary of the work that has been done and any major concerns

What types of documents can you use the Admission Essay Editing Service for?

• Admissions essays
• Admissions documents and letters
• Note: For final drafts of admission essays that have already been edited at least once, please see Admission Essay Proofreading .

Looking for help with student essays? Please see Student Essay Editing for critical feedback and Student Essay Proofreading for error correction.

Generative AI has become increasingly relevant in academia and can impact academic services at Scribendi; click here to see Scribendi’s policy on generative AI .

Rest assured, your content is handled with the utmost privacy and security. All uploads and downloads are encrypted, keeping your personal information strictly confidential . 

Our professional editing services, specializing in admission essay editing, provide a competitive edge for college and university applications. Experience the expertise of our skilled editors, who work with various file types, and gain an advantage in the admissions process. 

Receive instant quotes and place your order today to enhance your college application essays.

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Admission essay editing service faq, why is college essay editing your chance to stand out.

Unlock your potential with our admission essay editing service. Craft a compelling college essay that sets you apart. Our skilled editors, with years of experience, meticulously refine your admissions essay, ensuring clarity, coherence, and impact. Elevate your writing with personalized feedback from expert essay coaches. Our college essay editing service is a transformative journey tailored to enhance your unique voice. Join countless satisfied students whose essays have undergone a metamorphosis, as reflected in glowing client reviews.

What are the benefits of our Admission Essay Editing Service? 

Elevate your admissions journey with our unparalleled admission essay editing service. Our expert editors, with years of experience, meticulously refine and strengthen your college essay, ensuring it stands out in the competitive admissions landscape. We provide personalized feedback to enhance your writing and showcase your unique voice. 

How much does admission essay editing cost? 

Discover affordable excellence with our admission essay editing service. Our transparent pricing reflects our commitment to assisting students on their journey to compelling college essays. Tailored to suit various budgets, our editing services ensure that your admissions essay receives the attention it deserves without breaking the bank. Benefit from the expertise of seasoned editors with years of experience, providing meticulous insightful feedback and enhancing the overall quality of your college application essay. Invest in your academic future with our cost-effective admission essay editing services, where affordability meets excellence in crafting impactful essays for college admissions. Use our Student Discount for additional savings on high-quality admission editing. 

What is the process to edit my college application essay?

Our admission essay editing service ensures a streamlined process to refine your college application essay. Submit your essay through our user-friendly platform, and it will be assigned to one of our experienced editors specializing in college essays. They meticulously ensure flawless grammar and style. Receive personalized feedback that enhances your essay's clarity and impact. Benefit from the expertise of our skilled editors, dedicated to optimizing your admissions essay for success. Experience a smooth and efficient process that transforms your college application essay into a compelling narrative, ready to impress university admissions committees.

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Get Top-Rated Essay Editing In 24 Hours or Less!

Upload Your Application Essay

Upload your college essay, including your essay prompt. We’ll match your application essay to one of our admissions essay editing experts.

Let Our Expert Application Editors Revise Your Essay

You can communicate with your essay editor and ask any questions or provide instructions about how you would like them to edit your essay.

Receive Your Edited Essay

Your essay editor will revise and share in-depth comments and suggestions to help you strengthen your message and impact.

Calculate Your Price

• Choose your editing service type.
• To calculate the word count of a specific selection of the document, highlight the text and then click [Word Count] .

Journal Manuscripts, Research Papers, Dissertations/Theses, Articles, Abstracts

Application Essays, Scholarship Essays, CVs/Resumes, Recommendation Letters

Extensive feedback, editing checklist, and review letter for admissions documents

High School & University Assignments, Term Papers, College Essays, Class Reports

Proposals, Reports, Press Releases, Marketing Materials, Blog & Website Content

Books, Scripts/Screenplays, Personal Essays & Opinion Pieces, Personal Blogs

Which Application Essays Is This Service For?

• Common Application Essays
• MBA Admissions Essays
• College Admissions Essays for US, UK, Canada, & Australia Schools
• Graduate Application Essays (Personal Statements, SOPs)
• Personal Statements & Letters of Recommendation
• Grant & Scholarship Essays

Who Are Our Essay Editors?

Detailed features of our essay editing services, expert proofreading.

Essay proofreading includes:

• Syntax and grammar error correction
• Fixing spelling, punctuation, and mechanics issues
• Formatting for English type (US/UK)

Wordvice guarantees 100% accuracy in grammar and spelling—your edited paper will be free of objective writing errors.

Enhancement of Language & Expression

Our editors enhance the style, readability, and tone of your essay in the following ways:

• Changing vocabulary terms to strengthen language
• Rephrasing to enhance clarity and expression
• Providing feedback and comments to explain revisions

Our essay editing services focus on improving your message and impact in application essays to help you get accepted into your school of choice.

Premium Essay Editing Service

Our Premium Essay Editing Service includes more than just quality essay editing and proofreading and includes the following additional features:

• Editor expertise in your paper’s subject area
• Direct communication with your editor
• A range of turnaround times (from 9 hours to 7 days)
• Free English editing certificate

Our Premium Admissions Essay Editing Service is ideal for SOPs, personal statements, and other application essays that require multiple drafts.

English Editing for Any Application Essay

Students love our essay editing services.

Essay Editing Services Reviews

• Fiona S. "Essay content improved" It is great that the context of my essay was understood and the editor had provided revisions that could retain my authorial intent. Thank you for the overall feedback on my personal statement; I loved the vocabulary and sentence suggestions. The order process was simple and the staff helped me during the process. Overall, it seemed like the editor understood what I wanted to discuss and the focus of my essay.
• Issa Ngoy "Helped me focus my ideas clearly" I had so many great ideas I wanted to discuss in my application essay, but I was very worried about my writing because English is not my first language. It was really nice to have an editor with experience with college admissions and could explain to me what I need to focus on and what I should not include. I really like my revised essay and I think now I have a much better chance to get accepted into my program!

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Our Top 12 Admissions Essay Editing Service Professionals

We can help make your admissions essay rise above the rest.

Our professional editors can help to shape your admissions essay into exactly what colleges and universities want to see. ServiceScape is home to a network of trusted, rated, and reviewed admissions essay editors with the experience and expertise to polish your essay to perfection and convince admissions officers that you deserve a place at their institution.

Proudly Trusted By:

10. Keith2314

103 Client Reviews 2,991 Pages Edited

M.A. in Linguistics from Northeastern Illinois University

What We Bring to the Table

ServiceScape is built on 24 years worth of experience, working on over 340,000 projects with over 98,000 clients. Join the thousands of people who have chosen ServiceScape to find the best and brightest talent.

We make it easy to craft the perfect admissions essay

A memorable and well-written admissions essay is a vital step in reaching the next phase in your academic career. Your essay needs to be well-structured, flow from subject to subject, and convey your ideas effortlessly. More importantly, it needs to present you in the best light possible, defining how your life experiences have shaped who you are today and conveying your potential for growth and ability to achieve your goals.

ServiceScape can take your admissions essay from good to extraordinary, helping you find exactly the right words to present yourself just as you want the admissions officers to see you. When you join the thousands of clients who have trusted us to improve their admissions essays, our experts are here to help make your writing shine so that you stand out from the crowd.

ServiceScape allows you to find the perfect editor in just a few steps. It really is as easy as 1, 2, 3! Our editors have been rated and reviewed by clients just like you. Many have been rated hundreds, or even thousands of times. To get a better sense of the abilities and skills they offer, you can view sample edited documents within many editor profiles.

Once you find your editor, you can easily work with them to enhance your admissions essay. Your editor will be ready to stand by your side from the get-go to the finish line and beyond. We’ll gladly provide point-by-point corrections. However, when it comes to our admissions essay editing services, fixing mistakes is only the beginning.

What we do best

Your admissions essay needs to do more than just check the boxes: it needs to be written flawlessly in order to capture the interest of your audience from the first word all the way to the last.

It’s our job to improve your admissions essay – without sacrificing the personality you’ve worked so hard to instill into every sentence. Our admissions editors will polish your writing so that it’s accurate, clear, and correct while maintaining your overall meaning. They will ensure that your writing effectively expresses your ideas. In other words, your edited admissions essay will communicate who you are and what you can do in the most compelling way possible.

In terms of what we edit, our editors can enhance a wide variety of admissions essay material, including:

• Personal Statement
• Statement of Purpose
• Letter of Intent
• Diversity Statement
• Research Statement
• "Why This School" Supplemental Essay
• Academic Interests Supplemental Essay
• Community Supplemental Essay
• Extracurricular Activity Supplemental Essay
• Overcoming Challenges Supplemental Essay

Our professional editors will go over your admissions writing with the proverbial fine-tooth comb, evaluating and addressing:

• Errors in spelling, grammar, syntax, tense, and sentence structure
• Readability and flow
• Overall organization
• How well the statement or essay responds to any required prompt
• Strength of your introduction and conclusion
• Redundancy and unnecessary content
• Conciseness and adherence to any required word count, where possible
• Language and diction
• Consistency in regional English spelling conventions, including American, British, Canadian, and Australian variations
• Your overall writing style

Our admissions editors can also make content recommendations if they feel that there is a better way to express your perspective. By the time our admissions editors are finished, every aspect of your essay will be perfected.

Working together to refine your admissions essay

Need to brainstorm with your editor and have an ongoing dialogue about your admissions essay? With ServiceScape, you can discuss any issue with any editor at any time. You can communicate by exchanging messages or by setting up a teleconference call. With open communication with your editor of choice, we guarantee that you and your admissions editor will always be on the same page.

Your admissions essay is the one stage of the application process where you’re in complete control. This is your chance to show off your personality and prove that you will be an indispensable asset to the college or university of your choice. Let us take a weight off your shoulders by working with you to craft a successful application essay! Ready to find your admissions essay project partner? Start your search for the perfect admissions essay editor today! We look forward to working with you.

Frequently asked questions

You can hire an editor in just four steps:

• Browse our directory to find the editor you want to hire.
• Click the "View Profile" button to see additional information.
• From the profile page, click on the "Hire Me" button.
• Upload your writing and enter your project details.

You will have the option to either select a predefined service or create a custom project. If you select a predefined service, you can pay for your project immediately by using a credit card, U.S. bank transfer, or PayPal®. After your payment method has been approved, the editor will start working on the project as soon as possible and will deliver it by the due date you selected. If you select a custom project, the editor will provide you with a service proposal that will have a unique price for the unique service you require.

Sure! Many ServiceScape editors provide free samples. You can submit a free sample request by doing the following:

• Browse our directory to find an editor you'd like to ask for a free sample.
• From the profile page, click on the "Free Sample" button.

If the editor accepts your free sample request, you will receive the sample edited version within a couple of days.

To contact an editor about your project, just do the following:

• Browse our directory to find the editor you'd like to contact.
• From the profile page, click on the "Send Message" button.
• Write and send your message.

We will email you a notification as soon as your editor replies to your message.

If you would like to speak with an editor directly, just do the following:

• Browse our directory to find an editor you'd like to speak with on a teleconference call.
• From the profile page, click on the "Teleconference" button.
• Enter the date and time you would like to have your discussion.

We will contact you right away about availability and set up the teleconference for all parties involved.

You can find ratings and reviews from past clients within most editor profiles. Just find your editor and click on the "View Profile" button to see them. You can also read ServiceScape ratings and reviews on eKomi . In addition, ServiceScape has been featured in several publications and websites, including The Wall Street Journal , Los Angeles Times , UpWork , HuffPost , Indeed , and The Ladders .

Many editors have portfolios which feature their editing. Just find your editor and click on the "View Profile" button to view these edited versions.

A list of prices and due dates can be found within each editor's profile. Just find your editor and click on the "View Profile" button.

Yes, we provide editing certifications. Simply request the document when you hire an editor. When your project is delivered, you can download the editing certification by clicking on your project and clicking on the "Certification" button. These signed declarations certify that a document has been professionally edited by a ServiceScape editor.

Are you ready for the right admissions essay editor, right now?

Browse rated and reviewed professionals today.

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Admission Essay Editing Services

Make Your Application Stand Out

Admission Essay Editing

If you’d like to boost your chances of getting into your university or college of choice, you need an admission essay that sets you apart. And this means making sure it is clear, academic, and error free. But with the help of our admission essay proofreading service, you can be confident of making a great first impression.

Expert Editor

Expert Admission Essay Proofreading

Our expert proofreaders have helped countless university applicants win a place on the course of their choice. As a result, we know what makes a good admission essay. So let us put out skills to work and help you fulfil your academic dreams.

Make sure your writing is the best it can be with our expert English proofreading and editing

With our admission essay proofreading service, we will:

• Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors
• Ensure your language and tone are properly academic
• Make sure your essay effectively communicates your strengths
• Check for issues with consistency and structure
• Leave comments and feedback on your writing style

In most cases, we will also provide two copies of your edited essay:

• A ‘Clean’ copy in the original file format
• An MS Word Track Changes  copy

You can use this second copy to view every edit we make, so you are always in control of the final draft. And if your  chosen file format  doesn’t support Track Changes, we will adapt our process to match.

Lightning-Fast Delivery

You’ll never miss a deadline with our speedy services: our Next-Day Guarantee means we’ll return any document up to 10,000 words long within 24 hours

And if you need a faster turnaround, simply select your desired delivery speed when you submit your document. We have three options:

We can also meet custom deadlines! Just let us know what you need.

*For documents up to 8,000 words 

**For documents up to 3,000 words

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The Write Stuff: 4 College Admissions Essay Editing Services Reviewed

Looking for good news about the college admissions process these days? You won't find much of it. Not only has the cost of attending college doubled on average since the 1980s, but also it's gotten considerably harder to get in. The majority of colleges in America have witnessed a plummeting acceptance rate as the number of student applications has exploded. Fifty years ago you had a 20 percent shot at getting into Harvard (all things equal, of course). Now the Crimson's acceptance rate is about 5 percent. In the last 10 years alone, the acceptance rate at many major universities has been cut in half . It's almost enough to make a kid consider trying out for the rowing team .

As if applicants didn't have enough to stress about, colleges have been making it more onerous to apply—requiring additional interviews, recommendations, and SAT Subject Tests. But the most burdensome of them all is an old standby: the application essay.

Essay requirements vary widely from school to school. The 150-plus members of the Coalition for College (which includes Harvard and Vanderbilt) requires a single 500-word essay selected from prompts such as "Describe a time when you made a meaningful contribution to others in which the greater good was your focus. Discuss the challenges and rewards of making your contribution." Those with eyes on the University of California system must write a whopping four essays, with prompts such as "Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced."

Students can reuse essays with other colleges if the prompts are similar enough—or if the schools happen to be members of the same application partnership—but you'd be surprised how seldom this occurs. My daughter found that out the hard way, when she learned that she'd have to write 12 separate essays to cover just five schools.

What's a kid to do who doesn't have parents who both work full-time as writers and editors? Just run their essay through Microsoft grammar check and hope for the best? Good luck. The acceptance rate at the University of Chicago has dropped 81 percent in the last 12 years. It doesn't take a Rhodes scholar to know that if you don't put your best foot forward, you may as well not even bother.

All of this led me to the curious world of online editing services. While you can hire a consultant to help guide your child through this overwhelming maze, these consultants are expensive and much of their work involves managing the complex application process, figuring out which colleges are a good fit, and brainstorming essay topics. If you just need help whipping an already written essay into better shape, an online editor might be a better (and much cheaper) fit.

To be sure, some of these services are exorbitantly expensive. Services like EssayEdge and TopAdmit can run you close to $200 for editing a single essay of fewer than 400 words. I've seen prices as high as $379 after various upsells. Word for word, that's more than what my editor at WIRED makes. (Hi, Mike!)

The good news is there are plenty of more affordable options available. I tested four of them, all reasonably priced and seemingly legitimate. Most of these services charge based on a combination of the word count of the original essay and the turnaround time required. I used the same raw essay from my daughter as a test piece for each of the four services, and requested the slowest turnaround time each of them offered to minimize the cost. I submitted her 383-word raw essay at the same time to each of the services, on a Wednesday afternoon. I gave all the services minimal guidance with my submission, noting only (when prompted) that this was a college application essay. All four of the services allow you to upload a Microsoft Word document and receive a red-lined and comment-filled Word document in return.

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When I received the revised essays, I reviewed them along with my wife (also a professional writer) and my daughter, the author. The reviews were done blind, without indicating the source of any of the edits, and we all rated each essay on a 1 to 10 scale. I also threw in a copy that I roughly edited. For the sake of comparison, the raw essay scored an average of 4.8, while my edit garnered a 6.9.

Here's what the various services cost, and how well they performed.

Note: When you buy something using the retail links in our stories, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Read more about how this works.

Total price: $13.91, 48-hour turnaround promised. Edit received within 24 hours.

Scribendi offers seven different turnaround time tiers, but its 72-hour and one-week turnarounds were the same price as the 48-hour turnaround. A four-hour turnaround was quoted at $28.53. Scribendi returned both a changes-tracked version of the document and a "clean" version with all edits accepted. Scribendi's edit was not just the fastest, it was incredibly thorough—almost nitpicky—with 16 comments or prompts to the writer suggesting avenues for additional content or revisions that were beyond the scope of a simple edit. Oddly, the final edit didn't resonate with readers, who largely felt it was somewhat awkward and clunky in its overall flow. That said, the editor's notes and the service's overall speed were a big plusses.

Readers' rating: 5.0

Total price: $13.90, three-day turnaround promised. Edit received after two days.

Elite Editing has an Advanced Editing service for $40, but the $13.90 plan I chose offers only "basic editing," which doesn't include "suggested rewrites to eliminate awkward phrasing, repetition, passive voice, etc." and "taking into account your original assignment." Three days is the standard turnaround; one-day turnaround for the Basic Editing plan would have cost $19.90. The site crashed when I checked out, but my payment and submission both went through successfully. As promised, Elite's edit was indeed basic. Its editor made the fewest changes of any of the services and left only three comments, one of which was about whether the use of indentations and double-spacing was appropriate. While Elite's edits were correct, they weren't terribly deep—although that was enough to propel it to a second-place finish from the readers.

Readers' rating: 5.7

Total price: $15.32, five-day turnaround promised. Edit received after four days.

Wordvice has eight different pricing tiers, with rates as low as 4 cents per word for a seven-day turnaround, though that tier was limited to materials longer than 3,000 words. The five-day turnaround tier was only marginally more expensive. When I received Wordvice's edited document, I was offered an upsell for a "second look" (basically another edit) for 30 percent off. Wordvice's embedded commentary was nearly as thorough as Scribendi's, though Wordvice was less obsessive over grammar and more focused on overall clarity. Turns out that was the right move: Wordvice's edit was the overall favorite of the quartet, and the finished draft reads cleanly and clearly.

Readers' rating: 6.3

Total price: $31.33, seven-day turnaround promised. Edit received after four days.

Scribbr initially quoted a price of $25.36, but I shelled out an extra $6 for both the "structure check" and "clarity check" options, despite not really understanding what those were. Prices include a 2 percent surcharge for using a credit card. For those in a hurry, 24-hour turnaround doubles the price. Scribbr seems more focused on editing academic coursework essays than admissions essays, with a relatively formal structure applied to its edits (removing contractions completely, for example). Editor's commentary was sparse, though on target. This draft was the most divisive of the services, earning high marks from my wife but very low marks from my daughter, who thought it stripped the writing of her voice.

Readers' rating: 5.3

Any good college essay has to end with a conclusion, so here are a few takeaways. First, all of the services sent back essays that were, on average, felt to be an improvement over the original draft, with all of them catching numerous spelling and grammatical errors—so students with no professional editing help may do well to consider them, especially given how affordable these services are. That said, also remember that when you engage with an editing service, you're really engaging with a single (anonymous) editor who you won't ever meet or be able to interact with. That editor won't have any level of understanding of the writer's personality beyond what's on the page, and quality will necessarily vary from one editor to another, even within a given editing service.

Further still, remember that editing quality is always going to be subjective, just like any piece of writing. Except for this story, of course. It's amazing.

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Enough said..

Are you worried that errors and typos in your admissions essay may be hindering your chances of admission success? Don't let that happen! Let Vappingo's team of expert essay editors refine your writing and take it to the next level. Our affordable per-word rate includes unlimited revisions and a money-back guarantee, giving you the confidence you need in the quality of our work. With fully transparent pricing, you won't be hit with any surprises or hidden fees. So why wait? Trust us to help you achieve your academic goals today!

Some common questions about admissions essay services:

Your college admissions essay is a crucial piece of your application. It provides admissions officers with a glimpse into who you are and what you bring to the table. An essay that is poorly written, filled with errors, or lacks clarity can detract from your application and negatively impact your chances of being accepted. Having your essay edited by a professional can help ensure that it is well-written, polished, and makes a strong impression on the admissions committee.

• Improved clarity and organization of your essay
• Elimination of errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling
• Enhancement of your writing style and voice
• Identification and correction of weak arguments or inconsistencies in your essay
• Assistance in choosing the most effective language to convey your message

While a professional essay editing service can provide suggestions and feedback on your essay's content, the final decision on what to include or exclude is ultimately up to you. The purpose of an application essay editing service is to help you improve the quality of your writing, not to rewrite the essay entirely.

The length of time it takes to edit a college admissions essay will depend on the specific service you choose and the length of your essay. Some services offer expedited editing with turnaround times as short as 24 hours, while others may take a few days to complete the editing process. It's important to plan ahead and give yourself enough time to have your application essay edited before your application deadline.

When choosing a college admissions essay editing service, it's important to do your research and choose a reputable provider. Look for services that have a proven track record of success and employ editors who are experienced and knowledgeable about the college admissions process. You can also read customer reviews and testimonials to get a sense of the quality of the service.

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At EditMyEnglish, we believe that your voice matters, especially to the colleges that you hope to attend. For that reason, we'll correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation, as well as improve consistency in style and tone, all while preserving your voice, thus helping you to stand out among applicants.

We know that the process of applying to multiple colleges and universities, each with their own fees and deadlines, can become overwhelming. For that reason, we keep our prices 40% lower than other admissions essay editing services, and we offer several Pricing and Turnaround Options to support your application deadlines to your budget.

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Everyone has a passion. Everyone has a unique story. We help you express yours in writing and get accepted to America’s best colleges. Here, every single essay is personally reviewed – from start to finish –  by a Stanford graduate. Not by a part-time editor. Not by a hired tutor.

Our essay editors have been accepted to many of the nation’s most selective colleges, and each graduated from Stanford University. And we’ve helped other applicants achieve the same results. Recent client acceptances include Stanford, Columbia, Berkeley, Harvard, Cornell, Caltech, and the University of Chicago.

We have helped edit thousands of college application essays and graduate school personal statements from the U.S. and abroad. We know what works, what doesn’t, what stands out, and what gets lost in the pile. And we help students recognize – and eliminate – cliches and overused expressions in order to craft a truly compelling and memorable essay.

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Our editors were granted temporary access to their own admission records. Complete with admissions officers’ comments, notes, and ratings, these records revealed what admissions committees thought about our applications, and provided us with unparalleled insight into the reality of college admissions.

At College Essay Editor, we specialize in editing college application essays and personal statements. In today’s college admissions landscape, as the emphasis on standardized testing declines, essays have become an increasingly important – if not the most important – factor in both the college and graduate school application process. 

To get into the best colleges in the U.S., top grades and test scores are no longer good enough. Your essay, and the story it tells, is how you can differentiate yourself from the tens of thousands of other applicants. 

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Regardless of how strong your grades, test scores, and resume are, an outstanding college application essay or personal statement can help you meet – and exceed – your admission goals, whether that means being accepted to a prestigious and highly-selective Ivy League university, finding a college that fits you best, or getting into the Honors program at an in-state school.

College Essay Editor is made up of a team of professional Stanford-educated essay editors that provide individualized, in-depth essay and personal statement editing at all stages of the editing process. Whether it’s brainstorming ideas, providing substantive feedback on your essay’s structure and logic, or just polishing the language and correcting for English and grammar errors, the College Essay Editor team will help ensure that you’re presenting your strongest case for admission.

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15 Tips for Writing, Proofreading, and Editing Your College Essay

What’s covered:, our checklist for writing, proofreading, and editing your essay, where to get your college essays edited.

Your college essay is more than just a writing assignment—it’s your biggest opportunity to showcase the person behind your GPA, test scores, and extracurricular activities. In many ways, it’s the best chance you have to present yourself as a living, breathing, and thoughtful individual to the admissions committee.

Unlike test scores, which can feel impersonal, a well-crafted essay brings color to your application, offering a glimpse into your passions, personality, and potential. Whether you’re an aspiring engineer or an artist, your college essay can set you apart, making it essential that you give it your best.

1. Does the essay address the selected topic or prompt?

Focus on responding directly and thoughtfully to the prompt. If the question asks about your reasons for choosing a specific program or your future aspirations, ensure that your essay revolves around these themes. Tailor your narrative to the prompt, using personal experiences and reflections that reinforce your points.

• Respond directly to the prompt: It’s imperative that you thoughtfully craft your responses so that the exact themes in the prompt are directly addressed. Each essay has a specific prompt that serves a specific purpose, and your response should be tailored in a way that meets that objective.
• Focus: Regardless of what the prompt is about—be it personal experiences, academic achievements, or an opinion on an issue—you must keep the focus of the response on the topic of the prompt .

2. Is the college essay well organized?

An essay with a clear structure is easier to follow and is more impactful. Consider organizing your story chronologically, or use a thematic approach to convey your message. Each paragraph should transition smoothly to the next, maintaining a natural flow of ideas. A well-organized essay is not only easier for the reader to follow, but it can also aid your narrative flow. Logically structured essays can guide the reader through complex and hectic sequences of events in your essay. There are some key factors involved in good structuring:

• A strong hook: Start with a sentence or a paragraph that can grab the attention of the reader. For example, consider using a vivid description of an event to do this.
• Maintain a thematic structure: Maintaining a thematic structure involves organizing your response around a central theme, allowing you to connect diverse points of your essay into a cohesive centralized response.
• Transitioning: Each paragraph should clearly flow into the next, maintaining continuity and coherence in narrative.

3. Include supporting details, examples, and anecdotes.

Enhance your narrative with specific details, vivid examples, and engaging anecdotes. This approach brings your story to life, making it more compelling and relatable. It helps the reader visualize your experiences and understand your perspectives.

4. Show your voice and personality.

Does your personality come through? Does your essay sound like you? Since this is a reflection of you, your essay needs to show who you are.

For example, avoid using vocabulary you wouldn’t normally use—such as “utilize” in place of “use”—because you may come off as phony or disingenuous, and that won’t impress colleges.

5. Does your essay show that you’re a good candidate for admission?

Your essay should demonstrate not only your academic strengths. but also the ways in which your personal qualities align with the specific character and values of the school you’re applying to . While attributes like intelligence and collaboration are universally valued, tailor your essay to reflect aspects that are uniquely esteemed at each particular institution.

For instance, if you’re applying to Dartmouth, you might emphasize your appreciation for, and alignment with, the school’s strong sense of tradition and community. This approach shows a deeper understanding of and a genuine connection to the school, beyond its surface-level attributes.

6. Do you stick to the topic?

Your essay should focus on the topic at hand, weaving your insights, experiences, and perspectives into a cohesive narrative, rather than a disjointed list of thoughts or accomplishments. It’s important to avoid straying into irrelevant details that don’t support your main theme. Instead of simply listing achievements or experiences, integrate them into a narrative that highlights your development, insights, or learning journey.

Example with tangent:

“My interest in performing arts began when I was five. That was also the year I lost my first tooth, which set off a whole year of ‘firsts.’ My first play was The Sound of Music.”

Revised example:

“My interest in performing arts began when I was five, marked by my debut performance in ‘The Sound of Music.’ This experience was the first step in my journey of exploring and loving the stage.”

7. Align your response with the prompt.

Before finalizing your essay, revisit the prompt. Have you addressed all aspects of the question? Make sure your essay aligns with the prompt’s requirements, both in content and spirit. Familiarize yourself with common college essay archetypes, such as the Extracurricular Essay, Diversity Essay, Community Essay, “Why This Major” Essay (and a variant for those who are undecided), and “Why This College” Essay. We have specific guides for each, offering tailored advice and examples:

• Extracurricular Essay Guide
• Diversity Essay Guide
• Community Essay Guide
• “Why This Major” Essay Guide
• “Why This College” Essay Guide
• Overcoming Challenges Essay Guide
• Political/Global Issues Essay Guide

While these guides provide a framework for each archetype, respectively, remember to infuse your voice and unique experiences into your essay to stand out!

8. Do you vary your sentence structure?

Varying sentence structure, including the length of sentences, is crucial to keep your writing dynamic and engaging. A mix of short, punchy sentences and longer, more descriptive ones can create a rhythm that makes your essay more enjoyable to read. This variation helps maintain the reader’s interest and allows for more nuanced expression.

Original example with monotonous structure:

“I had been waiting for the right time to broach the topic of her health problem, which had been weighing on my mind heavily ever since I first heard about it. I had gone through something similar, and I thought sharing my experience might help.”

Revised example illustrating varied structure:

“I waited for the right moment to discuss her health. The issue had occupied my thoughts for weeks. Having faced similar challenges, I felt that sharing my experience might offer her some comfort.”

In this revised example, the sentences vary in length and structure, moving from shorter, more impactful statements to longer, more descriptive ones. This variation helps to keep the reader’s attention and allows for a more engaging narrative flow.

9. Revisit your essay after a break.

• Give yourself time: After completing a draft of your essay, step away from it for a day or two. This break can clear your mind and reduce your attachment to specific phrases or ideas.
• Fresh perspective: When you come back to your essay, you’ll likely find that you can view your work with fresh eyes. This distance can help you spot inconsistencies, unclear passages, or stylistic issues that you might have missed earlier.
• Enhanced objectivity: Distance not only aids in identifying grammatical errors or typos, but it also allows you to assess the effectiveness of your argument or narrative more objectively. Does the essay really convey what you intended? Are there better examples or stronger pieces of evidence you could use?
• Refine and polish: Use this opportunity to fine-tune your language, adjust the flow, and ensure that your essay truly reflects your voice and message.

Incorporating this tip into your writing process can significantly improve the quality and effectiveness of your college essay.

10. Choose an ideal writing environment.

By identifying and consistently utilizing an ideal writing environment, you can enhance both the enjoyment and effectiveness of your essay-writing process.

• Discover your productive spaces: Different environments can dramatically affect your ability to think and write effectively. Some people find inspiration in the quiet of a library or their room, while others thrive in the lively atmosphere of a coffee shop or park.
• Experiment with settings: If you’re unsure what works best for you, try writing in various places. Notice how each setting affects your concentration, creativity, and mood.
• Consider comfort and distractions: Make sure your chosen spot is comfortable enough for long writing sessions, but also free from distracting elements that could hinder your focus.
• Time of day matters: Pay attention to the time of day when you’re most productive. Some write best in the early morning’s tranquility, while others find their creative peak during nighttime hours.

11. Are all words spelled correctly?

While spell checkers are a helpful tool, they aren’t infallible. It’s crucial to read over your essay meticulously, possibly even aloud, to catch any spelling errors. Reading aloud can help you notice mistakes that your eyes might skip over when reading silently. Be particularly attentive to words that spellcheck might not catch, such as proper nouns, technical jargon, or homophones (e.g., “there” vs. “their”). Attention to detail in spelling reflects your care and precision, both of which are qualities that admissions committees value.

12. Do you use proper punctuation and capitalization?

Correct punctuation and capitalization are key to conveying your message clearly and professionally . A common mistake in writing is the misuse of commas, particularly in complex sentences.

Example of a misused comma:

Incorrect: “I had an epiphany, I was using commas incorrectly.”

In this example, the comma is used incorrectly to join two independent clauses. This is known as a comma splice. It creates a run-on sentence, which can confuse the reader and disrupt the flow of your writing.

Corrected versions:

Correct: “I had an epiphany: I was using commas incorrectly.”

Correct: “I had an epiphany; I was using commas incorrectly.”

Correct: “I had an epiphany—I was using commas incorrectly.”

Correct: “I had an epiphany. I was using commas incorrectly.”

The corrections separate the two clauses with more appropriate punctuation. Colons, semicolons, em dashes, and periods can all be used in this context, though periods may create awkwardly short sentences.

These punctuation choices are appropriate because the second clause explains or provides an example of the first, creating a clear and effective sentence structure. The correct use of punctuation helps maintain the clarity and coherence of your writing, ensuring that your ideas are communicated effectively.

13. Do you abide by the word count?

Staying within the word count is crucial in demonstrating your ability to communicate ideas concisely and effectively. Here are some strategies to help reduce your word count if you find yourself going over the prescribed limits:

• Eliminate repetitive statements: Avoid saying the same thing in different ways. Focus on presenting each idea clearly and concisely.
• Use adjectives judiciously: While descriptive words can add detail, using too many can make your writing feel cluttered and overwrought. Choose adjectives that add real value.
• Remove unnecessary details: If a detail doesn’t support or enhance your main point, consider cutting it. Focus on what’s essential to your narrative or argument.
• Shorten long sentences: Long, run-on sentences can be hard to follow and often contain unnecessary words. Reading your essay aloud can help you identify sentences that are too lengthy or cumbersome. If you’re out of breath before finishing a sentence, it’s likely too long.
• Ensure each sentence adds something new: Every sentence should provide new information or insight. Avoid filler or redundant sentences that don’t contribute to your overall message.

14. Proofread meticulously.

Implementing a thorough and methodical proofreading process can significantly elevate the quality of your essay, ensuring that it’s free of errors and flows smoothly.

• Detailed review: After addressing bigger structural and content issues, focus on proofreading for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. This step is crucial for polishing your essay and making sure it’s presented professionally.
• Different techniques: Employ various techniques to catch mistakes. For example, read your essay backward, starting from the last sentence and working your way to the beginning. This method can help you focus on individual sentences and words, rather than getting caught up in the content.
• Read aloud: As mentioned before, reading your essay aloud is another effective technique. Hearing the words can help identify awkward phrasing, run-on sentences, and other issues that might not be as obvious when reading silently.

15. Utilize external feedback.

While self-editing is crucial, external feedback can provide new perspectives and ideas that enhance your writing in unexpected ways. This collaborative process can help you keep your essay error-free and can also help make it resonate with a broader audience.

• Fresh perspectives: Have a trusted teacher, mentor, peer, or family member review your drafts. Each person can offer unique insights and perspectives on your essay’s content, structure, and style.
• Identify blind spots: We often become too close to our writing to see its flaws or areas that might be unclear to others. External reviewers can help identify these blind spots.
• Constructive criticism: Encourage your reviewers to provide honest, constructive feedback. While it’s important to stay true to your voice and story, be open to suggestions that could strengthen your essay.
• Diverse viewpoints: Different people will focus on different aspects of your writing. For example, a teacher might concentrate on your essay’s structure and academic tone, while a peer might provide insights into how engaging and relatable your narrative is.
• Incorporate feedback judiciously: Use the feedback to refine your essay, but remember that the final decision on any changes rests with you. It’s your story and your voice that ultimately need to come through clearly.

When it comes to refining your college essays, getting external feedback is crucial. Our free Peer Essay Review tool allows you to receive constructive criticism from other students, providing fresh perspectives that can help you see your work in a new light. This peer review process is invaluable and can help you both identify areas for improvement and gain different viewpoints on your writing.

For more tailored expert advice, consider the guidance of a CollegeVine advisor . Our advisors, experienced in the college admissions process, offer specialized reviews to enhance your essays. Their insights into what top schools are looking for can elevate your narrative, ensuring that your application stands out. Whether it’s through fine-tuning your grammar or enriching your story’s appeal, our experts’ experience and expertise can significantly increase your likelihood of admission to your dream school!

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Want free help with your college essay?

UPchieve connects you with knowledgeable and friendly college advisors—online, 24/7, and completely free. Get 1:1 help brainstorming topics, outlining your essay, revising a draft, or editing grammar.

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Learn about the elements of a solid admissions essay.

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How formal should the tone of your college essay be?

Learn how formal your college essay should be and get tips on how to bring out your natural voice.

Taking your college essay to the next level

Hear an admissions expert discuss the appropriate level of depth necessary in your college essay.

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Student Story: Admissions essay about a formative experience

Get the perspective of a current college student on how he approached the admissions essay.

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Student story: admissions essay about a past mistake, how to write a college application essay, tips for writing an effective application essay, sample college essay 1 with feedback, sample college essay 2 with feedback.

This content is licensed by Khan Academy and is available for free at www.khanacademy.org.

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Hey guys, so I've written my college application essay but I'm not sure if it's finalized. Are there any good resources/strategies for editing and reviewing? I'm pretty nervous about this and would appreciate any advice!

Hi there! I totally understand how you might be feeling nervous about your college application essay, but you are already being proactive by seeking out credible editors. Here are a few resources and strategies to help you with editing and reviewing:

1. Ask for feedback from trusted individuals: Share your essay with teachers, counselors, or family members who have good writing skills and can provide constructive feedback. Be open to their suggestions and make changes accordingly.

2. Peer review: Consider sharing your essay with friends or classmates who are also applying to college. They can provide a fresh perspective and may notice things that you might have missed.

3. Online resources: There are various online resources that can help you with editing, such as grammar and punctuation checkers like Grammarly, Hemingway Editor, and the built-in features within Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Additionally, CollegeVine offers free peer essay reviews and paid professional reviews through their platform, which you can learn more about here: https://www.collegevine.com/essays/review

4. Read your essay out loud: This can help you catch any awkward phrasings or grammatical errors that you might have missed during your initial read-throughs. It can also help you assess the overall flow and tone of your essay.

5. Take breaks and revisit your essay: Editing and revising can sometimes feel overwhelming, so take breaks between reviewing sessions and approach your essay with a fresh mind. This can help you catch any lingering errors and ensure your essay is polished.

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

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How To Edit Your College Application Essays

CollegeAdvisor Admissions Expert and Essay Review specialist Juliana explains how to edit your essays to perfection.

Webinar Transcription

2021-11-14 How to Edit Your College Application Essays

[00:00:00] Hi, everyone. Welcome to CollegeAdvisor’s webinar on how to edit your college application essays. To orient everyone with the webinar timing, we’ll start off with a presentation, then answer your questions in a live Q and a on the sidebar. You can download the slides and you can start submitting your questions in the Q and a tab.

Now let’s meet our panelists.

Hello, everyone, and nice to meet you. Hope you’re having a great evening. Um, my name is Juliana Furigay. I am currently a junior at Columbia university studying financial economics and ethnicity, race studies. And I’m really glad to help you guys out today on editing your college apps.

Okay, we’re going to start off with the quick polls. So the first question is, have you completed your college application essays? So this can be like your personal statement, your supplements, or any short answer responses, just any part of [00:01:00] the application. Have you completed them? And then so your responses are, yes, I have completed all of them.

I’ve completed some of them or I haven’t completed any. And while we wait for those answers to roll in, uh, Juliana, what made you choose your major? Sure. So I was always interested in economics. Um, in high school I took a microeconomics course. I also took some economics courses at Northwestern, U Chicago.

So I knew that I was interested in the subject and I wanted to explore it more in college. So I decided to declare the major, fall in love with the classes. And then in terms of ethnicity and race studies, it’s a new concentration that I tacked on this year. And I was always involved in social justice work.

I interned for this organization called Asian Americans, advancing justice back in high school. And I knew I wanted to explore, you know, the subject in an academic setting. Wow. That is a lot. That is an interesting mixture. So it’s looking like we have 6% [00:02:00] say, um, they’ve completed all of them. 47% have completed some of them and 47% haven’t completed any.

Alrighty. So moving on to this first slide here, um, you guys may be wondering how does a strong essay impact a college application? And I would personally argue that a strong essay is one of the most important parts of your college application. You know, it allows your personality and story to shine through.

Um, it can also make yourself stand out among other applicants in the pool. I feel like the essay is the one part of your application where you can really add your own touch to it because you know, when you have your list of extracurriculars, all they see are, you know, those activities for what they are.

They don’t see your involvement within it. They don’t see your feelings towards it. They don’t see the specific anecdotes from your experiences that really add the extra [00:03:00] dimension to your personality. That’s important to differentiate yourself, but the essay can definitely do that for you. Um, and also in terms of test scores, a strong essay can compensate for lower test scores.

Um, meaning that if you have a good essay and you don’t have maybe the best scores, they can overlook that a bit by, you know, reading your essay and, you know, weighing that more. And additionally, more schools these days are becoming tests optional, which is a trend that we’ve been seeing, you know, with the onset of COVID-19 and people having different difficulties with taking exams.

Um, so as more schools start to adopt this policy, your essays will carry more weight, which is why it’s really important for you to develop that strongest.

Um, so why is editing your writing important? So to put it succinctly, I would say that the goal of editing and proofreading is to ensure [00:04:00] that your ideas are expressed clearly coherently and concisely. Um, and you guys may be wondering, I differentiated editing and proofreading. So what’s the difference between, you know, proofreading and editing.

So editing. Revising the content structure and grammar of your writing, whereas proofreading involves checking for accuracy and smaller details. So you’re looking at spelling punctuation, there’s more smaller, fine details in your writing. And the typical order that you would follow is to edit before you proofread proofreading should typically be the final stage of the editing process, where you focus on really fine tuning that surface language.

Um, and I would argue that you proofread last because you want to make sure that you have a strong essay and strong structure first before you prove. Because otherwise you’re spending too much time proofreading, you know, changing up your language, even though you don’t know that you’re going to [00:05:00] stay, stay with that structure that you have.

So it’s important to build that strong basis, make sure that your paragraphs are broken up in a way that, you know, is conducive to the understanding of your essay. You want to make sure that, you know, the order of your paragraphs is set as well. You have, you know, your conclusion really tying everything together and everything in between flowing naturally.

Um, so definitely editing before proofreading.

Um, and you guys may also be wondering how much time should you give, um, to edit these application essays. And so right here, I have the screenshot of a timeline from CollegeAdvisor, a student handbook. And, you know, in your junior year, March through June, you should really spend that time brainstorming topics for your personal statement.

Um, I would definitely suggest that you complete that personal statement before you complete your other supplemental essays, um, specific to colleges, just because [00:06:00] you don’t know if your college list is going to change also because the personal statement. No the most important essay that you’re going to set out since you’re sending that to all of your colleges and it’s something that’s really central to your identity, rather than like a school specific supplement where you’re just focusing on maybe like one aspect or, you know, focusing more on the school.

Um, and in terms of your June, July of your junior year, that’s when you should start drafting and workshopping your personal statement. So, you know, you already have these topics that you’ve brainstormed bullet pointed less of what you think you might want to write about. And then in the summer months you should start, you know, drafting that, seeing which topic you actually want to go forth with.

Um, and in July to August, you should be finalizing your personal statement, um, and preparing to write those school specific supplemental essays, uh, SU senior year, August to December. That’s when you should be we’re shopping and completing all of your required essays, because that’s when all the deadlines [00:07:00] are going to.

So what steps can you take to edit your essays? So the first thing you should do is to read through your first draft and as you do, so you should definitely ask yourself a couple of questions. The first is, does my essay clearly answer the prompts? You know, that’s really important. You want to make sure that you’re not going off topic, that all your ideas are central to this question that you’re answering, which upper prompt you end up choosing, um, on the common app coalition app, whatever it may be.

Um, you want to ask yourself is my essay. Well-organized. You have to see, you know, can I rearrange my paragraphs to more effectively convey my message? Can I split up my paragraphs differently? Because the organization of your essay is really important. You don’t want to have, you know, short paragraphs where the admissions officer kind of has to struggle to read through, but you also don’t want these large paragraphs where the reader can get lost in what you’re trying to say.

[00:08:00] So really make sure that your paragraphs are organized well, split up. Well, um, you should also ask yourself, am I on topic, which does fall under that first question that I talked about? Um, do I vary up my sentence structures and lengths? You want to make sure that you’re not repeating. You know, I am, I am.

I hope, I hope things like that and make sure that you’re varying up your sentences, um, because you don’t want the admissions officer to get bored, reading your writing. You want to make sure that you have, you know, some variants and your sentence structures, your lengths. Um, and then lastly, ask yourself, do I have me spelling or grammatical errors, which ties into the pre.

How can a student figure out what needs to be fixed? So I would say first, read your essay aloud to yourself and highlight any areas that sound awkward. You know, this is really important because sometimes when you’re reading in your [00:09:00] head, you don’t really see how those words will translate to another person.

So when you’re speaking it aloud, you can see, okay, this is how my writing will read to another person. Um, and you can just check and see which areas don’t sound super great and that you can edit. Um, and the next thing is just to ask someone for help. It’s always great to have, you know, second, third pair of eyes to look over your writing because there’ll be able to catch things that you don’t, you don’t see yourself.

Um, so if a student needs help editing, who can they ask? Um, so you have a lot of different people that you can ask different resources for us or any teachers, uh, peers as well. This is something that I personally did a lot back when I was doing my college applications, my friends, and I would always, you know, share writing with each other.

And it would really help since, you know, we’d all been editing our essays and we all had different ways of going about or editing and proofreading. And we also all have our different writing styles. So [00:10:00] being able to see that fresh perspective and having that to look over to your essay, that was really helpful.

Um, and it can also be less intimidating than asking, you know, a teacher, a high school counselor, um, Asking someone who’s been through the college application process is something that’s really helpful as well. Um, because you know, they’ve been through the process, they had to edit their essays. They’ve written these essays, you know, they know what to look out for.

They know what makes a good college admissions essay. So we could ask people who’ve graduated from your high school, uh, siblings, parents, if they went through the process. Um, like I said before, you can also ask your high school counselor and of course your CollegeAdvisor.com advisor, um, we’re all equipped to help you out with editing your essays.

A lot of us have been through the process or have been former visions officers. You know, we know what to look out for and we’re kind of experts in that sense. Okay, so now [00:11:00] we’re going to do another quick poll and I actually added in another one. So I’ll launch it after this one, but for the first question, um, which essay or essays D struggle with the most.

So your response can be the personal statement, supplemental essays, um, or also known as the school specific essays or the short response essays, which are also school specific, but they’re like the really short, like describe yourself in five words, type of essays. Well, not really even essays. And while we wait for that, um, okay.

I had two questions, but, um, so Columbia’s supplements are like really interesting. Like they ask what, what’s your favorite book to read? How did you go about answering. Yeah. So a lot of students struggle with figuring out how to answer these essays because you know, they’re really different from what you see in different colleges.

Um, how I personally went about it is I wanted to make sure it was authentic. Some kids think that, you know, admissions officers want to see these heavy [00:12:00] academic texts just piled on. And I’m telling you right now that that’s not what they want to see. They want to see books that you actually enjoy. They want to see your personality shine through, like I said before through these.

So I, you know, I’m personally a fan of fashion magazines. I put that in, you know, the texts and publications that I read, um, movies as well. I put them there, romcoms I’m interested in. Um, so I’d say definitely. You know, media that you’ve actually been interested in rather than what you think the admissions officers want to see, because, you know, there’s no set thing that they want to see.

They just want to see that you’re being genuine to yourself. They want to see, you know, what kinds of media you’re actually interested in because a lot of Columbia students, you know, on the side, read, watch shows, watch movies, um, go to different shows in the city as well, which I know is, um, a question they have.

Yes. And that goes for all essays. They just want you to be yourself. There’s no right [00:13:00] answer. Um, and then also what you were saying earlier about the, um, listening to your, um, um, or reading a lot of your essay. I like to put it in word or any sort of like audio or text reader so I can hear it. Cause even when I’m reading it out loud, I will read it and whatever, I think I’m seeing and stuff when I’m actually seeing.

So for this one is looking like 56% struggle with the personal statement, 28% struggle with the supplemental essays and 17% struggle with the short response. And now we’re going to do one more quick one that I kind of made up on the spot, but what aspect of the essay process do you struggle with the most?

So that can be the brainstorming and coming up with a topic drafting, the essay editing slash proofreading. Maybe you have completed it, but you just don’t like the flow of it. So it sounds funny, um, or, um, you have completed it, but you hate your topic completely and you can’t answer more than one response [00:14:00] for this one.

And while we wait for that, um, what did you write your personal statement about? Yes. So for my personal statement, it was a bit personal, so I wouldn’t get like too many details, but you know, it was about, I come from like an immigrant background. My parents are immigrants and I talked about, you know, the legislation that I passed with an Asian Americans advancing justice, which I talked about earlier.

So I like created and pass this policy that allowed English language learner students to waive the world language requirement, because otherwise they would have to deal with learning another language on top of English, since English is already their second language. So, you know, I made that policy change within Chicago public schools.

And I just talked about my experience, you know, speaking to city council and, you know, um, how fulfilling that was for me, just given my own family’s background as well. You know, it’s crazy. Like they say that kids can’t do anything and you literally press [00:15:00] legislation. Uh, it makes me feel like I’m not doing enough sometimes, but, uh, 33% of students say they, um, struggled with brainstorming or coming up with the topic 20%, um, struggle with drafting, the essay, 12% struggle with editing and proofreading.

32% say they’ve completed it, but they don’t like the flow. And 4% say they’ve completed it, but they don’t like the topic.

All right. So how will a student know when their essays are done and they don’t need any more editing? So kind of going back to those three initial goals I talked about earlier, it’s, you know, when your edits no longer improve your ability to express your ideas, clearly coherently and concisely. Um, some advice that I have is to keep a Google doc with multiple versions of your essay, draft one, draft two draft three, to keep track of [00:16:00] those changes and check for the above, because you know, when you’re making these edits, sometimes it’s hard to go back and see what you’ve edited, whether it sounded better before.

So if you have this running document, you can see, okay, you know, maybe this edit that I made actually shouldn’t have been made and it sounded better before. So you can kind of go back and edit like that. And it also, you know, Like the people I mentioned earlier, you can show them, you know, your different drafts and see, you know, what sounds best, what edits were worth it to them.

Um, so what was my experience of writing and editing college essays? So I followed the processes that I’ve discussed in the earlier slides. You know, I reached out to my peers and my friends. We all edited each other’s essays. I also made sure to just edit mine thoroughly, I’m kind of a perfectionist. So I would just constantly kind of add on these edits and see, okay, does this sound better?

This does not sound better. Um, and kind of go about it that way. So definitely I’d [00:17:00] say just like reach out to people, you know, make sure you can have like, as many people as you can look over your essay and also just make sure that you’re. You know, doing the editing on your part as well. Um, now I’m actually part of CollegeAdvisor.com essay review team, where my role is to edit and proofread students as essays.

So basically I’m an advisor and their client can decide they want someone else to look over the essay. So they’ll send it to our essay review team and we’ll send it back in a day or so. And through this role, I’ve kind of seen, you know, a wide array of essays that students have written. And I’ve also seen some common mistakes, uh, within these essays.

So one thing I’d say to look out for is like run-on sentences. You know, sometimes you get too caught up in your idea, your thoughts, and you’ll just ramble on, in a sentence and you know, it doesn’t become coherent to the reader. What exactly you’re trying to express. So definitely look out for [00:18:00] that. Um, and you can catch that when you’re reading your essay aloud, because you’ll run out of breath with.

Goes to show that’s a run-on sentence. Um, another thing the IFC is also failing to include enough personal anecdotes. And I think that this is really important, especially in your personal statement, since, you know, that’s the essay that’s supposed to portray you and you know, the most important experiences that you’ve had in your life.

And if you don’t include enough personal anecdotes and you say, you know, more generic things, like I experienced growth, I was inspired and you’re not really. Talking about how those experiences were transformative for you. And you’re just using these more like generic adjectives to describe that, like I’d say definitely include personal anecdotes in place of those more generic adjectives to describe your experiences.

Um, something I’ve also seen is failing to tie the beginning of the [00:19:00] essay together with the end and something that I’ve seen a lot in people’s essays is they don’t have this circular narrative structure. And it’s something that I, you know, give advice to. A lot of my essay review team clients, I’ll say that a circular narrative structure is really the best way to go with these essays.

You’ll want to tie the beginning and the end of the essay together with something clever. And it’s hard for me to give a specific example. Um, but it’s like if you mentioned something in the beginning, You know, meant, like add onto it and the end. Um, just so you have that cohesive kind of circular narrative structure and it doesn’t seem like you’re going all over the place.

Um, so what last piece of advice would I give to you guys and editing your college essays? So I would say definitely give yourself enough time to edit and proofread. Um, definitely refers to that timeline that I have in the previous slide. If you don’t give yourself enough time to, [00:20:00] you know, write out that essay, you won’t have time to edit and proofread.

So if you’re doing these all last minute, you won’t have time to do that. And it’s really important that you do because you know, the first graph is typically going to look quite different from that final draft that you end up submitting. So you’ve got to give yourself enough time to do that. Also don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Like I said earlier, you’re all here to help you out. Everyone’s willing to, you know, read over your essays and you have a lot of people that can do that for you.

Okay. Okay. Sorry about that. Um, so that is the end of our presentation, the presentation part of our webinar. I hope you found this information helpful and remember that you can download the slides from the link in the handouts tab, moving onto the live Q and a I’ll read through your questions you submitted in the Q and a tab and read them [00:21:00] aloud before our panelists gives you an answer as a heads up, if your Q and a tab, isn’t letting me submit questions, just double-check that you joined the webinar through the custom link in your email and not from the webinar landing page.

Um, and just as a quick point, um, I made a webinar the other day about, um, rethinking your personal statement, and it does have some tips about if you’re, um, on editing and proofreading. So if you want to check that out too. Uh, okay. So, um, for the first question, when students asking, when did you start. The essays, um, for the admissions process.

Uh, so I actually followed the timeline I talked about earlier. It was really my junior summer that I was, uh, cranking out those essays.

Um, so our next question is, um, is it necessary to update your essays for the early applications, um, to the regular decision [00:22:00] pool? Like if you already submitted for early, do you need to, should you like change it and then submit it, um, resubmit it for, um, like a new essay for the unregulated. So I would not say that it’s necessary per se.

Um, if you were, if you felt pretty rushed sending in those early decision, early application applications, um, and you don’t think that it’s your strongest essay, then I can say you can revise it. If you’re not really a fan of the topic that you wrote about, you could revise it. But I’d say if you follow the advice that I gave and you were, you know, good on that timeline, you were able to go through rounds of edits.

You don’t need to change your essay.

Uh, another student is asking, should you ever name drop people? You’re looking forward to interacting with on the college? Um, so advice that I give students about their college specific supplemental [00:23:00] essays is like to namedrop professors. That’s typically one, one good thing to do. Um, you don’t have to, you don’t have to do it, but it’s something that you can do to show that you’ve researched the college.

You know, there’s this specific professor that you’re interested in taking class with or conducting research with. So I think in that sense, it would be good to,

uh, just for even my clarification. Um, so what the essay review team do you need to be a part of college advisories that, or can you be like just a student and send your essays to them? Uh, so it’s just currently college advisor.

Um, okay. So, uh, next question is, um, how do I come up with a good topic to focus on in the essay, the personal state. Yes. So I did, as I just had like a running Google doc, you can even write it down if that’s more your style and just think about [00:24:00] what formative experiences you’ve had in your life, whether it’s your upbringing or an extracurricular that you are really dedicated to, um, maybe a family member had, you know, an impact on you that formed you into who you are today.

Think about all of those formative experiences as formative people and just write it down and see, you know, which of those you’d want to follow through with, I had a similar thing on that. Just like writing out all the topics and then just write each of them out as much as you can and see which one you just enjoy writing about more or, um, which one you have more to say about.

Um, and then also if you’re like writing about one and you end up going off on a tangent, maybe the tangent is more interesting than the initial topics. So seeing if you can go somewhere with that, Okay, so just going off of your experience, can you, um, talk about like some comments or, um, edits you made [00:25:00] when you were reading a particular student’s essay?

Like, can you explain, like, what was maybe not so good about it and how they, how you suggested they improve it? Um, so I can speak specifically to that circular narrative structure I was talking about earlier. Um, don’t want to give out personal details about different students as essays, but I will say that, you know, sometimes I’ve had students submit an essay and their conclusion kind of goes on a tangent.

Similar to what you said earlier, and doesn’t really tie into their introductory paragraph. So I always will suggest, you know, I’ll find a specific facet of their introduction that I find interesting and that they can tie back into their conclusions and on a clever note. Um, and I’d say that’s definitely something you can do on your own too.

You can look at your introduction and say, okay, maybe I referenced a specific quote. Um, maybe I talked about like a song that had influenced me. Like you can refer back to the [00:26:00] lyrics at the end, or you can expand on that quote in the conclusion. So basically just something that ties together, your essay, that is some feedback that I’ve given to a lot of students in my, um, essay review, team feedback.

Um, one thing that I. That is what my students is. Um, they’ll write their personal statement and it’ll just kind of be a list of different events or things that happen in their life, but none of them really get explained in detail and they just, um, it’s just sort of like, kind of like their activities list only about their whole life.

And it doesn’t really say anything in particular about who they are, what they’ve done, or how these experiences have shaped them. So I went through and I just had work. Uh, a new story started and ended on how many different things that they could go in deeper on if they had more to say about it or [00:27:00] finding a better focus in their essay.

And so, like an example of that would be, um, say a student that likes stands. I’m not going to talk about my actual students, but a student likes, um, dance. So they’ll say like, oh, I’ve been dancing since I was two. Um, I joined a dance camp and I’ve also been on the dance team in my high school. Um, and then I also started a dance club at my school to show young girls how to do ballet.

And then, um, I want to do dance as a career, but it’s like, there were five different stories there and I didn’t really learn much from anything. I just learned that you did a lot with dance, which while it shows you’re dedicated to dance, it doesn’t really say anything more than that. So like picking one of those sentences or topics and going with it in some more detail, um, So, um, since we’re talking about our jaws at CollegeAdvisor, let’s go into this.

So once work one-on-one with an advisor from our team of over 155 advisors and admissions officers sign up for a free [00:28:00] consultation with us, by going to CollegeAdvisor.com and clicking the green chat button in the right of the screen from there, just write in consultation and a live team member will get back to you to help with your free consultation with us.

And there are different services you can get at CollegeAdvisor, such as working with an advisor. You can ask for help from the S the review team. Um, you can all so, um, well with, uh, having an advisor, I know that like me and my clients, we meet up, um, either once a month or once a week, depending on the time of the year or what they need.

And then we just talk about different things. And from those meetings, I’m able to see the toxic about more to help brainstorm their ideas. Um, uh, having someone else listen to you and tell you what they see or hear about the topic that’s [00:29:00] okay.

Um, it editing if there’s a good place. Um, the only thing about.[00:30:00]

Hello, can everyone hear me? All right. I think McKenzie might be having some tech issues. Um, so we’ll just wait for her to come back.

McKenzie. Can you hear me?

Yes. I’m so sorry about that. No clue what happened. Um, uh, so I’m not sure if you were saying experience with [00:31:00] CollegeAdvisor, but if you want to share anything about like working with clients,

Sure I can. Um, so I have been with CollegeAdvisor kind of from the star, even when we were called bulls-eye missions. I’m not sure if anyone remembers that, but I’ve been with called advisor for a couple of years now. And, you know, helping out clients has really been so fulfilling. We really offer comprehensive services where, you know, we’re helping students build their extracurricular lists.

Um, we’re helping them edit their essays, brainstorm their essays. Um, we’re helping out with building your college list and decide, you know, if you want to apply to an early school and what school that should be. So we really offer these comprehensive services, um, that I honestly didn’t have when I was applying to colleges.

No, I’d never had a call to advisor.com account. I don’t think it existed [00:32:00] back then when I was applying to colleges, but, you know, I relied on, you know, my friends, high school alum, parents, teachers, counselors, I relied on different people to kind of help me out with the process. Um, so that was really helpful.

It’s always great to reach out for help if you need it. Um, yes. And on that note, yes, I am. I just turned off my camera. Sorry. Um, me, uh, okay. So, uh, another student student, um, uh, another student is asking, um, what should I add to improve my essay and make it unique and captivate. Um, so I would definitely say personal anecdotes are important for that.

So instead of having those more generic adjectives, like I was [00:33:00] inspired, I felt excited. Um, definitely referenced specific moments in your life that tie into this general theme that you’re talking about, whether it’s, you know, your experience with dance, like you said earlier with Mackenzie. So instead of just saying I liked dance, um, my schedule was busy because of dance.

Instead of saying those more generic sentences, you know, talk about a specific experience. Maybe you stepped up and became a leader on your team. You know, maybe you weren’t the best at dance before, but you worked really hard. You, you improve, you went to even like extra practices and now you’re, you know, trying to major in dance, something like that, that shows, you know, How specifically this experience has impacted you and why it’s been so formative in your experiences?

Definitely. And then, um, one thing that I had talked about was [00:34:00] going beyond just saying like, um, like if you’re saying something that you did, so maybe if you did start a club, maybe besides just saying like, oh, I started a dance club at my high school adding like, um, how, um, how you went about this. So maybe saying like, I started a dance club at my high school by getting together, um, a group of, um, 10 girls and we.

But meetup on Wednesdays, I’m spit balling at the moment. And then, um, besides just having leaving it there, that’s just like, okay, you did that. Great. So what, adding on something. So I started this dance club because I wanted to give other students a space to really express themselves because I know that when I’m dancing, I feel very free and I enjoy myself and I felt happy.

So creating this club would just bring another, um, place to feel those feelings. So, um, not only this, the show what she did, but it shows why you did it. [00:35:00] And it shows like different characteristics of yourself. Like, oh, you’re empathetic. You understand that? Okay. This makes you happy. So maybe it will make other people happy.

Um, your. And what’s the word initiator, um, or you have initiative, um, because you started the club, you founded it, you got the people together. Um, it shows different aspects of yourself without just straight up saying like, oh yeah, I’m innovative. Like I’m creative, I’m empathetic. Um, so yeah. Uh, so going on to the next, um, question, um, what, do you have any recommendations on the steps to complete an application essay?

Like, is there any sort of order you should follow? Um, cause sometimes people can get so caught up in the process. Yes. So kind of similar to hallway. Outlined before in that timeline, definitely. First thing is brainstorming your topics. So, you know, this goes both for the personal [00:36:00] statement and your supplemental essays, you know, brainstorm topics, um, that you might be interested in talking about for the personal statement.

It would be those formative life experiences. And then, you know, for the supplemental essays, it will depend on the prompt, but you know, a common prompt for these colleges is like the why school essay, like why Columbia, why brown essay, different colleges, and one way to approach that is, you know, it depends on the word count as well, but you know, you can do two things.

You can, you know, list out what parts of the college experience you’re most excited for. You know, is it the academics? Is it the social life? Is it the extracurriculars, you know, list those out and then. Do your research to figure out what specifically that school has to offer in those different areas that you’re interested in, um, and experiencing in college.

So have those brainstorms less, and then you would then move on to the drafting part of it. [00:37:00] So draft out your essays based off of that bullet pointed list, then workshop it, finalize your essay and, you know, do that editing proofreading, share it with your friends, family, other people that can help out and read over your essays.

Um, and yeah, once you’re done with the proofreading, then you’re completed. So those are definitely the different stages I would say. And within that, there’s more specifics, but those are the main things I’d say that you should do.

One thing that I have my students do is sort of like this, um, kind of, it’s kind of a formula that I created, but not something you have to Polish to a T. So the why, what and how, so your, why would be your passion or like your inciting moment? The thing that got you interested in it? Um, so like for me it would be like school counseling.

So I would say why I got interested in at my high school, um, the school counselors, weren’t all that. Um, [00:38:00] good per se. And at a lot of schools, a lot of counselors don’t necessarily provide the best service. Okay. To students for different reasons. And therefore students are at a disadvantage, especially, um, minority students or students coming from very large schools with very limited resources.

Um, so that’s my why. And then going into the what, so my, the, what is like, what are you going to do in college? What resources are going to use, what programs, um, so like talking about the major, talking about specific courses that you’d want to take talking about different researcher, internships, anything about the college experience that will be useful to you and.

A good thing to like add here, like not just saying like, oh, I wanna take a psychology course. Oh, I want to take a business course or an ethics course, but also talking about the skills and knowledge that you gained from them. Um, so like, um, from a psychology course, being able to learn how the mind works and, um, being able to take that information and that knowledge, uh, and then, um, take getting [00:39:00] an ethics course and understanding how to work with people.

Maybe even taking a public speaking course and understand, like building your skills of public speaking and then taking all those skills, knowledge, and information and talking about how that will help you fulfill your why or your passion. And then, so the last part would be saying like, um, anything with career or any project or anything you’re interested in.

So saying like, um, for me, uh, I would take like a psychology class. I would take a human development class. Um, what other. So I take, um, and whatever other classes that I’m taking right now, like Spanish. And then I would, how I would use those is like being able to do Spanish. I’d be able to work with students from different backgrounds that maybe don’t speak English.

Um, taking, um, human development courses will help me understand the growth process of my students and understand where they’re at and I’ll be able to use that to help with know why. So that’s just a good way to answer, [00:40:00] like, especially it’s more so for the why score, why major questions. Um, but you can use it in a personal statement also.

Um, okay. So going on to the next question is, um, what kinds of topics are acceptable in essays and what kind of art, uh, Okay. So I’d say you can pretty much write about anything. I don’t know if you guys have seen those different essays that are more quirky. Like I think there was one about Costco. Some girl just wrote her personal statement about her passion for Costco.

Just something that’s like menial that you wouldn’t really think you could write a full essay about, you know, sometimes college admissions officers like to see that since, you know, they can get bored by seeing the same topics over and over again. So, you know, if you offer a new perspective, I’m not saying you have to write about something, you know, more quirky like that, but you definitely can, um, things to stray away from anything that leans like [00:41:00] political, something that people can be divided on.

Try to stray away from that. Um, but you can talk about your religion, how that’s been formative for you. If that’s something that you’re interested in talking about, you can talk about your racial or ethnic identity. Those are definitely topics that you can talk about. I would say, just stray away from running, anything that could be considered controversial.

Um, have, do you have any examples of anything controversial you’ve seen or anything that may be a bit concerning, but it like came together well? Hmm. Um, not that I have personally seen. I think my clients have just aired on the safer side and I’ve given them that advice before they write out their essays.

But something I could see is, you know, supporting a specific political candidate and just reading like an ode to them. That probably wouldn’t be something that would appeal to all of the admissions officers, [00:42:00] reading your essays so best not to do that.

Okay, so going onto the next question. Um, so one student is asking you change your comment up, um, personal essay. Um, it’s a bit vague. Um, is there any point where you should change it or shouldn’t change it? Okay. Um, so I’m not exactly sure what the question is asking for. If you’d like to elaborate on that, feel free to, um, my interpretation of this question is like, whether you should change it between.

Like if you’re drafting your essay, like when you should change it, um, you know, if you don’t see yourself writing passionately about the topic and if you’re like writing it out and you’re like, you know, I should have gone with a different topic in my brainstorm lists. Maybe go for that, go for another one.

And [00:43:00] sad if you do have the time, I’m not sure if that’s exactly what you were asking, but that would be my answer.

Uh, okay. So another shoe’s asking, where is the line between promoting your achievements and sounding pretentious? Um, okay, so that is a fine line, I would say, but you do want to proudly show your accomplishments and achievements, but you don’t want to be like bragging. You don’t want to have like, you know, a superior attitude towards other people when you’re talking about these accomplishments.

So, you know, case in point maybe. Compare yourself to other people. And the essay saying like, you know, I was so much smarter than this person on the debate team, something like that, that could be perceived as negative, but it’s okay to show like, you’re proud of your accomplishments. Like I’ve achieved these awards in the debate team, you know, I’ve grown in [00:44:00] this way.

So I think the distinction there would be focusing on yourself versus focusing on comparing yourself to others. And it’s best to just focus on yourself and your accomplishments and being proud there and not feeling like you need to be competitive and compare yourself to other people.

One thing that I’ve told people is that, um, for your activities list, you can put like your awards, your achievements, if you started a business or did a fundraiser put like the dollar amounts that you earned, or like percentages that you gained from those endeavors, and then in the personal statement, worry less about like the objective.

Yes, you did win, but instead of focusing on like what you learn, how you about what the experience was like and the impact, and really expanding on that aspect of it, the things that numbers don’t really speak for. Uh, so going on to the next question, um,[00:45:00]

okay. While I look for another question, is there any other light tips or, um, general things that you want to talk about or anything from your own experience about writing. Um, so one thing that I didn’t talk about earlier that I’d like to elaborate a bit on now is including sensory imagery in your essays.

Um, so like, imagine you want to talk about a specific experience in your personal statement. Maybe it’s, you know, like, like a game, like if you’re playing a soccer game and you’re talking specifically to that experience, it’s best to kind of appeal to the five senses, you know, how are you, how are you feeling?

What are you seeing visually? What are you hearing? What are your teammates saying to you? Because you know, when you do that, you’re able to fully craft this experience and memory that the college admissions officer can envision in their minds as they’re reading it. [00:46:00] So instead of generically saying, you know, this happened and this happened within the game, you’re really.

Setting the admissions officer within that specific scene. And they’re more able to see your perspective and see it as an experience that’s personal to you. So I’d say incorporating sensory imagery in your personal statement and other essays is a really important thing to do.

Uh, so the student follow up, they said like, should you change your personal statement between applications? So I’m guessing that means like between submitting them or like the supplier. It depends if it’s the, oh, it is the personal statement, um, between submitting them or, um, yeah. So I think rule of thumb is you want your personal statement to stay consistent between the different colleges, because you know, this personal statement is central to your identity, not one specific school.

Right. And that’s something that’s not going to change no matter which college you’re applying [00:47:00] to. So I’d say. Keep with your personal statement. As I said earlier, if you want to change it between early decision and regular applications, then feel free to do that only if you felt like, you know, that first essay you submitted, wasn’t strong enough, wasn’t your best work, or you were like, you were short on time.

You didn’t like the essay that you’d sent in. Like that’s the only scenario I would say to change it. But typically you’re going to keep sending the same personal statement out to these different essays, to these different colleges. So like on the comment app, when you go into your, um, into the common out part where it says personal essay, um, it’ll show you the list of the schools that are asking for it.

And when you submit your application, it gets sent. So all. Does it get sent to all the schools at the same time? No, it isn’t. Okay. When you submit your home application, To each individual school, it’s going to send them that [00:48:00] same essay. So, um, that, it’s more for the essay to be kind of broad. Like this is not where you’re name dropping or saying like specific teachers or programs that you want to work with.

Instead it’s focusing on like, um, more

all your schools or things you’re interested in, or some sort of aspect about yourself rather than talking about X, Y, and Z, but then you’re also emitting the same essay to other schools. That’s more for your supplements.

Um, okay. So another, there are other question is also defined supplemental essays from the various colleges, um, can or do overlap. Okay. I don’t think I read that correctly. Um, I think, uh, okay. [00:49:00] Do you think that the supplemental essays from various colleges can or do overlap with the personal essay on the common app?

Yup. So to answer that question, I would say that sometimes they do, you’ll see that some colleges will have prompts that are similar to those common app prompts, but the rule of thumb here is. So a new perspective, which with every essay that you write. So if you’ve already spoken about something extensively in your personal statement, you won’t want to talk about it again in your college specific supplement, because they want to see a new dimension with each of these essays.

Right? And if you’ve already talked extensively about it and your common app, it’s not really doing any favors for you. You’re they see your essays like comprehensively, they see your personal statement, they see your college specific supplements and they want to see an added layer. So even though it’s a similar prompt, you should talk about a different topic.

[00:50:00] Um, I think a different variation of this question could be, do you find supplemental essays from different colleges overlapping with each other? And that’s something that has. A lot, as you can see. Um, so with your Y X college essay, you can see that that tends to be pretty similar amongst the different colleges.

And you can kind of have like a bit of a template there. It’s a bit of a cheat sheet, but you can have a template that you stick with for all of those Y X college essays, but you also have to manage that fine line between, you know, having that template, but also being specific enough to the school. So even if you’re, you know, talking about professors and specific classes, um, specific extracurriculars that you want to partake in, and you have those sentences laid out, you have to switch them out and be specific to the school, but you can still have that kind of template as well.[00:51:00]

Are there any new questions, Mackenzie?

Can you hear me Mackenzie? Plenty. It was my computer. Sorry. Um, did you hear the last question I had asked? No. Which, which question did you ask? Uh, do you hear it? The last question I had asked, [00:52:00] which question did you ask? Uh, the, uh, the stew, you find something.

Um, so these, your words were actually echoing. Okay. No worries. Um, but I did answer that question. I do see that there’s another question in the chat. Is there an issue with mentioning a personal obstacle, a disability yet showing how you overcame the issue? Um, and that’s not a problem at all. If anything, it shows, you know, the resilience and determination that you have as an individual.

And that’s what calls admissions officers love to see. They love to see that you’ve grown as a student. You’ve grown as an individual, you know, you’ve overcame obstacles to, you know, to have integrity, um, today. So definitely not a problem. Yes. And if you see any other [00:53:00] questions in the chat that you’d like to answer, please do my computer gave up.

Sorry. Don’t worry about it. Um, let’s see if there are any new questions.

Alrighty. Seems like I answered Finn’s question plot to help out. Does anyone have any other questions they’d like to type in the chat quickly?

Well, while we wait for other questions, if there’s any, um, either specific examples or ideas that came to mind about, um, essays or any [00:54:00] other tips and tricks to writing them, please feel free to share.

Okay. Let’s see. Okay. I got a couple of personal questions if you don’t mind me answering those first instead. Um, so this first one is if you feel comfortable, I’m interested in what major colleges you got into other than Columbia. So I actually applied early decision to Columbia. So didn’t get into any other colleges and apply to any other colleges.

Uh, what do you think of an upward trend in grades? Is it important to these Ivy league colleges? Um, yeah, I’d say that’s definitely something. It’s important having that upward trend. So even if your grades weren’t the best freshman and sophomore year showing that you’ve had that upward trajectory can definitely help out for how like and compensate for those lower grades in the earlier years.

Um, and then any other advice I have, let’s see, I did go over a lot [00:55:00] during this webinar. So I’m trying to think of that. What other piece of is of advice I have? Um, okay. One piece of advice I thought of is for the Y X colleges. So a rule of thumb that I like to tell my students is if you switch out the college’s name with a different college, say that you’re writing your why Colombia supplement and you command off, you replace it with.

NYU and every place that Columbia used to be, if the essay makes complete sense, then you haven’t been specific enough to that school. So you have to ensure that, you know, you are listing those specific professors classes, extracurriculars, you’ve shown that you’ve researched the college and you’re really passionate about attending that specific college.

So that’s definitely a piece of advice that I will give to y’all

that is definitely useful. And [00:56:00] a lot of students struggle to be very specific with those essays just because, um, specific is a, not a vague word, but sometimes can be vague in this context. So, um, if you see any other questions in the chat, please let me know. Otherwise we will be ending just a few minutes early to.

Uh, so I see one, that’s gotten to my personal chat. So it’s, how are you able to motivate yourself to write your essays? So I think my main motivation was that I knew I wanted to go to a college that I was passionate about. That was in a big city. So I made sure to send her my efforts on, you know, starting those essays earlier and making sure that I was the best applicant, the best version of myself that I could be as an applicant.

Um, so that was like my main motivation. I’m also someone that really likes having concrete schedules with things. So I like, you know, [00:57:00] list it out. I want to complete my brainstorming of ideas by this day. I want to complete my, you know, drafting and workshopping by this date. So having those more concrete deadlines to work towards that, aren’t just the deadline set forth by common app and your specific colleges you’re applying to giving yourself deadlines for the different stages of the essay.

Writing process was definitely helpful for me. Um, Also just writing about a topic that you’re passionate about, which feeds into what I said earlier with the brainstorming. You want to make sure that you’re choosing a topic that you are excited to write about something that has really been transformative in your life.

That you’re passionate about. That you’re excited to tell the admissions officer about yourself. So I’d say those were my main motivations. Um, definitely I all slow like to plan out my schedule and I always make sure to plan out with time ahead of the deadline. So if like the deadline is tomorrow, I would have written down that the deadline was [00:58:00] actually three days ago.

um, I still have that buffer, but it’s, especially with the essays. It’s good to have at least two weeks from the actual hard deadline, just in case you decide to change your topic or you realize you don’t really like what you said, or maybe you had a bit more writer’s block than expected. And then also, um, especially more so with the supplements.

Um, if you find yourself really stressed and not wanting to answer to the questions, maybe that’s a good way to decide which schools you really want to go to, because if you really want to go there, you’d be willing to do the work for it. And then also, especially with the Y school questions, um, if you can’t think of anything to write about in a why school or a why major question, maybe consider why you’re applying there, because if you want to go somewhere, you should have a lot to say about it more than it’s a good school.

And I think on that we’re gonna, and the web, [00:59:00] uh, can you switch the slide please? Yes. Thank you. So that is the end of the webinar. Thank you to our panelists and thank you everyone for coming out tonight. And one more quick. So we hope you had a good time learning about how to edit your college essay. And, um, here’s the rest of our November series where we’re doing an applicant, uh, taking your college applications to the next level.

So we have different webinars on editing your essay, figuring out, um, if you want to change your topic and then other aspects of the application process and the next month it’ll be, um, going over, like anything you can do to really solidify your application. And then we also have some stuff for, um, our underclassmen.

Uh, so yeah, and then we also have a few webinars with, um, AOS, if you’re looking for a more, um, insider look into the admissions process. So please do check out those. And we also have our blogs and our, um, supplemental essay [01:00:00] guides and other, um, webinars, um, throughout our series. So again, thank you everyone for coming out and thank you to our panelists, Julia.

All right. Well, thank you, Mackenzie. Thank you everyone for coming tonight. I hope everyone has a great evening.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 177 college essay examples for 11 schools + expert analysis.

College Admissions , College Essays

The personal statement might just be the hardest part of your college application. Mostly this is because it has the least guidance and is the most open-ended. One way to understand what colleges are looking for when they ask you to write an essay is to check out the essays of students who already got in—college essays that actually worked. After all, they must be among the most successful of this weird literary genre.

In this article, I'll go through general guidelines for what makes great college essays great. I've also compiled an enormous list of 100+ actual sample college essays from 11 different schools. Finally, I'll break down two of these published college essay examples and explain why and how they work. With links to 177 full essays and essay excerpts , this article is a great resource for learning how to craft your own personal college admissions essay!

What Excellent College Essays Have in Common

Even though in many ways these sample college essays are very different from one other, they do share some traits you should try to emulate as you write your own essay.

Visible Signs of Planning

Building out from a narrow, concrete focus. You'll see a similar structure in many of the essays. The author starts with a very detailed story of an event or description of a person or place. After this sense-heavy imagery, the essay expands out to make a broader point about the author, and connects this very memorable experience to the author's present situation, state of mind, newfound understanding, or maturity level.

Knowing how to tell a story. Some of the experiences in these essays are one-of-a-kind. But most deal with the stuff of everyday life. What sets them apart is the way the author approaches the topic: analyzing it for drama and humor, for its moving qualities, for what it says about the author's world, and for how it connects to the author's emotional life.

Stellar Execution

A killer first sentence. You've heard it before, and you'll hear it again: you have to suck the reader in, and the best place to do that is the first sentence. Great first sentences are punchy. They are like cliffhangers, setting up an exciting scene or an unusual situation with an unclear conclusion, in order to make the reader want to know more. Don't take my word for it—check out these 22 first sentences from Stanford applicants and tell me you don't want to read the rest of those essays to find out what happens!

A lively, individual voice. Writing is for readers. In this case, your reader is an admissions officer who has read thousands of essays before yours and will read thousands after. Your goal? Don't bore your reader. Use interesting descriptions, stay away from clichés, include your own offbeat observations—anything that makes this essay sounds like you and not like anyone else.

Technical correctness. No spelling mistakes, no grammar weirdness, no syntax issues, no punctuation snafus—each of these sample college essays has been formatted and proofread perfectly. If this kind of exactness is not your strong suit, you're in luck! All colleges advise applicants to have their essays looked over several times by parents, teachers, mentors, and anyone else who can spot a comma splice. Your essay must be your own work, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting help polishing it.

And if you need more guidance, connect with PrepScholar's expert admissions consultants . These expert writers know exactly what college admissions committees look for in an admissions essay and chan help you craft an essay that boosts your chances of getting into your dream school.

Check out PrepScholar's Essay Editing and Coaching progra m for more details!

Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar.

Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges.

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Links to Full College Essay Examples

Some colleges publish a selection of their favorite accepted college essays that worked, and I've put together a selection of over 100 of these.

Common App Essay Samples

Please note that some of these college essay examples may be responding to prompts that are no longer in use. The current Common App prompts are as follows:

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. 2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? 3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? 4. Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you? 5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. 6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Now, let's get to the good stuff: the list of 177 college essay examples responding to current and past Common App essay prompts. 

Connecticut college.

• 12 Common Application essays from the classes of 2022-2025

Hamilton College

• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2026
• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2022
• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2018
• 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2012
• 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2007

Johns Hopkins

These essays are answers to past prompts from either the Common Application or the Coalition Application (which Johns Hopkins used to accept).

• 1 Common Application or Coalition Application essay from the class of 2026
• 6 Common Application or Coalition Application essays from the class of 2025
• 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2024
• 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2023
• 7 Common Application of Universal Application essays from the class of 2022
• 5 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2021
• 7 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2020

Essay Examples Published by Other Websites

• 2 Common Application essays ( 1st essay , 2nd essay ) from applicants admitted to Columbia

Other Sample College Essays

Here is a collection of essays that are college-specific.

Babson College

• 4 essays (and 1 video response) on "Why Babson" from the class of 2020

Emory University

• 5 essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) from the class of 2020 along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on why the essays were exceptional
• 5 more recent essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on what made these essays stand out

University of Georgia

• 1 “strong essay” sample from 2019
• 1 “strong essay” sample from 2018
• 10 Harvard essays from 2023
• 10 Harvard essays from 2022
• 10 Harvard essays from 2021
• 10 Harvard essays from 2020
• 10 Harvard essays from 2019
• 10 Harvard essays from 2018
• 6 essays from admitted MIT students

Smith College

• 6 "best gift" essays from the class of 2018

Books of College Essays

If you're looking for even more sample college essays, consider purchasing a college essay book. The best of these include dozens of essays that worked and feedback from real admissions officers.

College Essays That Made a Difference —This detailed guide from Princeton Review includes not only successful essays, but also interviews with admissions officers and full student profiles.

50 Successful Harvard Application Essays by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson—A must for anyone aspiring to Harvard .

50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays and 50 Successful Stanford Application Essays by Gen and Kelly Tanabe—For essays from other top schools, check out this venerated series, which is regularly updated with new essays.

Heavenly Essays by Janine W. Robinson—This collection from the popular blogger behind Essay Hell includes a wider range of schools, as well as helpful tips on honing your own essay.

Analyzing Great Common App Essays That Worked

I've picked two essays from the examples collected above to examine in more depth so that you can see exactly what makes a successful college essay work. Full credit for these essays goes to the original authors and the schools that published them.

Example 1: "Breaking Into Cars," by Stephen, Johns Hopkins Class of '19 (Common App Essay, 636 words long)

I had never broken into a car before.

We were in Laredo, having just finished our first day at a Habitat for Humanity work site. The Hotchkiss volunteers had already left, off to enjoy some Texas BBQ, leaving me behind with the college kids to clean up. Not until we were stranded did we realize we were locked out of the van.

Someone picked a coat hanger out of the dumpster, handed it to me, and took a few steps back.

"Can you do that thing with a coat hanger to unlock it?"

"Why me?" I thought.

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame. Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally. My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed. "The water's on fire! Clear a hole!" he shouted, tossing me in the lake without warning. While I'm still unconvinced about that particular lesson's practicality, my Dad's overarching message is unequivocally true: much of life is unexpected, and you have to deal with the twists and turns.

Living in my family, days rarely unfolded as planned. A bit overlooked, a little pushed around, I learned to roll with reality, negotiate a quick deal, and give the improbable a try. I don't sweat the small stuff, and I definitely don't expect perfect fairness. So what if our dining room table only has six chairs for seven people? Someone learns the importance of punctuality every night.

But more than punctuality and a special affinity for musical chairs, my family life has taught me to thrive in situations over which I have no power. Growing up, I never controlled my older siblings, but I learned how to thwart their attempts to control me. I forged alliances, and realigned them as necessary. Sometimes, I was the poor, defenseless little brother; sometimes I was the omniscient elder. Different things to different people, as the situation demanded. I learned to adapt.

Back then, these techniques were merely reactions undertaken to ensure my survival. But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The question caught me off guard, much like the question posed to me in Laredo. Then, I realized I knew the answer. I knew why the coat hanger had been handed to me.

Growing up as the middle child in my family, I was a vital participant in a thing I did not govern, in the company of people I did not choose. It's family. It's society. And often, it's chaos. You participate by letting go of the small stuff, not expecting order and perfection, and facing the unexpected with confidence, optimism, and preparedness. My family experience taught me to face a serendipitous world with confidence.

What Makes This Essay Tick?

It's very helpful to take writing apart in order to see just how it accomplishes its objectives. Stephen's essay is very effective. Let's find out why!

An Opening Line That Draws You In

In just eight words, we get: scene-setting (he is standing next to a car about to break in), the idea of crossing a boundary (he is maybe about to do an illegal thing for the first time), and a cliffhanger (we are thinking: is he going to get caught? Is he headed for a life of crime? Is he about to be scared straight?).

Great, Detailed Opening Story

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame.

It's the details that really make this small experience come alive. Notice how whenever he can, Stephen uses a more specific, descriptive word in place of a more generic one. The volunteers aren't going to get food or dinner; they're going for "Texas BBQ." The coat hanger comes from "a dumpster." Stephen doesn't just move the coat hanger—he "jiggles" it.

Details also help us visualize the emotions of the people in the scene. The person who hands Stephen the coat hanger isn't just uncomfortable or nervous; he "takes a few steps back"—a description of movement that conveys feelings. Finally, the detail of actual speech makes the scene pop. Instead of writing that the other guy asked him to unlock the van, Stephen has the guy actually say his own words in a way that sounds like a teenager talking.

Turning a Specific Incident Into a Deeper Insight

Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

Stephen makes the locked car experience a meaningful illustration of how he has learned to be resourceful and ready for anything, and he also makes this turn from the specific to the broad through an elegant play on the two meanings of the word "click."

Using Concrete Examples When Making Abstract Claims

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally.

"Unpredictability and chaos" are very abstract, not easily visualized concepts. They could also mean any number of things—violence, abandonment, poverty, mental instability. By instantly following up with highly finite and unambiguous illustrations like "family of seven" and "siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing," Stephen grounds the abstraction in something that is easy to picture: a large, noisy family.

Using Small Bits of Humor and Casual Word Choice

My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed.

Obviously, knowing how to clean burning oil is not high on the list of things every 9-year-old needs to know. To emphasize this, Stephen uses sarcasm by bringing up a situation that is clearly over-the-top: "in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed."

The humor also feels relaxed. Part of this is because he introduces it with the colloquial phrase "you know," so it sounds like he is talking to us in person. This approach also diffuses the potential discomfort of the reader with his father's strictness—since he is making jokes about it, clearly he is OK. Notice, though, that this doesn't occur very much in the essay. This helps keep the tone meaningful and serious rather than flippant.

An Ending That Stretches the Insight Into the Future

But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The ending of the essay reveals that Stephen's life has been one long preparation for the future. He has emerged from chaos and his dad's approach to parenting as a person who can thrive in a world that he can't control.

This connection of past experience to current maturity and self-knowledge is a key element in all successful personal essays. Colleges are very much looking for mature, self-aware applicants. These are the qualities of successful college students, who will be able to navigate the independence college classes require and the responsibility and quasi-adulthood of college life.

What Could This Essay Do Even Better?

Even the best essays aren't perfect, and even the world's greatest writers will tell you that writing is never "finished"—just "due." So what would we tweak in this essay if we could?

Replace some of the clichéd language. Stephen uses handy phrases like "twists and turns" and "don't sweat the small stuff" as a kind of shorthand for explaining his relationship to chaos and unpredictability. But using too many of these ready-made expressions runs the risk of clouding out your own voice and replacing it with something expected and boring.

Use another example from recent life. Stephen's first example (breaking into the van in Laredo) is a great illustration of being resourceful in an unexpected situation. But his essay also emphasizes that he "learned to adapt" by being "different things to different people." It would be great to see how this plays out outside his family, either in the situation in Laredo or another context.

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Example 2: By Renner Kwittken, Tufts Class of '23 (Common App Essay, 645 words long)

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver. I saw it in my favorite book, Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go," and for some reason, I was absolutely obsessed with the idea of driving a giant pickle. Much to the discontent of my younger sister, I insisted that my parents read us that book as many nights as possible so we could find goldbug, a small little golden bug, on every page. I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Then I discovered a real goldbug: gold nanoparticles that can reprogram macrophages to assist in killing tumors, produce clear images of them without sacrificing the subject, and heat them to obliteration.

Suddenly the destination of my pickle was clear.

I quickly became enveloped by the world of nanomedicine; I scoured articles about liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, targeting ligands, and self-assembling nanoparticles, all conquering cancer in some exotic way. Completely absorbed, I set out to find a mentor to dive even deeper into these topics. After several rejections, I was immensely grateful to receive an invitation to work alongside Dr. Sangeeta Ray at Johns Hopkins.

In the lab, Dr. Ray encouraged a great amount of autonomy to design and implement my own procedures. I chose to attack a problem that affects the entire field of nanomedicine: nanoparticles consistently fail to translate from animal studies into clinical trials. Jumping off recent literature, I set out to see if a pre-dose of a common chemotherapeutic could enhance nanoparticle delivery in aggressive prostate cancer, creating three novel constructs based on three different linear polymers, each using fluorescent dye (although no gold, sorry goldbug!). Though using radioactive isotopes like Gallium and Yttrium would have been incredible, as a 17-year-old, I unfortunately wasn't allowed in the same room as these radioactive materials (even though I took a Geiger counter to a pair of shoes and found them to be slightly dangerous).

I hadn't expected my hypothesis to work, as the research project would have ideally been led across two full years. Yet while there are still many optimizations and revisions to be done, I was thrilled to find -- with completely new nanoparticles that may one day mean future trials will use particles with the initials "RK-1" -- thatcyclophosphamide did indeed increase nanoparticle delivery to the tumor in a statistically significant way.

A secondary, unexpected research project was living alone in Baltimore, a new city to me, surrounded by people much older than I. Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research. Whether in a presentation or in a casual conversation, making others interested in science is perhaps more exciting to me than the research itself. This solidified a new pursuit to angle my love for writing towards illuminating science in ways people can understand, adding value to a society that can certainly benefit from more scientific literacy.

It seems fitting that my goals are still transforming: in Scarry's book, there is not just one goldbug, there is one on every page. With each new experience, I'm learning that it isn't the goldbug itself, but rather the act of searching for the goldbugs that will encourage, shape, and refine my ever-evolving passions. Regardless of the goldbug I seek -- I know my pickle truck has just begun its journey.

Renner takes a somewhat different approach than Stephen, but their essay is just as detailed and engaging. Let's go through some of the strengths of this essay.

One Clear Governing Metaphor

This essay is ultimately about two things: Renner’s dreams and future career goals, and Renner’s philosophy on goal-setting and achieving one’s dreams.

But instead of listing off all the amazing things they’ve done to pursue their dream of working in nanomedicine, Renner tells a powerful, unique story instead. To set up the narrative, Renner opens the essay by connecting their experiences with goal-setting and dream-chasing all the way back to a memorable childhood experience:

This lighthearted–but relevant!--story about the moment when Renner first developed a passion for a specific career (“finding the goldbug”) provides an anchor point for the rest of the essay. As Renner pivots to describing their current dreams and goals–working in nanomedicine–the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” is reflected in Renner’s experiments, rejections, and new discoveries.

Though Renner tells multiple stories about their quest to “find the goldbug,” or, in other words, pursue their passion, each story is connected by a unifying theme; namely, that as we search and grow over time, our goals will transform…and that’s okay! By the end of the essay, Renner uses the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” to reiterate the relevance of the opening story:

While the earlier parts of the essay convey Renner’s core message by showing, the final, concluding paragraph sums up Renner’s insights by telling. By briefly and clearly stating the relevance of the goldbug metaphor to their own philosophy on goals and dreams, Renner demonstrates their creativity, insight, and eagerness to grow and evolve as the journey continues into college.

An Engaging, Individual Voice

This essay uses many techniques that make Renner sound genuine and make the reader feel like we already know them.

Technique #1: humor. Notice Renner's gentle and relaxed humor that lightly mocks their younger self's grand ambitions (this is different from the more sarcastic kind of humor used by Stephen in the first essay—you could never mistake one writer for the other).

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver.

I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Renner gives a great example of how to use humor to your advantage in college essays. You don’t want to come off as too self-deprecating or sarcastic, but telling a lightheartedly humorous story about your younger self that also showcases how you’ve grown and changed over time can set the right tone for your entire essay.

Technique #2: intentional, eye-catching structure. The second technique is the way Renner uses a unique structure to bolster the tone and themes of their essay . The structure of your essay can have a major impact on how your ideas come across…so it’s important to give it just as much thought as the content of your essay!

For instance, Renner does a great job of using one-line paragraphs to create dramatic emphasis and to make clear transitions from one phase of the story to the next:

Suddenly the destination of my pickle car was clear.

Not only does the one-liner above signal that Renner is moving into a new phase of the narrative (their nanoparticle research experiences), it also tells the reader that this is a big moment in Renner’s story. It’s clear that Renner made a major discovery that changed the course of their goal pursuit and dream-chasing. Through structure, Renner conveys excitement and entices the reader to keep pushing forward to the next part of the story.

Technique #3: playing with syntax. The third technique is to use sentences of varying length, syntax, and structure. Most of the essay's written in standard English and uses grammatically correct sentences. However, at key moments, Renner emphasizes that the reader needs to sit up and pay attention by switching to short, colloquial, differently punctuated, and sometimes fragmented sentences.

Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research.

In the examples above, Renner switches adeptly between long, flowing sentences and quippy, telegraphic ones. At the same time, Renner uses these different sentence lengths intentionally. As they describe their experiences in new places, they use longer sentences to immerse the reader in the sights, smells, and sounds of those experiences. And when it’s time to get a big, key idea across, Renner switches to a short, punchy sentence to stop the reader in their tracks.

The varying syntax and sentence lengths pull the reader into the narrative and set up crucial “aha” moments when it’s most important…which is a surefire way to make any college essay stand out.

Renner's essay is very strong, but there are still a few little things that could be improved.

Connecting the research experiences to the theme of “finding the goldbug.”  The essay begins and ends with Renner’s connection to the idea of “finding the goldbug.” And while this metaphor is deftly tied into the essay’s intro and conclusion, it isn’t entirely clear what Renner’s big findings were during the research experiences that are described in the middle of the essay. It would be great to add a sentence or two stating what Renner’s big takeaways (or “goldbugs”) were from these experiences, which add more cohesion to the essay as a whole.

Give more details about discovering the world of nanomedicine. It makes sense that Renner wants to get into the details of their big research experiences as quickly as possible. After all, these are the details that show Renner’s dedication to nanomedicine! But a smoother transition from the opening pickle car/goldbug story to Renner’s “real goldbug” of nanoparticles would help the reader understand why nanoparticles became Renner’s goldbug. Finding out why Renner is so motivated to study nanomedicine–and perhaps what put them on to this field of study–would help readers fully understand why Renner chose this path in the first place.

4 Essential Tips for Writing Your Own Essay

How can you use this discussion to better your own college essay? Here are some suggestions for ways to use this resource effectively.

#1: Get Help From the Experts

Getting your college applications together takes a lot of work and can be pretty intimidatin g. Essays are even more important than ever now that admissions processes are changing and schools are going test-optional and removing diversity standards thanks to new Supreme Court rulings .  If you want certified expert help that really makes a difference, get started with  PrepScholar’s Essay Editing and Coaching program. Our program can help you put together an incredible essay from idea to completion so that your application stands out from the crowd. We've helped students get into the best colleges in the United States, including Harvard, Stanford, and Yale.  If you're ready to take the next step and boost your odds of getting into your dream school, connect with our experts today .

#2: Read Other Essays to Get Ideas for Your Own

As you go through the essays we've compiled for you above, ask yourself the following questions:

• Can you explain to yourself (or someone else!) why the opening sentence works well?
• Look for the essay's detailed personal anecdote. What senses is the author describing? Can you easily picture the scene in your mind's eye?
• Find the place where this anecdote bridges into a larger insight about the author. How does the essay connect the two? How does the anecdote work as an example of the author's characteristic, trait, or skill?
• Check out the essay's tone. If it's funny, can you find the places where the humor comes from? If it's sad and moving, can you find the imagery and description of feelings that make you moved? If it's serious, can you see how word choice adds to this tone?

Make a note whenever you find an essay or part of an essay that you think was particularly well-written, and think about what you like about it . Is it funny? Does it help you really get to know the writer? Does it show what makes the writer unique? Once you have your list, keep it next to you while writing your essay to remind yourself to try and use those same techniques in your own essay.

#3: Find Your "A-Ha!" Moment

All of these essays rely on connecting with the reader through a heartfelt, highly descriptive scene from the author's life. It can either be very dramatic (did you survive a plane crash?) or it can be completely mundane (did you finally beat your dad at Scrabble?). Either way, it should be personal and revealing about you, your personality, and the way you are now that you are entering the adult world.

Check out essays by authors like John Jeremiah Sullivan , Leslie Jamison , Hanif Abdurraqib , and Esmé Weijun Wang to get more examples of how to craft a compelling personal narrative.

#4: Start Early, Revise Often

Let me level with you: the best writing isn't writing at all. It's rewriting. And in order to have time to rewrite, you have to start way before the application deadline. My advice is to write your first draft at least two months before your applications are due.

Let it sit for a few days untouched. Then come back to it with fresh eyes and think critically about what you've written. What's extra? What's missing? What is in the wrong place? What doesn't make sense? Don't be afraid to take it apart and rearrange sections. Do this several times over, and your essay will be much better for it!

For more editing tips, check out a style guide like Dreyer's English or Eats, Shoots & Leaves .

What's Next?

Still not sure which colleges you want to apply to? Our experts will show you how to make a college list that will help you choose a college that's right for you.

Interested in learning more about college essays? Check out our detailed breakdown of exactly how personal statements work in an application , some suggestions on what to avoid when writing your essay , and our guide to writing about your extracurricular activities .

Working on the rest of your application? Read what admissions officers wish applicants knew before applying .

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

The recommendations in this post are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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