Do you have an upcoming essay due for a study abroad application, admissions essay, scholarship prompt, or personal statement?
If so, read on – after reading hundreds of essays for applications and scholarships during my career, I can say with enthusiasm what the best essays contain (hint – the answer lies in the essay prompt).
I’ve been thinking about writing this post for quite some time; however, recently I was a reviewer for a national scholarship competition and it’s time that I share the step-by-step process that I wish all students would take for essays.
Here goes:
Step 1: Read the prompt.
No, really. Read it. The whole thing. Yep, even that little bit at the end that describes the formatting.
Yes, there are a lot of words.
We know. However, all of those words were used for a reason.
Keep in mind that for these kinds of prompts, your essays likely determine a significant part of your future.
All right. Now that you’ve read the prompt, it’s time to move on to…
Step 2: Re-read and dissect the prompt.
Ah HA! You thought you were done with the prompt!
This time, realllllllly read that sucker. It maybe looks something like this:
For the blah blah blah program/scholarship/college, describe your personal, professional, and academic goals and how this program will help you achieve those goals. Also, give us some information about your background.
With your favorite highlighting tool, find all of the things that the reviewing committee might be looking for. This is why you’ve read the prompt at least twice by this time. Here is what the prompt should look like now:
For the blah blah blah program/scholarship/college, describe your personal, professional, and academic goals and how this program will help you achieve those goals. Also, give us some information about your background.
It sounds suspiciously like the reviewers will be looking for 4 things – how the program will help you personally, how the program will help you professionally, how the program will help you academically, and your background.
(Side note: usually essay prompts provide really specific questions that address what the reviewers want to hear about your background. Keep your response in this part focused on what they ask to hear.)
It looks like you have all of the sections of your essay by now. Now, it’s time for…
Step 3: Brain dump into your essay sections.
A more sophisticated description of this part is “brainstorm” or “outline.” I don’t care what you call it – just get your ideas into the appropriate areas.
Let’s say I’m planning on studying abroad in China for an immersive language program because I’m a linguistics major. My application outline would probably look something like this:
- Intro
- Background
- Always fascinated by Chinese culture because of my third grade teacher
- Started studying Mandarin when I was 8 and have wanted to immerse myself in Chinese culture ever since
- Became a linguistics major to develop a better understanding about the world and international relations
- Academic goals
- Primary language goal is to develop working knowledge of 20,000 Chinese characters
- Adding an East Asian studies minor
- Required to have a global component as part of studies; this will fulfill it
- Professional goals
- Hope to work with Chinese immigrants by providing relocation help
- Plan to move to China or Taiwan after graduation for a year as a translator
- Ultimately want to develop a bilingual business that works with incoming Chinese students
- Personal goals
- Studying abroad in an unfamiliar context will challenge me in every way
- Will be better equipped to assist immigrants and refugees, like I currently do as a volunteer
- I hate being alone; I hope that this experience will allow me to be more comfortable with being alone
- Conclusion
Notice that each section is fairly even. This is important – sometimes it is very easy to provide more details in one section over another (yep, that infamous “tell me about yourself” section). You don’t want to get distracted from the overall point of the essay.
Now that you have an outline of sorts, you can move on to…
Step 4: Put your brain dump into complete sentences.
Create the sentences! Use all of the tools you have learned in every writing class you have ever taken to form non-caveman-like sentences. Use the appropriate writing style for your audience.
Once you feel like you are out of sentences (or you have reached the word limit), you can proceed to…
Step 5: Tear your paper apart (figuratively).
That escalated quickly.
Before you destroy your work, take a breather. Take some time away. Grab a coffee (or a beverage of your choosing) and think about things that are not your essay for a little bit.
Then, sit back down and read your essay while pretending like you didn’t write the essay.
Identify the parts where even you felt a little bored (be honest). Think about the following questions: can you clean up the language to make it less “blah?” Is this absolutely necessary for the overall essay? What can you take out? What should you move around?
If something doesn’t make sense, change it so it does.
I know that it is horrendously hard to edit your own essay. Everything in your essay feels important to you, but for your own good it’s important to politely break up with some not-so-strong sentences that could bring down your essay overall.
If you need to tell the sentence “it’s not you, it’s me” before you delete it, that’s fine. Just let go of the sentences that aren’t supporting you in the way that they should. Be strong. You can do it. We all believe in you. Now…
Step 6: Make the paragraphs!
Realize that, before, I only said to write in complete sentences. If you already naturally created paragraphs, fabulous! If you didn’t, think about your future and break your sentence groupings into those paragraphs.
As you read along, are there transitions between your paragraphs, or do things still feel disjointed? Transitions are sometimes tricky, but are incredibly important – they can make your entire essay seem well-reasoned, while their absence can make you appear unsure about why you should be considered for the program.
Finally, now you can go to…
Step 7: Review your beautiful essay.
Look at the prompt again. It will always be following you.
After a quick read of your essay, ask – did you answer all of the questions? Did you really answer all of the questions? Did you put similar examples behind each portion, or are you a little heavy-handed at parts?
This is a good time to tweak some of your word choices, review your paragraph order, and double check that everything makes sense.
Generally speaking, application reviewers might cringe at incorrect word choice, grammar, or punctuation, but these errors won’t make or break most applications (unless the application is for a position with an emphasis on attention to detail). For example, my soul quivers with anxiety when I see the wrong form of to/too/two, your/you’re/yore and other similar words, but that’s the worst that can happen with that.
Reviewers will, however, be able to tell if you skipped large portions of an essay prompt and can remove your application from consideration for not answering part of a question.
This is why, at the end of the day, your success or failure all comes back to the essay prompt and your attention to it.
Some final thoughts:
- If you are asked at any time to talk about your goals, make sure that they are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.
- Use punctuation. Commas save lives.
- Transitions between your paragraphs will make your essay fluid (and keep your reviewer happy).
- Avoid stream-of-conscience writing. You know, like this entire post.
- Search your paper for idiomatic phrases. Change them.
- Ask a friend, trusted neighbor, stranger on the street, or someone who knows nothing about your program to read your essay (in exchange for something, of course). If any parts seem unclear to them, retool the parts that are unclear.
- Proofread all of the things.
Hopefully now you will be on your way to completing a competitive essay!
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Related posts:
Ask an Advisor: Where Should I Study Abroad?
How to Get Credit for Study Abroad Programs
Why Students Prefer Spring Study Abroad (and Why You Should Consider Fall!)
7 Habits of Successful Study Abroad Students
Study Abroad Guide: Preparation Phase
Do you have any tips for writing a kick-ass essay? Share below!