Getting ready for College

The 11th Grade girls class is looking forward to moving towards the next phase of our academic life. Many of us are planning for our futures. Some will work, some will attend trade school, some will attend the military and many others will attend college. In an effort to prepare for college, we recently were taught several key College Admissions Essay tips and suggestions by our teacher. Here are several tips that we learned that will help us to maximize our essay writing efforts. Here are 8 tips that we learned:

1. Get started by brainstorming- start the essay can be the hardest part. Brainstorming about your personality traits and defining your strengths is a good place to begin.

2. Let your first draft flow. After you've gathered your notes, create an outline to organize your essay and decide where you want examples to appear. Now you're ready to write your first draft. Don't worry about making it perfect. Just get your ideas flowing and your thoughts down on paper. You'll fix mistakes and improve the writing in later drafts.

3. Develop three essay parts. Introduction- one paragraph that introduces your essay. Body- several paragraphs explaining the main idea with examples. Conclusion- one paragraph that summarizes and ends the essay.

4. Be specific. Give your essay focus by figuing out how the question relates to your personal qualities and then taking a specific angle. Make sure everything you write supports that viewpoints.

5. Find a creative angle. Example: Katherine, a college freshman, had to describe why she would make a good Reed College student for that school's essay. "I am an huge fan of Beat Generation.