What Are College Essay Readers Looking For

Over his 24-year career, he has served as a college admissions administrator, test prep teacher, author, publisher, and lecturer.Writing the college application essay is a daunting task.

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The overflowing sense of hyper-reality in Tim O’Brien’s words of warfare spills into my world.

His words somehow become my words, his memories become my memories.

Home is the in-between, the cusp of transition – that is where I feel most content.

In our College Essay Clichés to Avoid post, we advised students against writing about moving to America from a foreign country.

Like a captain frantically seeking port in a storm, I haul myself through the turbulent ocean of people, trying to avoid being stranded – or trampled – in the dustiest city in the world: Beijing, capital of both China and smog. It is the summer of 2012, and Shanghai isn’t to be home for much longer. Unsettled, I turn to my ever-present book for comfort.

Luckily, I board my train with seconds to spare, and without being turned into a pancake – always a plus. In another week I will cross the globe to start a new life in a foreign land called Charlotte. Today it is by Tim O’Brien, already worn and slightly crumpled.

Check out these college essay examples for inspiration!

With moments to spare, I catch a glimpse of the boarding platform for my train. Like a compass with a broken magnetic strip, I can’t decide my true North.

Admissions officers have to read an unbelievable number of college essays, most of which are forgettable.

Many students try to sound smart rather than sounding like themselves.