Writing an Effective Essay

1. Writing an Effective Essay Gail Roberson Trinity University

2. Why do we require an essay? To learn about the character/personality of the student. To evaluate the writing style/ability of the applicant.

3. Self-Exploration • What/who are the largest influences in your life? • What are your most distinguishing personality traits? • What are your beliefs? Guiding principles? • What are some of your most significant moments?

4. Getting Started • Spend time (weeks) just writing down ideas. Deciding on what to write is usually the hardest part. • Use the essay prompts and list ideas that could work for that prompt. • Don’t worry about word count. • Just start writing and keep going until you get all of the ideas downs.

5. Personal Statement • Be honest. • Show your personality. • Write what YOU want to say, not what you think WE want to hear. • Know your audience, especially with… • controversial topics. • anything (overly) religious or political.

6. What is your writing style?

7. Art of Storytelling • Intrigue your reader in the introduction. • Have a point. • Show, don’t tell. • Use vivid details, not just facts. • Engage your audience.

8. Refine and Adjust • Everything you write should have a purpose. • Find your voice. If it sounds awkward when you read it aloud, change it. • Pay attention to grammar, detail, and tone. • Start to group the essay into introduction, body, and ending.

9. Questions for Editors • Does the body of the essay support the introduction? • Does the final paragraph wrap it all up? • Is the topic important to you? • Can anybody else in the world write that essay? • Have others read it, get their opinions, but make sure it is still YOUR essay.

10. Essay Prompts

11. Apply Texas: 2019-20 • Essay A:Tell us your story. What unique opportunities or challenges have you experienced throughout your high school career that have shaped who you are today? • Essay B: Some students have an identity, an interest, or a talent that defines them in an essential way. If you are one of these students, then tell us about yourself. • Essay C: You’ve got a ticket in your hand – Where will you go? What will you do? What will happen when you get there?

12. Common App: 2019-20 • 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. • 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? • Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? • Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution. • Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. • 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? • 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.

13. Supplemental Essays

14. Sample Supplemental Topics • Variations of “Why X University?” • Variations of “Why X major?” • Creative ways to learn more about you. • What’s your favorite word and why? • What is one thing that we don’t know about you that you want us to know? • Give us your top ten list.

15. Tips for Supplemental Essays • Research! See if you can include experiences from you own background or interests that support what the school values. • Personalize it! The best way to brighten a generic answer is to find personal connections. • Get creative. Think hard about what you really care about, and feature that in your answer. • Know why you want to go there. You can’t reuse these essays. In many ways, these essays are more important than the main college application essay. WE get to choose the questions.

16. Examples

17. Example A I met her a block away from my elementary school every day after school, as I had requested. I trotted towards her hefty silhouette as my classmates headed outside to be picked up by their nannies in SUVs. Once I passed the crossing guard, I knew my peers wouldn't be around to watch me knock on the side door of my parents' taco truck labeled Taqueria in fluorescent letters. As the door opened forcefully due to a loose hinge, my father's cracked, yet gentle hand firmly pulled me up the steps. I was greeted by my parents' weary eyes and forced smiles. I slouched down in my miniature Dora the Explorer sofa placed next to the cooler as my father drove out of the neighborhood.

18. Example B Throughout my life I had to go through many obstacles. Some of the obstacles were easy and some were hard. I faced one of the hardest obstacles that changed how I lived my life. It started at the beginning of my sophomore year. I had an eventful summer and did lots of fun things. I played baseball most of the summer and got to go places I never been before. I was ready to start my sophomore year off strong. I was a returning player for varsity baseball and was coming off a strong academic freshman year. So, I had a huge year ahead of me and I was ready to start the first half off right. I started the first semester correctly. I was making good grades, having solid study habits, a fun social life, and played baseball to relieve stress. I would get my homework done right away and study my butt off for tests and quizzes. The first semester flew by because I was focused on my schoolwork. I made extremely good grades and was very happy with my academic performance that semester. I was ready for the winter break and to relax from the hard work I put in.

19. Example C Burying my fingers deep into its matted wool coat and murmuring calmly to sooth its fears, I grab the frantic sheep. Muscles bulging, I hoist it up to plunge it into the dipping tank. One down, three hundred and sixty to go. “Good man, Cullen, easy does it,” words of encouragement come from my uncle as his calloused hands lurch in for the saturated creature. Dipping the sheep is a yearly ritual; it is grueling work, but deeply satisfying. No farmer wants to see his sheep eaten alive by maggots. Farming acquaints you with life and death and with nature's ceaselessly changing patterns. All my summers are spent in rural Ireland. When we were young we played wild and free with our cousins, in the field and woods, on the sandy beaches and dunes, or in the small provincial town. But as we grew older, we were expected to work helping my uncle on the farm: herding, shearing, and dipping sheep, weeding the garden and fencing, or working on the bog, cutting, stacking and bagging turf. I have no fancy summer classes or exciting adventures to put on my college application, but life in the countryside taught me how to engage in the real world.

20. Gail RobersonTrinity University Questions? Gail.Roberson@trinity.edu