College Application Essay Examples

College Application Essay Examples Just be yourself and write the best way you know how. The essay is one of the few things that you’ve got complete control over in the application process, especially by the time you’re in your senior year. This is likely a different style of writing than students typically use in their classes. It’s especially different than the one they have often learned to use in their AP Language and Composition class. For some kids, it can be tough to break away from that. This is why I recommend brainstorming a list of unique, fun facts or thinking about favorite objects. Often, there are anecdotes related to those things that the student can talk about in an essay, which will really give colleges a glimpse of who they are. Thinking about those objects can pave the way for a really interesting essay. My favorite protagonist and I grew up together until I moved on from the third grade, finally outgrowing that special connection. But reading the Junie B. Jones books taught me to connect in different ways with other texts. I knew what to look for, what it felt like, and I desired to find that connection in other places. Junie opened my eyes to a world of possibilities, and saved my dad a neck cramp from sleeping at a weird angle. Since reading it, I’ve reflected every day on Socrates’ statement that “an unexamined life is not worth living.” I try not to take anything at face value, and I challenge institutional assumptions whenever possible. Not only that, for me, saying aloud my ideas helps me to better understand and clarify my thoughts, and thus myself. Kierkegaard and St. John’s are attractive for similar reasons. Either/Or ends with the statement, “Only the truth which edifies is truth for you.” A St. John’s student, Alec Bianco, shared how his music tutor commended him for trying to live musically throughout his life. It would be all too easy to let my constant busyness and the distractions of daily life keep me from trying to understand the world and my place in it, but I won’t let that happen. I will forever be aware of myself and others, and I hope to never act on an unconscious bias. I know that Descartes was thinking thateverythingtold to him by his senses might be wrong, but I think his revelation applies more usefully to behaviors and biases we learn from a young age as well. However, through my entire high school life, I was not allowed to have a conversation in classes. Being quiet was the unspoken rule of manner and etiquette, where the dominance of the teacher to teach and submission of student to learn by observation was naturally accepted by all members of every class. It feels more important than the others they have written for an English class grade. The Junie B. Jones series, by Barbara Park, was my real introduction to reading on my own. Before the B, as in Beatrice, I was content to have my dad read to me until he fell asleep. I was in Kindergarten when I got my first Junie B. Jones book. I couldn’t read it by myself yet, and my dad was in the middle of the first Harry Potter book, so the pick checkered cover was put on a shelf. When I was six, we moved, and a box of my books turned up in my new room. I collected the series, and when I finished with the ones I had, I reread them and begged for more. Before the series, I had no real interest in books. I loved stories, and I liked scribbling on pages and pretending to write books, but turning the pages of other people’s words never caught my attention. The tennis racquet may remind the student of the first racquet they received from their favorite uncle and the fun moments they shared together when the student first learned to serve. Or the garlic press may remind the teen of the time they spent cooking with their grandmother and how it became a family joke that they loved to smush the garlic in it. I think that this is one of the reasons that rising seniors procrastinate writing their essay. They’ve likely just finished a academically challenging junior year. If you’ve taken classes with Brave Writer, you have hiked this trail before. If you’re new to this, you’ll appreciate learning an approach to essay writing that you’ll return to again and again during your college years and beyond. Let Brave Writer help you whip your application essay into shape with a class designed to walk you painlessly, perhaps even pleasurably, through the process. Using tried and true Brave Writer techniques, such as list-making, freewriting, and the topic funnel, and leaving time for revision and editing, this class will be your structure and supportâ€"from soup to nuts. There’s no such thing as the perfect college essay. This double life that I live now is so different from what it was in the beginning, when I was a normal kindergartner, just like the heroine. It wasn’t like reading Plato, or studying Mark Twain, where I feel cultured and empowered, adventurous and brave. Instructor feedback to student writing is offered for all participants to read. We aim to give you immediate support as you face writing obstacles. In Week 3, we’ll re-envision and go deeper, unearthing as many memories and experiences related to the subject as we canâ€"staying connected to sensory exploration and detail to create vivid writing. Keeping length in mind, we’ll identify the strongest threads of your piece and craft a structure that serves you and your subject.