Peterson’s Best College Admission Essays by Mark Alan Stewart & Cynthia C. Muchnick

DO
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Favorite Teacher
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Coach
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Arch-Rival
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Struggling Student at
School
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Neighbor
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Distant Relative
DON’T
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Immediate Family
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Best Friend
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Dog/Cat

DO
•
Individual Rights
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Consumerism
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Fairness/Justice
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Free Trade
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Internet Issues (privacy, alienation, education)
DON’T
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Environment
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World Peace
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Prejudice/Discrimination
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Drugs
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Crime

DO
•
Ordinary field trip turned unexpected adventure
•
DON’T
College Admission Process
•
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Unexpected gift from unexpected source
An informal social situation that you replay over and over
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Teachers or authority figures let their guard down
•
•
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Big Trip to Faraway Place
Wilderness Survival
Winning/Losing a Game
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How Hard Work Pays Off
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Most unforgettable experience

DO
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Those little habits that
•
DON’T
List of your favorite things sometimes annoy others
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A time you put your foot in
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Your determination and tenacity your mouth •
Your diversity
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An attachment to a personal possession
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Your unusual awkwardness in social situations

DO
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Convey a positive message
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Strive for depth, not breadth
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Convey your true and genuine thoughts/feelings
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Write about something you feel strongly about
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Write about what you know or have experienced firsthand
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Write about other people as well as about yourself

DON’T
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Try to sell yourself
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Write an important or scholarly essay
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Try to guess what the admission committee wants
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Rehash what the reader already knows about you
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Waste your essay to explain red flags in your application
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Write anything that might embarrass the reader
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Write an essay that reads like a newspaper
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Even think about mentioning popular TV shows, movies, musicians, or actors

DO
•
KISS – Keep It Super Simple
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Use logical, frequent paragraph breaks
DON’T
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Limit yourself to the 5 paragraph essay format you learned in English class
• Use poetry unless it’s the only way to get your message across
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Use drawings unless you are a serious artist

DON’T
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Try too hard to be funny
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Insult or offend
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Whine, complain, or appear bitter, sarcastic, angry or boastful
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Come across as overly humble

DON’T
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Introduce yourself to the admission committee—
“Hello, my name is….”
• Ask the reader’s permission to tell him/her about yourself
“Please permit me to discuss my…”
•
Reiterate the topic or question or itemize the points you will make in subsequent paragraphs
“In this essay you will read about…”
“I will discuss…”

DO start your essay with:
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An enigmatic statement that makes the reader wonder to what or to whom you are referring
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An obscure quotation (avoid popular quotations)
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A thoughtful question
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A trivial observation that anyone can relate to but that nobody else would ever think to mention
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A paradox
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A gross generalization
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A confession
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An overly obvious statement

DO end your essay with:
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Closure – a sense that you have come full circle
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Final sentences to end any suspense and to answer any question that you might have posed earlier
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Short, forceful sentences
DON’T end your essay with:
• Words like “finally,” “in sum,” or “in conclusion”
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Repeat or sum up in any way
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End your essay with a quotation

DO
• Use analogies, but don’t overdo it
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Incorporate dialogue into your essay
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Mix up sentence length – have more short than long
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Use an active voice instead of a passive voice
(active) The applicant wrote an outstanding essay.
(passive) A less-than-outstanding essay was written by the applicant.
•
Proofread and Revise
• Use ample margins 1”-1 ¼” on all sides
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Use high resolution laser printer
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Use highly readable fonts and a font size of 11 or 12