Whenever you apply to a college as an international student (especially in North America), an important part of your application is the essay. In this post, we are going to tell you everything you need to know about essays. By the time you are done reading this post, you will become a much better essay writer. Let’s get started.

Essay: All You Need To Know

Keep in mind, we aren’t going to talk about essays as a general piece of writing but focus more on the essays that are written as a part of your college admission process. 

Important things to consider while preparing your university application

University application letters can also be called the entrance key to the schools that interest every student who aims to study abroad and do a master’s degree. Writing an effective college application letter will take you one step ahead of your competitors. It is important to present articles that will attract attention and create a strong impact in a short time since it is an article that is written over a long time but evaluated from the corner of the eye.

With hundreds of successful students applying to the same university and the same department as you, your most important move to stand out among thousands of documents should be to make your university application letter as full and impressive as possible, both in terms of content and in terms of the smoothness of your expressions.

So, how do you get accepted to the university of your dreams with an essay?

Step 1: Think of your article as your own advertisement

Unlike your CV and transcript, you can think of this application essay as your own advertisement, where you can touch on many topics related to yourself. Tell us how much you know about your field and your preliminary studies in this field. Universities, whatever their background or age, prefer to accept motivated students with a variety of interests and experiences who are well-informed about the subject they want to study. That’s why all you need to do when creating your article is to use good content and of course an appropriate writing style and standard, error-free English.

Step 2: State how much you know about the department you are applying for and your plans for the future

Brainstorm what you know and experience about the department you are applying to. Talk about your previous education or training you have taken during your professional life, the courses you have seen in the school curriculum, or the courses you have taken through your private initiatives. 

Indicate the different perspectives you bring to the subjects you are interested in, your orientations in this sense, and the aspects that affect you the most. Besides your education, you can also mention another topic related to your field of study, such as a hobby or work experience. State clearly your goals as a result of the education you will receive at this university and department. 

Step 3: Convince the other person that you are the ideal candidate for the department you are applying for

You have proven how far you have come so far academically and professionally. Now it’s your turn to reflect on the other side how suitable and integrated you are. Of course, it would not be right to reflect on the admissions of universities in a way that you are not in order to attract a lot of attention. After all, the only criterion for being accepted is not to be very social, to show that you have a myriad of interests. It’s all about explaining how you make the best use of your free time and enjoy achieving your goals. Try to describe extracurricular or volunteer activities, paid work, hobbies, and leisure activities, including sports, that you can write about that demonstrate your personal abilities and skills in motivation, curiosity, persistence, organizational skills, teamwork skills, and the like. education, sports, 

Review and check 

University application essays are usually limited to a certain number of words. Therefore, make sure that the text is neither too long nor too short.

You’ve probably revised your writing more than once, or perhaps rewritten it from the beginning.

Sometimes there is a problem of blindness towards your own mistakes, so to speak, about the articles and studies that we have worked on a lot. In this sense, no matter how confident you are, you can ask your teachers or advisors to check your writing. It will be useful both to check for spelling mistakes and to make sure that you can reflect on yourself in every sense. Finally, be sure to answer the following questions clearly in your article.

• Did you express why you are interested in this department and university?
• Did you sufficiently indicate the courses, internships, workshops, seminars, or books you have read about the department you are interested in?
• Did you do enough in terms of activities and experiences related to the department you chose?
• How will you turn your knowledge, skills, and personal qualities into a successful experience?

Tips for Writing a Good Essay

So far in the post, we have discussed what is an essay and how to write an essay. Now that we have clarified that, it is time to address some points that will enable you to write an essay effectively.

We can say that the general admission requirements of the universities you want to apply to are the same in almost every university. While your high school grade point average and English exam scores are one of the most important application criteria that come to mind, the third criterion that universities give the most importance is the essay. According to research, especially American universities and British universities consider the essay written by the student as important as the two criteria we mentioned above. Essay writing provides a great opportunity for you to tell universities about your strengths apart from your course and exam grades.

We can list the elements that you need to pay attention to in order to write an effective essay:

Start early

Get moving and start your essay writing process early. You can start your preparation with a list of the conditions and application dates of the universities you want to apply to. If you start your preparations early, you will have enough time for the subject of the essay you will write and the revisions you will make to it.

Outline your essay’s points

You can start your first draft by concentrating on a topic determined by the university you want to apply to. If there is no subject determined by the university, it is useful to start by creating the details of the essay. While preparing your draft, think carefully about why the university you are applying to asks you to write an essay. 

Try to identify a topic that will distinguish you from your other competitors and make you stand out, and don’t forget to choose an essay title. While doing this work, first start by determining what you will write with the items. Next; Put your essay, which you will write in the introduction, development and conclusion sections, into these necessary patterns and make sure that the number of words does not exceed 500-600.

Check out some samples

You can find essay samples on the pages of some universities. Looking at these samples will help you better understand what the school you’re applying to is looking for in a strong essay. If you can’t find samples on school pages, you can better understand what universities expect from an essay through online examples. Of course, never copy an essay you find online and just focus on getting inspiration from different sources.

Make it unique

Rather than talking about your CV, high school grades, and English test scores such as TOEFL, IELTS, etc. which you prepared during the university application, focus on writing the essay you will prepare on the topic you will determine, using your own creativity and vision. Here is a neat little trick: Writing an Essay is actually one of the best ways to reflect on yourself. You will write to the school you want to get admitted to. Introduce yourself via text and get the school excited. Consider how to start the essay. With an anecdote, with dialogue, with a question or with humour? You find the text language closest to you from these criteria and take action.

Edit thoroughly

Even if the essay you have prepared is finished, check it again and make corrections. Use your eyes and take the help of online tools as well. Don’t just check for spelling mistakes, check for grammatical and factual errors as well. Pay particular attention to the fact that the essay that you have gone through and corrected many times up to this point does not have any grammatical or spelling mistakes. 

Do not read the essay you wrote just once. Read and review and update over and over at different times. Remember that it is quite normal to make changes at different points each time you read it. Even if there are grammatical errors in the editing programs you use, don’t just rely on them and think that the essay is over. Read aloud a few times and make sure you don’t make mistakes. An easily avoidable mistake can influence your application extremely negatively.

Ask others to review your essay

If possible, have a few more people read the essay. This person can be your foreign education consultant who knows the language you write, a trusted friend, your teacher, or your school counselor.

Don’t send the essay to the wrong university

If the name of the university you want to apply to is mentioned in the essay and if you are going to apply to other universities, make sure that the names of the schools are changed for each application.

Essay writing takes time and effort. When you finish writing the manuscript and come to the sending stage, be sure to include your complete contact information if you are going to send it to a general acceptance email address. Take note of which school you send and when and do not forget to follow up. Good luck!