Essay Tips for High School Juniors

As a host of current high school seniors are readying themselves to don a cap and gown and walk across a graduation stage to accept their diplomas, an entirely new class of would-be seniors is waiting in the wings to take their place atop the high school food chain. While ruling the social roost is often the one thing would-be seniors most anxiously anticipate, there's also a lot of work ahead in the coming months for current high school juniors.

Perhaps no task is more important for current juniors than deciding where to apply to college, and how to make those applications the best they can possibly be. Of particular importance is the college essay, where prospective college students set themselves apart by writing thoughtfully and in a way that compels an admissions board to look at them as serious candidates for admission to a given university. When writing a college essay, today's juniors should remember the following.

* Keep things personal: An effective college essay will let an admissions board understand who you are, as opposed to what you've done. Your activities list and high school transcripts will let them know what you've done, but an effective essay should give them a glimpse of who you are as a person.

* Be specific: Being specific doesn't necessarily mean you need to write things like, "I want to go to medical school to study orthopedic surgery." Most high school juniors have no idea what they want to be. However, you can be specific about what you hope to gain from college, as opposed to using predictable cliches such as "I hope to have a great experience."

* Don't make an essay into a resume: Too often, college applicants use their essays as a means to recite their high school resume. Rather than repeating items that are included elsewhere in the application, use the essay as a chance to explain how your resume has helped mold you into the person you are today and how this makes you a viable candidate for admissions. For example, rather than simply saying, "I played varsity baseball for three seasons," say, "My experience playing varsity baseball taught me to work well with others and contribute to goals that were bigger than myself."