Summer and College Admissions Essays

For rising high school seniors, summer is the time to be writing your college admissions essays.

For rising high school seniors, summer is the ideal time to be writing your college admissions essays. Why’s that? Because school is out, you have some more free time (though you shouldn’t just be writing your college admissions essays over the summer as you should be very involved in an activity or job, etc.), and why wait until you’re inundated with school work in the fall? When school starts up again, you’ll have exams to study for, papers to write, other activities to go to, and you just won’t have the necessary time to devote to getting your college admissions essays out of the way. So why not accomplish this important task over the summer between junior and senior year of high school?

It makes sense, doesn’t it? After a summer day, take a seat at your computer and get started on the Common App. Write your personal statement. You don’t have to start writing right away. In fact, you shouldn’t. You should spend quite a bit of time brainstorming your essay choice as your essay choice is of pivotal importance. There’s no sense spending the time to write lots of words on a topic that just isn’t going to cut it. As an example, writing about sports rarely cuts it. It’s trite. So many college applicants write about sports. You want to differentiate yourself in the highly selective college admissions process, don’t you? If so, then don’t write about that winning goal you kicked in a soccer game. Because nobody cares but you. And maybe your parents. Maybe.

So start brainstorming. Start thinking about what you want to write about. Start thinking about your voice and what makes you unique. Start thinking about how you wish to portray yourself to college admissions counselors. Now is the time. Not in September. And certainly not at the deadline!