my name college essay

Essays About Your Name: Top 5 Examples and 6 Prompts

Every person’s name is special. Read the following essays about your name for examples and prompts to discover how you can create a thoughtful and personal piece.

Whether given or chosen, names have a powerful hold over each person. They can be curious mysteries, reminders of painful pasts, fond monikers, or personal treasures. Like our faintest scars and mental states, they also have deep histories ingrained into our very being. They can become means by which we trace our ancestors, create opportunities, or cherish our present situations. Your name is more than a means of calling your attention. It can convey an abstract idea of your personhood, experiences, and beliefs.

For example, what comes to mind when you hear the name Marilyn Monroe ? Most people think of the iconic blond bombshell from the 1950s to the early 1960s. Depending on how much you know about her, you may know her as a bright and determined woman or a sweet but ditzy character, which she often played in TV and film roles. Her name alone indicates her accolades, skills, and perceived personality.

5 Essay Examples

1. long essay on what’s in a name by prasanna, 2. the story of my name by rong xiaoqing, 3. the mystery of carl miller by sarah miller, 4. name and identity by jennifer wang, 5. call you by your name by roxanne krystalli, 1. the power of nicknames, 2. my unique and interesting name, 3. what it’s like being named after popular people, 4. why i chose this nickname, 5. cultural names and their meanings, 6. my name if i were from a different place.

“In a deep sense what creates the true meaning and power of a name is the worth of the individual or thing as reflected in the outer world.”

Prasanna divides her essay into three parts, explaining how people receive their names, how these monikers affect their identities, and how powerful names can be. The essay title was lifted from William Shakespeare’s “ Romeo and Juliet ,” reiterating Juliet’s profound line, “What’s in a name? What we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” This script refers to the reality that names’ importance is directly related to the unique qualities someone possesses.

For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers .

“Those who read my name did not know how to pronounce it, and those who heard it did not know how to write it.”

Rong shares her struggles of being a Chinese American and the complications of her name. Her name contains two of the most complicated Chinese characters that she found difficult to write when she was young, plus it was hard to pronounce in English. However, when Rong learned the meaning of her name, she fell in love with it.

In the next section of her essay, she talks about instances where names are more than names, referring to cases such as a parent losing custody of their children for giving them Nazi names. Rong also includes relevant studies that connect names and race and the times people deliberately mispronounced her name to be cruel. She concludes that she’s still growing and has all the time in the world to learn more about herself.

Looking for more? Check out these essays about names and essays about self .

“The last name Miller says nothing about me, but if pressed I would say I appreciate the way it evokes a beautiful neutrality, and the way it reminds me that all of us could so easily have been someone else.”

The author, Sarah Miller, only knows part of the story behind her ancestors. In her essay, she shares a few facts about her father’s birth and what she knew of her grandmother, then she recalls how she often asked about her grandfather, Carl Miller. The essay focuses on the author’s curiosity about Carl Miller and her emotional journey about accepting that she might never learn more about him.

“No others show me being stretched between two very different cultures and places—the ‘Jennifer’ clashing with the ‘Wang,’ the ‘Wang’ fighting with the ‘Jennifer.’”

In this short essay, Wang describes her internal confusion between her two cultures, disclosing how she struggles to be in the United States as a Chinese woman. She remembers how she wandered toy aisles looking for dolls with the same skin tone as hers and how she turned to shun her Asian heritage because she didn’t understand it. While the essay centers around Wang trying to introduce herself, her writing echoes the dilemma many young immigrants still face today.

“By the time I went to college, Roxani had been left behind. I was fully Roxanne by then, until one day my roommate beckoned: “Rooooox, do you want to watch an episode of something with me?” My father had an aversion to nicknames and never called me anything short of my full name: Roxani.”

Krystalli talks about how her name transitioned from the Greek Roxani to Roxanne to several other variations and then back again. She shares her life experiences and thoughts about these names as she grew up and gained new monikers. By the end of her essay, Krystalli tells the reader how she yearns to become Roxani again and reconnect with her Greek roots.

6 Prompts for Writing Essays About Your Name

Your nickname has a history that is as unique as yours. Nicknames are unpredictable and can sometimes be challenging to accept. For example, some children often pick nicknames based on their peer’s appearance, particularly if something stands out to them. However, nicknames can often be a sign of affection; naming someone with a nickname can be a way to show your friendship and close bond.

With this prompt, share how you dealt with any given nicknames you didn’t like. You can also speak about a short backstory of how others chose these nicknames. Explain your thoughts when you felt like you had no choice but to take other people’s nicknames for you. 

Whether your parents got creative in naming you or you chose a one-of-a-kind name for yourself, those with unique names share distinct experiences. For example, people may rarely pronounce or read it correctly. Others may have difficulty spelling your name when they need to write it down. 

In this prompt, share your experiences that connect to your unique name. Talk about the most interesting and memorable instances you remember and if you expect them to happen again.

If your parents are die-hard fans and decided to name you after their favorite book character, musician, or public figure, your name can feel like a borrowed one. Although some enjoy sharing names with well-known people, others would rather have a unique name. 

Delve into people’s reactions when they learn your name in your essay. Discuss how you’ve handled their jokes, or share the questions you already anticipate once they realize where your name came from.

Your name can change people’s perception of you, and choosing a nickname gives you control over that. This prompt is excellent if you have a nickname that has no connection with your given name. It’s also a great conversation starter. In your essay, explain why you chose that moniker and what it means to you. 

You can also add how people reacted before and after they learned the history of it. Your nickname doesn’t have to have a deep history. It can be as simple as earning the nickname “Cookie” because you like to eat cookies.

In some cultures, people still practice giving traditional names or nicknames to children, and you may belong to a culture that does the same. If you want to share this experience with your readers, discuss your name in this essay. Explain the language your name comes from, what it means, and why you received it. You can also give other examples, like the nicknames of your siblings, cousins, or ancestors.

Appreciation of another culture can push us to ponder what we’ll be called if we were from that group. If you’ve had an intense interest and appreciation for another culture or country, you may have already thought about how you want to be addressed. Share the name you chose, its meaning, and why you picked it. This also extends to fictional or fantasy worlds or cultures. 

Tip: If writing an essay sounds like a lot of work, simplify it. Write a simple 5 paragraph essay instead. For help picking your next essay topic, check out our 20 engaging essay topics about family .

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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How to Write a Personal Essay for Your College Application

What does it take to land in the “accept” (instead of “reject”) pile?

How can you write an essay that helps advance you in the eyes of the admissions officers and makes a real impression? Here are some tips to get you started.

• Start early.  Do not leave it until the last minute. Give yourself time when you don’t have other homework or extracurriculars hanging over your head to work on the essay.
• Keep the focus narrow.  Your essay does not have to cover a massive, earth-shattering event. Some people in their teens haven’t experienced a major life event. Some people have. Either way, it’s okay.
• Be yourself.  Whether writing about a painful experience or a more simple experience, use the narrative to be vulnerable and honest about who you are. Use words you would normally use. Trust your voice and the fact that your story is interesting enough in that no one else has lived it.
• Be creative.  “Show, don’t tell,” and that applies here — to an extent. The best essays typically do both. You can help your reader see and feel what you are describing by using some figurative language throughout your piece.
• Make a point. As you finish your final body paragraphs ask yourself “So what?” This will help you hone in on how to end your essay in a way that elevates it into a story about an insight or discovery you made about yourself, rather than just being about an experience you had.

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

We’ve all heard about the dreaded “college essay,” the bane of every high school senior’s existence. This daunting element of the college application is something that can create angst for even the most accomplished students.

• AA Amy Allen is a writer, educator, and lifelong learner. Her freelance writing business,  All of the Write Words , focuses on providing high school students with one-on-one feedback to guide them through the college application process and with crafting a thoughtful personal essay. A dedicated poet, Amy’s work has also been published in several journals including  Pine Row Press ,  Months to Years,  and  Atlanta Review .

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• College Essay Examples | What Works and What Doesn’t

College Essay Examples | What Works and What Doesn't

Published on November 8, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on August 14, 2023.

One effective method for improving your college essay is to read example essays . Here are three sample essays, each with a bad and good version to help you improve your own essay.

Table of contents

Essay 1: sharing an identity or background through a montage, essay 2: overcoming a challenge, a sports injury narrative, essay 3: showing the influence of an important person or thing, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

This essay uses a montage structure to show snapshots of a student’s identity and background. The writer builds her essay around the theme of the five senses, sharing memories she associates with sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste.

In the weak rough draft, there is little connection between the individual anecdotes, and they do not robustly demonstrate the student’s qualities.

In the final version, the student uses an extended metaphor of a museum to create a strong connection among her stories, each showcasing a different part of her identity. She draws a specific personal insight from each memory and uses the stories to demonstrate her qualities and values.

How My Five Senses Record My Life

Throughout my life, I have kept a record of my life’s journey with my five senses. This collection of memories matters a great deal because I experience life every day through the lens of my identity.

“Chinese! Japanese!”

My classmate pulls one eye up and the other down.

“Look what my parents did to me!”

No matter how many times he repeats it, the other kids keep laughing. I focus my almond-shaped eyes on the ground, careful not to attract attention to my discomfort, anger, and shame. How could he say such a mean thing about me? What did I do to him? Joseph’s words would engrave themselves into my memory, making me question my appearance every time I saw my eyes in the mirror.

Soaking in overflowing bubble baths with Andrew Lloyd Webber belting from the boombox.

Listening to “Cell Block Tango” with my grandparents while eating filet mignon at a dine-in show in Ashland.

Singing “The Worst Pies in London” at a Korean karaoke club while laughing hysterically with my brother, who can do an eerily spot-on rendition of Sweeney Todd.

Taking car rides with Mom in the Toyota Sequoia as we compete to hit the high note in “Think of Me” from The Phantom of the Opera . Neither of us stands a chance!

The sweet scent of vegetables, Chinese noodles, and sushi wafts through the room as we sit around the table. My grandma presents a good-smelling mixture of international cuisine for our Thanksgiving feast. My favorite is the Chinese food that she cooks. Only the family prayer stands between me and the chance to indulge in these delicious morsels, comforting me with their familiar savory scents.

I rinse a faded plastic plate decorated by my younger sister at the Waterworks Art Center. I wear yellow rubber gloves to protect my hands at Mom’s insistence, but I can still feel the warm water that offers a bit of comfort as I finish the task at hand. The crusted casserole dish with stubborn remnants from my dad’s five-layer lasagna requires extra effort, so I fill it with Dawn and scalding water, setting it aside to soak. I actually don’t mind this daily chore.

I taste sweat on my upper lip as I fight to continue pedaling on a stationary bike. Ava’s next to me and tells me to go up a level. We’re biking buddies, dieting buddies, and Saturday morning carbo-load buddies. After the bike display hits 30 minutes, we do a five-minute cool down, drink Gatorade, and put our legs up to rest.

My five senses are always gathering new memories of my identity. I’m excited to expand my collection.

Word count: 455

College essay checklist

Topic and structure

• I’ve selected a topic that’s meaningful to me.
• My essay reveals something different from the rest of my application.
• I have a clear and well-structured narrative.
• I’ve concluded with an insight or a creative ending.

Writing style and tone

• I’ve crafted an introduction containing vivid imagery or an intriguing hook that grabs the reader’s attention.
• I’ve written my essay in a way that shows instead of tells.
• I’ve used appropriate style and tone for a college essay.
• I’ve used specific, vivid personal stories that would be hard to replicate.
• I’ve demonstrated my positive traits and values in my essay.
• My essay is focused on me, not another person or thing.
• I’ve included self-reflection and insight in my essay.
• I’ve respected the word count , remaining within 10% of the upper word limit.

Making Sense of My Identity

Welcome to The Rose Arimoto Museum. You are about to enter the “Making Sense of My Identity” collection. Allow me to guide you through select exhibits, carefully curated memories from Rose’s sensory experiences.

First, the Sight Exhibit.

“Chinese! Japanese!”

“Look what my parents did to me!”

No matter how many times he repeats it, the other kids keep laughing. I focus my almond-shaped eyes on the ground, careful not to attract attention as my lip trembles and palms sweat. Joseph couldn’t have known how his words would engrave themselves into my memory, making me question my appearance every time I saw my eyes in the mirror.

Ten years later, these same eyes now fixate on an InDesign layout sheet, searching for grammar errors while my friend Selena proofreads our feature piece on racial discrimination in our hometown. As we’re the school newspaper editors, our journalism teacher Ms. Riley allows us to stay until midnight to meet tomorrow’s deadline. She commends our work ethic, which for me is fueled by writing一my new weapon of choice.

Next, you’ll encounter the Sound Exhibit.

Still, the world is my Broadway as I find my voice on stage.

Just below, enter the Smell Exhibit.

While I help my Pau Pau prepare dinner, she divulges her recipe for cha siu bau, with its soft, pillowy white exterior hiding the fragrant filling of braised barbecue pork inside. The sweet scent of candied yams, fun see , and Spam musubi wafts through the room as we gather around our Thankgsiving feast. After our family prayer, we indulge in these delicious morsels until our bellies say stop. These savory scents of my family’s cultural heritage linger long after I’ve finished the last bite.

Next up, the Touch Exhibit.

I rinse a handmade mug that I had painstakingly molded and painted in ceramics class. I wear yellow rubber gloves to protect my hands at Mom’s insistence, but I can still feel the warm water that offers a bit of comfort as I finish the task at hand. The crusted casserole dish with stubborn remnants from my dad’s five-layer lasagna requires extra effort, so I fill it with Dawn and scalding water, setting it aside to soak. For a few fleeting moments, as I continue my nightly chore, the pressure of my weekend job, tomorrow’s calculus exam, and next week’s track meet are washed away.

Finally, we end with the Taste Exhibit.

My legs fight to keep pace with the stationary bike as the salty taste of sweat seeps into corners of my mouth. Ava challenges me to take it up a level. We always train together一even keeping each other accountable on our strict protein diet of chicken breasts, broccoli, and Muscle Milk. We occasionally splurge on Saturday mornings after interval training, relishing the decadence of everything bagels smeared with raspberry walnut cream cheese. But this is Wednesday, so I push myself. I know that once the digital display hits 30:00, we’ll allow our legs to relax into a five-minute cool down, followed by the fiery tang of Fruit Punch Gatorade to rehydrate.

Thank you for your attention. This completes our tour. I invite you to rejoin us for next fall’s College Experience collection, which will exhibit Rose’s continual search for identity and learning.

Word count: 649

• I’ve crafted an essay introduction containing vivid imagery or an intriguing hook that grabs the reader’s attention.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

This essay uses a narrative structure to recount how a student overcame a challenge, specifically a sports injury. Since this topic is often overused, the essay requires vivid description, a memorable introduction and conclusion , and interesting insight.

The weak rough draft contains an interesting narrative, insight, and vivid imagery, but it has an overly formal tone that distracts the reader from the story. The student’s use of elaborate vocabulary in every sentence makes the essay sound inauthentic and stilted.

The final essay uses a more natural, conversational tone and chooses words that are vivid and specific without being pretentious. This allows the reader to focus on the narrative and appreciate the student’s unique insight.

One fateful evening some months ago, a defensive linebacker mauled me, his 212 pounds indisputably alighting upon my ankle. Ergo, an abhorrent cracking of calcified tissue. At first light the next day, I awoke cognizant of a new paradigm—one sans football—promulgated by a stabbing sensation that would continue to haunt me every morning of this semester.

It’s been an exceedingly taxing semester not being able to engage in football, but I am nonetheless excelling in school. That twist of fate never would have come to pass if I hadn’t broken my ankle. I still limp down the halls at school, but I’m feeling less maudlin these days. My friends don’t steer clear anymore, and I have a lot more of them. My teachers, emboldened by my newfound interest in learning, continually invite me to learn more and do my best. Football is still on hold, but I feel like I’m finally playing a game that matters.

Five months ago, right after my ill-fated injury, my friends’ demeanor became icy and remote, although I couldn’t fathom why. My teachers, in contrast, beckoned me close and invited me on a new learning journey. But despite their indubitably kind advances, even they recoiled when I drew near.

A few weeks later, I started to change my attitude vis-à-vis my newfound situation and determined to put my energy toward productive ends (i.e., homework). I wasn’t enamored with school. I never had been. Nevertheless, I didn’t abhor it either. I just preferred football.

My true turn of fate came when I started studying more and participating in class. I started to enjoy history class, and I grew interested in reading more. I discovered a volume of poems written by a fellow adventurer on the road of life, and I loved it. I ravenously devoured everything in the writer’s oeuvre .

As the weeks flitted past, I found myself spending my time with a group of people who were quite different from me. They participated in theater and played instruments in marching band. They raised their hands in class when the teacher posed a question. Because of their auspicious influence, I started raising my hand too. I am no longer vapid, and I now have something to say.

I am certain that your school would benefit from my miraculous academic transformation, and I entreat you to consider my application to your fine institution. Accepting me to your university would be an unequivocally righteous decision.

Word count: 408

• I’ve chosen a college essay topic that’s meaningful to me.
• I’ve respected the essay word count , remaining within 10% of the upper word limit.

As I step out of bed, the pain shoots through my foot and up my leg like it has every morning since “the game.” That night, a defensive linebacker tackled me, his 212 pounds landing decidedly on my ankle. I heard the sound before I felt it. The next morning, I awoke to a new reality—one without football—announced by a stabbing sensation that would continue to haunt me every morning of this semester.

My broken ankle broke my spirit.

My friends steered clear of me as I hobbled down the halls at school. My teachers tried to find the delicate balance between giving me space and offering me help. I was as unsure how to deal with myself as they were.

In time, I figured out how to redirect some of my frustration, anger, and pent-up energy toward my studies. I had never not liked school, but I had never really liked it either. In my mind, football practice was my real-life classroom, where I could learn all I ever needed to know.

Then there was that day in Mrs. Brady’s history class. We sang a ridiculous-sounding mnemonic song to memorize all the Chinese dynasties from Shang to Qing. I mumbled the words at first, but I got caught up in the middle of the laughter and began singing along. Starting that day, I began browsing YouTube videos about history, curious to learn more. I had started learning something new, and, to my surprise, I liked it.

With my afternoons free from burpees and scrimmages, I dared to crack open a few more of my books to see what was in them. That’s when my English poetry book, Paint Me Like I Am , caught my attention. It was full of poems written by students my age from WritersCorps. I couldn’t get enough.

I wasn’t the only one who was taken with the poems. Previously, I’d only been vaguely aware of Christina as one of the weird kids I avoided. Crammed in the margins of her high-top Chuck Taylors were scribbled lines of her own poetry and infinite doodles. Beyond her punk rock persona was a sensitive artist, puppy-lover, and environmental activist that a wide receiver like me would have never noticed before.

With Christina, I started making friends with people who once would have been invisible to me: drama geeks, teachers’ pets, band nerds. Most were college bound but not to play a sport. They were smart and talented, and they cared about people and politics and all sorts of issues that I hadn’t considered before. Strangely, they also seemed to care about me.

I still limp down the halls at school, but I don’t seem to mind as much these days. My friends don’t steer clear anymore, and I have a lot more of them. My teachers, excited by my newfound interest in learning, continually invite me to learn more and do my best. Football is still on hold, but I feel like I’m finally playing a game that matters.

My broken ankle broke my spirit. Then, it broke my ignorance.

Word count: 512

This essay uses a narrative structure to show how a pet positively influenced the student’s values and character.

In the weak draft, the student doesn’t focus on himself, instead delving into too much detail about his dog’s positive traits and his grandma’s illness. The essay’s structure is meandering, with tangents and details that don’t communicate any specific insight.

In the improved version, the student keeps the focus on himself, not his pet. He chooses the most relevant stories to demonstrate specific qualities, and the structure more clearly builds up to an insightful conclusion.

Man’s Best Friend

I desperately wanted a cat. I begged my parents for one, but once again, my sisters overruled me, so we drove up the Thompson Valley Canyon from Loveland to Estes Park to meet our newest family member. My sisters had already hatched their master plan, complete with a Finding Nemo blanket to entice the pups. The blanket was a hit with all of them, except for one—the one who walked over and sat in my lap. That was the day that Francisco became a Villanova.

Maybe I should say he was mine because I got stuck with all the chores. As expected, my dog-loving sisters were nowhere to be found! My mom was “extra” with all the doggy gear. Cisco even had to wear these silly little puppy shoes outside so that when he came back in, he wouldn’t get the carpets dirty. If it was raining, my mother insisted I dress Cisco in a ridiculous yellow raincoat, but, in my opinion, it was an unnecessary source of humiliation for poor Cisco. It didn’t take long for Cisco to decide that his outerwear could be used as toys in a game of Keep Away. As soon as I took off one of his shoes, he would run away with it, hiding under the bed where I couldn’t reach him. But, he seemed to appreciate his ensemble more when we had to walk through snowdrifts to get his job done.

When my abuela was dying from cancer, we went in the middle of the night to see her before she passed. I was sad and scared. But, my dad let me take Cisco in the car, so Cisco cuddled with me and made me feel much better. It’s like he could read my mind. Once we arrived at the hospital, the fluorescent lighting made the entire scene seem unreal, as if I was watching the scene unfold through someone else’s eyes. My grandma lay calmly on her bed, smiling at us even through her last moments of pain. I disliked seeing the tubes and machines hooked up to her. It was unnatural to see her like this一it was so unlike the way I usually saw her beautiful in her flowery dress, whistling a Billie Holiday tune and baking snickerdoodle cookies in the kitchen. The hospital didn’t usually allow dogs, but they made a special exception to respect my grandma’s last wishes that the whole family be together. Cisco remained at the foot of the bed, intently watching abuela with a silence that seemed more effective at communicating comfort and compassion than the rest of us who attempted to offer up words of comfort that just seemed hollow and insincere. It was then that I truly appreciated Cisco’s empathy for others.

As I accompanied my dad to pick up our dry cleaner’s from Ms. Chapman, a family friend asked, “How’s Cisco?” before even asking about my sisters or me. Cisco is the Villanova family mascot, a Goldendoodle better recognized by strangers throughout Loveland than the individual members of my family.

On our summer trip to Boyd Lake State Park, we stayed at the Cottonwood campground for a breathtaking view of the lake. Cisco was allowed to come, but we had to keep him on a leash at all times. After a satisfying meal of fish, our entire family walked along the beach. Cisco and I led the way while my mom and sisters shuffled behind. Cisco always stopped and refused to move, looking back to make sure the others were still following. Once satisfied that everyone was together, he would turn back around and continue prancing with his golden boy curly locks waving in the chilly wind.

On the beach, Cisco “accidentally” got let off his leash and went running maniacally around the sand, unfettered and free. His pure joy as he raced through the sand made me forget about my AP Chem exam or my student council responsibilities. He brings a smile not only to my family members but everyone around him.

Cisco won’t live forever, but without words, he has impressed upon me life lessons of responsibility, compassion, loyalty, and joy. I can’t imagine life without him.

Word count: 701

I quickly figured out that as “the chosen one,” I had been enlisted by Cisco to oversee all aspects of his “business.” I learned to put on Cisco’s doggie shoes to keep the carpet clean before taking him out一no matter the weather. Soon after, Cisco decided that his shoes could be used as toys in a game of Keep Away. As soon as I removed one of his shoes, he would run away with it, hiding under the bed where I couldn’t reach him. But, he seemed to appreciate his footwear more after I’d gear him up and we’d tread through the snow for his daily walks.

One morning, it was 7:15 a.m., and Alejandro was late again to pick me up. “Cisco, you don’t think he overslept again, do you?” Cisco barked, as if saying, “Of course he did!” A text message would never do, so I called his dad, even if it was going to get him in trouble. There was no use in both of us getting another tardy during our first-period class, especially since I was ready on time after taking Cisco for his morning outing. Alejandro was mad at me but not too much. He knew I had helped him out, even if he had to endure his dad’s lecture on punctuality.

Another early morning, I heard my sister yell, “Mom! Where are my good ballet flats? I can’t find them anywhere!” I hesitated and then confessed, “I moved them.” She shrieked at me in disbelief, but I continued, “I put them in your closet, so Cisco wouldn’t chew them up.” More disbelief. However, this time, there was silence instead of shrieking.

Last spring, Cisco and I were fast asleep when the phone rang at midnight. Abuela would not make it through the night after a long year of chemo, but she was in Pueblo, almost three hours away. Sitting next to me for that long car ride on I-25 in pitch-black darkness, Cisco knew exactly what I needed and snuggled right next to me as I petted his coat in a rhythm while tears streamed down my face. The hospital didn’t usually allow dogs, but they made a special exception to respect my grandma’s last wishes that the whole family be together. Cisco remained sitting at the foot of the hospital bed, intently watching abuela with a silence that communicated more comfort than our hollow words. Since then, whenever I sense someone is upset, I sit in silence with them or listen to their words, just like Cisco did.

The other day, one of my friends told me, “You’re a strange one, Josue. You’re not like everybody else but in a good way.” I didn’t know what he meant at first. “You know, you’re super responsible and grown-up. You look out for us instead of yourself. Nobody else does that.” I was a bit surprised because I wasn’t trying to do anything different. I was just being me. But then I realized who had taught me: a fluffy little puppy who I had wished was a cat! I didn’t choose Cisco, but he certainly chose me and, unexpectedly, became my teacher, mentor, and friend.

Word count: 617

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
• Conjunctions

A standout college essay has several key ingredients:

• A unique, personally meaningful topic
• A memorable introduction with vivid imagery or an intriguing hook
• Specific stories and language that show instead of telling
• Vulnerability that’s authentic but not aimed at soliciting sympathy
• Clear writing in an appropriate style and tone
• A conclusion that offers deep insight or a creative ending

There are no set rules for how to structure a college application essay , but these are two common structures that work:

• A montage structure, a series of vignettes with a common theme.
• A narrative structure, a single story that shows your personal growth or how you overcame a challenge.

Avoid the five-paragraph essay structure that you learned in high school.

Though admissions officers are interested in hearing your story, they’re also interested in how you tell it. An exceptionally written essay will differentiate you from other applicants, meaning that admissions officers will spend more time reading it.

You can use literary devices to catch your reader’s attention and enrich your storytelling; however, focus on using just a few devices well, rather than trying to use as many as possible.

Most importantly, your essay should be about you , not another person or thing. An insightful college admissions essay requires deep self-reflection, authenticity, and a balance between confidence and vulnerability.

Your essay shouldn’t be a résumé of your experiences but instead should tell a story that demonstrates your most important values and qualities.

When revising your college essay , first check for big-picture issues regarding message, flow, tone, style , and clarity. Then, focus on eliminating grammar and punctuation errors.

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College Essays

If you grow up to be a professional writer, everything you write will first go through an editor before being published. This is because the process of writing is really a process of re-writing —of rethinking and reexamining your work, usually with the help of someone else. So what does this mean for your student writing? And in particular, what does it mean for very important, but nonprofessional writing like your college essay? Should you ask your parents to look at your essay? Pay for an essay service?

If you are wondering what kind of help you can, and should, get with your personal statement, you've come to the right place! In this article, I'll talk about what kind of writing help is useful, ethical, and even expected for your college admission essay . I'll also point out who would make a good editor, what the differences between editing and proofreading are, what to expect from a good editor, and how to spot and stay away from a bad one.

Table of Contents

What Kind of Help for Your Essay Can You Get?

What's Good Editing?

What should an editor do for you, what kind of editing should you avoid, proofreading, what's good proofreading, what kind of proofreading should you avoid.

What Do Colleges Think Of You Getting Help With Your Essay?

Who Can/Should Help You?

Advice for editors.

Should You Pay Money For Essay Editing?

The Bottom Line

What's next, what kind of help with your essay can you get.

Rather than talking in general terms about "help," let's first clarify the two different ways that someone else can improve your writing . There is editing, which is the more intensive kind of assistance that you can use throughout the whole process. And then there's proofreading, which is the last step of really polishing your final product.

Let me go into some more detail about editing and proofreading, and then explain how good editors and proofreaders can help you."

Editing is helping the author (in this case, you) go from a rough draft to a finished work . Editing is the process of asking questions about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and how you're organizing your ideas. But not all editing is good editing . In fact, it's very easy for an editor to cross the line from supportive to overbearing and over-involved.

Ability to clarify assignments. A good editor is usually a good writer, and certainly has to be a good reader. For example, in this case, a good editor should make sure you understand the actual essay prompt you're supposed to be answering.

Open-endedness. Good editing is all about asking questions about your ideas and work, but without providing answers. It's about letting you stick to your story and message, and doesn't alter your point of view.

Think of an editor as a great travel guide. It can show you the many different places your trip could take you. It should explain any parts of the trip that could derail your trip or confuse the traveler. But it never dictates your path, never forces you to go somewhere you don't want to go, and never ignores your interests so that the trip no longer seems like it's your own. So what should good editors do?

Help Brainstorm Topics

Sometimes it's easier to bounce thoughts off of someone else. This doesn't mean that your editor gets to come up with ideas, but they can certainly respond to the various topic options you've come up with. This way, you're less likely to write about the most boring of your ideas, or to write about something that isn't actually important to you.

If you're wondering how to come up with options for your editor to consider, check out our guide to brainstorming topics for your college essay .

Help Revise Your Drafts

Here, your editor can't upset the delicate balance of not intervening too much or too little. It's tricky, but a great way to think about it is to remember: editing is about asking questions, not giving answers .

Revision questions should point out:

• Places where more detail or more description would help the reader connect with your essay
• Places where structure and logic don't flow, losing the reader's attention
• Places where there aren't transitions between paragraphs, confusing the reader
• Moments where your narrative or the arguments you're making are unclear

But pointing to potential problems is not the same as actually rewriting—editors let authors fix the problems themselves.

Bad editing is usually very heavy-handed editing. Instead of helping you find your best voice and ideas, a bad editor changes your writing into their own vision.

You may be dealing with a bad editor if they:

• Add material (examples, descriptions) that doesn't come from you
• Use a thesaurus to make your college essay sound "more mature"
• Add meaning or insight to the essay that doesn't come from you
• Tell you what to say and how to say it
• Write sentences, phrases, and paragraphs for you
• Change your voice in the essay so it no longer sounds like it was written by a teenager

Colleges can tell the difference between a 17-year-old's writing and a 50-year-old's writing. Not only that, they have access to your SAT or ACT Writing section, so they can compare your essay to something else you wrote. Writing that's a little more polished is great and expected. But a totally different voice and style will raise questions.

Where's the Line Between Helpful Editing and Unethical Over-Editing?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your college essay editor is doing the right thing. Here are some guidelines for staying on the ethical side of the line.

• An editor should say that the opening paragraph is kind of boring, and explain what exactly is making it drag. But it's overstepping for an editor to tell you exactly how to change it.
• An editor should point out where your prose is unclear or vague. But it's completely inappropriate for the editor to rewrite that section of your essay.
• An editor should let you know that a section is light on detail or description. But giving you similes and metaphors to beef up that description is a no-go.

Proofreading (also called copy-editing) is checking for errors in the last draft of a written work. It happens at the end of the process and is meant as the final polishing touch. Proofreading is meticulous and detail-oriented, focusing on small corrections. It sands off all the surface rough spots that could alienate the reader.

Because proofreading is usually concerned with making fixes on the word or sentence level, this is the only process where someone else can actually add to or take away things from your essay . This is because what they are adding or taking away tends to be one or two misplaced letters.

Laser focus. Proofreading is all about the tiny details, so the ability to really concentrate on finding small slip-ups is a must.

Excellent grammar and spelling skills. Proofreaders need to dot every "i" and cross every "t." Good proofreaders should correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. They should put foreign words in italics and surround quotations with quotation marks. They should check that you used the correct college's name, and that you adhered to any formatting requirements (name and date at the top of the page, uniform font and size, uniform spacing).

Limited interference. A proofreader needs to make sure that you followed any word limits. But if cuts need to be made to shorten the essay, that's your job and not the proofreader's.

A bad proofreader either tries to turn into an editor, or just lacks the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job.

Some signs that you're working with a bad proofreader are:

• If they suggest making major changes to the final draft of your essay. Proofreading happens when editing is already finished.
• If they aren't particularly good at spelling, or don't know grammar, or aren't detail-oriented enough to find someone else's small mistakes.
• If they start swapping out your words for fancier-sounding synonyms, or changing the voice and sound of your essay in other ways. A proofreader is there to check for errors, not to take the 17-year-old out of your writing.

What Do Colleges Think of Your Getting Help With Your Essay?

Admissions officers agree: light editing and proofreading are good—even required ! But they also want to make sure you're the one doing the work on your essay. They want essays with stories, voice, and themes that come from you. They want to see work that reflects your actual writing ability, and that focuses on what you find important.

On the Importance of Editing

Get feedback. Have a fresh pair of eyes give you some feedback. Don't allow someone else to rewrite your essay, but do take advantage of others' edits and opinions when they seem helpful. ( Bates College )

Read your essay aloud to someone. Reading the essay out loud offers a chance to hear how your essay sounds outside your head. This exercise reveals flaws in the essay's flow, highlights grammatical errors and helps you ensure that you are communicating the exact message you intended. ( Dickinson College )

On the Value of Proofreading

Share your essays with at least one or two people who know you well—such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or friend—and ask for feedback. Remember that you ultimately have control over your essays, and your essays should retain your own voice, but others may be able to catch mistakes that you missed and help suggest areas to cut if you are over the word limit. ( Yale University )

Proofread and then ask someone else to proofread for you. Although we want substance, we also want to be able to see that you can write a paper for our professors and avoid careless mistakes that would drive them crazy. ( Oberlin College )

On Watching Out for Too Much Outside Influence

Limit the number of people who review your essay. Too much input usually means your voice is lost in the writing style. ( Carleton College )

Ask for input (but not too much). Your parents, friends, guidance counselors, coaches, and teachers are great people to bounce ideas off of for your essay. They know how unique and spectacular you are, and they can help you decide how to articulate it. Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we're probably going to notice. ( Vanderbilt University )

Now let's talk about some potential people to approach for your college essay editing and proofreading needs. It's best to start close to home and slowly expand outward. Not only are your family and friends more invested in your success than strangers, but they also have a better handle on your interests and personality. This knowledge is key for judging whether your essay is expressing your true self.

Parents or Close Relatives

Your family may be full of potentially excellent editors! Parents are deeply committed to your well-being, and family members know you and your life well enough to offer details or incidents that can be included in your essay. On the other hand, the rewriting process necessarily involves criticism, which is sometimes hard to hear from someone very close to you.

A parent or close family member is a great choice for an editor if you can answer "yes" to the following questions. Is your parent or close relative a good writer or reader? Do you have a relationship where editing your essay won't create conflict? Are you able to constructively listen to criticism and suggestion from the parent?

One suggestion for defusing face-to-face discussions is to try working on the essay over email. Send your parent a draft, have them write you back some comments, and then you can pick which of their suggestions you want to use and which to discard.

Teachers or Tutors

A humanities teacher that you have a good relationship with is a great choice. I am purposefully saying humanities, and not just English, because teachers of Philosophy, History, Anthropology, and any other classes where you do a lot of writing, are all used to reviewing student work.

Moreover, any teacher or tutor that has been working with you for some time, knows you very well and can vet the essay to make sure it "sounds like you."

If your teacher or tutor has some experience with what college essays are supposed to be like, ask them to be your editor. If not, then ask whether they have time to proofread your final draft.

Guidance or College Counselor at Your School

The best thing about asking your counselor to edit your work is that this is their job. This means that they have a very good sense of what colleges are looking for in an application essay.

At the same time, school counselors tend to have relationships with admissions officers in many colleges, which again gives them insight into what works and which college is focused on what aspect of the application.

Unfortunately, in many schools the guidance counselor tends to be way overextended. If your ratio is 300 students to 1 college counselor, you're unlikely to get that person's undivided attention and focus. It is still useful to ask them for general advice about your potential topics, but don't expect them to be able to stay with your essay from first draft to final version.

Friends, Siblings, or Classmates

Although they most likely don't have much experience with what colleges are hoping to see, your peers are excellent sources for checking that your essay is you .

Friends and siblings are perfect for the read-aloud edit. Read your essay to them so they can listen for words and phrases that are stilted, pompous, or phrases that just don't sound like you.

You can even trade essays and give helpful advice on each other's work.

If your editor hasn't worked with college admissions essays very much, no worries! Any astute and attentive reader can still greatly help with your process. But, as in all things, beginners do better with some preparation.

First, your editor should read our advice about how to write a college essay introduction , how to spot and fix a bad college essay , and get a sense of what other students have written by going through some admissions essays that worked .

Then, as they read your essay, they can work through the following series of questions that will help them to guide you.

Introduction Questions

• Is the first sentence a killer opening line? Why or why not?
• Does the introduction hook the reader? Does it have a colorful, detailed, and interesting narrative? Or does it propose a compelling or surprising idea?
• Can you feel the author's voice in the introduction, or is the tone dry, dull, or overly formal? Show the places where the voice comes through.

Essay Body Questions

• Does the essay have a through-line? Is it built around a central argument, thought, idea, or focus? Can you put this idea into your own words?
• How is the essay organized? By logical progression? Chronologically? Do you feel order when you read it, or are there moments where you are confused or lose the thread of the essay?
• Does the essay have both narratives about the author's life and explanations and insight into what these stories reveal about the author's character, personality, goals, or dreams? If not, which is missing?
• Does the essay flow? Are there smooth transitions/clever links between paragraphs? Between the narrative and moments of insight?

Reader Response Questions

• Does the writer's personality come through? Do we know what the speaker cares about? Do we get a sense of "who he or she is"?
• Where did you feel most connected to the essay? Which parts of the essay gave you a "you are there" sensation by invoking your senses? What moments could you picture in your head well?
• Where are the details and examples vague and not specific enough?
• Did you get an "a-ha!" feeling anywhere in the essay? Is there a moment of insight that connected all the dots for you? Is there a good reveal or "twist" anywhere in the essay?
• What are the strengths of this essay? What needs the most improvement?

Should You Pay Money for Essay Editing?

One alternative to asking someone you know to help you with your college essay is the paid editor route. There are two different ways to pay for essay help: a private essay coach or a less personal editing service , like the many proliferating on the internet.

My advice is to think of these options as a last resort rather than your go-to first choice. I'll first go through the reasons why. Then, if you do decide to go with a paid editor, I'll help you decide between a coach and a service.

When to Consider a Paid Editor

In general, I think hiring someone to work on your essay makes a lot of sense if none of the people I discussed above are a possibility for you.

If you can't ask your parents. For example, if your parents aren't good writers, or if English isn't their first language. Or if you think getting your parents to help is going create unnecessary extra conflict in your relationship with them (applying to college is stressful as it is!)

If you can't ask your teacher or tutor. Maybe you don't have a trusted teacher or tutor that has time to look over your essay with focus. Or, for instance, your favorite humanities teacher has very limited experience with college essays and so won't know what admissions officers want to see.

If you can't ask your guidance counselor. This could be because your guidance counselor is way overwhelmed with other students.

If you can't share your essay with those who know you. It might be that your essay is on a very personal topic that you're unwilling to share with parents, teachers, or peers. Just make sure it doesn't fall into one of the bad-idea topics in our article on bad college essays .

If the cost isn't a consideration. Many of these services are quite expensive, and private coaches even more so. If you have finite resources, I'd say that hiring an SAT or ACT tutor (whether it's PrepScholar or someone else) is better way to spend your money . This is because there's no guarantee that a slightly better essay will sufficiently elevate the rest of your application, but a significantly higher SAT score will definitely raise your applicant profile much more.

Should You Hire an Essay Coach?

On the plus side, essay coaches have read dozens or even hundreds of college essays, so they have experience with the format. Also, because you'll be working closely with a specific person, it's more personal than sending your essay to a service, which will know even less about you.

But, on the minus side, you'll still be bouncing ideas off of someone who doesn't know that much about you . In general, if you can adequately get the help from someone you know, there is no advantage to paying someone to help you.

If you do decide to hire a coach, ask your school counselor, or older students that have used the service for recommendations. If you can't afford the coach's fees, ask whether they can work on a sliding scale —many do. And finally, beware those who guarantee admission to your school of choice—essay coaches don't have any special magic that can back up those promises.

Should You Send Your Essay to a Service?

On the plus side, essay editing services provide a similar product to essay coaches, and they cost significantly less . If you have some assurance that you'll be working with a good editor, the lack of face-to-face interaction won't prevent great results.

On the minus side, however, it can be difficult to gauge the quality of the service before working with them . If they are churning through many application essays without getting to know the students they are helping, you could end up with an over-edited essay that sounds just like everyone else's. In the worst case scenario, an unscrupulous service could send you back a plagiarized essay.

Getting recommendations from friends or a school counselor for reputable services is key to avoiding heavy-handed editing that writes essays for you or does too much to change your essay. Including a badly-edited essay like this in your application could cause problems if there are inconsistencies. For example, in interviews it might be clear you didn't write the essay, or the skill of the essay might not be reflected in your schoolwork and test scores.

Should You Buy an Essay Written by Someone Else?

Let me elaborate. There are super sketchy places on the internet where you can simply buy a pre-written essay. Don't do this!

For one thing, you'll be lying on an official, signed document. All college applications make you sign a statement saying something like this:

I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented... I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree, should the information I have certified be false. (From the Common Application )

For another thing, if your academic record doesn't match the essay's quality, the admissions officer will start thinking your whole application is riddled with lies.

Admission officers have full access to your writing portion of the SAT or ACT so that they can compare work that was done in proctored conditions with that done at home. They can tell if these were written by different people. Not only that, but there are now a number of search engines that faculty and admission officers can use to see if an essay contains strings of words that have appeared in other essays—you have no guarantee that the essay you bought wasn't also bought by 50 other students.

• You should get college essay help with both editing and proofreading
• A good editor will ask questions about your idea, logic, and structure, and will point out places where clarity is needed
• A good editor will absolutely not answer these questions, give you their own ideas, or write the essay or parts of the essay for you
• A good proofreader will find typos and check your formatting
• All of them agree that getting light editing and proofreading is necessary
• Parents, teachers, guidance or college counselor, and peers or siblings
• If you can't ask any of those, you can pay for college essay help, but watch out for services or coaches who over-edit you work
• Don't buy a pre-written essay! Colleges can tell, and it'll make your whole application sound false.

Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications and then explore our step-by-step guide to writing a great college essay .

Using the Common Application for your college applications? We have an excellent guide to the Common App essay prompts and useful advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that's right for you . Wondering how other people tackled these prompts? Then work through our roundup of over 130 real college essay examples published by colleges .

Stressed about whether to take the SAT again before submitting your application? Let us help you decide how many times to take this test . If you choose to go for it, we have the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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How to Write an Essay about Your Name

Are you looking for an easy and quick way to write an essay about your name? Then this is the perfect tutorial for you! 

I’m Constance, and in this tutorial, I will show you how to write an essay about your name in six simple steps. I will also give you an example of such an essay as we go through the process step by step.

Let’s begin!

Step 1: Choose your main idea.

If you want to organize your thoughts and present them clearly and concisely in an essay, you need to choose your thesis — a main idea for your essay. Simply take a stand and write it down as a simple sentence.

What do you want to say about your name? Do you like your name? Do you think it’s interesting? Whatever you think of will act as your thesis . 

For example, you can say, “I love my name.”   Note that we kept it really simple. By doing so, we can clearly think of the next things we need for the essay.

Step 2: Think of three supporting ideas.

Trying to write an essay on only one undivided idea or thesis will get you stuck.

So, you need more than one idea. Two ideas are better than one. Three is even better. But four may be too many because you’re just writing a simple essay. 

So, coming up with three supporting ideas is the best method. Why? Because three is the perfect number the brain can handle. And it works all the time! We call it the Power of Three.

So, let’s use the Power of Three to keep our ideas flowing.

The Power of Three is a three-part structure that divides your main idea into three distinct supporting points. It helps create your body paragraphs.

Let’s apply it to an essay about your name. 

Ask yourself – “why do I love my name?” And write down three answers. Here are mine:

• I like its Latin origin .
• I like how my parents came up with it.
• It sounds great .

Using ideas that are too similar to each other may cause writer’s block. So, note that our three supporting points are totally different from one another.

Keep them distinct and simple to avoid running out of things to write down the line.

Step 3: Write your thesis statement.

Now that we have a clear picture of the essay’s structure, we can write a thesis statement.  

When writing a thesis statement, take your main idea and its supporting points and write them out as a sentence or complete sentences in a single paragraph.

Once you’ve written your thesis statement, you have a nice outline for your essay.

Here’s an example of a thesis statement:

“I love my name because I like its Latin origin, the story of how my parents came up with it is pretty cool, and it sounds great, too.”

Note how clear the statement is. We started with our thesis, and the three supporting points sound like great ideas to back it up. So, it works.

Great! Now, we’re ready for the next step.

Step 4: Write the body paragraphs.

After dividing our main idea into three distinct points, we can easily write three body paragraphs for our essay.

When writing a body paragraph , you should start with a topic sentence summarizing the entire paragraph. Then, briefly explain it and illustrate it using examples .

Note that your paragraphs should go from general to specific. 

In a body paragraph, your topic sentence (the first sentence) is the most general statement. After writing your topic sentence, you will unpack it by writing more specifically, using an explanation and examples.

Here are examples of body paragraphs for our essay:

Paragraph 1

One of the few things I like about my name is its etymology. It has a Latin origin, rooted in the word “constantem,” which means “faithful” or “steadfast.” It is a name that represents perseverance and dedication regardless of the challenges ahead. I could not be more proud and grateful for my name’s origin. It reflects my determined personality and my loyalty to the people I love.

Paragraph 2

I also love that I was named after my grandmother Constancia. I appreciate my mom and dad naming me after her – someone I loved so much. My grandmother was an amazing woman. She raised eight kids despite her humble status in life, which highlighted her steadfastness. And she was faithful to her family and supported it however she could.

Paragraph 3

My name has a certain sonorous quality to it with its consonants that roll off the tongue. I am thankful for the sound of my name. It has a beautiful melody to it that I always love to hear. Every time I hear it, it brings me a sense of warmth and joy and puts a smile on my face.

Note how each paragraph proceeds from a general statement to more specific points.

Now that we’ve written our body paragraphs, we are ready for the next step.

Step 5: Write the introduction and conclusion.

Introduction.

An introduction can be just one more general sentence, after which you should simply proceed to your thesis statement, which includes your thesis and three supporting points.

Here’s an example of an entire introductory paragraph:

Many of us may not think much about it, but our names are a part of our identity and can have a lasting impact on us. I love my name because of its Latin origin, the story of how my parents came up with it, and its cool sound. My name means “constant” or “steadfast” in Latin, which reflects my determined personality. It came from my grandmother’s name, Constancia, whom I loved so much. And it just sounds amazing, even if I only say so myself.”

If you want a time-proven, easy, and quick way to write a conclusion for your essays, I recommend restating what you stated in your introduction using different words. 

Here’s an example of a conclusion for our essay:

My name is an important part of my identity and has a special place in my heart. It has a meaningful linguistic origin from the Latin word constantem, meaning “steadfastness.” It is a special reminder of my grandmother, Constancia. And it has a nice ring to it that brings me joy.

Now, we’re ready for the final step.

Step 6: Proofread.

The final step in writing an essay is going back and proofreading it. Look out for:

• Misspellings
• Grammatical errors
• Irrelevant material (stuff that doesn’t belong in the essay)
• Contradictions (make sure you don’t contradict your own points)

And we are done writing an example of an essay about a name. 

I hope you learned a lot in this tutorial. Now go ahead and write an essay about your name!

Tutor Phil is an e-learning professional who helps adult learners finish their degrees by teaching them academic writing skills.

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Home — Application Essay — National Universities — The Meaning of a Names: Dual Identity

The Meaning of a Names: Dual Identity

• University: Dartmouth College

About this sample

Words: 479 |

Published: Jul 18, 2018

Words: 479 | Pages: 1 | 3 min read

If my identity were built upon the different components of my name, my middle name, YingYing, would be the foundation. Both of my parents grew up in China’s capital city and they wanted a part of my name to reflect my heritage. In Mandarin Chinese, “Ying” means “to win.” Typically, Chinese given names are two syllables long; my parents purposefully chose to repeat the syllable in order to emphasize that they hope for me to lead a prosperous, satisfying life. Indeed, I have a fiercely competitive edge when necessary, which can be explained nicely by this translation of my middle name. While my name does hold a specific meaning, generally speaking, it serves as a reminder that my culture is (literally) a part of my identity.

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Upon this YingYing foundation sits the framework of who I am today, which is quite accurately represented by my first name, Caroline. My father chose this name, inspired by the accomplished Caroline Kennedy, whom he saw as a worthy role model. He revered her for both her strength, which she displayed after losing her father at such a young age, and her success. In fact, my father was so set on the name Caroline he claims it would have been my name even if I had been a boy! Whereas my middle name reflects my ethnicity, I believe that my first name represents the culture in which I have grown up. I immigrated to the United States with my parents when I was two years old. For the past sixteen years of my life, I have become so familiar with American traditions that I see them as an integral part of my life. If I did not have my first name to serve as a reflection of who I am and the culture with which I am most familiar, I would feel as though my identity was not being accurately represented.

I am a Chinese-American, neither selectively one nor the other – my family and I celebrate American holidays along with Chinese New Year to represent the two cultures that have defined us. My name serves as a constant reminder of my cultural duality. Because of my middle name I will never forget my heritage or the sacrifice my parents made for me by immigrating. On the other hand, my first name acts as a marker of the culture I have lived in almost all my life, and some of the people whose actions I aspire to emulate. Whereas my middle name is the foundation and my first name the framework, neither can individually capture who I am. I believe that it is the assembled structure of the two that creates my strong and versatile identity. Whereas each name is meaningful in its own way, the sum of their meanings is what I value the most.

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College essays are an entirely new type of writing for high school seniors. For that reason, many students are confused about proper formatting and essay structure. Should you double-space or single-space? Do you need a title? What kind of narrative style is best-suited for your topic?

In this post, we’ll be going over proper college essay format, traditional and unconventional essay structures (plus sample essays!), and which structure might work best for you. 

General College Essay Formatting Guidelines

How you format your essay will depend on whether you’re submitting in a text box, or attaching a document. We’ll go over the different best practices for both, but regardless of how you’re submitting, here are some general formatting tips:

• There’s no need for a title; it takes up unnecessary space and eats into your word count
• Stay within the word count as much as possible (+/- 10% of the upper limit). For further discussion on college essay length, see our post How Long Should Your College Essay Be?
• Indent or double space to separate paragraphs clearly

If you’re submitting in a text box:

• Avoid italics and bold, since formatting often doesn’t transfer over in text boxes
• Be careful with essays meant to be a certain shape (like a balloon); text boxes will likely not respect that formatting. Beyond that, this technique can also seem gimmicky, so proceed with caution
• Make sure that paragraphs are clearly separated, as text boxes can also undo indents and double spacing

If you’re attaching a document:

• Use a standard font and size like Times New Roman, 12 point
• Make your lines 1.5-spaced or double-spaced
• Use 1-inch margins
• Save as a PDF since it can’t be edited. This also prevents any formatting issues that come with Microsoft Word, since older versions are sometimes incompatible with the newer formatting
• Number each page with your last name in the header or footer (like “Smith 1”)
• Pay extra attention to any word limits, as you won’t be cut off automatically, unlike with most text boxes

Conventional College Essay Structures

Now that we’ve gone over the logistical aspects of your essay, let’s talk about how you should structure your writing. There are three traditional college essay structures. They are:

• In-the-moment narrative
• Narrative told over an extended period of time
• Series of anecdotes, or montage

Let’s go over what each one is exactly, and take a look at some real essays using these structures.

1. In-the-moment narrative

This is where you tell the story one moment at a time, sharing the events as they occur. In the moment narrative is a powerful essay format, as your reader experiences the events, your thoughts, and your emotions with you . This structure is ideal for a specific experience involving extensive internal dialogue, emotions, and reflections.

Here’s an example:

The morning of the Model United Nation conference, I walked into Committee feeling confident about my research. We were simulating the Nuremberg Trials – a series of post-World War II proceedings for war crimes – and my portfolio was of the Soviet Judge Major General Iona Nikitchenko. Until that day, the infamous Nazi regime had only been a chapter in my history textbook; however, the conference’s unveiling of each defendant’s crimes brought those horrors to life. The previous night, I had organized my research, proofread my position paper and gone over Judge Nikitchenko’s pertinent statements. I aimed to find the perfect balance between his stance and my own.

As I walked into committee anticipating a battle of wits, my director abruptly called out to me. “I’m afraid we’ve received a late confirmation from another delegate who will be representing Judge Nikitchenko. You, on the other hand, are now the defense attorney, Otto Stahmer.” Everyone around me buzzed around the room in excitement, coordinating with their allies and developing strategies against their enemies, oblivious to the bomb that had just dropped on me. I felt frozen in my tracks, and it seemed that only rage against the careless delegate who had confirmed her presence so late could pull me out of my trance. After having spent a month painstakingly crafting my verdicts and gathering evidence against the Nazis, I now needed to reverse my stance only three hours before the first session.

Gradually, anger gave way to utter panic. My research was fundamental to my performance, and without it, I knew I could add little to the Trials. But confident in my ability, my director optimistically recommended constructing an impromptu defense. Nervously, I began my research anew. Despite feeling hopeless, as I read through the prosecution’s arguments, I uncovered substantial loopholes. I noticed a lack of conclusive evidence against the defendants and certain inconsistencies in testimonies. My discovery energized me, inspiring me to revisit the historical overview in my conference “Background Guide” and to search the web for other relevant articles. Some Nazi prisoners had been treated as “guilty” before their court dates. While I had brushed this information under the carpet while developing my position as a judge, it now became the focus of my defense. I began scratching out a new argument, centered on the premise that the allied countries had violated the fundamental rule that, a defendant was “not guilty” until proven otherwise.

At the end of the three hours, I felt better prepared. The first session began, and with bravado, I raised my placard to speak. Microphone in hand, I turned to face my audience. “Greetings delegates. I, Otto Stahmer would like to…….” I suddenly blanked. Utter dread permeated my body as I tried to recall my thoughts in vain. “Defence Attorney, Stahmer we’ll come back to you,” my Committee Director broke the silence as I tottered back to my seat, flushed with embarrassment. Despite my shame, I was undeterred. I needed to vindicate my director’s faith in me. I pulled out my notes, refocused, and began outlining my arguments in a more clear and direct manner. Thereafter, I spoke articulately, confidently putting forth my points. I was overjoyed when Secretariat members congratulated me on my fine performance.

Going into the conference, I believed that preparation was the key to success. I wouldn’t say I disagree with that statement now, but I believe adaptability is equally important. My ability to problem-solve in the face of an unforeseen challenge proved advantageous in the art of diplomacy. Not only did this experience transform me into a confident and eloquent delegate at that conference, but it also helped me become a more flexible and creative thinker in a variety of other capacities. Now that I know I can adapt under pressure, I look forward to engaging in activities that will push me to be even quicker on my feet.

This essay is an excellent example of in-the-moment narration. The student openly shares their internal state with us — we feel their anger and panic upon the reversal of roles. We empathize with their emotions of “utter dread” and embarrassment when they’re unable to speak. 

For in-the-moment essays, overloading on descriptions is a common mistake students make. This writer provides just the right amount of background and details to help us understand the situation, however, and balances out the actual event with reflection on the significance of this experience. 

One main area of improvement is that the writer sometimes makes explicit statements that could be better illustrated through their thoughts, actions, and feelings. For instance, they say they “spoke articulately” after recovering from their initial inability to speak, and they also claim that adaptability has helped them in other situations. This is not as engaging as actual examples that convey the same meaning. Still, this essay overall is a strong example of in-the-moment narration, and gives us a relatable look into the writer’s life and personality.

2. Narrative told over an extended period of time

In this essay structure, you share a story that takes place across several different experiences. This narrative style is well-suited for any story arc with multiple parts. If you want to highlight your development over time, you might consider this structure. 

When I was younger, I was adamant that no two foods on my plate touch. As a result, I often used a second plate to prevent such an atrocity. In many ways, I learned to separate different things this way from my older brothers, Nate and Rob. Growing up, I idolized both of them. Nate was a performer, and I insisted on arriving early to his shows to secure front row seats, refusing to budge during intermission for fear of missing anything. Rob was a three-sport athlete, and I attended his games religiously, waving worn-out foam cougar paws and cheering until my voice was hoarse. My brothers were my role models. However, while each was talented, neither was interested in the other’s passion. To me, they represented two contrasting ideals of what I could become: artist or athlete. I believed I had to choose.

And for a long time, I chose athlete. I played soccer, basketball, and lacrosse and viewed myself exclusively as an athlete, believing the arts were not for me. I conveniently overlooked that since the age of five, I had been composing stories for my family for Christmas, gifts that were as much for me as them, as I loved writing. So when in tenth grade, I had the option of taking a creative writing class, I was faced with a question: could I be an athlete and a writer? After much debate, I enrolled in the class, feeling both apprehensive and excited. When I arrived on the first day of school, my teacher, Ms. Jenkins, asked us to write down our expectations for the class. After a few minutes, eraser shavings stubbornly sunbathing on my now-smudged paper, I finally wrote, “I do not expect to become a published writer from this class. I just want this to be a place where I can write freely.”

Although the purpose of the class never changed for me, on the third “submission day,” – our time to submit writing to upcoming contests and literary magazines – I faced a predicament. For the first two submission days, I had passed the time editing earlier pieces, eventually (pretty quickly) resorting to screen snake when hopelessness made the words look like hieroglyphics. I must not have been as subtle as I thought, as on the third of these days, Ms. Jenkins approached me. After shifting from excuse to excuse as to why I did not submit my writing, I finally recognized the real reason I had withheld my work: I was scared. I did not want to be different, and I did not want to challenge not only others’ perceptions of me, but also my own. I yielded to Ms. Jenkin’s pleas and sent one of my pieces to an upcoming contest.

By the time the letter came, I had already forgotten about the contest. When the flimsy white envelope arrived in the mail, I was shocked and ecstatic to learn that I had received 2nd place in a nationwide writing competition. The next morning, however, I discovered Ms. Jenkins would make an announcement to the whole school exposing me as a poet. I decided to own this identity and embrace my friends’ jokes and playful digs, and over time, they have learned to accept and respect this part of me. I have since seen more boys at my school identifying themselves as writers or artists.

I no longer see myself as an athlete and a poet independently, but rather I see these two aspects forming a single inseparable identity – me. Despite their apparent differences, these two disciplines are quite similar, as each requires creativity and devotion. I am still a poet when I am lacing up my cleats for soccer practice and still an athlete when I am building metaphors in the back of my mind – and I have realized ice cream and gummy bears taste pretty good together.

The timeline of this essay spans from the writer’s childhood all the way to sophomore year, but we only see key moments along this journey. First, we get context for why the writer thought he had to choose one identity: his older brothers had very distinct interests. Then, we learn about the student’s 10th grade creative writing class, writing contest, and results of the contest. Finally, the essay covers the writers’ embarrassment of his identity as a poet, to gradual acceptance and pride in that identity. 

This essay is a great example of a narrative told over an extended period of time. It’s highly personal and reflective, as the piece shares the writer’s conflicting feelings, and takes care to get to the root of those feelings. Furthermore, the overarching story is that of a personal transformation and development, so it’s well-suited to this essay structure.

3. Series of anecdotes, or montage

This essay structure allows you to focus on the most important experiences of a single storyline, or it lets you feature multiple (not necessarily related) stories that highlight your personality. Montage is a structure where you piece together separate scenes to form a whole story. This technique is most commonly associated with film. Just envision your favorite movie—it likely is a montage of various scenes that may not even be chronological. 

Night had robbed the academy of its daytime colors, yet there was comfort in the dim lights that cast shadows of our advances against the bare studio walls. Silhouettes of roundhouse kicks, spin crescent kicks, uppercuts and the occasional butterfly kick danced while we sparred. She approached me, eyes narrowed with the trace of a smirk challenging me. “Ready spar!” Her arm began an upward trajectory targeting my shoulder, a common first move. I sidestepped — only to almost collide with another flying fist. Pivoting my right foot, I snapped my left leg, aiming my heel at her midsection. The center judge raised one finger. 

There was no time to celebrate, not in the traditional sense at least. Master Pollard gave a brief command greeted with a unanimous “Yes, sir” and the thud of 20 hands dropping-down-and-giving-him-30, while the “winners” celebrated their victory with laps as usual. 

Three years ago, seven-thirty in the evening meant I was a warrior. It meant standing up straighter, pushing a little harder, “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am”, celebrating birthdays by breaking boards, never pointing your toes, and familiarity. Three years later, seven-thirty in the morning meant I was nervous. 

The room is uncomfortably large. The sprung floor soaks up the checkerboard of sunlight piercing through the colonial windows. The mirrored walls further illuminate the studio and I feel the light scrutinizing my sorry attempts at a pas de bourrée , while capturing the organic fluidity of the dancers around me. “ Chassé en croix, grand battement, pique, pirouette.” I follow the graceful limbs of the woman in front of me, her legs floating ribbons, as she executes what seems to be a perfect ronds de jambes. Each movement remains a negotiation. With admirable patience, Ms. Tan casts me a sympathetic glance.   

There is no time to wallow in the misery that is my right foot. Taekwondo calls for dorsiflexion; pointed toes are synonymous with broken toes. My thoughts drag me into a flashback of the usual response to this painful mistake: “You might as well grab a tutu and head to the ballet studio next door.” Well, here I am Master Pollard, unfortunately still following your orders to never point my toes, but no longer feeling the satisfaction that comes with being a third degree black belt with 5 years of experience quite literally under her belt. It’s like being a white belt again — just in a leotard and ballet slippers. 

But the appetite for new beginnings that brought me here doesn’t falter. It is only reinforced by the classical rendition of “Dancing Queen” that floods the room and the ghost of familiarity that reassures me that this new beginning does not and will not erase the past. After years spent at the top, it’s hard to start over. But surrendering what you are only leads you to what you may become. In Taekwondo, we started each class reciting the tenets: honor, courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, courage, humility, and knowledge, and I have never felt that I embodied those traits more so than when I started ballet. 

The thing about change is that it eventually stops making things so different. After nine different schools, four different countries, three different continents, fluency in Tamil, Norwegian, and English, there are more blurred lines than there are clear fragments. My life has not been a tactfully executed, gold medal-worthy Taekwondo form with each movement defined, nor has it been a series of frappés performed by a prima ballerina with each extension identical and precise, but thankfully it has been like the dynamics of a spinning back kick, fluid, and like my chances of landing a pirouette, unpredictable. 

This essay takes a few different anecdotes and weaves them into a coherent narrative about the writer’s penchant for novel experiences. We’re plunged into her universe, in the middle of her Taekwondo spar, three years before the present day. She then transitions into a scene in a ballet studio, present day. By switching from past tense to present tense, the writer clearly demarcates this shift in time. 

The parallel use of the spoken phrase “Point” in the essay ties these two experiences together. The writer also employs a flashback to Master Pollard’s remark about “grabbing a tutu” and her habit of dorsiflexing her toes, which further cements the connection between these anecdotes. 

While some of the descriptions are a little wordy, the piece is well-executed overall, and is a stellar example of the montage structure. The two anecdotes are seamlessly intertwined, and they both clearly illustrate the student’s determination, dedication, reflectiveness, and adaptability. The writer also concludes the essay with a larger reflection on her life, many moves, and multiple languages. 

Unconventional College Essay Structures

Unconventional essay structures are any that don’t fit into the categories above. These tend to be higher risk, as it’s easier to turn off the admissions officer, but they’re also higher reward if executed correctly. 

There are endless possibilities for unconventional structures, but most fall under one of two categories:

1. Playing with essay format

Instead of choosing a traditional narrative format, you might take a more creative route to showcase your interests, writing your essay:

• As a movie script
• With a creative visual format (such as creating a visual pattern with the spaces between your sentences forming a picture)
• As a two-sided Lincoln-Douglas debate
• As a legal brief
• Using song lyrics

2. Linguistic techniques

You could also play with the actual language and sentence structure of your essay, writing it:

• In iambic pentameter
• Partially in your mother tongue
• In code or a programming language

These linguistic techniques are often hybrid, where you write some of the essay with the linguistic variation, then write more of an explanation in English.

Under no circumstances should you feel pressured to use an unconventional structure. Trying to force something unconventional will only hurt your chances. That being said, if a creative structure comes naturally to you, suits your personality, and works with the content of your essay — go for that structure!

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Mentioning your name in an essay?

<p>In one of my essays (with a prompt that is open-ended), I find that mentioning my name allows me to develop the essay further, and I wish to include it (I don’t want to go in further detail about it because I don’t want to reveal the subject of my essay). However, I realized that including my name in the essay would give away my ethnicity, and obviously this plays a role in admissions. I suppose they may already know your ethnicity from other parts of the application, but is adding your name in the essay itself getting too personal?</p>

<p>I’m not exactly sure about etiquette in college admissions. I remember reading about one college that they assigned numbers to every applicant so admissions officers were not biased to select one applicant over another…</p>

<p>So, is it appropriate to include your name, or not?</p>

<p>If it is necessary in examples such as:</p>

<p>…My mom was calling my name out loud. “John Doe! Come here right now!”… </p>

<p>In that case, it is necessary. But if you don’t want to reveal your name in an essay, I’m sure you can find a way.</p>

<p>But I would recommend to add the name if it sensualizes your point. They already know your name. </p>

<p>Whether you decide to include your name or not in your essay, giving away your ethnicity should not be a factor in your decision. They already have your name on file when you submit it (all your records have your name on it), so I don’t see how including your name in the essay will make any difference.</p>

<p>Adding your name could make it more personalized, and thus they could be more likely to connect your name to the essay. At other times though, it could feel irrelevant. If you don’t want to emphasize your ethnicity in your essay, you could always just use your first name or leave it out altogether. But like mentioned above, your name will already be included on other parts of your application. How else would they be able to identify who they are going to be admitting?</p>

<p>So when they read an essay they know exactly whose it is already (e.g. “John Doe” vs applicant #3243 ) ? If that is the case then I should have no problem adding my name, correct?</p>

<p>I was just worried that the essays could be looked at separately from the rest of the application and given a score, and later, they would be attached back to the main file (as Wesleyan did in the book “The Gatekeepers”). </p>

<p>Also, has anyone else done this?</p>

<p>Bumpppppp</p>

<p>Please tell me I’m not the first soul to put my name in an essay…</p>

<p>i don’t put my name in the essay because I don’t have any sentences that would warrant it, but you shouldn’t be afraid of putting your name down. Your name will already be on the college application, transcript, score report, etc. It’s futile to try to hide it, especially if you have a name that’s particularly common (like Kim, Lee, Nguyen, etc.) </p>

<p>Yes they do know whose application it is when they read it. That is how they connect all the supplemental material together with your actual app. (Your submitted SAT score, supplemental submissions, financial aid forms, anything like that) You can see what is actually submitted to them after you complete the full app and click “preview submission.” It contains a 3-4 page document containing the entire application, including your name and your essay. Feel free to include it if your essay warrants it, but don’t feel pressure to put it in either.</p>

<p>The essays will not be read separately from the application. The admissions rep reading your application wants to put together a full picture of you by reading your application form, recommendations, activities and your personal essay. The essay will not be graded by someone else for your writing skills. There is absolutely no problem with putting your name in the essay; the reader already knows your name!</p>

<p>Alright that’s reassuring! Thanks!</p>

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Where Does Your Name Go on an Essay?

Essay writing formats define standards for document formatting and in-text citation of research. These writing formats also allow authors to reference their sources in papers and Works Cited pages using parenthetical citations.

However, before you get to the citation and referencing parts, there are crucial formatting aspects to be aware of. For example, where does your name go on an essay? Which side of the paper do you write your name?

As a student or professional writer, this article answers these two questions. It further guides you on writing your name on an essay using the MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard, and ASA styles. Therefore, please read comprehensively.

You should write your name on the first page of your essay. The specific location of your name on an essay ultimately depends on the type of essay you are writing. In addition, it also depends on the writing style you are applying. For example, the position and formatting of your name in an MLA style essay differ from APA, Chicago, Harvard, or ASA styles.

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Normally, the first page’s contents should have a 1-inch space between the top and left edges, the top left edge, or at the center, and be double-spaced. These contents include your name as the composer, your instructor’s name, the name of your class, and the date.

Also see: When to start a new paragraph in an essay

In other essays, every page of your essay, starting with the first page, should have your last name and the page number in the upper right-hand corner. Your name should appear in the header along with the page number. However, remember not to write this information in the space designated for your essay’s contents.

Remember, when writing your name, use the format, the first name first and then your family name. For people with more than two names, write your first name, your other names, and your surname or family name last.

Where Does Your Name Go on an Essay MLA?

The Modern Language Association (MLA) provides flexible formatting directions for your name, MLA headers, and headings. When using the MLA style to write your essay, you ought to write your name along with your professor’s name, course, and date in the upper left-hand corner of the first page. Remember, all these contents should be double-spaced with a one-inch margin from the top and left margins.

Moreover, you need to make a header in the upper right-hand corner that includes your last name and spacing with the page number. All pages should be sequentially numbered in Arabic numerals, one-half inch from the upper end, and flush with the right edge. Note: Your professor may request that you exclude the first page’s last name/page number heading.

Where Does Your Name Go on an Essay APA?

In an APA-style essay, you should include your name on the title page of the essay. First, you write the title of your essay centered in the upper part of the title page in upper and lowercase letters. Beneath the title, you can include your name as the essay’s author. The formatting of your name should be as follows; your first name, your other names, and your surname last. Avoid using titles.

It is advised to use the full name and surname for individuals with rare surnames. On the other hand, writers with common names should write the first name and two surnames connected by a hyphen. The hyphen keeps the second surname from being dropped to make it easier to tell among writers with similar surnames.

Where Does Your Name Go on an Essay Chicago?

Like in APA, you include your name on the title page of your essay in Chicago style. First, you write the title of your essay by centering it in the middle of the title page, halfway down. Then, center your name as the essay’s author directly below the title.

Below your name, you can include the course title, your professor’s name, and the date. Note that these contents should be centered too and written below each other. Always use the Times New Roman 12 pt. font.

Where Does Your Name Go on an Essay Harvard?

On a Harvard-style essay, your name should appear on the cover page. Here, you first write the title of the essay in caps (the main words), centered, and about one-third down the page. You then write your name directly below the title, centered, and about halfway down that cover page. Remember that all contents should be double-spaced and written in Times New Roman or Arial 12 pt.

A page number is also included in the header of your work, which is located in the top right corner of each page, according to Harvard style. Your surname should be in the header just before the page number.

Where Does Your Name Go on an Essay ASA?

Your name on an ASA-style essay should be located on the title page. You include your name just below the title of the essay. Here, you also include the name of your institution, total word count, references, and footnotes, as well as the title footnote (including author names, addresses, credits, grants, and acknowledgments).

What is the Correct Formula to Write Your Name on an Essay?

First, it is worth noting that your name as the author should appear on the title page directly below the essay’s title. When typing your name, start with your first name and then your family name. In a case where the author has more than one name, write the first name first, your middle name, and the surname as the last.

Ensure that you follow the basic guidelines of the style you are using. For example, you might have to write using Times New Roman font, double-space the contents, and center the name.

Which Side of Paper Do You Write Your Name on an Essay?

The side of the paper you write your name on an essay depends on the writing style you are using. For example, if you are using the MLA style, you write your name, your professor’s name, the course you are undertaking, and the date in the upper left-hand corner of the first page.

With other styles such as APA, Chicago, ASA, and Harvard, you write your name at the center of the title page. The name may be on the upper half of the cover page or halfway down the page, depending on the specific style.

When writing an essay in whichever style, there are pertinent questions you should ask yourself first. For example, where does your name go on an essay? After reading this essay, you are better positioned to answer this question among many more. Therefore, utilize this information next time you write an essay to help you get it right with the location and the format of writing your name.

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Do I Put My Name On My College Essay?

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You may want to include a college essay heading with a page number and your application ID. Don’t include your name unless it’s specifically requested . Oftentimes, you’ll need to submit your college essay in a specific file format. The application may only accept certain versions of Word files (i.e. only .

Where do you put your name in a college essay?

Include your name on every piece of paper you send to a college admissions office . If you choose to head the essay with a title, place your name under it, centered, in the same font and styling as the body of your essay.

Do I put my name on an essay?

Formatting the First Page of Your Paper In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, your instructor’s name, the course, and the date . Again, be sure to use double-spaced text. Double space again and center the title.

Should I put my name on my common app essay?

The Common App allows you to enter information like your name, demographics, extracurricular activities, and more just once for every school that uses it . It’s also where you’ll encounter “The Common App Essay,” otherwise known as your personal statement (PS), which is what this guide will focus on.

What should you not do in a college essay?

College Essay Topics to Avoid

• Controversial Topics. Controversial topics, such as current political hot buttons, should be avoided at all costs.
• Highly Personal Topics.
• Personal Achievements and Accomplishments.
• Most Important Place or a Role Model.
• Creative Writing.
• Athletic Topics.
• Humorous Topics or Jokes.
• Tragic Events.

Should a college essay have a heading?

Firstly, write your name, then the professor’s name, the title of the essay, and the submission date. The heading is the fundamental part of the essay . Write the page headings carefully and correctly follow the proper format of the headings. The title is the first thing that the academic committee read.

How do you introduce yourself in an essay?

These steps will help you write an effective self-introduction:

• Summarize your professional standing. The first sentence of your self-introduction should include your name and job title or experience.
• Elaborate on your experiences and achievements.
• Conclude with a lead-in to the next part of the conversation.

What is the proper format for a college essay?

Use a standard font and size like Times New Roman, 12 point . Make your lines 1.5-spaced or double-spaced . Use 1-inch margins . Save as a PDF since it can’t be edited.

How do you begin a college essay?

An effective college essay introduction should “wow” admissions officers. It should be creative, intriguing, and unique. Make sure you start with a strong “hook” or “grabber.” It’s a good idea to follow this first sentence with a vivid anecdote, which you will then connect to the overall topic of your essay.

Should I brag in my college essay?

When you’re writing your essay, it might be best to lead with your value . This makes the brag a bit more subtle and palatable. Tucking your brags and accomplishments into your personal statement is an art, not a science.

How long should a college essay be 2021?

The primary essay for your college application, often called a personal statement, is typically around 400-600 words . The Common App personal statement — which is used as the primary application essay by more than 800 colleges — must be 250-650 words.

Is it okay to lie in your college essay?

Although writing about yourself might appear as a slippery slope, you must always strive to stick to the truth and avoid telling lies . Writing about yourself can be a slippery slope, which is why it is best to stick to the truth and leave the lies behind.

Do colleges really read essays?

Yes, every college essay is read if the college has asked for it (and often even if they did not ask for it). The number of readers depends on the college’s review process. It will be anywhere from one reader to four readers.

Can I write about death in my college essay?

But remember that your essay isn’t really about the death of your loved one; it’s about the lessons you learned from that experience and how those lessons manifest themselves in your intellect, your academics, or your extracurriculars. That’s what admissions officers want to know.

How many paragraphs should my college essay be?

There is no set number of paragraphs in a college admissions essay . College admissions essays can diverge from the traditional five-paragraph essay structure that you learned in English class. Just make sure to stay under the specified word count.

How do I know if my essay is good?

Check Your Essay. Grammarly’s free essay-checking tool will help you review your papers for grammatical mistakes, unclear sentences, and misused words. Save time and be confident your work will make the grade!

How do you introduce yourself without saying your name?

20 Creative Ways to Introduce Yourself

• “I’m shy, please come say hi.”
• A name is worth a thousand conversations.
• Highlight something that makes you unique.
• Start with a pop culture reference.
• Confess your nickname.
• Let the way you dress reflect who you are.
• Make a T-shirt.
• Make a “business” card.

How do I write about myself as a student?

I try myself to be modest, passionate, devoted, hardworking and honest.

• My Family and My Childhood. I’m from a middle-class family of Bihar, I am Naresh Shukla.
• My Education. I am studying at the best school in my city.
• My Strengths. In compare to studies, I am good at sports.
• My Weaknesses.
• My Ambitions in Life.
• Conclusion.

Should an essay have a title?

Titles create the first impression of an essay: • It is important that your title creates interest and draws readers into your essay . try to title your essay before you have it written. At first, you may want to use a tentative title which will likely change as you revise your drafts.

How do you write a good hook for a college essay?

5 Tips to Write a College Essay that Hooks Your Reader

• Tip 1: Narrow Your Lens. Think small.
• Tip 2: Start with a First-Person Story. Try starting your essay with a story written in first-person narrative.
• Tip 3: Use your Senses. Nothing grabs a reader like details.
• Tip 4: Add Adjectives.
• Tip 5: Emotionally Connect.

How do you write a college killer essay?

Step-by-Step: How to Write Your College Essay

• Read All of the Instructions.
• Brainstorm Your College Essay Topic.
• Create Your Outline.
• Hook Your Readers With a Killer Introduction.
• Support Your Ideas With Examples.
• Use Your Voice and Allow Your Personality to Shine.
• Stay Focused on Your Message.

By Travis Thornton

Travis Thornton is an education expert who has dedicated his life to helping students achieve their academic goals. He has worked as a teacher, tutor, and administrator in both public and private schools, and he currently serves as the dean of admissions at a prestigious university.

Travis believes that every student has the potential to succeed, and he tirelessly works to help them reach their full potential. He is a passionate advocate for education, and he believes that every student should have access to a quality education.

Travis is also a father of three young children, and he loves spending time with his family. He enjoys playing sports and watching movies together.

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Properly Write Your Degree

The correct way to communicate your degree to employers and others is by using the following formats:

Degree - This is the academic degree you are receiving. Your major is in addition to the degree; it can be added to the phrase or written separately.  Include the full name of your degree, major(s), minor(s), emphases, and certificates on your resume.

Double Majors - You will not be receiving two bachelor's degrees if you double major. Your primary major determines the degree (Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science). If you're not fully sure which of your majors is primary, check CheckMarq or call the registrar's office.

Example: Primary Major: Psychology ; Secondary Major: Marketing

• Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology & Marketing

Primary Major: Marketing ; Secondary Major: Psychology

• Bachelor of Science Degree in Marketing & Psychology

In a letter, you may shorten your degree by writing it this way:

• In May 20XX, I will graduate with my Bachelor's degree in International Affairs.
• In December 20XX, I will graduate with my Master's degree in Counseling Education.

Not sure which degree you are graduating with? Here is a list of Undergraduate Majors and corresponding degrees:

• College of Arts & Sciences
• College of Business Administration
• College of Communication
• College of Education
• College of Engineering
• College of Health Sciences
• College of Nursing  

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Pedro hall named winner of kish college paul simon student essay contest.

Pedro Hall was selected as Kishwaukee College’s winner of the 2024 Paul Simon Student Essay Contest, where he described “How Kishwaukee College Changed My Life.”

Hall, a Sycamore resident, received a scholarship for the Spring 2024 semester and was recognized with a certificate of achievement at the April Board of Trustees meeting. Hall’s entry was forwarded to the Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA) for entry into the statewide Paul Simon Student Essay competition.

In his essay, Hall reflects on how Kishwaukee College provided the opportunity for him to revisit his goal of pursuing higher education after a 15-year hiatus due to life obstacles.

“I took a picture holding a sign that read, ‘First Day of School! ¡Primer día de clases! Kishwaukee College, Malta, IL. #estudiandoporunsueño #gokougars!’ In the background, a frame read, ‘Bloom Where You Are Planted.’ This picture paints a summary of how that day was the beginning of my dream of obtaining a doctorate degree in education. One day I will, and when I do, I will always remember that it all began with an opportunity given at Kishwaukee College,” Hall wrote in his essay.

When crafting his essay, Hall said he received encouragement from multiple Kish instructors and saw the prompt as an opportunity to pass along further inspiration.

“I hope the people who read my essay enjoy it and remember that it is never too late to work toward our goals regardless of how old the goal is or how old we are,” Hall said. “Perhaps it wasn't your time then, but it may be now. Do a life assessment and see if now the time is right. If it is not, don't give up on your dream. Wait, because your time will come. For me, this is my time, and I am elated to go full force in the pursuit of my lifelong dream.”

Hall plans to graduate from Kish in May with an Associate in Science degree. Following Kish, he plans to transfer to a four-year university to pursue a bachelor’s degree before obtaining a doctoral degree in education. Hall intends to work in Special Education after completing his academic journey.

To read Hall’s essay in its entirety, visit www.kish.edu/iccta .

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Kishwaukee college seats aiyanna washington as student trustee, bids farewell to perla gonzales.

Kishwaukee College seated Aiyanna Washington as the new Student Trustee on the College’s Board of Trustees at the April meeting. Washington was elected by her peers to the position and took over the role of outgoing Student Trustee Perla Gonzales.

I reviewed my Yale admissions file to see what the Ivy League school really thought about my application. What I learned surprised me.

• I reviewed my Yale admissions file to see what the Ivy League school thought about my application. 
• Most of my scores weren't that impressive, but they really liked my genuine attitude and excitement.
• Reviewing my application reminded me how far I have come as a student. 

"Brian spoke so fast it was electrifying."

This was the first quote from my Yale interviewer. She wrote those words in my admissions file, a document I finally got my hands on three years after being accepted into Yale University .

I remember that interview like it was yesterday. It was a Zoom call — my application cycle happened at the crux of pandemic remote learning — and I was wearing my father's old, oversize dress shirt. The interviewer was lovely. Some of my answers to her questions probably didn't make sense, and she was right. I definitely forgot to breathe in between my sentences.

But viewing my admissions file years later gave me a peek into what my interviewer was actually thinking that day, and I learned what really got me into Yale.

I reviewed my application as a junior with the registrar

Every student in the US can review their college admissions file under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. I emailed my university registrar, and within 45 days, a member of their support staff reached back out to schedule a virtual meeting. Picture-taking and recording were not allowed, so I jotted notes by hand.

There was very little verbal interaction between me and the staff member. She screen-shared my admissions file and let me read in silence. Something told me she understood the emotional weight of this moment for students, and I appreciated that. It is intimidating for any teenager to package their identity into a 650-word common application essay and a questionnaire — but it is arguably even more so to witness retrospectively how everything was judged.

I got a behind-the-scenes look into Yale admissions when they read my application

Each aspect of my application was rated out of nine points. My readers gave me a six for my extracurriculars and for my first teacher recommendation. They gave me a seven for my second teacher recommendation and my counselor's recommendation. I received an "outstanding" for my interview and a 2++ for my overall rating. The overall rating is given on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 being the highest, and pluses were a good sign.

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In all, my ratings weren't exactly bad, but they weren't extraordinary either. The numbers on the pages stared back at me — cold, formulaic, and transactional. It felt strange to be reduced to a system of numbers, knowing that something as qualitative as extracurricular activities could still be broken down and scored.

Beyond the ratings, however, what truly stood out were the comments left by the admissions officers . Many of the comments were on my character, my essays, and the possible contributions I would make as a student.

"I teared up reading Essay 1," one reader wrote of my common application essay. Another said of the same essay: "His Chinese New Years are untraditional in that they remind him of his family's financial struggles."

I got emotional. All the memories of writing that essay came flooding back. I remembered how difficult it was to start it. I knew there was no easy way for someone to understand me without first knowing my background. I wanted to prove that I deserved a seat at the table where legacy students and the wealthy continue to outnumber their first-generation, low-income peers like myself.

I kept reading and found more comments from admissions officers that moved me: "He treats his mom well;" "He seems to have a truly good heart;" "One of the most intelligent, sincere, jovial students ever met;" "I have no doubt that Brian would push his peers at Yale to stand up for what's right;" and "I come away with compelling impressions that the student would contribute significantly to the undergrad community."

I searched for a negative comment. There were none.

I didn't deserve this, I muttered under my breath. Here I was, a junior in college, no longer a 4.0 student , my post-grad plans murky, balancing two part-time jobs and hoping to make it out of midterms alive. It felt good knowing that someone had rooted for me to be here.

The process reminded me how far I have come

Coming from an underserved household where no one had gone to college, I had always looked at the Ivy League application process skeptically.

Without the resources to enroll in SAT test prep and the financial safety net to pursue unpaid leadership positions and resume-boosting activities at school, I had doubted the "holistic" admissions process many colleges boast. My critiques about Yale remain numerous.

But at least in their comments, the admissions committee gave me grace in that they reviewed my application in light of my circumstances. I might never know exactly what happened in that reading room. Still, a couple of lessons ring true, based on my own viewing experience and my conversations with others who had done the same: Good character and potential are the key; I didn't need to be perfect.

And finally, I — not anyone else — needed to give me the fighting chance of applying in the first place.

"GPA is outstanding, especially in context," an admissions officer said. "This is a home run."

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