The written examination of a simple, everyday event can make for a powerful essay.

Below is a list of college app. essays that my students wrote.

1. How Bagels n Cream makes me feel at home
2. How driving through Rville makes me realize how big the world is
3. How my SWAT team father insisted that we go to Disney World every year
4. How I will miss my place at the dinner table
5. How I feel most comfortable in an empty dance studio
6. How getting lost going to the beach was the best thing to ever happen to me
7. How not seeing my name in the starting lineup inspired me
8. How babysitting taught me about myself
9. How building breakfasts at Dunkin Donuts inspired me to become an engineer
10. How my tree house still inspires me

College Essay Brainstorming Questions....

1.What jobs have you held?

2. What unique family traditions do you have?

3. What are some of your failures?

4. What are your pet peeves?

5. When did you face your fears?
6. How have you changed throughout high school?
7. How are you a lot like Robbinsville?
8. What do you want to major in? Why? Does anything you do in your
personal life relate to that major?

9. What are some of your most embarrassing moments?

10. Who has inspired you? How?

11. When have you asked for forgiveness?

Drafting Idea- at the top of the page write the

following
How (state your snapshot) made me
(realize, learn, appreciate) that (state the
lesson).

Notes on Writing- College Application Essays

The Golden Rule of college application essays . Show

dont Tell
List of personal qualities (Tell)
Determined

Show your qualities with a unique

narrative
Finished first in an eating competition

Risk Taker

Participated in the school fashion show

Leader

Organized a used clothing drive

Mr. Armstrongs College App Recipe

- 1. Begin with a simple declarative statement that
creates a picture or stirs curiosity in the readers
mind.

- 2. Spend the first 3rd of the essay painting a

picture that the reader can see, hear, touch, taste,
smell. Show the reader a snapshot of yourself in
action.

- 3. The middle 3rd of the essay should explain how

the contents of the story has impacted, influenced
or changed you into the person you are today. The
middle third is where you reflect on the
snapshot.

- 4. The final 3rd brings the reader back to the first

third. Go back the starting image or statement of
the essay. This brings your writing full circle and
shows a maturity in both thought and structure.
*Be sure to use all the conventions of good
writingvary sentence structure and lengths,
use power verbs, limit your use of I. Make your
presentation interesting!

* Good essays just focus on one topic/snapshot

dont list or try to tell more than one story.

- Use a narrative form to show the college your

personality.
- Dont focus on the great aspects of a particular
college, the amount of dedication it takes to be a
doctor or the number of extracurricular activities
you took part in during high school.

- Do share your personal story and thoughts, take a

creative approach and highlight areas that arent
covered in other parts of the application, like your
high school records.

- Dont try to cover too many topics. This will make

the essay sound like a rsum that doesnt provide
any details about you.

- Do focus on one aspect of yourself so the readers

can learn more about who you are. Remember that

the readers must be able to find your main idea

and follow it from beginning to end.