Princeton Review Essay Book

Find out how well you understand the college admissions process with our QUIZ: Test Your College Knowledge.A high school essay generally demonstrates to your teacher what you know. Your college application is probably your first experience writing a personal statement.

When you’re tired, take a break, but don’t throw in the towel!College admissions officers tell us that they see many essays about eye-opening travel experiences, the death of a loved one, or “The Big Game.” You can still write about these experiences, but the trick is in the details.No one sees the world quite the way you do, so let your personality shine through.Help colleges learn something about you that they cannot discover when reading the rest of your application. Summaries are fine for book reports, but when writing your college essay take the opportunity to really examine how an experience taught you something you didn't previously know about yourself, got you out of your comfort zone, or forced you to grow.On a high school essay, it's generally not appropriate to use the first-person.An application essay should demonstrate who you are.Colleges want to find out what you're passionate about, and what you would add to the campus community.Make sure to follow all of the necessary steps and review them before submitting your scholarship essay.Trust us, some of the brightest students have missed out on the chance to earn scholarships dollars all because they neglected to follow instructions. Scholarship committees would rather see how you overcame hardships and succeeded despite the obstacles in your path (or what you learned from the times you failed). This is your chance to elaborate on elsewhere on your application you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do so.Take the time to brainstorm your ideas, create an outline, and edit your entry as you would for any essay writing assignment for your English class.Each scholarship provider is looking for students who meet certain criteria.