College Essay Analysis
Elissa Ocke College Essay Reflection
Writing a gripping and effective college essay is vital to most high school seniors that are applying to college. A college essay is a personal narrative that is read by college admission officers so that a college can get a better sense at who applicants are as a person. College essays are essential to setting applicants apart, so choosing an interesting a well-developed subject is key. In my experience, finding the narrative that I wanted to share was quite simple. I knew that the experience that taught me the most in my life was living with my ill grandfather and dealing with assimilation into my nuclear family. As well, during the time that I was writing my first draft, all my issues and the lessons that I was learning from them were still quite fresh. So, in a sense, it was easier to write since I knew exactly how I felt about it all …show more content…
in the moment. However, pouring my emotions onto the page did create a few technical errors throughout the essay. As I wrote, my diction was not concise, since during the time of writing I was more focused on the feeling that I put into it, not the words. When I met with my peer editor, I did not get a lot of feedback. It’s possible that my partner did not feel comfortable saying that anything was wrong with my work. Yet, I believe that any lack of commentary was probably because my peer editor was not my intended audience. For instance, when my English teacher read my essay, there were many comments about diction left on the paper. A college-level English teacher is much more likely to recognize good conventions of writing, than a student. In this way, a teacher, or adult, would be a preferable option when asking for feedback on writing. Since college admission officers will be educated adults, it only makes sense to have an adult check over my college essay. Aside from gaining feedback from others before handing in a draft, I feel that I could improve my writing process.
When I sat down to write my college essay there was minimal planning involved. Normally, it is beneficial for me to talk out my ideas with someone else before I begin writing, which is what I do for many of the history papers that I write. Unfortunately, I did not feel comfortable doing this due to my college essay topic, but there still could have been some non-verbal organization done to make the writing more coherent. One of my biggest weaknesses as a writer is definitely being clear and concise. I believe that I can formulate a strong argument or story in my head, but it does not always translate into my writing. As previously mentioned, planning ahead and talking out my ideas would definitely help overcome this boundary. Another aspect of writing that I struggle with is being short and to the point. Often, I will use more words than I need, thus weakening my work. This is definitely a fixable issue, but something that will take a great extent of practice
nonetheless. In summary, to further enhance my writing in the future, I will take steps to map out where I want my writing to go, and precisely what I want to say. As well, before I hand in any draft, I will get feedback from somebody that is part of my intended audience, or as close as I can, as well as an outside perspective. I truly believe that these adjustments will aid me tremendously in the future.
Writing a gripping and effective college essay is vital to most high school seniors that are applying to college. A college essay is a personal narrative that is read by college admission officers so that a college can get a better sense at who applicants are as a person. College essays are essential to setting applicants apart, so choosing an interesting a well-developed subject is key. In my experience, finding the narrative that I wanted to share was quite simple. I knew that the experience that taught me the most in my life was living with my ill grandfather and dealing with assimilation into my nuclear family. As well, during the time that I was writing my first draft, all my issues and the lessons that I was learning from them were still quite fresh. So, in a sense, it was easier to write since I knew exactly how I felt about it all …show more content…
in the moment. However, pouring my emotions onto the page did create a few technical errors throughout the essay. As I wrote, my diction was not concise, since during the time of writing I was more focused on the feeling that I put into it, not the words. When I met with my peer editor, I did not get a lot of feedback. It’s possible that my partner did not feel comfortable saying that anything was wrong with my work. Yet, I believe that any lack of commentary was probably because my peer editor was not my intended audience. For instance, when my English teacher read my essay, there were many comments about diction left on the paper. A college-level English teacher is much more likely to recognize good conventions of writing, than a student. In this way, a teacher, or adult, would be a preferable option when asking for feedback on writing. Since college admission officers will be educated adults, it only makes sense to have an adult check over my college essay. Aside from gaining feedback from others before handing in a draft, I feel that I could improve my writing process.
When I sat down to write my college essay there was minimal planning involved. Normally, it is beneficial for me to talk out my ideas with someone else before I begin writing, which is what I do for many of the history papers that I write. Unfortunately, I did not feel comfortable doing this due to my college essay topic, but there still could have been some non-verbal organization done to make the writing more coherent. One of my biggest weaknesses as a writer is definitely being clear and concise. I believe that I can formulate a strong argument or story in my head, but it does not always translate into my writing. As previously mentioned, planning ahead and talking out my ideas would definitely help overcome this boundary. Another aspect of writing that I struggle with is being short and to the point. Often, I will use more words than I need, thus weakening my work. This is definitely a fixable issue, but something that will take a great extent of practice
nonetheless. In summary, to further enhance my writing in the future, I will take steps to map out where I want my writing to go, and precisely what I want to say. As well, before I hand in any draft, I will get feedback from somebody that is part of my intended audience, or as close as I can, as well as an outside perspective. I truly believe that these adjustments will aid me tremendously in the future.