College Admission Essay

College Admission Essay The priority deadline offers students the opportunity to receive their admission decision up to one month earlier. All completed applications received by November 1 will receive an admission decision by February 1, which may include a deferred decision to March 1 . Students may also contact the Office of Admissions at with additional questions. The optional information below is NOT required for admissions consideration, but will be considered as part of the student’s application for admission if submitted. The following materials may be required of some students where applicable. If you have questions, please contact the Office of Admissions at to speak with an admissions counselor. Jolt them out of their sugar coma and give them something to be excited about. In school, you were probably encouraged to write papers that took a side. That’s fine in academic work when you’re being asked to argue in support of a position, but in a personal essay, you want to express more nuanced thinking and explore your own clashing emotions. Once you commit the time and emotional energy to get your butt in the chair to write, you face a daunting task â€" figuring out what to write about. With so much freedom, this is a challenge for most students. Your application will be full of information that illuminates dimensions of you and your abilities, but only the essay gives you a vehicle to speak, in your own voice, about something personally significant. Choose something you care about and it will flow more naturally. Instead, look at times you’ve struggled or, even better, failed. And remember those exhausted admissions officers sitting around a table in the winter. One simple joke at the start or end of your essay is more than enough. Beyond that, keep things clean and businesslike. Connecticut College admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to all students at the college. Choose the prompt that comes closest to something you’d like to write about. The purpose of the prompt is to help you reflect on something that matters to you. Seek professional helpâ€"the problem with spending so much time on what can be a relatively short essay is that you look at it so much it starts to lose its meaning for you. So for the same reason you should read your work out loud or backwards, you have to get another pair of eyes and ears working on it, as well. A fresh perspective can make all the difference and keep you from settling for something terrible. A good friend, parent, or better yet, a teacher can read what you’ve written and give you a reality check. ACT or SAT test scores are not required for the Fall 2021 admissions application. Applicants may choose to submit either the ACT or SAT as part of their admissions application. When provided, ACT and/or SAT scores will continue to serve as just one of the many factors considered in our review of a student’s application. There is an online resource for frequently asked questions regarding submitting standardized test scores. It’s no jokeâ€"you’d be right to think that after working their way through a big pile of essays, the people reading yours could use a good laugh. That said, humor is tough in this kind of essay. You know next to nothing about who will read it, let alone their senses of humor. Encourage them to be constructiveâ€"it’s okay if they tell you what you’ve come up with is no good, as long as they can offer some feedback to help make it better. Ask them to judge whether the writing really sounds like you are talking. And don’t let them get away with saying your essay is just “good,” either. Don’t leave them alone until they’ve told you at least one thing you can improve, or at least specific aspects they liked. Try very hard not to dump your entire life story or all your finer points into the essay. Focus on singular moments or activitiesâ€"pick the ones that stand out. You don’t want a college to think you are too focused on education and that you can’t have fun. But they also need to know you will be taking your education seriously.