How To Write Better Undergraduate Essays

How To Write Better Undergraduate Essays What do your friends come to you seeking help with? Tell the story of a time when you think you did a great job of helping another person. Now, to make sure you stay humble, tell the story of when that person helped you. What do people in your community or school know you for? Tell the story of the first time you did this thing. Tell the story of the most meaningful time you did this thingâ€"it might be, say, when you won a game, but it also might be when you lost a game, or when you quit the team. Did you grow up considering another place that is not where you currently live home? Ramya’s going to write about the sports bar where she watches her team play every Sunday during football season. Those are just a few more narrative possibilities for structuring your essay. But none of those things seem to tell the admissions committee what they wouldn’t already know from simply reading her list of extracurriculars. It is good to be afraid of clichéâ€"but one of the truisms about clichés is that they become trite because they reiterate feelings we’ve all had. That also means that buried beneath many clichés is some authentic, particular, and personal relationship you have to your topic. In order to have this kind of time freedom, you’ll have to start early. And if you spend your summer warming up and training for the main event, you can start rereading your body of freewriting by the end of July. Tell the story of the first time you learned about these valuesâ€"say, a morning at Sunday School or a conversation with a grandparent. If they’ve changed, tell the story of the moment when they changedâ€"say, in a classroom, in a conversation with a friend, etc. Ramya could try to write something about medicine. Or she could write about soccer, dance, or speech. The obvious thingâ€"and the thing most teachers and advisors told Anita to doâ€"is write about mock trial. It would be a good opportunity to give the admissions committee some insight into her psychology behind the success. She took a couple of stabs at it during free-writing, though, and it didn’t flow. At 650 words, each of these will be best understood as a five-paragraph essay, so a basic structure stays the same, but the way things begin and end will not. You’ll see us return to these students’ ideas as we work through outlines. So instead Anita decides to write about a wilderness solo she took in North Carolina on a school trip, and about how it influenced her relationship with poetry. They say a piece of short fiction is about a moment after which nothing will be the same again. What makes you angry or furious about the world? Tell the story of a time you saw somethingâ€"visuallyâ€"that provoked that anger or frustration. But I’ve seen that loyalty tested plenty of times. I’m completely invested in the Pats; I’ve been known to be giddy when they win, and tearful when they lose. However, finding a true home to watch Patriots games in California isn’t easy. By the end of the season, the staff knew what we wanted to eat, and where we wanted to sit, so the sports bar felt like a second home. By the way, this prompt helped Ramya settle on the Patriotsâ€"Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?