How to Edit Your College Application Essay

Getting accepted into a college is one of the most important steps in a person’s life. It might determine your future success and wellbeing. Therefore it is crucial to take the process of applying very seriously. The process includes writing an application essay, which would make you stand out among the rests of the applicants. Of course, you grades and test scores will be the critical factor for the admission officers when viewing your application. However, you should not underestimate the power of the application essay. In fact, it might be a decisive point. Imagine that the admission officer has two applications with very similar grades and test scores. In this case the essay will help him to make his mind and choose the more determined, creative and goal-oriented student. We hope this article about self-editing your application essay and our editing assistance will help you to become that preferred student.

Nevertheless, if you feel uncertain about your writing or editing skills, you should remember that Royal Editing is always here to assist you. Experienced, certified editors will do their best in making your college application stand out among the others. All you have to do is to upload you essay on our website and we will contact you promptly. Moreover, if it is your first order, we promise to give you a considerable discount. In addition, you can find many free samples of various types of essays, which can help you to get some ideas and learn few composition tricks.

Types of College Application Questions

If you have never applied to a college before, you might be surprised to find out about the existence of various types of essay questions. In fact, some colleges prefer certain types to others. It also depends from the type of major you are applying for. For example, the economics faculty would expect to read an essay about more practical aspects, while the comparative literature faculty would want to see your creative side.

Here are the basic types of college application essay questions:

  • Creative prompt. Naturally this type of essay will be assigned for creative majors. You can expect to hear all sorts of questions; some can even be quite peculiar. For example: Why Tuesday is a special day? What color shadows are?
  • Personal questions. When asking these questions, college expects to find out more about your personality and world view. For example: Who inspires you? What is your favorite place?
  • Goals questions. This type of questions is often used in business and technical studies. By asking such questions the admission committee wants to hear a reason why you should be accepted into their educational establishment, what will you do with that education, what positive changes you will bring into the world? In this type of essay it is advisable to demonstrate that you are goal-oriented, organized and can think big. The questions can be such, as: Where do you see yourself in five years? Why do you choose our college?

Application Essay Editing Tips

College application essay differs from all other essay types, because you don’t write it simply to get a good mark, but to get attention of the admission officers and subsequently to make them choose you among the others. Moreover, college application essay has its own distinctive features that require a certain approach. Therefore, editing such essay will require paying special attention to particular aspects. Although, most editing tips would also work for any other type of essay, some of them are specially designed for editing college application essay.

Be sincere. First of all, before you proceed to more technical stages of editing, reread your essay and try to see it the way an outsider would. If you didn’t know it was you, what would you think about the person behind this essay? Admission officers say that the most common mistake the applicants make while composing their essays, is not grammatical or structural, but the mistake of creating some fake character, who is perfect in everything. You have more chances to get accepted if you write honestly and sincerely about yourself and your feelings. Don’t try to exaggerate your achievements and to seem flawless; it would only turn the readers away from your paper. Remember that admission committee wants to see a real person behind the application essay.

Introduction ‘hook’. Admission officers read have to read hundreds of essays every day. It means you have to really try to catch their attention. You can do it by the way of placing ‘a hook’ in your introductory paragraph. For example, can begin your essay with an anecdote — some curious situation that happened with you or one you witnessed, people love stories and it is quick and secure way to engage your reader.

Be concise. It is likely that a college gave you only the minimum word count for your essay, and no maximum limit, it doesn’t mean you have to write a novel. If you hope to impress the admission officers with your ability to compose long, novel-like essays, it is a bad idea. You should remember that they have to read hundreds of application essays every day and they have very little time for each one. Moreover, if you write very long essay, it will create impression that you cannot focus on one idea and just blabber around. Thus, trim your college application essay up to 700 words max.

Check the word count and formatting. To add more about the length of your paper, it is good if you made it concise and focused, however, to be on the safe side, check the college essay guide and see if there is any word count limit. The same goes about formatting. Make sure your paper meets all their requirements about font, spacing, references, etc. If you write excellent essay, but fail to perform these simple requirements, it is guaranteed that the admission committee will discharge you as a careless and disorganized applicant.

The rest of the editing tips must be not new to you and you can read about them in more detail on our blog. We will remind you about some of them:

  • Online grammar check;
  • Online spelling check. However, be careful with the words that spell-check will not be able to spot, such as homophones;
  • Print out your essay and edit it on paper;
  • Read it out loud.

The Safest Way to Edit College Application Essay

All things considered, we can conclude that college application essay is a paper of vital importance, since young person’s future depends on it. It is good that you search for the tips how to edit your essay by yourself; it means that you realize how essential good writing and composition are. It is to the best if you have excellent writing skills and confident knowledge of grammar. But if you are not so sure about it, are you willing to take the risk and submit such an essay? If you still hesitate about ordering professional editing services, you are welcome to contact us and we will answer all your questions. If you use our assistance in editing and proofreading, you can sit back and relax, because you found the most secure way to edit your college application essay.