Read the essay instructions carefully for your specific university. Many applications give you many options on the college essay where you can talk about virtually anything about yourself. Others limit you to specific topics. Make sure you address exactly what the essay asks of you.
Think about your topic before you start writing. Write about something that both answers the essay question and that you are passionate about. Planning out your essay before you write it will help it flow more uniformly, so it will not be all over the place.
Keep to the word limits. Many university essays request that the essay be approximately 300 to 500 words, others specify a page number. If no limit is given, a general guideline for colleges essays is that it be no longer than one page, single spaced. College admissions officers read dozens or more essays per day and do not want their time to be wasted.
Format your essay properly. Use Times New Roman, size 12 font, with 1 inch margins on all sides. Include your name and contact information in the header. Title your essay and center it on the page above the essay body. A creative title may catch the eye of the admissions officer and have their interest before they even begin reading.
Highlight your strengths. The most important factor to remember when writing an application essay is to focus on that which has not been given enough credit in other parts of your application. If you won an award that was only given one line on a resume, expand on it. If you listed piano as an extra-curricular, talk about your passion for it, how long you practiced, and how you still managed to keep your grades up despite your devotion.
Talk about the counselors would not know about you based on your application alone. If you spent time after school taking care of your younger siblings and being a positive role model, that is something admissions officers will want to hear. If you are passionate about the exhilaration you feel while running in your free time, describe why. If you overcame a mental, emotional or physical feat, you may want to consider focusing on this.
Take a risk. College admissions officers read hundreds of essays per week; write something unexpected to help your essay stand out. Start with a sentence that will really grab attention. For example, if you are describing your experience paragliding over the Swiss Alps, you might say, "I leaped off the edge of the mountain without a glance back." An intriguing first sentence hooks your reader. Do not take a risk if you are not comfortable with it, or not sure about its appropriateness.
Keep your audience in mind. You are writing an essay to an admissions officer, not a best friend. Do not use unusual slang or contractions. Depending on the topic or the creativity of your essay, you may be writing in either first, second or third person point of view. Make sure to be consistent in the writing of your essay.
Write multiple drafts. Try free writing at first to get your ideas flowing. Do not worry too much about how the essay sounds, grammar and spelling at first. Just get all your ideas out on the page, then begin your editing process and continue your drafts. It may take two or three drafts before you have your final essay.
Proofread your final draft. Make certain that your essay is free of all errors before you submit your application. Reading it aloud either to yourself or someone else will help you catch errors you may have missed simply by sight reading. Have a friend, parent or teacher read it over. A spelling or grammatical error is the easiest way to weed out unlikely candidates amongst thousands of applications.