Are you applying to different colleges and universities? Many schools require you to submit a college essay (or several college essays) along with the rest of your forms and support documents.

Colleges and universities receive thousands of essays every year. How do you make yours memorable? Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t have to be an exceptional writer. You just have to submit something that is very personal and sincere, intelligent and well thought out, and uses examples and organizes information well. In other words, it’s not about style but substance and logic.
How do you accomplish that? First of all avoid being too general with your ideas. Keep the focus very specific. For example, if you want to be a Biology major, instead of writing about “my childhood” talk about “the summer I discovered my love for animals”. The more narrow a topic is, the more arguments or examples you can give to illustrate your point. If you’re too general, you’ll have the dilemma of trying to say a lot of things and end up not saying anything at all.

Common mistakes include using too many cliches, or trying to sound smart by using long words. It’s not about being high faluting, but using the appropriate words. Randomly using the thesaurus to pick put a word, when it does not have that specific meaning, will just make you look ridiculous and pretentious.

Organize your ideas well. Make an outline first, and decide what main points you want to make and the minor examples or statements you will have to place under each one. Be as logical as possible. Remember that the people who are par of the college admissions boards have several essays to read, and if your essay is very vague or confusing, they will just move on to the next one.

Ask someone to read your essay when you’re done. They should be able to grasp your point right away. Edit it according to their comments. Check for grammar, spelling, logic, and comprehension.

When you are preparing the essay to submit for your college application, there is one very important point: make it personal but don’t turn it into a personal diary.

Some students think that just because it’s a personal essay, then they have the license to indulge in a long and rambling account of their life. It becomes a stream of consciousness, with no clear idea of the kind of point you want to make. This is very dull and annoying, even arrogant.

Remember, your essay must make a thesis statement: a very specific idea that you want to present. For example, if you are being asked about why you chose a particular course, then chose only the most important details in your life that led you to your decision. Don’t tell them everything. Let’s say that you were moved to become a doctor after the summer you took a job working at a nursing home. Stick to that anecdote. You don’t have to go on and on about your pay, the schedule, or even a long narrative about the people who were there. Just pick one very meaningful conversation, one insight, and then develop it.

Others don’t share any personal information at all, so their writing sounds so insincere and generic. They use very big concepts like “Medicine can change the lives of the people.” Of course that’s true, but it says nothing about why you want to take it as a course. Compare it to this statement. “Meeting the people at the nursing home showed me how important it was to have a quality of life and a dignified death. Medicine can give them that.”

Not sure what experiences you can use in your essay?

You don’t have to have very dramatic anecdotes in your essay. You can talk about your interests and hobbies, and the things that you enjoy doing. If you are very passionate about something then the excitement will show, and you will sound sincere. You can also talk about someone who influenced you profoundly, or an experience that had a great impact on your community.

The cost of education is a major consideration for those who are applying for college. Luckily, it is possible to get financial aid from a number of institutions.

These institutions will look at a number of factors. First of all, you need to be personally eligible for financial aid, b) your course is part of their list, and c) they are affiliated to the school you are applying to.

Some financial institutions only accept students from a particular geographical area. For example, many UK organizations will require you to be a resident of England, the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and the Island of Man.

Others will limit their funding to those with a particular educational background. Some organizations will not accept you if you have already enrolled in college courses. Some will have a minimum grade point average, or will look for excellence in a particular field (like science or English, depending on your course).

They will also have requirements for age, or will look at whether or not you have received any kind of financial aid from other groups, such as the government. Because of the large number of applications, naturally they were prioritize those who have no other form of help.

Being a full time or part time student does not affect the success of your application. Nor will it be a factor if you are completing a foundation degree, a higher national diploma, a higher national certificate, or a Bachelor of Arts, Science or education. You can also get financial aid if you are taking a vocational course.

Government institutions are a little stricter about granting financial aid, since they will require that you take your course at a school is also one that it is affiliated with, and receives some sort of funding. However, don’t be discouraged about the fact that institutions have requirements. If you do not meet the criteria of one institution, there are others which will fit you to a T. It is simply a matter of going out there and finding as much information as you can about the organizations. You can ask for advice from a school’s guidance office or financial aid office. You can also go on the Internet, and run a google search with your profile (age, citizenship, area of residence) as part of the key words.