Writing an essay is itself is an art. People may be good in their
language, they can talk and communicate effectively, however, writing an essay
on a particular subject requires certain practice and guidelines.
The essay should be catchy. The essay is meant for the reader. By
reading the first few lines itself, a reader can come to a conclusion that the
essay has been written in a good form and it is worth reading.
A lot of guidelines are available through various forums like
meetings, seminars and website in regard to presentation of a good essay and
the necessary credentials an essay should possess.
In this article some of the points for writing a winning essay has
been given in the form of ten golden rules and the points will be definitely
useful for the readers towards improving their writing skills
Have a good story: A well thought out story about why
the subject chosen makes sense is a fundamental part of any good application. A
good story makes an application stand out by tying in personal
background/experiences, personality traits and future plans into one compelling
and integrated picture
Be consistent: The need to be consistent across
various parts of the application, and across all the essays, is closely related
to the earlier point. Inconsistencies breed doubt and should be avoided at all
costs
Think holistically: It is a good idea to first step back
and list out all the essays a school requires before starting work on any
particular one. This will help you distribute all the experiences and qualities
that need to be showcased
Personalise the essays: Schools prefer to maximize
acceptance rates by extending offers to those students who are more likely to
accept. Since students generally apply to several schools, essays help schools
identify students who are genuinely excited about their programme. Therefore,
selectively referencing some aspects of the school(history, programme
reputation, professors, clubs) works well.
Demonstrate muted confidence: While it is very important to come
across as a confident person, it is equally important to avoid appearing
arrogant and/or over-confident. Avoid using superlatives unless absolutely
necessary. It is often a good idea to lead readers into making obvious
conclusions about your abilities rather than explicitly stating them
Showcase: don't catalogue – achievements .
Essays should be viewed as a trophy case to highlight experiences and qualities
that will distinguish your application from that of others. Avoid listing every
little positive fact about yourself
Use clear and simple structure: With an ever-increasing number of
applications to cover, reviewers barely spend a few minutes on each individual
essay. Well-structured thoughts make it easy for a reviewer to understand and
grasp the contents of an essay quickly. It is therefore important to group
related ideas and sequence them logically
Respect word limits: Word limits should be strictly
followed. Although hard to practiced, economy of words is a golden rule to
follow when writing essays. Reviewers appreciate concise, yet complete answers
Use an active voice and avoid silly
mistakes: Use the active
voice throughout your essays to bring them to life. Typographical errors should
be aggressively avoided. Have someone else review your work, as it is easier
for an outsider to catch mechanical errors than it would be for you
Start early: It is very easy to underestimate the
work associated with writing essays. Plan ahead and leave sufficient time
before deadlines to work on the essays. It is often helpful to begin organizing
your thoughts around typical questions very early on (several months in
advance) so you can refine and perfect what you are going to write
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