Should I Mention My Religion In My College Essay?

Should I Mention My Religion In My College Essay? The goal of your essay should not be something like “to show I’m co-captain of the soccer team.” They already know that; you need to tell them something new. This may be your only chance to address an admissions officer directly. They’re going to turn down lots of highly qualified applicants, so your essay could be critical if the choice comes down to you and another, similarly qualified applicant. That said, your essay probably won’t actually hurt you as long as it’s reasonably literate . Students sign up with Prompt and start with a strategy session to figure out what they can still do to improve their experiences for their essays. Sign up now and we guarantee you'll finish all of your essays by mid-September so you can focus on academics and activities during senior year. That's easy â€" it's the best way to study for AP classes and AP exams! StudyNotes offers fast, free study tools for AP students. Our AP study guides, practice tests, and notes are the best on the web because they're contributed by students and teachers like yourself. For more information on specific application requirements, please consult the website for each institution to which you are applying, as requirements often vary. You can write about pretty much anything â€" an experience, an inanimate object, a movie, a place, a person â€" as long as your essay reveals how that experience, thing, movie, place, or person made an impact on you. Once you’ve hooked the reader, switch gears a little to set up the essay in a way appropriate for an introduction. Although they're phrased differently from college to college, certain essay question types appear routinely. While there is no perfect length for an essay, we recommend that you aim for 500 to 550 words. It should establish for the reader a sense of expectation for what’s to come without giving it all away. Relate to the reader the full scope of an experience â€" sights, sounds, and maybe even smells. Be careful, however, not to overuse imagery; otherwise the essay may sound forced, unnatural and give the reader the impression you are trying too hard to be creative. The fewer words you can use to relay your message, the better. Such writing asks the writer to be more creative about the way phrases and sentences are worded. Since 2016, I have worked as a high school English tutor, theatre educator, and freelance journalist. I got my MFA at UT Austin as a Michener Fellow, a program for young writers that accepts less than one percent of applicants. Prompt connects students with a team of professional playwrights, authors, journalists, and educators who are only available through our network. Students applying to highly competitive universities (Ivy and Ivy-equivalent) face tough competition. Compelling essays will help you distinguish yourself. DO write about what you know and have observed or experienced, not things beyond your personal development as a teenager. Book knowledge or secondhand information does not convey to the reader any sense of who you are. The essay itself won’t propel an average student into Harvard, but may indeed make a difference. DON’T rehash information that is already in your application. I graduated summa cum laude from Northwestern University's theatre and creative writing programs. I'm a playwright, editor, and writing teacher with a focus on arts education.