The Admissions Essay
A Help Packet
Provided to Grosse Pointe South by EssayEdge.com
Contents:
Admissions Essay Writing Tips
Step One: Brainstorming an Admissions Essay Topic
Step Two: Selecting an Essay Topic
Step Three: Writing the Essay
Sample Successful Essay:
Accepted by Harvard, Princeton, Stanford & Dartmouth
Tips by EssayEdge.com
Admissions Essay Writing Tips:
Step One
: Brainstorming an Admissions Essay Topic
The most important part of your essay is the subject matter. You should expect to devote about one to two
weeks simply to brainstorming ideas. To begin brainstorming a subject idea consider the following points. From
brainstorming, you may find a subject you had not considered at first.
• What are your major accomplishments, and why do you consider them accomplishments? Do not limit
yourself to accomplishments for which you have been formally recognized since the most interesting
essays are often based on accomplishments that may have been trite at the time but become crucial when
placed in the context of your life.
• Does any attribute, quality, or skill distinguish you from everyone else? How did you develop this
attribute?
• Consider your favorite books, movies, works of art, etc. Have these influenced your life in a meaningful
way? Why are they your favorites?
• What was the most difficult time in your life, and why? How did your perspective on life change as a
result of the difficulty?
• Have you ever struggled mightily for something and succeeded? What made you successful?
• Have you ever struggled mightily for something and failed? How did you respond?
• Of everything in the world, what would you most like to be doing right now? Where would you most
like to be? Who, of everyone living and dead, would you most like to be with? These questions should
help you realize what you love most.
• Have you experienced a moment of epiphany, as if your eyes were opened to something to which you
were previously blind?,
• What is your strongest, most unwaveri