College Admissions Essay -- Resources & Samples

The College Board has useful section on Essay Skills for the college admissions essay. Included are a section on how to choose a topic and tips on writing the essay itself.

Samples of successful essays can be found at quintcareers.com/ and at
college-admission-essay.com

The Common Application essay prompts are at https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/2012/2012AppFY_download.pdf

True fact: You can pay as much as $1000.00 to have a professional essay editing service such as EssayEdge help you with your essay. (Or you can just ask me and get help for free).

The College Board suggests you compete the following as part of your brainstorming process:

• Discover Your Strengths: Do a little research about yourself: ask parents, friends, and teachers what your strengths are.
• Create a Self-Outline: Now, next to each trait, list five or six pieces of evidence from your life—things you've been or done—that prove your point.
• Find Patterns and Connections: Look for patterns in the material you've brainstormed. Group similar ideas and events together. For example, does your passion for numbers show up in your performance in the state math competition and your summer job at the computer store? Was basketball about sports or about friendships? When else have you stuck with the hard work to be with people who matter to you?

Building Your Resume

A useful online Resume Builder is at
http://www.resumizer.com/


Another good option for resume templates is via Google Docs.
(If you don't have a Gmail account, see me for the login info for the class Gmail account.  Once logged in on Google Docs, click "Create," select "from Template," and then type the word "resume" into the search field.)

Resume Headings: Activities Activities & Interests Additional Experience Additional Skills Additional Training Affiliations Associations Awards/Recognitions Career Goal Career Objective Certifications Coaching Experience Achievements Community Involvement Community Service Computer Skills Conferences Attended Education Employment Employment History Employment Objective Experience Goals Highlights of Qualifications Hobbies & Interests Honours & Awards Language Skills

Memberships Extracurricular Activities Objective Personal Achievements Presentations Publications Qualifications Related Activities Related Experience Relevant Experience Relevant Skills Scholarships & Awards Skills Special Skills Summary of Qualifications Teaching Experience Technical Skills Training Volunteer Activities Volunteer Experience Volunteer Work Work Experience

Interactive Comma Quiz

mhttp://www2.ivcc.edu/eng1002/practice_comma_quiz.htm

Transitions & Cohension in the Persuasive Essay

See http://www.roanestate.edu/OWL/Connect.html for a list of transitions and for tips on how to effectively use them in your essay.

See http://www.eslbee.com/transitions_connectors_punctuation.htm for a quick review of transitions and their punctuation.

See http://eslbee.com/cgi-bin/quiztest.cgi?transitionsandconnectorsandpunctuation for a 10 question quiz on punctuation of transitions.