High school seniors who embark on the complicated road of applying to college learn quickly that the majority of college applications require that students submit an essay along with their application. Some colleges even require more than one essay; however additional essays might be optional. The good news is that the college application process is generally completed while students still have the advantage of having their high school instructors, counselors, and mentors available to critique their college application essays. No student is expected to go it alone.

College application essays are generally creations that ask prospective students to explore a particular event in their lives, a goal they would like to achieve, or the reason they would like to study at the college they are applying to. Some colleges will direct the college application essay by giving applicants the topic on which they are to write. But, even a topic such as “how I spent my summer vacation” invites more thought for a college application than it did as a high school freshman.

When a college application essay invites students to write about their summer vacation, the college wants more than merely an itinerary of what the student actually did during his or her summer vacation. The student who fails to delve properly into the subject matter is likely to have his or her application summarily rejected. What the college wants to know is what the student did during their summer vacation that mattered, not literally the activities they participated in. Of course, there is the rare student who can make a trip to Disneyland read like well-written literature, but, for the most part, the college is looking for something that sets the student apart from the thousands of other applications college recruiters will have to sift through.

So many students pay little attention to the college application essay. They are convinced that it is merely a way for college recruiters to make sure that they can read, write, and follow instructions. And, in a way, they are right. It goes without saying that the student who fails to pay attention to spelling, grammar, and punctuation is not likely to have his or her college application land in the “accepted” pile.

However, the college application essay is more about differentiation than anything else. The colleges that student’s apply to are bound to receive applications from thousands of qualified applicants every year. There has to be some way to evaluate students on qualifications other than grade point average and extracurricular activities. The student who finds a way to use his or her college application essay to make himself or herself stand out in the eyes of the college recruiters is the student who is most likely to receive acceptance letters to one or more of the colleges of his or her choice.