Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Chapter 1 How Colleges Read Applications 1
Where It All Began 1
How Colleges Read Essays 2
Making Choices 3
Inside the Admission Office 4
Your High School Record 5
Test Scores 6
Recommendations 8
The Interview 9
The Essay 10
A Few Red Flags 13
Summary 14
TOOLBOX: A Timeline for Applying to College 15
Chapter 2 You've Done This Before 21
The Challenge of the College Essay 21
A New but Familiar Assignment 22
The Structure 23
The Style 26
The Subject 27
The Process 28
TOOLBOX: A Timeline for Application Essays 30
Chapter 3 Writing an Essay 33
What Exactly Is an Essay? 33
Prewriting 34
Drafting 43
Editing 56
Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism 59
Reviewing the Process 60
TOOLBOX: More Editing Tips 62
Chapter 4 What's the Question? 63
The Common Application 64
Writing Supplements 67
The School Paper 70
Scholarship and Program Essays 70
Five Key Concepts About the Application Essay 71
TOOLBOX: Cyber Sense 72
Chapter 5 What's the Answer? 75
Building an Idea Bank X 75
The Questions 82
Drafting 86
A Complete Essay Sample 89
What's Left to Do? 91
The Activity Question 93
The "Why Us?" Question 95
"Why Us?" Plus 96
A Word About Length 97
Summary 97
TOOLBOX: The High-Risk Essay 98
Chapter 6 A Family Affair 101
A Process for Parents 102
Talking About the Essay 105
Final Tips 108
Conclusion 109
TOOLBOX: Ten Tips from Experienced Parents 110
Chapter 7 A Different Story 111
If You Are an American Applying to American Colleges from Abroad 112
If You Are an International Student Applying to American Colleges 113
If English Is Not Your First or Best Language 114
If You Are the First in Your Family to Apply to College 116
If You Are Headed Back to School 116
If You Are a veteran Applying at the End of Your Service 117
If You Are Thinking of Transferring 118
A Final Word 119
TOOLBOX: Start Fast 119
Chapter 8 Analyzing Some Drafts 123
Sample 1 123
Sample 2 125
Sample 3 127
Sample 4 129
Sample 5 132
Sample 6 134
Sample 7 137
Sample 8 138
Sample 9 140
Sample 10 141
Sample 11 145
Sample 12 147
Sample 13 149
Sample 14 151
A Final Word: Insist on Yourself 152
TOOLBOX: Quick Fixes for Procrastinators 153
Suggested Reading 155
Index 156
