 directly address any questions the prompt asks.

Many essay prompts will

ask you to write about extracurricular experiences in your life or to list interests
such as your favorite movies or music. Be sure to include the answer to any
questions and don't get distracted while providing context or other extra
information.
 Use specific information. Make sure to mention the specific volunteer
program you worked at or the name of your favorite instructor from your
summer STEM camp. While it's important not to overburden your essay with
small details, peppering in a few specifics will highlight what's important to
you both academically and personally.
 Create a narrative. Just like with any story or news article, you want to start
your essays with a good hook. Setting the stage for your experiences, including
anecdotes to drive home a point, or carrying a thematic element throughout
your essay will help keep the reader interested and will show off your
creativity.
 Reuse material. There’s no reason to write completely new essays for every
school you’re applying to. Many schools ask the same questions with slightly
different wording, like the commonly used “diversity essay” which essentially
asks how you contribute and benefit from diversity. With some editing, a single
essay could answer multiple prompts — and cut down on your stress!
 Put yourself in your reader’s shoes. College admissions officers read
hundreds of essays from hopeful applicants with each one thinking their
personal experiences and reasons for applying to a particular school are unique.
This contributes to the difficulty in standing out in your essays since almost
anything you write about will likely have been encountered by your reader
before.
Putting yourself in your reader’s shoes can help strengthen your writing.
Remember, it’s not necessarily about what you say, but how you say it. If you
read your essay back to yourself and some of the descriptions sound trite or
typical, these are spots that are ripe for improvement.
 For example, if you describe a trip abroad to help build homes in a developing
country with words like “life-changing” and “eye-opening,” you may run the
risk of boring your reader. That experience could have been truly life-changing
for you, but the simple act of thinking of more creative ways to express an idea
not only makes your writing more interesting to read, it signals to your reader
the amount of effort you’ve put into your essay.
Describing an experience as transformative can sound less cliché and
exaggerated. Moreover, allowing your experiences to speak for themselves
(showing instead of telling) will display your imagination and grant you space
to emphasize what you learned–something always popular with adcoms.
 Go through multiple drafts–and do so early. We can’t stress enough the
importance of revision. While your initial ideas may be good, the first couple of
drafts will never express them as well as they would after a few edits.
Writing takes place in the mind. It’s a thought process that involves reflecting
on your experiences and then translating that reflection into words and—most
importantly—time. Make sure you start writing your essays as early as possible
to grant yourself as much space as possible to revise.
 Be vulnerable / show emotion. Remember that college adcoms are people, not
robots reading an essay to make sure you’ve ticked all the boxes for a particular
university. Showing some vulnerability or emotion in your writing can make
your story come alive for the reader.
Keep in mind there is a fine line between “showing emotion” and a sob story.
It’s okay to display your vulnerability in an essay, but making the reader feel
sorry for you won’t win you any points. Furthermore, showing emotion
encompasses feelings of triumph to feelings of struggle. Letting these shine
through in your essay demonstrates your passion, which engages your reader.

Here are some example essays from some of the thousands of students we've helped
get accepted to their dream school.