ATTENTION SENIORS!
Here are some links and videos to help you with your search for post-high school plans! ALL students are REQUIRED to submit TWO personal essays, regardless of their post-high school plans. You may use the Common Application essay prompts or a specific school's essay prompt. YOUR FIRST FULLY EDITED and FINISHED essay is DUE BY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2014. You must email/share/attach your files AND print out a copy.

FIVE FUNDAMENTALS OF A COLLEGE ESSAY

Show, don’t tell. If you want to convince the reader that you never give up,don’t tell the reader, “I never give up.” Instead, describe how you were cut from the basketball team in ninth grade, sat on the bench in tenth grade, and finally made the team as a junior. A skillful writer lets evidence show that a proposition is true; a clumsy one tells, because his writing is not powerful enough to show.
Use your own Experiences. The most interesting essay puts you in the starring role and features real life thoughts and feelings. Anecdotes from your world are always more interesting than abstractions. Give the reader a piece of your mind.
Use the First Person. The fact that it is a “personal” essay provides a strong hint. Nine out of ten essays should be in the first person, the best vehicle for revealing your thoughts and beliefs.
Begin with a Flourish. The most important sentence in any essay is the first one. Polish it like a precious stone. Good writers often try to hook the reader with a first sentence that surprises, piques, or begins an interesting story.
Proofread. Applicants are told over and over again, and still they don’t proofread! Arrggh! Nothing is more damaging than an essay full of typos, misspellings, and grammatical mistakes