Admission essays are a general assessment of yourself and your chosen field/course you take up in the college or university. Admissions essays are used not only to analyze your paths and aims but the evaluator also tries to get an inside look into your personality.

The essay also demonstrates your writing skills as well as your ability to organize your thoughts coherently.

The college admission essay accomplishes three goals: it

     1. Conveys a sense of the student's unique character
     2. Demonstrates the student's writing skills
     3. Demonstrates the student's ability to organize thoughts coherently

All essays regardless of their intended purpose have three basic components: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Let's consider each component separately and in detail so you know how to construct it.

COMPONENT ONE
INTRODUCTION
A good introduction should include (1.) an attention-getter, such as a startling fact, an anecdote, or lines of dialog, (2.) your thesis statement indicating the intention of your essay, and (3.) a brief preview of the supporting ideas that will develop your main point.

COMPONENT TWO
BODY
The body of an essay usually consists of three to five paragraphs (one paragraph for each supporting idea). Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence which states the main point of that paragraph. The following sentences need to support your main point.

COMPONENT THREE
CONCLUSION
The conclusion summarizes the entire essay and features a brief restatement of your thesis (intention of the essay) and main supporting ideas.

There are two types of admission essays: specific and general

SPECIFIC ADMISSION ESSAYS provide a topic about which to write.

GENERAL ADMISSION ESSAYS gives the writer/student the opportunity to select a topic about which to write.

Just in case you are applying to colleges/universities that feature a general admission essay as a part of their application process, here are a few sample essay topics that may inspire you. This list is by no means exhaustive!

• Why did you choose to apply to Slippery Rock University, etc.?
• Describe your most rewarding experience.
• What are your career aspirations?
• Who is the most influential person in your life? Why?
• Describe a successful student.
• What a college education means to me.

See Admission Essay Sample