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Here’s my advice for a great way to edit your essays:

1. Pick a friend (or a few friends) who know you very well.
2. Ask them to read your essay.
3. DO NOT ask them what they thought of your essay. This is the question almost everyone asks of their friends in this situation.  “So, guys, what did you think?”  This is a terrible questions because:  a) they are your friends, so even if your essay is terrible they’re going to tell you it’s awesome; and b) what are they?  Writing professors?  Are you sure they’re qualified to judge the quality of your essay?
4. INSTEAD, ask them this far superior question: “When you read this essay, do you recognize me in it?  Can you tell I wrote it?  Why or why not?“
5. LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY TO THEIR ANSWERS.
6. If they can’t recognize you – if the essay describes a person they don’t recognize – then it’s not a good essay.  Period.  It doesn’t matter how perfect the English, how wonderful the storytelling.  If you are not sharing who you genuinely are, if you are not highlighting what makes you unique, you are completely missing the point of the essay.  Your friends can tell you better than anyone if the person they know (you) is in the essay you wrote.
7. If necessary, rewrite the essay until your friends DO recognize your voice in it.

VOILA!  There we have it – The Greatest Editing Trick For College Application Essays.

Posts in this Series

1. Tell Us About Yourself: Final Advice for Essay Writing - 08 Oct
2. Should You Pay To Have Your Essay Edited? - 01 Oct
3. The Greatest Editing Trick For College Application Essays (This post)
4. How To Edit Your Essay - 28 Sep
5. The "What They Want to Hear" Mistake - 17 Sep
6. Know Your Reader, Part Four - 16 Sep
7. Know Your Reader, Part Three - 15 Sep
8. Know Your Reader, Part Two - 14 Sep
9. Know Your Reader, Part One - 13 Sep
10. Listen to an Admissions Officer Discuss Essays - 11 Sep
11. How to Write an Essay for University Applications - 09 Sep

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Tags: edit your college essay, how to write a college admissions essay, how to write a college application essay, International students in the U.S., The Greatest Editing Trick For College Applications

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 7:56 am and is filed under Essay Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.