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College Scholarship/
Admission Essay
Tips for College Admission/Scholarship Essays
What Do “They” Look For?
Admissions ofcers review numerous applications, frequently reading as many as fty per day.
Although it’s impossible to predict exactly what a particular college is looking for in its applicants,
colleges generally want to admit a mix of students who can handle the academic workload and make
a positive contribution to the college experience--for themselves and for their classmates.
• To get a favorable reaction from admissions ofcers, your application should demonstrate:
• Serious intent to pursue a college-level education
• Genuine desire to attend the particular college
• Correspondence between your abilities and interests and what the school needs and has to
offer
• Ability to think clearly, logically, and creatively
• Ability to write interesting, thoughtful essays that keep your reader’s attention and make you
stand out from other applicants
What Admissions Ofcers Look For
• You - The person behind the GPA, the test scores, and the extracurricular activities.
• Surprise - An unexpected angle on your topic, even if the experience you’re writing about
seems ordinary.
• Genuineness - Writing as yourself, without taking yourself too seriously; relying on your own
vocabulary, rather than the thesaurus or the words your parents think you should use. Whatever
you do, don’t lie. Lying can provide grounds for automatic rejection. No matter how condent
you are that you won’t get caught, never fudge the facts in an essay or on any other part of your
application.
• Thoughtfulness - Consideration of your experiences and their meanings, both to yourself and
to others, and showing through your reection that nothing is lost on you.
How To Help Them Find It
Think About Who Your Audience Is – This will most likely be ve or six recent graduates of the
college you’re applying to and an experienced director of admissions, all of whom have spent the
last month reading thousands of applications. This is an overworked audience on whom your essay
needs to make a vivid and memorable impression.
SLCC Community Writing Center
210 E. 400 S. (Library Square Plaza)
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
www.slcc.edu/cwc or call (801) 957-4992