Writing The College Essay

Writing The College Essay One exercise that I think can greatly help us in our quest to answer this question is to spend some time reflecting on the history of the college system, and how it’s purpose in society has changed over time. Editing for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes is fine, but don’t change the voice of the essay. In order to write a successful essay, you must organize your thoughts. By taking what’s already in your head and putting it to paper, you are able to see connections and links between ideas more clearly. This structure serves as a foundation for your paper. Use either an outline or a diagram to jot down your ideas and organize them. Technological advancements combined with growing amounts of wealth in American society led to the construction of incredible campuses during the early 1900s. In fact, the building construction done during this period was so good that it remains a strong pull for many historical universities to this day. This was the first of several key events that started to move Colleges away from serving as a signal of prestige to serving as a means for receiving more practical education. Another key event was the Morrill Land-Grant Act, which was passed into law by President Lincoln. As a result of the decreases in funding, colleges were forced to raise tuition prices to make up the difference. This caused a shift in the college model from acting as a public service to more of a traditional business model which involved aggressively selling a service to customers. At the center of the college sales pitch was the idea that a 4-year college degree was necessary to have success in the professional workforce. When this narrative first began to form, it was a relatively easy sell. Universities were able to keep their costs low due to strong support from the government, so many students saw a great opportunity with very little downside. Debatably the most important event in the history of college education happened in 1944 with the introduction of the GI bill. As part of the Act, states could apply to receive free land from the government to build public universities. The only caveat was that these public universities had to promote branches of learnings such as agriculture, engineering, and mechanic arts so that students would learn practical skills to bring into the workforce. If an essay is too “polished” it may seem inauthentic, creating confusion in the reader. Make sure that you are confident in your essay and accept feedback, but don’t allow others to change your essay in any way that will cause it to lose its original message. My preference (and admissions officers’) would be that parents are minimally involved in the essay. Believe me, those admissions officers are experienced and they can definitely spot the difference between a 50 year-old businessperson’s phraseology and a 17-year-old senior’s own voice and manner of expression. A montage is, simply put, a series of moments or story events connected by a common thematic thread. Okay, this isn’t necessarily a perfect way to outline an essay. You may not want to spend an entire paragraph describing your feelings, for example, or you may choose to describe your needs in just one sentence. However, the sideways Feelings and Needs chart can help you think about how the chronology of your experiences might translate into a personal statement. The GI bill was created to help veterans of World War II. Among other aspects, it granted stipends to cover tuition and expenses for close to 9 million veterans. As a result, colleges saw a massive spike in enrollment in the decades following. One of the reasons was that colleges began putting an emphasis on the aesthetic of their campuses. Campus architecture became a focal point of the college experience. A depiction of Harvard’s Campus in 1720When the first colleges were founded, they primarily existed to serve the needs of the church to train clergymen. In fact, about half of Harvard’s first 500 graduates went into ministry, with the remaining half largely obtaining liberal arts degrees. This all started to change in 1825 when the University of Virginia was founded. It’s founding was championed by Thomas Jefferson, who would push for colleges to move away from their religious ties and also become both affordable and useful enough for the general public. In summary, colleges started by only serving a small fraction of the population.