Writing an outstanding essay for college application is crucial when applying to selective schools. The document is created in response to a question posed in the college application. It comes with a stated length and specific requirements. The procedure of applying for university admission is highly competitive, and top colleges in the United States only accept between 4% and 10% is their total applicants.
The admission essay offers the university an opportunity to get to know the applicant in ways not possible from the other fundamentals of the application. Given the competitive nature of the process, students have to present their best versions in the essays, and this means perfecting their writing.
Editing an essay ensures that your document is free from errors, typos, and customary mistakes. It is your way of showing your creativity and writing skills. It also shows your level of commitment. Here are some simple hacks on editing your text and impressing your audience.
How to Edit an Admission Essay
Understand What Editing Entails
While many people assume the words are synonymous, essay editing is a different phase of writing from proofreading. Both are revision stages that require close reading of the text. However, they concentrate on different elements of writing and use disparate approaches.
Both processes happen once the writer has completed the primary version. By its nature, proofreading entails surface-level reading, where you look for misspellings, mathematical and word-based discrepancies, and wrong or missed punctuation.
Conversely, editing entails a deeper level of revision. The author rereads the text multiple times to see whether the document is well-organized. Editing also checks for transitions, clarity of arguments, and whether the evidence supports the points made. Editing entails revising your paper for:
- Content consistency and coherence;
- Overall structure and format;
- Structure within paragraphs and use of transitions;
- Clarity of arguments;
- Use the suitable writing style and tone;
- Accuracy and appropriateness of citations.
Although content is the most important part of any admission essay, how your paper looks will affect how readers judge it. After working hard on your application, you need to spend some time perfecting it. To submit exceptional admission texts, ascertain to revise and proofread essay documents before sending them.
Check the Text for Formatting Issues
Formatting is important in admission essay writing because the format is the first thing readers notice when they glance at your work. Formatting your essay defines your writing, distinguishing it from other types of written work like term papers and research reports. Understand that a properly formatted essay has some semblance of uniformity that makes it appear organized and neat.
Instructors have limited time within which to read through your application. Checking the text for formatting issues ensures that the document is eye-catching. Of course, there is no universal approach to follow when formatting your admission essay. However, there are a few considerations to prioritize when editing your paper, including:
- Using a margin of about one inch on all sides;
- Numbering your pages appropriately;
- Checking for text structure elements, including heading and subheadings;
- Checking paragraphs for proper indenting;
- Ensuring the use of a proper and legible font.
Using the right setup for your admission essay ensures that your paper is neat and appeals to the target audience. In other words, some admission officials choose not to go through articles written using the wrong format. Ensure to use the right font size, margins, and spacing. Your paper should be neat and easy to read through.
Check for Writing Style: Important Ideas on What Makes Your Style Exceptional
Most selective colleges get way more applications from competent students than they can admit. A college admission essay is an essential tool for setting successful candidates from unsuccessful ones. Understand that unlike your GPA and scores from tests, admission papers are subjective evaluations of a candidate’s suitability.
So, when editing your essay, ascertain to assess your writing style, ascertaining that it meets the requirements set out in the prompt. The appropriate writing style should be genuine and thought-provoking while ensuring that your application stands out.
Remember, unlike academic writing, an admission essay does not require students to use a formal tone. Rather, applicants have a chance to demonstrate their unique voices while showcasing their creative writing skills.
While there is much freedom on how to handle this task, there are specific basic guidelines that you ought to observe if you want to be successful. When editing, check to guarantee that the paper is written in your voice. As you refine individual sentences, ensure that your personality shines through.
Ask yourself whether the writing sounds like you and demonstrates your creativity. If you find terms of phrases you seldom use, eliminate them to prevent sounding phony. Those facing problems revising their papers should consider expert assistance. Essay Editors has top professionals waiting to perfect your admission essay.
Below find some more ideas on what to pay attention to when writing.
Check Logical Organization of the Text
Another important consideration when editing your essay is the logical organization of your content. Remember that several elements come together to constitute a great admission essay. For instance, you need a great topic. Check your topic to ensure that it is interesting, clear, and tied to the main message in your admission essay. You also need to revise your text to ensure that your voice comes through without distraction.
When editing, ascertain that your text starts with a clear introduction with a thesis statement. The thesis here is the concept that you intend to argue or build on with your text. after the opening, your document should move to coherent body paragraphs, each supporting only a single principal idea.
The body should be unified and fall back on the thesis for direction. Your essay should end with a conclusion that closes the discussion.
Coherence Between Sentences and Paragraphs
While systematizing your article makes the paper more presentable and readable, there is no silver bullet on organizing. It does not count where you place your paragraphs as long as the writing flows coherently and logically. Each section should contain only one main idea with transition phrases used to link the various segments of your paper.
When editing, check for coherence, which means ascertaining that your sentences are ordered logically and with clear transitions. Logical organization means checking to ensure that the different elements like parsing, syntax, spelling, topic, and capitalization work together to make the paper great. Strive for clarity, logical flow, and focus in your writing.
The configuration of the components of a paper makes it easy to comprehend the thesis. When the components of your text or paragraphs flow in a given order, it is easier for the audience to comprehend your core messages.
Edit for Content Quality
Another crucial element to consider when editing your document is content. You need to go finetune your document multiple times, checking to ensure that you have covered everything the task requires. Keep looking back at the instructions provided to guarantee you have covered every task element.
Are the assertions document accurate and verifiable? If not, you risk missing your opening to get into your dream college. If the task demands that applicants produce arguments, ascertain that your opinion is clear.
Also, confirm whether your opinions are consistent and supported using credible and sufficient evidence and examples. Most importantly, check to verify that the material in your text is correlated to your instructions and meets your general writing objectives.
Revise for Grammatical Blunders and Read Backwards
In a typical sense, students are encouraged to check their texts for spelling and content consistency by reading their papers slowly and verbatim. You may even spend hours combing through your work, and this thoroughness allows you to create quality writing. However, there is an even more precise suggestion if you want to end up with a top-notch essay — read the text backward.
Experts indicate that reading a document backward allows you to zero in on content gaps and identify mistakes. Reading back also means that you are unlikely to get carried away by the story or flow of your text. You will not be distracted by the argumentations and logical reasoning in the text. You also won’t spend valuable time glossing over linguistic details.
Your focus when reading backward will be the grammar rather than the content. With this method, you will look at your sentence constructions from a fresh perspective. You also get to discover errors that may have escaped your attention during the initial editing procedure. Of course, reading backward is a strenuous and time-consuming exercise that requires considerable attention. However, it always pays off in the end.
Edit for Stylistic Mistakes
When editing an admission essay, understand that little mistakes often amount to bigger errors and diminish your prospects. Edit carefully, making sure to correct capitalization mistakes. You should also look out for and eliminate double spaces between sentences. If you have no clue how to proceed, consider hiring professional essay editors to finetune your draft.
Check for Punctuation Blunders
Punctuation signals are crucial determinants of the composition of any essay. When editing, check the work for punctuation mistakes, ensuring all the marks are used correctly. Remember, punctuations tell us where ideas end and others begin.
They also inform the reader where there should be emphasis and how concepts relate. If you use the wrong punctuation, there will likely be an erroneous association between your ideas, which may confuse your readers. Make sure to eliminate extraneous apostrophes and unnecessary quotation marks.
Confirm Your Word Count
By now, you may be accustomed to presenting your written projects on a page-limit basis. Although some colleges still ask students to write papers based on page restrictions, most prefer word parameters. This ensures a typical length for all the universities’ essays from applicants. When writing your college essay, the piece ought to be slightly shorter than, but not surpass, the indicated word length. Of course, admission essay prompts often explain how long the paper should be.
To manage your word count, ensure that your admission essay shows rather than tells. You should also avoid restating the same things using different words and get rid of unnecessary details. Use extraneous adjectives sparingly. Most importantly, ensure that every component of your paper contributes towards your thesis and eliminates wordiness.
Effective academic writing is a process that requires considerable practice to perfect. Given the magnitude of the application essay, please spend some time editing the draft several times before sending it to your prospective college. To be thorough, follow the tips highlighted in this article.
