college admissions essay process

A Complete Guide to the College Application Process

Find answers to common questions prospective college students have about deadlines, essays and more.

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Students should generally begin working on applications the summer between their junior and senior year of high school, experts say.

The college application process can seem intimidating, especially if students don't have parents or siblings who have already been through it and can offer advice.

Since there are several steps, such as writing an essay and obtaining letters of recommendation , experts say a good way for students to get started is to create a to-do list during their junior year of high school.

"Once you can see it visually, the number of tasks and a schedule to do them, it simplifies a lot of things," says Christine Chu, a premier college admissions counselor at IvyWise, a New York-based education consulting company. "It will take away a lot of the anxiety."

Though there is often prep work, students generally begin working on college application tasks the summer between their junior and senior years of high school, experts say.

Here's what prospective undergraduates need to know about completing a college application.

What Are the Important College Application Deadlines?

High school seniors have multiple deadlines to choose from when applying to colleges.

The Step-by-Step Guide to Applying to College

Applying to college.

• Complete the FAFSA
• Fill Out the Common App
• Write a Standout College Essay
• Ask for Recommendation Letters
• Learn the Ins and Outs of Financial Aid
• Decipher College Tuition Costs
• Find Scholarships to Pay for College

Early Decision

First are early decision deadlines, usually in November. Students who apply via early decision, or ED, hear back from a college sooner than their peers who turn in applications later. ED admissions decisions often come out by December.

However, students should be aware that ED acceptances are binding, meaning an applicant must enroll if offered admission.

Some schools also have a second early decision deadline, ED II, which is also binding. The difference is in the timelines. ED II deadlines are usually in January, and admissions decisions often come out in February.

Early Action

Early action is another type of application deadline that tends to be in November or December, though some schools set deadlines as early as Oct. 15. Similar to early decision, students who apply via early action hear back from schools sooner. The difference is EA acceptances aren't binding.

Restrictive early action , which is uncommon, allows students to apply early but only to a single school (though there are exceptions). It's also nonbinding.

Regular Decision

Students can also choose to apply by a school's regular decision deadline, which is typically Jan. 1. Students who apply regular decision generally hear back from schools in mid-to-late March or early April. This is the most common way students apply to schools.

One other admissions policy to be aware of is rolling admissions . Schools with rolling admissions evaluate applications as they receive them and release admissions decisions on an ongoing basis. These schools may have a priority filing date, but they generally don't have a hard cutoff date for applications. The institutions continue accepting them until all spots in the incoming class are filled.

Regardless of the type of decision students pursue, it's important to start the application process early, says Denard Jones, lead college counselor at Empowerly, a college admissions consulting company. Jones previously worked in college admissions at Elon University in North Carolina and Saint Joseph's University in Pennsylvania.

“If you chunk it up and break down these tasks and can get ahead and start early, you’re not stifling your creativity because you’re trying to rush through to get everything done by October or November deadlines," he says. “Time management is something you’re going to have to deal with the rest of your life, regardless of what you go into.”

In deciding when to apply, as well as how many colleges to apply to, students should consider financial aid implications . Experts say if money is a concern, as it is for most families of college-bound students, applicants should choose nonbinding deadlines – EA and regular decision. This will enable families to compare financial aid offers from multiple schools.

Experts also suggest students research applicable scholarships, like those related to their hobbies , to help offset costs.

For regular decision deadlines, students typically have until May 1 to decide which school they will attend and pay an enrollment deposit.

Which College Application Platform Should I Use?

Students have several options when it comes to college application platforms.

The Common Application

One popular choice is The Common Application , which is accepted by more than 1,000 colleges, including some outside the U.S. Students fill out the Common App once and can then submit it to multiple colleges.

However, in addition to the main application, Common App schools often have a supplemental section, Chu says. The supplement sometimes includes additional essay questions, so students may need to budget time for more writing.

Some schools do not accept the Common App, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Students have to fill out separate applications for these schools, generally through the school's website.

Coalition Application and Common Black College Application

Other application options include the Coalition Application, a newer platform accepted by 130 schools, and the Common Black College Application , accepted by most historically Black colleges and universities.

Additionally, some colleges have school-specific or university system-specific applications. For example, the University of California system has its own application – the only platform used by UC schools – and students can apply to multiple campuses with one application.

Students can visit a college's website to find out which application platforms are accepted. Also, the Common App , Coalition Application and CBCA websites list their partner schools.

What Do I Need to Know About the College Application Essay?

As part of the application process, most colleges require students to submit at least one writing sample: the college essay . This is sometimes referred to as a personal statement.

There's usually a word limit of around several hundred words for a personal statement. The main essay on the Common App should be around 650 words. The Coalition Application website says its essays should be between 500 and 650 words. Institution-specific supplemental essays typically have a word count of around 250 words.

Regardless of which application platform they use, students have multiple essay prompts from which to choose.

"The application essay prompts are broad and open-ended, and I think that's sometimes what challenges students the most," says Niki Barron, associate dean of admission at Hamilton College in New York. "But they're open-ended for a reason, and that's because we do really want to see what students choose to write about, what students feel is important."

Experts say students should try to tell a story about themselves in the essay, which doesn't necessarily mean writing about a big, impressive accomplishment.

Barron says the most memorable essays for her focus on more ordinary topics. "But they're done in such a self-reflective way that it gives me so much insight into who a student is as a person and gives me such a sense of the student's voice," she adds.

What Are the Other Key Components of a College Application?

Here are other parts of the college application that prospective students should be ready for.

Personal Information

In the first portion of a college application, students have to provide basic information about themselves, their school and their family.

High School Transcript

Colleges also ask for an official high school transcript, which is a record of the courses students have taken and the grades they have earned.

Admissions offices typically ask that a transcript be sent directly from the high school rather than from the student, says Geoff Heckman, school counselor and department chair at Platte County High School in Missouri. Students usually submit a transcript request to their high school's counseling office, but some schools use an online service, such as Parchment or SENDedu, that allows students to request the transcript be sent through a secure online provider, Heckman says.

Students can also send their transcript via a registrar if their school has one rather than through the counseling office.

Standardized Test Scores

Many schools require applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores, which are usually sent by the testing companies. The number of schools requiring standardized test scores has dropped dramatically as the coronavirus pandemic upended these exams.

Prospective students should know, however, that testing policies vary even when such exams are not required. Key terms to pay attention to include test-blind and test-optional . Test-blind means that scores will not be considered if submitted. By contrast, test-optional colleges do not require ACT or SAT scores but will consider them if submitted as part of an application.

Chu notes that "admissions officers still want to see test scores if possible" and that high marks will only help. Strong scores can lead to scholarships, in some cases, experts say. A good ACT or SAT score varies by college, and Chu encourages students to look at a college's first-year student profile to determine admission goals.

SAT-takers are allowed four free score reports each time they register for the exam. Students can select which schools they'd like their scores sent to before or up to nine days after the test, according to the College Board, which administers the standardized test. The fee for each additional score report is $12.

Similarly, students who sit for the ACT can send their score to up to four colleges at no cost, according to the ACT website . Additional score reports are $18 each. However, some students may qualify for a fee waiver , which allows test-takers to send additional score reports for free to colleges and scholarship agencies at any time during the college search process, according to the ACT website.

Letters of Recommendation

Colleges often ask students to submit two to three letters of recommendation .

Students should seek out recommenders – often they have to be teachers or counselors – who know them well and can comment not just on their academic abilities but also their personal qualities and achievements, Chu says.

It's a good idea for students to provide recommenders with a copy of their resume to help them cover all these bases, Heckman says.

Students should request letters of recommendation well before the application deadline. Chu advises at least two months in advance.

"The more time students can give the authors of those recommendations, I think the more thorough and helpful those recommendations are going to be for us," Barron says.

Information on Extracurricular Activities

College applications give students the chance to provide information on the extracurricular activities they participated in while in high school. In this section, students should detail all of the ways they spend their time outside of class, Barron says. This includes structured activities like sports or clubs, as well as family obligations such as caring for siblings or part-time employment, she says.

Some admissions officers spend significant time evaluating this section, Jones says, but he adds this is often the most overlooked part of the application. Many students rush through it and don't thoroughly explain the extent to which they were involved in an activity. Be sure to explain any leadership roles or accomplishments, he says.

"The extracurriculars are the things that they spend their entire high school career doing that lead up to these wonderful moments and accolades over time," he says. "So take the time and be detailed."

Do I Need to Submit a Resume?

On some college applications, it may be optional for students to upload a resume .

But much of the information generally contained in a resume – such as awards, work experience and extracurricular activities – is asked for in other parts of a college application, often in the activities section.

How Much Do College Application Fees Cost?

There's no set price for college application fees, which experts say typically range from $50 to $90 per application, though costs can stretch upward of $100 in some instances. Prospective students should check college websites to determine these individual fees.

How Can I Get a College Application Fee Waiver?

There are several ways students from low-income families can submit college applications for free .

Students who received SAT or ACT test fee waivers are eligible for college application fee waivers from the testing companies. The College Board sends such waivers automatically to students. Not all schools accept these waivers, but many do.

Similarly, the ACT has a fee waiver request form students and school counselors can fill out and send to colleges. The National Association for College Admission Counseling also offers a fee waiver request form .

In addition, eligible students can request a fee waiver within the body of some college applications, including the Common App.

There are other times schools waive application fees , and not just for low-income students. Students can sometimes get an application fee waived by participating in instant decision day events at their high school or on a college's campus. Applicants should also keep an eye out for free application periods in some states, when some colleges waive fees to apply.

Using a College Visit to Decide Where to Apply

A common piece of advice offered by admissions consultants and college officials alike is to tour a campus. Visiting a college can help prospective students get a sense of the culture and community and understand how they may or may not fit in. While it's not part of the formal application process, exploring a college can help students determine which schools to apply to.

Such visits, Chu says, offer a "glimpse into a day in the life" of students living and learning on those campuses. But in the absence of the opportunity to visit – say, due to cost restrictions or other travel limitations – students should consider virtual tours , which emerged as a popular option for applicants after the coronavirus pandemic began.

While virtual tours may offer fewer opportunities to make personal connections, students should still attempt to forge them.

"Virtual visits can be the next best thing" to an in-person tour, Barron notes. She also encourages applicants to "check college websites for offerings and opportunities to connect virtually with current students, admission staff, professors, coaches and others."

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Articles & Advice > College Admission > Articles

The Best Advice, Tips, and Resources for Writing College Admission Essays

Write your best college admission essay with expert tips on planning your story, finding support, avoiding pitfalls, utilizing your resources, and more.

by Bancroft School

Last Updated: Dec 9, 2024

Originally Posted: Dec 9, 2024

Writing a college admission essay can feel like embarking on a grand adventure. It's your chance to share your unique story and showcase your personality to admission committees. But let's be honest—it’s hard to know how to start the process of crafting that perfect essay. If you're ready to put your writing skills to the test, here are some valuable resources and expert tips to get you on your way to the best college admission essay possible.

Understanding the importance of your college essay

Your application essay is a crucial part of the college admission process. It's your chance to show your individuality beyond grades and test scores. Admission committees use college essays to understand your personality, values, and goals—and how well they align with their institution. Mastering essay writing can leave a memorable impression and boost your chances of acceptance.

Start by considering what makes you unique. What experiences or qualities set you apart? Reflecting on your story is the first step to writing a compelling admission essay. Your essay should reflect who you truly are, not who you think the college wants. Authenticity is key!

Related: Why Your College Application Essay Matters

Finding support for writing your admission essays

Having the right support during the writing process can make all the difference. Start by looking for help at your school. For example, students at Bancroft School in Worcester, Massachusetts, have access to experienced educators and experts who can help them refine their college essays. You can find similar guidance at your school through high school counselors, English teachers, or dedicated writing centers that offer personalized feedback and support.

Beyond your school, websites like CollegeXpress offer tons of articles and advice from admission experts and students who have been through the college admission process. Consultants like Wow Writing Workshop can also connect you with a community where you can take advantage of free workshops and consultations. These types of resources and services provide feedback on your essay's structure, content, and impact, ensuring you present your best self to admission committees.

Planning a standout college application essay

Creating a college application essay that stands out requires careful planning. Start by brainstorming ideas that reflect your passions and aspirations . Consider experiences that have shaped you and connect them to your academic and career goals. Once you have a direction, create an outline to organize your thoughts. Each paragraph should serve a purpose, contributing to your essay's overall narrative. To excel in your college essay writing, consider these tips:

• Weave a narrative : Instead of stating facts, use anecdotes and examples to illustrate your points. This approach adds depth and authenticity to your essay.
• Show, don’t tell: Use descriptive language to engage the reader's imagination. Remember, your essay should both inform and captivate.
• Be concise and focus on clarity: Admission officers read countless essays, so keep yours clear and concise. Avoid unnecessary jargon or complicated language.
• Revise and edit: First drafts are rarely perfect. Take the time to revise and edit your essay for grammar, style, and coherence.

Avoiding common college essay pitfalls

In addition to knowing what makes a great college admission essay, you should also be aware of what makes an essay not so great . While writing your essay, be mindful of common pitfalls that can diminish its effectiveness, including:

• Clichés: Avoid overused phrases and themes that lack originality. Instead, strive for fresh and unique insights.
• Repetition: Refrain from repeating things found in other parts of your application. Your essay should offer new perspectives and information the admission committee doesn’t already know.
• Negativity: Avoid taking a negative perspective in your essay. Focus on positive aspects of your experiences and aspirations, and highlight how challenges have contributed to your growth.

Related: Steering Clear of College Application Essay Mistakes

Leveraging online resources for essay assistance

In today's digital age, online resources offer a wealth of support for college essay writing. You can find tips on the writing process, sample essays, and expert advice to help you craft a compelling narrative.

Online writing tools and AI platforms can also aid in refining your college essay , offering grammar checks, style suggestions, and plagiarism detection. While these tools can be used to enhance your writing quality, you shouldn’t rely on them to write your college essays for you. Admission officers are becoming more adept at identifying AI-generated content, and many institutions use software to help them detect it.

Personalizing your essay for maximum impact

Your college essay should reflect your unique personality and perspective. While academic achievements are important, your essay should also highlight personal insights and growth. Share meaningful experiences that have shaped your character and values. Admission officers are interested in understanding the person behind those achievements.

To truly make a lasting impact, your essay should also reflect each institution you apply to. Research a college's values, culture, and programs, and align your essay with their mission. Demonstrating a genuine interest in the institution can set you apart from other applicants.

Seeking feedback and revising before submission

Feedback is a key part of refining your college essay. Share your draft with teachers, mentors, or writing centers for constructive criticism. Use their insights to improve your essay's clarity, impact, and coherence.

Before submitting your essay, be sure to do a final check to ensure all details are accurate and complete. Double-check for formatting, word count, spelling and grammatical errors, and adherence to any other specific guidelines. A polished and well-prepared essay will demonstrate your commitment to excellence.

Related: Top Tips for Revising Your College Admission Essays

Crafting an outstanding admission essay requires dedication and creativity, and it will increase your chances of being rewarded with a college acceptance. By understanding its importance, using the right resources, and employing effective writing strategies, you can create a narrative that resonates with admission committees.

If you’re looking for best-of-the-best college essay tips, look no further than CollegeXpress! Explore all Our Best Advice for Writing Your College Application Essays from our top experts and real students .

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•   Best Ways to Prepare for 5 Different Supplemental Essays
•   How to Write an Effective, Powerful Personal Statement
•   Don't Use Your English Paper as a College Essay
•   6 of the Worst College Admission Essay Myths You Shouldn't Listen To
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• Blog > Applications , Essays

How to Approach College Admissions Essays

Madeleine Karydes

• March 27, 2024

The college admissions process overwhelms many students each year. In order to apply to US colleges, students usually submit an application through the Common Application. If not, you’ll usually see similar stand-alone system, like the UC’s. For the Common Application, students submit a central essay and a supplemental application with additional essays. In this article, we will review the basics for submitting applications, and common pitfalls students make when writing college admissions essays.

Basics for submitting applications

At Empowerly, we have helped thousands of students through the admissions process. Through this, we found similarities in the questions students have when writing applications. The three key areas most students struggle with is as follows:

• Choosing the college list,
• Developing a plan for writing essays, and
• Finding inspiration in essay writing.

We recommend most students to apply to between 10 – 15 colleges. 77% of high school students applied to 3 or more colleges and this number is exponentially increasing each year. Officially, there is no downside to applying to more colleges; but you can always expect the application fee (which may be waived in financial need) and plenty more work. Today, students are choosing to put in more effort for the possibility of gaining acceptance to more colleges. However, planning out your strategy and avoiding redundant or unnecessary work is key to reducing stress and improving quality.

The road to successful college admissions essays

Each college usually has 3-6 short answer questions specific to that school. We recommend that students start writing essays in senior year. This is for two major reasons: prompts can change each year (although they rarely do); and students themselves mature over time.

Some parents approach us in 10 th and 11 th grade and think that writing essays then is a good idea. In order to prepare in those grades, instead simply guide your child to find their specific interest and do activities in that field. That approach will result in the most genuine essays in senior year as their writing and thought processes mature.

One useful tool in developing a plan is what we call the Prompt Tracker. Basically, students will create a visual plan of all of their essays and write due dates for each. By doing this, students have a roadmap for exactly when they will write each essay and usually include some notes on their approach.

Tips for different essay prompts

Schools vary widely in the types of essay prompts they ask. Let’s review some important pieces of advice for the most common prompts you may face.

Don’t ignore the question(s)

The biggest area most students miss is answering the prompt in each sentence of every response. Most students actually tend to ignore the prompt as they write the essays. Given the tendency of AP and IB tests to award longer, convoluted essays higher grades, students get conditioned to writing in that style. For college admissions, officers usually do not spend more than 1 hour reading through an application, and often typically less if the student’s numbers are far off from the average. The best way to improve essays is to re-read the essays and make sure each paragraph supports a central thesis that in turn answers the prompt.

Being genuine

The second biggest area students should focus on is writing genuine, thoughtful essays. Many students try to impress admissions officers by either listing their activities or using vocabulary that distances the reader from the writer. Generally, most short responses (~300 characters) are actually asking for a short response – not an essay response. Long essay response should usually have shorter paragraphs making them faster and easier to read. An admissions officer reads thousands of essays per day in a short time frame and wants to truly understand who you are. As a writer, you can help them by being honest and genuine and supporting your claims with what you have done in high school or experiences you have had.

Show, don’t tell

The third largest area students should focus on is supporting claims. Any student can claim they are interested in science, but the student who proves that interest with evidence of their life (experiences, internships, summer programs, school clubs, volunteer work) will be more convincing.

Here’s a tip: Imagine most essays as persuasive essays where you are reading your essay to a panel of 10 judges. Use ethos, pathos, and logos methods to convince readers that your passion is true. More so, this will come naturally if you actually think deeply about who you are, why you have pursued certain activities, and how you hope to become. The beauty of the college admissions process is that most students (~80%) change their major in college , so admissions officers are not filtering for an exact major but an ability to find and articulate a passion.

How do we help with college admissions essays?

At Empowerly, we have helped students apply to all types of colleges and have seen the same three pitfalls for many years. Students should focus on actually answering the prompt in each paragraph, being concise and thoughtful instead of trying to show off, and supporting claims with evidence from their life. In most cases, if students think of these three areas when writing essays they will write much more thoughtful college admissions essays.  

Please reach out to us if you have any more questions on the college admissions process!

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Updated: Tuesday, November 5, 2024

College Application Essay Writing 101: The Writing Process

By Robin , IvyWise College Admissions Counselor

For students that have already selected an essay topic , starting on the actual writing process can be just as intimidating. “Process” is the key word here. Writing takes time, and you must set aside at least several weeks to work on the personal essay. So how do you dive into the “process?” And where do you start? Well, I’m here to help you get started!

First, understand that this process is not short. It will take a lot of time and mental stamina, so starting the essay the summer before your senior year is ideal because, trust me, once senior year kicks off you will be happy you got the bulk of that writing out of the way. Now, here are some tips related to the writing process itself to help you get started and have your personal statement done by the end of this summer.

Your First Draft Will Be Rough

Yes, that’s right. Author Anne Lamott has a wonderful essay entitled “Sh*tty First Drafts” and she offers wonderful advice: “The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it pour all out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later.” There is value in your first draft no matter how rough it may be. A single sentence in that draft might emerge as particularly intriguing or powerful, and that sentence may help you identify what it is that you really want to write about. Had you not allowed yourself to simply write that crappy first draft, that single brilliant sentence would not have appeared in the first place.

Off With Its Head!

Oftentimes the opening paragraph of a draft may not be as strong as the subsequent paragraphs. As you write, your ideas continue to evolve and develop, and you gain a clearer sense of what it is that you want to say. Once you have a first draft of your essay (remember, it’s a rough draft), revisit the first paragraph and read your essay from start to finish without the first paragraph. You may be surprised to find that you have a more interesting essay when you lose that opening paragraph. Many times, especially in a first draft, the first paragraph is not essential; in fact, it may not even really relate to the heart of your main topic or it may simply be filling space. “Beheading” your essay is often an effective way to make your essay more engaging from the start.

Hook Them Early and Remember the Details

The opening lines of your essay are important. You want to give your reader a reason to keep on reading, so hooking them from the get-go is essential. Try putting the reader in medias res, or right in the action. Hook the reader from the first line — beheading your essay is one technique to use to allow you to get the reader’s attention more quickly. To hold the reader’s attention, you need to be descriptive and detailed. Remember “show, don’t tell” from English class? Help the reader see what you saw and feel what you felt; descriptive details infuse your story with life.

Revise, Revise, and Revise Again

This applies to any piece of writing you do — it’s not a one and done process. You must set aside time to come back and review your writing to make those fine-tuning adjustments. Enlist a trusted friend or family member, someone whom you can rely on to give you warm AND cool feedback, not someone who will simply smile and say “This is great!” There is always room for improvement in writing, and it’s more helpful in the long run if you have a trusted set of critical eyes that will provide you with feedback meant to make the essay even better.

Less Is More

While it may be tempting to let numerous people to review your essay, do so with caution. There’s an old saying about too many cooks in the kitchen spoiling the broth — this applies to your personal essay. The more sets of eyes that read your essay, the more likely you are to get wide-ranging opinions and inconsistencies in the feedback. The quality of your essay may suffer if you try to implement too much feedback, resulting in your own voice being diminished. When in doubt, consult with your college counselor and just ask yourself, “Does this sound like me?” Ultimately, you need to feel confident about your personal essay and if that means ignoring Aunt Susie’s advice, then so be it.

While the task of writing the essay may seem intimidating, embrace it as an opportunity to share part of your story. The way in which you tell your story is how you reveal your personality. Most personal essay prompts are general enough in nature to allow students to pursue a wide range of possible topics that will allow your personality to emerge. Remember, admissions officers are eager to learn about you and hear from you; make the most of this opportunity to share your voice with them!

At IvyWise we work with students on all aspects of the college application process, including brainstorming and editing essay drafts. For more information on our college counseling services for rising high school seniors, or to schedule an Initial Consultation, contact us today .

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