The right details, added deftly, significantly lift the quality of your college admissions essay. We explore WHY, and also add pointers to help you with the HOW.
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining : Show me the glint of light on broken glass.”
That’s famous Russian playwright and short story writer Anton Chekov exhorting writers to seize upon the ‘opportunity’ that small details provide to capture attention compellingly. If you are planning your admissions essay for study abroad, that writer could be you.
While it is important to have a grand vision and ‘master plot’ in place before you start writing your study abroad essay, the element that will really bring it to life is the ‘small stuff’ : The validating details.
Making great observations, capturing memorable dialogues, laying out the pieces innovatively to create a lively storyline and using the right words and phrases to describe them vividly are the building blocks of all great writing, and your college admissions essay is no different.
Whether it is a professional author writing the next book, or a student crafting an admissions essay to impress university selection committees – details add depth, texture and focus to the writing. Even the tiniest detail can add incredible authenticity to an essay, making it ‘real’ for the reader. It can bring out the hidden story in the situation, and turn the overall experience more gripping.
Details – be it in a piece of fiction or a college admissions essay – add immediacy, originality and meaning to the prose. They create a powerful bond with readers, drawing them into a multi-sensory experience that lets them see, hear, touch, taste and feel everything that the writer has himself or herself gone through.
RULES OF THUMB FOR ADMISSIONS ESSAY
Here are some pointers to keep in mind when adding detail to your writing, be it an admissions essay for higher studies abroad, a proposal for a grant or scholarship, or even a resume cover letter while applying for a job or internship.
STRIKE A BALANCE
Let’s start with a word of caution. While peppering your college admissions essay with various kinds of detail, it is important to be strategic and to maintain balance. Exercise your inner ‘story sense’ to understand what will improve the quality of the reading experience for the reviewer of your essay, and what will fatigue or tune them out. Plot, context and objective are things that will help you decide what to put in, and what to leave out.
WRITE WITH COURAGE
The poet Robert Frost said, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.” What he meant was that if you want to emotionally move your reader, you must first be emotionally moved yourself. When the spark begins with you, it flows forward towards the reader.
So be courageous when you write your study abroad admissions essay. Trust your instincts and back your hunch. Add details that you feel strongly about, even if they seem unimportant. If it had made an impression on you, chances are, it will make an impression on you too : That is, the emotion will get successfully transferred to the reader.
USE SIMPLE WORDS IN YOUR ADMISSIONS ESSAY
You don’t need to use complex or fancy language to make your admissions essay ‘interesting’. There’s nothing more magical than reality itself. Complicated vocabulary can act as a barrier by ‘getting in the way’ and preventing readers from fully immersing themselves in your journey. After all, not all of your readers will possess the same commend over language as you. So if you want to capture the true essence of reality in your college admissions essay, make sure you describe it using common, everyday words. Frederick Forsyth is a great example of a best-selling fiction author who uses simple language.
KEEP IT REAL
You don’t always have to be spectacular, bizarre or ‘different’ to make your admissions essay stand out. These are judgments your reader must make, not you. Your task is to narrate your story honestly and accurately. Let the reader’s imagination to do the rest.
USE CONCRETE DESCRIPTIONS
The more clear and precise your descriptions, the better the reader will be able to see, hear and feel the scene you are narrating.
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