Planning and writing your essay

1. General Tips

2. Planning your Essay

3. Your Essay Topic

4. How to Distinguish Yourself

5. Essay Style

6. Vocabulary

7. Grammar

8. Cultural Considerations

9. Revising Your Final Draft

1. General Tips

• Don't be overly ambitious when choosing your topic. Keep it simple and focused.

• Maintain a consistent theme.

• Keep a positive, upbeat tone throughout the essay.

• Write your first draft without pausing to look up any words.

• Be specific. Provide details, concrete examples, and anecdotes.

• Avoid lengthy paragraphs.

• Use an active voice. For example: "I designed the company marketing plan." instead of "The company plan was designed by me."

• Make interesting, assertive statements. Do not use should, would, might, and could unnecessarily.

• Emphasize important words by underlining or using italics. Use this technique very sparingly.

• Avoid extra padding words, such as in terms of, or as to whether.

• For every general statement you make, follow it with a specific statement.

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2. Planning Your Essay

• Start planning your essay 2 to 3 months prior to the submission date.

• Read as many English articles as possible, paying attention to the structure.

• If you encounter any vocabulary words that express who you are or describe past experiences, write them into a separate notebook.

• Determine the school's philosophy and curriculum focus. For example, some programs emphasize practical hands-on training, while others focus on academic research. Browse through the program handbook to find information on faculty research interests: do any professors share your particular interests?

• Ask yourself some important questions:

1) What are your long-term goals? You should be able to clearly articulate what these are. For example, are you interested in research, or hands-on industry work? The admissions committee wants evidence of a deep commitment to your future career.

2) How are your past experiences and accomplishments compatible with your future career aspirations? How are they compatible with what the school's desired qualifications?

3) How is attaining this degree integral to achieving your career goals? If an overseas education is essential to achieving your goals, explain why. For example, perhaps a similar program doesn't exist in your home country.

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3. Your Essay Topic

a) Choose a Unique Topic

• Identify the experiences that have played the greatest role in shaping your outlook on life. You may want to discuss your unique cultural perspective.

• Do not chronologically narrate the details of your life. Selecting one important theme to develop and enliven with colorful anecdotes and examples. This will illuminate your personality better than a catalogue of life events.

• To maximize the effect of your essay, avoid repeating points that you have already made in other parts of your application.

b) Answering the Essay Question

• Typical questions include achievements and contributions, future goals, challenges you have overcome, success or failure experiences, or experiences that have changed your outlook or perspective.

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4. How to Distinguish Yourself

Avoid generic statements. Some examples are: "I would like to go to the United States to study because I can get the best education there." or "My parents influenced my decision to study abroad."

Describe how your unique experience will enrich the learning experience of other students. This is especially important for foreign students. Explain how you will make a positive contribution to the university. Remember to relate it to your own experiences, since a significant percentage of foreign students at most universities are Asian. Avoid stating, for example, that you will bring the Chinese culture to the university. There may be thousands of other applicants with a Chinese heritage. Instead, describe how you will add positive diversity to the program.

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5. Essay Style

a) Opening:

• Draw your reader in with an attention-grabbing opening paragraph. The introductory paragraph influences how much attention your reader will devote to your essay. Start with an anecdote, quote, or thought-provoking question.

b) Body:

• Clearly relate your anecdote or quote to the essay theme. For example, one of our clients described the professional influence he would like to have on his community after completing his graduate studies. To illustrate this theme, he drew an analogy to the Dragon Boat Festival in China. It is a long-standing tradition for the guest of honor at the Festival to paint on the eyes of the dragon just before the start of the race. This action is symbolic; people believe that the painting of the eyes will breathe life and energy into the dragon. With a similar intention, the student wished to breathe life and energy into his society. This is a creative, effective analogy. Although the admissions officer may not have heard of the Dragon Boat Festival before, he or she was undoubtedly captivated by this story.

• Be personal and real. Keep the essay topic about you. Do not try to impress the admissions officer with factual knowledge such as statistics. Just try to sound like yourself and explain your opinions and perceptions.

• Be honest about your skills, future goals, and weak areas. Maintain a balance: if you downplay your accomplishments, the reader will question your confidence. If you appear to know everything and lack any weaknesses, the reader will wonder why you need to pursue a graduate degree at all.

• The first sentence of each paragraph should establish the topic for that paragraph or ease the transition to a new paragraph. For the rest of the paragraph, work on developing that idea.

• Move from general to specific within each paragraph.

c) Conclusion:

• Reiterate the main point.

• Don't introduce any unrelated themes.

 

6.Vocabulary

• Use English words you are familiar with. A native English speaker will notice quickly if you use words beyond your full comprehension.

• Avoid wordiness. Do not use unnecessary adjectives or flowery descriptive phrases.

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7. Grammar

• Read your essay aloud to check for awkward phrases and run-on sentences.

• Make sure you are consistent in number, tense, and subject.

• Avoid shifting viewpoints unnecessarily.

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8. Cultural Considerations

• Although English may be your second language, do not attempt to write the essay in your native tongue and then translate it into English. Try to think in English instead, since the logical flow of essays differs from language to language. For example, in the Chinese language, the essay theme is often not clear until the middle of the essay, whereas in English, the essay objective should be articulated in the opening paragraph.

• Don't rely on an English dictionary while you are working on your first draft. It will disrupt the natural flow of your writing. If you do not know an English word, write that word in your native language and look it up when you are working on your second draft.

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9. Revise

• Revising your final draft is a very important step. Read your final draft several times. It is a good idea to do this on different days, so that each time you are reading with fresh eyes and a focused mind.

• Ask other people to read it for you and give you their feedback. Consider asking a person in your field to check the content and relevance, and someone who knows little about you to check for clarity, interest, and overall impression.

• Get a second opinion about the flow of the essay: is it logical and readable?

• Are there any extraneous words or sections? Remove them. Fill in any information gaps.

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