According to Parke Muth, an associate dean of admissions at the University of Virginia, students should begin their essay by figuring out their own voice. Then they have to think about how to get that voice across to an admissions officer. He notes that the college essay is the only way the admissions officers can get to know the applicants across long distances. Muth said that the biggest problem for students writing the college essay is that they don't focus enough. They approach the essay as if writing a script for a major motion picture of their life.
Abstract ideas are also difficult to write about.
Writing about a memorable time in one's life can disrupt the writer's focus unless he or she uses specific details in the experience instead of abstractions. Read essay to friends Muth advised that writing the college essay shouldn't be a difficult process. He said that one test to see if the essay is good is to read it out loud to friends. What not to do . . . One example he read was from a student who chose to write about coping with the death of a grandfather, which ended up being used in one of Muth's workshops as an example of what not to do in an essay.