Ways to write an amazing supplemental essay are functions of your background knowledge about writing essays generally. As a student or a professional individual who needs to write a supplemental essay, you must have had some formal training either elementary or high school about what essays are and how essays are composed.
Speaking of supplemental essays, there are no much technical differences. The only variations that are involved are what this content is going to settle on discussing in order to fuel your understanding that writing supplementary essay, in the first place, is not a Sisyphean task that must be shied away from.
What are Supplemental Essays
Supplemental essays are essays which answer various questions about why a student or students choose an intended major or why they are applying to a particular school. They also provide a unique opportunity for applicants to showcase their personality, experiences, and suitability for a particular institution.
Writing a supplemental essay effectively hels to creat an opportunity where a students can stand out among peers who are aiming to secure admission into top universities around the world.
Important Reasons for Supplemental Essays
As concerning words that are key to the success of supplemental essays, they would be the following highlights which are identified as the reasons for why you write these essays:
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For Authentication and Certainty
Admissions Officers use supplemental essays to fill out their picture of who you are and learn things about you that are not contained in the rest of your application. The supplemental essays shouldn’t contradict anything you’ve written elsewhere, but they shouldn’t repeat anything either.
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For Specific Understanding of Your Resourcefulness
When it comes to specificity, colleges want you to go deep into your research on what they have to offer, and the various unique aspects of their campuses that appeal to you directly. That means taking time to do substantive research—it doesn’t mean finding the first class on microeconomics they offer and mentioning it in your essay, because that’s neither specific to the university nor is it specific to you.
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To Identify Your Interests
When it comes to authenticity, colleges are looking for personality and individuality. That means talking narrowly and specifically about what interests you such as stating your loves and favourites. Don’t just talk generally about the incredible career opportunities, they expect to hear what specifically is going to be great for you.
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For Commitment
When it comes to commitment, universities want to see that you’re the type of person who’s had experience committing to extracurricular activities and your various communities in the past, and that you intend to do so at their school in the future.
You can express this eagerness to commit in ways small and large—it can be as simple as saying something like “I plan to build on a passion for community service that began in high school by joining tutoring club at Harvard.”
Little additions like that show that you value your commitment to things you did in the past and plan to continue building on that commitment in the future.
How to Write an Amazing Supplemental Essay
As everything has ways and means, the technicalities involved in writing amazing supplemental essays are:
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Answer the Question
This may seem obvious, but applicants should carefully read a supplemental essay prompt and make sure they understand what it is asking before answering it, Richardson says.
Prospective students may want to reuse an essay they wrote for another college, but that doesn’t always work because supplemental questions tend to be more tailored to an individual institution, she says.
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Start With an Outline
Applicants may have their own writing process, but Davis encourages those she works with to create outlines. She says prospective students should brainstorm the personal qualities, skills or experiences they would like to convey in their supplemental essays.
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Don’t Repeat Yourself
Supplemental essays are a chance for applicants to give more information to an admissions committee to further show why they are a good fit for a school, Davis says. So prospective students should make sure they aren’t repeating something that’s already been covered in their main essay.
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Narrow Your Focus
Probably the biggest mistake applicants make in supplemental essays is choosing a topic that’s too big, Farmer says. For example, he says prospective students may attempt to settle a complex political issue in just one paragraph.
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Maintain Your Voice
It’s a good idea for applicants to ask another person for editing help, but too much input can be detrimental to an essay, experts say. If lots of people – teachers, parents, peers – read and weigh in on an essay, they can weaken how clearly a student’s voice comes through in the writing.
