College Essay Quotes & Sayings

Who, for example, would have ever predicted that the high school student who uses too many verbs in her college admissions essay is likely to make lower grades in college? Or that the poet who overuses the word I in his poetry is at higher risk of suicide? Or that a certain world leader's use of pronouns could reliably presage whether he'd lead his country into war? By looking more carefully at the ways people convey their thoughts in language we can begin to get a sense of their personalities, emotions, and connections with others. — James W. Pennebaker

And speaking of options ,these kids [the ones who attend elite universities] have all been told that theirs are limitless. Once you commit to something, though, that ceases to be true. A former student sent me an essay he wrote, a few years after college, called "The Paradox of Potential." Yale students, he said, are like stem cells. They can be anything in the world, so they try to delay for as long as possible the moment when they have to become just one thing in particular. Possibility, paradoxically, becomes limitation. — William Deresiewicz

After college I got a job and started working. This new career had absolutely nothing to do with my degree. — Jason Najum

When I got to college, I planned to be a math major, and, in addition to signing up for some math courses, I decided to take some philosophy. Quite by chance, I took a philosophy of science course in which the entire semester was devoted to reading Locke's Essay. I was hooked. For the next few semesters, I took nothing but philosophy and math courses, and it wasn't long before I realised that it was the philosophy that really moved me. — Hilary Kornblith

There are a lot of college writing textbooks that will include essays and short stories, and after reading the story or essay, there will be questions such as "Have YOU Had any experience with a pedophile in YOUR family?" or "When was the last time you saw YOUR mother drunk?" and they're just really good at prompting stories. You answer the question, and sometimes that can spring into a story. — David Sedaris

That would make a fantastic college entrance essay. 'I Killed My Boyfriend and Still Managed to Maintain a 4.2 GPA and the Lead in the Spring Musical. — Robin Benway

Let us not be too particular. It is better to have old second-hand diamonds than none at all. — Mark Twain

The other thing you can do is write a strong personal essay which lets admissions people inside your life, your heart, and your world.
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Anyway, it can be hard to figure out what to write about, so here are a few suggestions:
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5. Reasons it's wrong to be racist even though it makes sense to you. — Eugene Mirman

The tagline at Westin hotels is that they strive to surprise and delight their guests. This is exactly what a college essay should do. — Kate Klise

My feelings for Maxx were causing me to make decisions I never would have made in the past. I was forgetting about everything that had mattered to me, potentially throwing it all away to save a boy I was pretty sure didn't want to be saved.
Love made us stupid.
Love made us blind.
Love could incapacitate us and leave us powerless.
And love could also make everything better.
I couldn't let myself think anything less. — A Meredith Walters

Chapter 2: The Golden Rules of A+ Papers (What Makes a Good Paper Good) In the last chapter, we learned about lean manufacturing, and that taught us that one of the best ways to write a paper more quickly is to focus almost exclusively on the parts of a paper that will actually help you get a better grade. And really, there are a lot of things that makes an essay "good." We won't talk about every single little thing that your professor might be looking for. Every professor is different. However, I am going to try to give you some insight into what I used to look for as a college instructor. — Richard Glenn

Our job as friends, mentors, parents, and writing coaches is not to write anyone's college essay. That's cheating. Plus, it sends a discouraging message to the teenager that he or she can't be trusted with this important assignment. Trust the student to write the essay, but verify that it gets done. Gentle editing and proofreading are allowed. — Kate Klise

The human authors and editors of the Old Testament brought their own experiences and presuppositions to the task of writing. We don't often think about this when we read the Bible. — Adam Hamilton

Many times an actor is stuck for the lack of choices. The same happened with me when I started my career. That was the time when mainly romantic films were being made, and that is what I was offered all the time. — Arjun Rampal

Die, ShadowClan trespasser!" "Get off, you great lump!" Jayfeather protested, though there was laughter in his voice. Squirrelflight whipped around. "Honestly! How old are you both? — Erin Hunter

When it comes to the college essay, feel free to break some rules. Many still apply, of course: you need to watch your grammar and spell everything correctly. Sentence structure still matters. But the formula that got you A's in English can be a straitjacket when you're writing your college essay. — Cassie Nichols

I kind of got more interested in writing after I turned in my last college essay and nobody was going to tell me what kind of academic papers to write anymore. I could write whatever I wanted, and I realized that I actually liked it when I could choose what I would write. — Dan Millman