(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Well its that time of the year for me. College applications. One of the colleges I would like to attend requires an essay on the application. I know how to write an MLA format (if you dont know what that is you might call it ALA) paper but it has to be different. Any help would be great.

Note: The advice I give is for any paper, not just college essays.

1. Pick a topic and create an outline. This gives you the general direction of where you want your paper to go. Refine it as much as needed.

2. Create a thesis for your paper. A good thesis sentence is concise but gives a brief introduction to the ideas that will be covered in your paper. For example, if I was writing about cars and my outline looked something like this:

    1. Power Supply

    A. Some cars have engines

    B. Some cars have batteries

2. Transmission

    A. Some cars are automatic

    B. Some cars are manual

I might choose this as my thesis sentence: "Cars are all the same basic machines but with many distinct differences including power sources and transmissions."

3. Create the body for your paper. For each point in your outline, you should have one or two paragraphs, depending on how broad the point is. A good, solid paragraph is roughly 5-8 sentences, including a topic sentence and concluding sentence. Each paragraph should start with a topic sentence, which is like a mini-thesis statement for that paragraph alone. At the end of each paragraph, you should have a concluding sentence that weaves all the ideas from the paragraph together and applies them to the topic. When writing a concluding sentence, answering the question "so what?" is a good starting point.

4. Write an introduction and conclusion. Both the intro and conclusion to your paper should be a paragraph long, unless it is a really large paper. Your introductory paragraph should introduce the general topic of your paper and give a brief description. Always end your introductory paragraph with your Thesis Statement.

Your conclusion should take all the points of your paper and make them relate back to the thesis statement. As with writing concluding sentences for individual paragraphs, try to answer the question "so what?".

5. Revise.

• Try and eliminate an overabundance of state-of-being verbs (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, and been). Replacing these verbs with more colorful action verbs adds flavor and texture to your writing. Be careful to not be too wordy - be verbs are okay in small numbers, but they should not dominate your writing.
  
  
• Revise for spelling errors. Spelling errors are a big pet peeve for most teachers/professors.
  
  
• Revise for style. Try to reword sentences to make them flow better. Use You must login or register to view this content. when possible. Add colorful adjectives and verbs in place of dull or boring ones. Also, try using a thesaurus to find synonyms for words - you will improve both your vocabulary and your writing.

When I write papers, I also like to use this site during the revising process: You must login or register to view this content. It scores you on grammar, verb usage, sentence structure, and a plethora of other things. It is a useful tool for improving your writing.



Hope this helps :y:

What is the topic/prompt?

Choco's example is for a thesis essay once you're IN college, but I have a feeling a college application essay will want a story from part of your life, like the common application topics.

Thank you both for the responses I know how to type it. I just dont know how to format it because we normally format papers like this. You must login or register to view this content.

And the topic was pick one word that describes you