The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected
topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the
readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and
test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and
write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure
your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full
range if you need it, but don’t feel obligated to do so. (The application won’t accept
a response shorter than 250 words.)

– Pick a topic
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later
success.
• Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure.
• How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
– Prepare an outline
Lessons I take from obstacles
– Write your thesis statement
• Your thesis statement will have two parts. The first part states the topic, and
the second part states the outline.
– Write the body
• The body of your essay argues, explains or describes your topic. Each main
idea that you wrote in your diagram or outline will become a separate section
within the body of your essay.
• Each body paragraph will have the same basic structure. Begin by writing one
of your main ideas as the introductory sentence. Next, write each of your supporting
ideas in sentence format, but leave three or four lines in between each
point to come back and give detailed examples to back up your position. Fill in
these spaces with relative information that will help link smaller ideas together.
1
Friday, September 21, 2018
– Write the introduction
• The introduction should attract the reader’s attention and show the focus of
your essay.
• Begin with an attention grabber. You can use shocking information, dialogue, a
story, a quote, or a simple summary of your topic. Whichever angle you
choose, make sure that it ties in with your thesis statement, which will be included
as the last sentence of your introduction.
– Write the conclusion
• The conclusion should consist of three to five strong sentences. Simply review
your main points and provide reinforcement of your thesis.
– Add the finishing touches
• Check the order of your paragraphs. Your strongest points should be the first
and last paragraphs within the body, with the others falling in the middle. Also,
make sure that your paragraph order makes sense. If your essay is describing
a process, such as how to make a great chocolate cake, make sure that your
paragraphs fall in the correct order.
• Review the instructions for your essay, if applicable. Many teachers and scholarship
forms follow different formats, and you must double check instructions
to ensure that your essay is in the desired format.
• Finally, review what you have written. Reread your paper and check to see if it
makes sense. Make sure that sentence flow is smooth and add phrases to
help connect thoughts or ideas. Check your essay for grammar and spelling
mistakes.