It’s easy plugging away some data like your date of birth or your high school GPA into a college application. The hard part is writing a clear, effective college essay. While the rest of the application lets a college know what you could do at your high school, the essay shows what you can do on their campus. Here is a guide to a few things to keep in mind while trying to compose your work-of-art application:

Stay on Topic
The easiest way for applicants to mess up their essay is to head off into rambling prose. Stick to writing about the topic given in the application and to that only. If you do that, the rest of the essay should be cream cheese.

Express Your Originality
Write in a voice that is unique to you, and don’t be afraid to explore your creativity. If you find your essay to read dull and unoriginal, then so will the admissions office. Take the generic topic given in most applications and turn it into something fun.

Grab Their Attention With the First Sentence
The introduction in your college essay is kind of like your introduction to the school, so it is a very important part of your essay. Plus, admissions offices are reviewing thousands of these essays which means you only have a couple minutes to pull them in.

Be Concise
You’re not writing a book report or your whole life story. Your essay shouldn’t have any filler sentences, but it should rather flow with each sentence clear as day.

Stay Within Your Abilities
Some applicants succumb to the pressure and try to draft a masterpiece worthy of the Library of Congress. Although you certainly want to write as well as possible, you don’t want to force it and step out of your comfort zone. That means not using words that aren’t usually in your vocabulary or trying to write in a whole new style.