Editing Your College Essays - Page 2

ohio_mom · 01-09-2005, 08:46 AM

Xiggi,
thanks for the quotations. I couldn't locate the one from Mark Twain - otherwise I would have included it in the OP. The attribution to Pascal is appropriate, somehow.

just_forget_me,
well, I'd call it more of a five dollar word, but point well taken. If you want to read a passage stuffed full of ten, twenty and fifty dollar words, look at the Introduction to Seamus Heaney's translation of "Beowulf." I needed my dictionary to wade through it.

TheDad · 01-09-2005, 04:22 PM

Bah. I wouldn't pay more than $3 for it.

editrix · 01-09-2005, 07:04 PM

I don’t want an important point to get lost in the banter. The original post wisely urged writers not to “use the ten-dollar word when the fifty-cent one will do. Using ostentatiously literary words usually leads to problems of tone.” In this case, the fifty-cent word “obviously” wouldn’t really get the job done, as it lacks the specific and useful warning against showing off; “ostentatiously” is the more effective choice.

In general, though, it’s best to use SAT words very sparingly. Or, to put it as ostentatiously as possible:

Many essays are replete with a plethora of abstruse verbiage, when it would behoove their benighted scriveners to eschew their propensity for bombastic rhetoric.

michelec · 01-09-2005, 07:52 PM

I have a question. For a college essay I am writing it says that it should be no longer than a page- should it be double or single spaced? Which is generally asssumed? thanks for your help.

TheDad · 01-10-2005, 12:19 AM

Single-spaced. My tic is to then double space between paragraphs. It's a theological question, imo.

Editrix: neatly done. I always liked the button that says "Eschew obfuscation."

Little Mother · 01-10-2005, 03:00 PM

Editrix--Nicely put. Just wanted to point out that "plethora" can also mean "an excess of blood in the circulatory system or in one organ or area." My father-in-law (a retired educator) pointed that out in the rec my S's GC wrote for him. ;-)

carolyn · 01-13-2005, 01:15 PM

Here's a good article on writing college essays with many quotes from college adcoms describing what they are looking for:
http://washingtontimes.com/metro/200...4057-1151r.htm

ohio_mom · 01-13-2005, 05:18 PM

Thanks for the link, Carolyn. When you think about it, an applicant's stats take only a moment or two to scan. But an essay takes time to read - and if the adcom is wincing throughout the process, that does not bode well for the applicant. Even if you are not a brilliant writer, you can still produce a respectable essay if you give it enough time, thought, and revision.

astrix · 01-20-2005, 02:19 AM

just noticed this. thanks, all who put their time into coming up with these excellent tips.

allena · 01-23-2005, 06:08 AM

For the record, I even though I don't think I got the recognition I should have, I'm still very proud of the work I did on that paper, and the things I was able change while in there. So it was in no way a loss for me.

firsttimemom · 01-26-2005, 03:35 PM

May I add just one thing:

Do not try to edit your essay on the college app. itself, on the internet. You may wish to copy a paper to the site and edit it later.....we found that the editorial changes my son made did not stick, and we thought they had. The one app. we submitted before we realized the problem had a garbled essay. Bad feeling? You betcha.

Finish all work off the app., then simply cut and paste. Do NOT edit on the app.

ohio_mom · 01-26-2005, 03:38 PM

Good point! Thanks, firsttimemom.

maxim1 · 01-26-2005, 04:11 PM

Your editing post of early January is a classic. Thanks so much for the effort. I will say that tossing out sentences is not always easy. But good editing leaves no time for sentiment. If a sentence doesn't work, toss it. Toss even paragraphs and even the entire essay if you see repair time being about the same as redo time.

On mechanics of word processing, save versions as your editing progresses. You might conclude that the discarded text worked better than you'd thought. It's be nice to have it back again. Reconstructed text is often not as good as what's gone down the memory hole.

Best of luck everyone.

sleepybunny · 02-21-2005, 07:07 AM

For a college essay, is it a good idea to write about a learning experience when you were 8? or is it way too long ago in the past that the readers do not know if that experience reflect your personality anymore?

ohio_mom · 02-21-2005, 01:48 PM

If you organize your essay correctly, it shouldn't be problem. Describe your experience at eight. Then, discuss its impact on your life today. You may be able to talk about the experience as a catalyst for learning today, and about how your intellectual outlook is broader and deeper today because of it. Obviously, give examples that will interest your readers and let them see you as a person - not just an application!