In addition to your reading, as a graduating Senior, you will be required to write a college essay.  The college application essay is a chance to explain yourself, to open your personality, charm, talents, vision, and spirit to the admission committee.  It's a chance to show you can think about things and that you can write clearly about your thoughts. All seniors are required to write a college essay—it will be your first essay assignment when you return to school in September.  To prepare to write a college essay, use the exact same three-step process you'd use to write an essay for class: first pre-write, then draft, and finally, edit. Using this process and reading over the summer will help you identify a focus for your essay, and gather the details you'll need to support it.  Your essay will be due the second week of school and will count toward your first marking period grade.  We look forward to seeing you in September.   Have a wonderful summer.

                                                                                                            Sincerely,

                                                                                                Virginia Izzo

                                                                                                Assistant Principal

                                                                                                English Department

·       Prewriting---
To begin, you must first collect and organize potential ideas for your essay's focus. Since all essay questions are attempts to learn about you, begin with YOU but use your life experiences and the experiences you’ve had through your reading.   When you reflect on your summer reading, ask yourself:  Which character am I most like and why?  Why do I identify with this character or situation?  How would I handle this character’s challenges?

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·       Brainstorm
Set a timer for 15 minutes and make a list of your strengths and outstanding characteristics. Focus on strengths of personality, not things you've done. For example, you are responsible (not an "Eagle Scout") or committed (not "played basketball"). If you keep drifting toward events rather than characteristics, make a second list of the things you've done, places you've been, accomplishments you're proud of; use them for the activities section of your application

·       Discover your strengths
Do a little research about yourself: ask parents, friends, and teachers what your strengths are. 

·       Create a "self-outline"
Now, next to each trait, list five or six pieces of evidence from your life -- things you've been or done -- that prove your point.

·       Find patterns and connections
Look for patterns in the material you've brainstormed. Group similar ideas and events together. For example, does your passion for numbers show up in your performance in the state math competition and your summer job at the computer store? Was basketball about sports or about friendships? When else have you stuck with the hard work to be with people who matter to you?

Drafting
Now it's time to get down to the actual writing. Write your essay in three basic parts: introduction, body, and conclusion.

·       The introduction gives your reader an idea of your essay's content. It can shrink when you need to be concise. One vivid sentence might do: "The favorite science project was a complete failure."

·       The body presents the evidence that supports your main idea. Use narration and incident to show rather than tell.

·       The conclusion can be brief as well, a few sentences to nail down the meaning of the events and incidents you've described.

Editing
When you have a good final draft, it's time to make final improvements to your draft, find and correct any errors, and get someone else to give you feedback. Remember, you are your best editor. No one can speak for you; your own words and ideas are your best bet.

·       Let it cool
Take a break from your work and come back to it in a few days. Does your main idea come across clearly? Do you prove your points with specific details? Is your essay easy to read aloud?

·       Edit down
Your language should be simple, direct, and clear. This is a personal essay, not a term paper. Make every word count (e.g., if you wrote "in society today," consider changing that to "now").

·      Proofread two more times
Careless spelling or grammatical errors, awkward language, or fuzzy logic will make your essay memorable -- in a bad way.