Do not plagiarize
This ones a no-brainer. No not copy someone else’s work and pass it off as your own. It is very tempting to copy an essay from the internet, but there are ways in which admissions officials can find out if the work submitted is your own. This practice is very unethical and is strongly condemned in the US. If you are caught plagiarizing on your admissions essay, I can guarantee that your application for admission will be rejected. Therefore, write the essay on your own, give it your best shot and you will be fine.

Choose a topic that is important to you
A lot of colleges are quite flexible and will let you choose your own topic to write the essay on. Choose a topic that is meaningful to you; a topic that you have enough knowledge on to write a few pages without repeating stuff. Don’t make the mistake of writing about something that you think will appeal to the admissions commitee, but something that you have no personal interest in. For example, don’t choose to write on eradicating hunger and world poverty if you are applying to study Computer Science, have never been in poverty and have no history of volunteerism to help the poor and the hungry. Instead, write about your experience of winning that programming competition in high school or the time when you went hiking to the base camp of Everest. These accounts of personal experience will tell the admissions committee much more about you as an individual than an essay on some grandiose plan to change the world.

Utilize proper grammar, spell check and proofread
This is something that a lot of students overlook. Bad grammar can kill an otherwise brialliant essay. No matter how good your content is, a person will usually stop reading midway if there are a bunch of grammatical and spelling errors. Use proper grammar and definitely use a word processor to spell check your essay. Your essay must be completely free from grammatical and spelling errors, and it must be structured into paragraphs. The last thing that you can do before sending off your essay is to have someone else proofread it for you.

Do you have some tips you would like to share with others? Feel free to share in the comments below.

Further reading: 3 Tips to Get a Scholarship in the US

This year ULS is offering three scholarships to international students that are currently enrolled in US colleges or will be enrolled as of October 1, 2009. This means that students that are not currently in the US but will begin studies in the Fall are also eligible to apply. Applicants must have studied outside the US for at least two years, they must fill out an entry form and submit an essay no longer than 1000 words on the following topic:

“When you arrived in the US after studying for two or more years in another country, what did you expect from your US college, university or high school? Have your expectations been met?”

The winner will receive $500 and three runners up will receive $100 each. The deadline to submit your essay and entry form is February 28, 2009. Click here to visit the website of ULS for more information and do let us know if you are selected as one of the winners. Good luck.