How to write a DECENT college essay.

Disclaimer: As always, this comes from my experience of now helping nearly 100 students with college admissions/essays. This does not work for everyone. Nor will it necessarily produce the "omg we have to take this kid" kind of an essay. But if you\'re stuck, this is a good way to structure your thought and start writing. Pump out one per this guide, and then rework it to your specifications.

First, consider the PURPOSE of an essay.
Colleges used to be not "selective" in admissions more or less, at least in the way we think about it now. Harvard recruiter would drive up to Phillips, talk to a bunch of dudes, and tell the ones he liked "Welcome to Harvard". Princeton dean would have dinner with an old college friend and say "Hey, we\'d love to have your son be a Princeton man".
Even as the process became more open to the public, it was a very intimate process still. Grades mattered little, and interviews mattered a lot.
Now essays have taken place of the interviews for many schools. Even when schools conduct interviews, essay is the more important thing--after all, the reader is the one who makes the final decision, and not everyone can do an interview--it\'s a principle of fairness.
In any case, as an essay now takes place of the interview, it serves that same purpose. Convince them that you\'re worthy of their school, that you\'re someone that they would like to have as a part of their exclusive club.
So it\'s not really just saying "oh this is who i am, i\'m pretty awesome"
It\'s saying "this is who i am, and i\'d be an awesome member of your club"

And keep in mind the five main qualities that are attractive to colleges: Leadership, initiative, commitment/determination, uniqueness/creativity, maturity/community. (and for 9th and 10th graders, this is what you should seek to highlight through your choice of extracurriculars)



General notes:
Your main essay should not really repeat any part of your application. Reinforce a quality reflected in it, maybe--but not parrot. Try not to ever mention school or academics or grades.
Don\'t try to be "unique". Uniqueness comes after. Adcoms read thousands of these every year. They\'ve already seen everything. And they can smell out disingenuity from a mile away. If you\'re capable of being unique, just keep on writing and it\'ll come to you. If you\'re not, don\'t try to force it. Just try to write a good essay that will be a plus. The truth is, while essays may push u over the fence, it\'s unlikely to make a huge difference (unless it really, really sucks). Especially considering the fact that it\'s a very subjective evaluation by three or more people who have also been reading a thousand other essays of varying quality.
Try not to talk about negative things. Try not to make excuses or rationalize.
If you think it\'s cliche, it probably is. The worst thing a borderline candidate can do for himself is to write a mediocre essay.
And don\'t worry about sounding corny. You\'re SEVENTEEN for goodness\' sake. But coming off as immature is something to avoid (shallow depth of thinking, not "sounding like someone who\'s thirty"). And coming off cliche is, again, a terrible waste of your time.
You know those "typically cliche" topics? Don\'t write. Seriously. Former adcoms are the ones that write these admissions/essay books that we all know about. They mention these cliche topics because IT DOESN"T WORK. How will death of your grandmother really demonstrate those five characteristics? Because it inspired you to work harder? It just doesn\'t work. They\'ve seen them all, and it\'s never worked. And what\'s worse, the moment they see that topic being introduced, they\'ll moan and groan and already form a negative opinion. Just don\'t do it. You have to look at everything from an adcom\'s perspective. Once you do, everything, not only the essays but the general nuances of admissions, makes sense.