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Graduate School Success
(Admitted to Harvard & Vanderbilt) |
"I was very happy with the EssayEdge service. I was accepted, with full scholarship and stipend offers, to every Divinity School to which I applied. I feel that the service was an investment that gave an excellent return--admission to three top schools. The director of admissions at Vanderbilt (where I will matriculate) even commented on how impressed the admissions committee was with my personal statement. I have and will continue to recommend the service to friends. Thank you for giving me such wonderful results!"
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 Lesson
Four: Style and Tone
While the structure
of your essay affects the clarity, coherence, and impact of your content,
writing style affects presentation in an even more fundamental way: it
determines how engaged your reader is from sentence to sentence. Poor
writing can make fascinating experiences a dull read, while strong writing
can transform mundane details into an exciting tale.
The best advice we
can give is to be simple and straightforward. Occasionally, an
essay will sound choppy or unsophisticated because of too many short sentences,
but usually the problem is the opposite scenario. Applicants think that
flowery prose and large words will make them sound more intelligent, when
in reality their expression ends up being muddled and tedious. A direct
style is not only more efficient to read, but it's also more enjoyable
because it allows a steadily moving pace.
The tone you use should
be conversational, not too formal or informal. The sentences you
write should be sentences that you would actually say. This is not to
suggest that you shouldn't spend time refining your writing carefully,
but the ultimate goal should be a natural voice.
In this section of
the course, we will cover the major weaknesses and mistakes most applicants
are guilty of and show you how to turn them into strengths.
Select One:
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EssayEdge
Extra: Achieving
Genuine Style
In a sense,
the advice covered in this section is remedial. We're trying
to teach you to avoid the common mistakes of bad writing. The
goal is to achieve a clean, readable, and enjoyable piece of
writing. Very few writers in the entire applicant pool will
have the kind of style that will make them stand out on the
strength of writing alone.
Developing
such a style requires time and investment, and some may argue
that it can't be taught. If you want to undertake a more long-term
investment in your writing aptitude, here are some tips:
1. Immerse
Yourself in Good Writing: Read publications like The New
Yorker and Atlantic Monthly. Even without conscious effort,
your writing will improve because you will begin to think in
more vivid language.
2. Imitate
Good Writers: Try a broad range of styles, from Faulkner
to Hemingway. This will get you thinking about writing on a
higher level and prepare you to forge your own voice as you
begin to master the nuances of language.
3. Keep
a Journal: No matter what you choose to write about, your
writing will improve simply because you're practicing the craft.
Keep to a steady schedule.
4. Become
a Good Editor: Whether you're rewriting your own piece or
someone else's, the process of editing will help you learn to
pay attention to subtleties and keep an eye on the big picture.
5. Have
Your Work Critiqued by Professionals: Using a service such
as EssayEdge's will not only help you improve the essay you
submit, but will also teach you to recognize your general strengths
and weaknesses as a writer.
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 Sentence
Variety
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