There’s no such thing as the “ultimate article” of college writing advice, that informs a student of every.single.thing. that he or she must consider when writing college essays.

It requires many angles and perspectives, as well as many drafts and revisions to create a product that one would be satisfied sending off to a college admissions council.

Here are 5 of the internet’s best pieces of advice, expounded upon by wonderful news articles and blog posts structured to make you think.

5. Understand the Bare Basics.

If you don’t have time to read anything else I write, just read this great catch-all article from the Huffington Post that is a perfect mixture of technical and literary advice when it comes to overall high-quality, impactful college essays. Or this one, from the NY Times, from an admissions officer at Conneticut college, that advises students:

Focus on one aspect of yourself. If you try to cover too many topics in your essay, you’ll end up with a resume of activities and attributes that doesn’t tell me as much about you as an in-depth look at one project or passion.

4. Don’t Just Demonstrate Interest, Reinforce It.

An article from the Huffington Post suggests:

…do what you can to make it more personal, go to a deeper level as to why you feel you are a good match, above and beyond the expectation you would have as a tourist.

It’s easy to sit down for 10 minutes and research a college and come away with a decent but still pretty generic supplement essay, but it requires lots of thought to produce something so profound and compelling that it would stand out in an admissions meeting.

Ask yourself: why is this college a good fit for you, and why are you a good fit for it?

This article is awesome; it offers many other pieces of advice that are thoroughly explained and obviously thought-out. Check it out!

3. College Essays are Important in the Admissions Process.

A common misconception is that grades are the number one determinant in the admissions process. Though non-falsifiable, it is generally agreed upon that academics do lend some importance in the decision. However, essays can be just as crucial as a swaying factor, if all they decide is a definite “maybe”.

Says the director of undergrad admissions at Boston College:

The essay lets us know, who is this person behind the numbers? Will they contribute?

After all, we are more than just numbers, aren’t we? Admissions officers want to know if we’re more than our academic success.

This highly qualified post from College Bound also emphasizes that students don’t have to write about adversity or major events. Would you ever write about your daily car rides to school with your father? One applicant did, and came across as compelling and honest, as well as able to pull insight from a seemingly mundane experience.

Another applicant wrote about being short on a football team, but connected it to having to work a bit harder than others to achieve the same goal.

What about you?

2. Don’t Overshare!

Don’t cross a certain line; this NY Times article gives a bunch of examples of absurd essay topics that students have submitted, from wetting oneself to an exploration of one’s genitalia. Each student, no doubt, had good intentions, but tried way too hard to make an impression.

Concludes the article:

Excessively and awkwardly naked testimonials…can raise red flags about students’ emotional stability and about their judgment.

Bottom line? Don’t go overboard! Admissions officers can often tell when you’ve put unnatural effort into describing yourself, such as hiring 3 tutors or (get this!) paying $14K to attend an application boot camp (that the photo at the top of this article clearly satirizes) or having your parents write most of the essay for you.

1. You Should Completely Ignore Everything You’ve Read on the Internet or Heard from Peers Thus Far and Just Write What You Want.

At the end of the day, advice and examples are simply not yours, concludes a damning blog post from MIT admissions.

Chris Peterson describes essays “so suffused with self-congratulation that it should be no surprise the essays themselves stink like bad perfume” and ends by including Kurt Vonnegut’s 7 pieces of simple advice for writing, each line summed up in less than ten words.

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