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Your college essay is a chance to showcase your personality to admissions. A writing sample allows schools the chance to see if you’re a good match for their institution outside of just grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities. If academics or extracurriculars are limiting items for you, then your essay is a chance to elaborate on your best qualities, and what you could bring to their incoming first-year class. If your grades are already substantial, then your writing is a chance to show that you’re more than just a committed student, and to show admissions what else you can bring to campus. Whatever the case is, your college essay is a key component of your application process, and we’re here to help make yours stand out.
You’ve probably spent a good bit of your high school career writing about other things outside of your interests- book reports and lab writeups sound familiar? However, now is the time to be a little self-centered. These colleges want to know what you’re like- not your friends, teachers, or parents. If one of these people has shaped your life in a particular way, that’s great! However, they shouldn’t be the focus of your essay. Rather, you should use them as a gateway to discuss yourself, your goals, ambitions, personality, interests, and passions.
While it might be easier to write about a broader, more general topic, admissions want to feel a personal connection to you and your experiences. We suggest choosing a more niche topic that’s important to you, and reflect on how this person, place, or thing has impacted your growth or life experiences. Key word here is reflect. Like we mentioned above, they shouldn’t be the focus of your essay. Introspection throughout your writing is important- you’re not just recounting a story here, so be sure not to sacrifice the depth of your experience in exchange for a shallow or common essay trope that can be neatly tied up.
It happens to everyone, seriously! Big essays like these are especially easy to get stuck overthinking while trying to curate the ‘perfect’ piece. Keep it simple- many students try to guess what admission officers want to hear and end up drafting an essay that’s impersonal and forced. Instead, keep your personality in your writing and be authentic throughout your essay. If you’re really stuck getting started, the Common App posts college essay prompts on their website yearly to help students articulate the parts of their lived experiences that colleges are invested in.
Once you’re done writing your essay it might feel tempting to submit it and get that weight off your shoulders. But to avoid any mishaps, it’s best to have someone you know and trust (like a favorite English teacher or trusted mentor) look over your work to help make any necessary adjustments in terms of grammar or syntax. Don’t overdo it- you don’t want to edit your essay to the point where you lose your original style, or your personality is no longer reflected in your writing. However, you do want to make sure your writing is up to university standards.
Lastly, college admission officers have to read a lot of essays each application season, so trying to make yourself stand out by including extraneous verbiage and lengthy sentences will likely do just the opposite. Keep it simple, trim any unnecessary details, and make sure you have an opening sentence that will grab the reader’s attention. Characteristics of a great opener include bold, double-take statements, or something short and clever that can only be satisfied with further context. Think, if I was telling this story to a room full of random people, what would get their attention in the first few seconds?
While you may have heard friends or family talking about their college essays or their interpretations of what admission officers want to see, don’t be so quick to believe their experiences also apply to you. Many students cave to these thoughts and feel pressure to make their story stand out, so they include details about personal experiences they normally wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing, or believe they have to neatly wrap up their essay with a big solution or happy ending. Most admission officers just want to read an essay about an experience that resulted in personal growth. Don’t feel pressure to share more than you’re comfortable with, your story is your story, after all. There’s no need to prove yourself by trying to construct a happy ending or monumental lesson to tie everything together- after all, real life rarely works that way. Admissions are often much more impressed by students who write honestly and authentically, so do your best to stay genuine to yourself!
Lastly, just know that everybody struggles with finding the ‘perfect’ topic or opener for their essay. It’s the paradox of choice- most students end up replaying every possible “character-building” moment in their life and agonize over choosing the right one to write about. Oftentimes, it’s not that complicated. Admission officers don’t need to see that you overcame some great hardship, so don’t feel pressure to invent struggles that didn’t happen to you. Tell your story, and write it in your own voice. Authenticity is most important. If a parent, friend, or teacher wrote it for you, colleges might not be too happy when they see you don’t match the description you gave them. After all, if a college chooses to admit you after reading your essay, they want the representation you gave them in your writing!
Nearly 11,000 students
Over $8 Million in Scholarships Given Annually
21 Average Class Size
5 University Residence Halls with plenty of nearby apartments
14:1 Student-to-Faculty Ratio
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Tuition and fees may vary by major, college, area of study or based on your location. The university reserves the right to assess fees for special services and programs applicable to students. First-time International undergraduate students’ tuition rate is established based on first enrollment and remains unchanged for four consecutive years. Graduate students should plan for a yearly tuition increase of approximately 5%.
For a complete list of additional fees and detailed tuition information please visit the University Bursar website here.
Cost of the most popular room and meal plan combination; Your cost will depend on the plans you select. Costs in the box cover the most popular room and meal plan combination (on-campus); If you choose to live off-campus, the estimated cost of room and meals will be around $12,000 based on 12 months.
Based on average books & supply costs
Health insurance is required for international students.
Applicants must have graduated from high school or have successfully completed the General Education Development (GED) test to be considered for admission. Freshman applicants applying for admission to Youngstown State University must submit a high school transcript or GED transcript. Submission of American College Test (ACT) or Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores is optional. Please note: some majors require test scores to be admitted into the program.
Applicants must have a cumulative weighted high school grade point average of 2.00 (on a 4.00 scale) or higher, a core unweighted grade point average* of 2.00 (on a 4.00 scale) or higher and have an ACT composite score of 17 or higher or a SAT composite score of 920 or higher (evidence-based writing and reading and math) to be admitted unconditionally. (*Core gpa is calculated based on grades earned in the following courses – English, mathematics, science, social science and foreign language, if applicable, from 9th through 12th grade).
Fall 2024
application deadline is
August 1, 2024
