Goof-proof college admission essays

192 Pages·2007·0.92 MB·English

by  LearningExpress Editors

goof-proof
C O L L E G E
A D M I S S I O N S
E S S AY S

p r oof
-
f
o
COLLEGE
o
g
ADMISSIONS
ESSAYS
Lauren Starkey
®
N E W Y O R K
Copyright © 2003 LearningExpress, LLC.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conven-
tions. Published in the United States by LearningExpress, LLC, New York.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Starkey, Lauren B., 1962–
Goof-proof college admissions essays / Lauren Starkey.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
ISBN 1-57685-470-1
1. College applications—United States—Handbooks, manual, etc.
2. Universities and colleges—United States—Admission—Handbooks,
manuals, etc. I. Title.
LB2351.52.U6S73 2003
808'.066378—dc21 2003010397
Printed in the United States of America
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition
ISBN 1-57685-470-1
For more information or to place an order, contact LearningExpress at:
55 Broadway
8th Floor
New York, NY 10006
Or visit us at:
www.learnatest.com
A B O U T T H E A U T H O R
Lauren Starkeyis a writer and editor, specializing in educational
and reference works, with over ten years of experience. For eight
years, she worked on the Oxford English Dictionary, and she
is the author of Goof-Proof Business Writing, Certified Fitness
Instructor Career Starter, and Hotel/Restaurant Management
Career Starter. In addition, she has coauthored several career-
related books.

C O N T E N T S
Introduction—Why You Need to Write a Great Essay xi
SECTION ONE
The Goof-Up—Skipping Important Prewriting Steps 1
Rule #1 Find Your Voice: Journaling 3
Rule #2 Take a Personal Inventory 7
Rule #3 Expand Your Notes 15
Rule #4 Explore the Topics 18
Rule #5 Choose a Topic 22
SECTION TWO
The Goof-Up—Not Writing a Workable Rough Draft 29
Rule #6 Focus Your Topic 31
Rule #7 It’s All in the Details 35
Rule #8 Write to Your Audience 38
Rule #9 Write a Compelling Introduction 41
Rule #10 Use the Body of Your Essay Effectively 45
COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ESSAYS
viii goof-proof
Rule #11 Finish with a Flourish 48
Rule #12 Watch What You Read 51
SECTION THREE
The Goof-Up—Writing without Clarity 55
Rule #13 Make Modifiers Work for You 56
Rule #14 Be Concise 58
Rule #15 Eliminate Ambiguity 61
Rule #16 Avoid Unclear Pronoun References 63
Rule #17 Avoid Unnecessary Repetition 65
Rule #18 Think Twice before Opening Your Thesaurus 67
SECTION FOUR
The Goof-Up—Choosing the Wrong Words 69
Rule #19 Learn the Most Commonly Confused Words,
and Use Them Properly 71
Rule #20 Learn the Most Misused Words, and Use
Them Properly 74
Rule #21 Don’t Use Words That Aren’t Really Words 77
Rule #22 Don’t Use Words or Phrases That Might
Offend Your Reader 79
Rule #23 Understand Positive and Negative
Connotations to Choose Words Wisely 82
Rule #24 Formality versus Informality 84
Rule #25 Avoid Overly Informal and Overused
Language 86
SECTION FIVE
The Goof-Up—Misunderstanding the
Basic Mechanics of Writing 89
Rule #26 Avoid Common Usage Errors with
Parts of Speech 90
Contents ix
Rule #27 Avoid Dangling Participles and
Misplaced Modifiers 95
Rule #28 Nouns and Verbs Must Agree in Number 97
Rule #29 Strive to Write in the Active, Rather Than
the Passive, Voice 99
Rule #30 Avoid Verb Tense Shifts 100
Rule #31 Avoid Double Negatives 101
Rule #32 There Is No Excuse for Spelling Mistakes 103
Rule #33 Use Punctuation Marks Correctly 110
Rule #34 Use Capital Letters Appropriately 117
SECTION SIX
The Goof-Up—Not Revising, Editing, and
Proofreading Your Essay 121
Rule #35 How to Revise 123
Rule #36 How to Edit 131
Rule #37 Professional Revision and Editing Tricks:
Harnessing the Power of Your Word Processor 137
Rule #38 How to Proofread 142
Rule #39 Professional Proofreading Tricks to
Catch Spelling Errors 145
SECTION SEVEN
The Goof-Up—Using the Wrong Application 147
Rule #40 The Ins and Outs of Online Submission 149
Rule #41 The Ins and Outs of Mail-In Submission 155
SECTION EIGHT
Resources 161
Appendix A—Online and Print Resources,
Spell- and Grammar-Checking Functions 163
Appendix B—Answer Key 173