Are you considering joining the National Honor Society? If so, then you’re going to need to produce a well-written essay that showcases your skills and critical thinking abilities.
The essay writing process can be challenging for a lot of students. In fact, writing, in general, is an area where a lot of students lack confidence.
If you’re not as confident in your writing skills as you’d like to be, or if you just need help writing a great honor society college essay, keep reading.
Listed below are some tips that will make the writing process much easier.
Understand Your Topic and Purpose
When it comes to writing honor society essays, you often have a topic assigned to you.
Make sure you have a thorough understanding of that topic before you get started. This will help you save time and avoid turning in a finished product that doesn’t meet all the organization’s requirements.
Think about the purpose of the essay, too. What are you trying to accomplish? Is your goal to persuade your audience to think about something in a particular way?
The better your grasp on the topic and purpose of the essay, the better off you’ll be.
Do Plenty of Reading
This might seem counterintuitive at first, but spending plenty of time reading and researching before you begin your essay can help you to write it more quickly.
Dedicate time to researching your topic and looking at different perspectives. Don’t just try to start writing right away, especially if the topic is something that you don’t know a lot about.
Reading and researching can be useful even when the topic is meant to be personal.
You might be able to learn about other people who have had experiences similar to yours and how they handled the situation. This will allow for more reflection and make it easier for you to demonstrate your critical thinking abilities.
Organize Your Thoughts
Once you’ve done some research and have an idea of what you want to say, it helps to take some time to organize your thoughts.
Write down your thesis, main points, and the stories or personal anecdotes you plan to reference.
Remember, too, that you don’t have to marry yourself to your outline.
If you change your mind about a particular point or want to add something else in later, you’re free to do so. No one is going to see these documents but you, so make them as messy as you need.
Give Yourself Plenty of Time
The more time you allow yourself to work on the essay, the better it’ll be. Don’t wait until the night before it’s due to try and bust out a great product.
Give yourself several weeks to research, outline, and draft the essay. This will help you stay calm and give you plenty of time to review and revise before you turn in your final product.
Reflect
Make sure you’re not just summarizing events when you write your essay. Take time to reflect upon your experiences, too. This shows the admissions committee that you’re capable of critical thinking and digging deeper into complex topics.
Write About What Matters to You
You might be tempted to write about a hot-button issue, something controversial that’ll show the admissions committee how cultured and knowledgeable you are.
If you have the option to choose your own subject, don’t write about what you think the admissions committee cares about. Instead, choose something that matters to you.
If you can write with enthusiasm about a particular topic, the admissions committee is going to be much more interested than if you wrote about something else to try and impress them.
Be Yourself
In addition to choosing the right topic, you also need to think about the way you write about your given topic.
You might be tempted to put on airs and try to write in a way that’s not authentic. If you catch yourself doing this, put down the thesaurus and take a step back from your essay.
Remember, the people who are going to read your essay want to know about you. They care about your experiences and who you are as a person.
Don’t try to be someone you’re not to make yourself seem more appealing to the admissions committee. They’ll likely end up seeing right through the mask anyway.
Get Inspired
If you find yourself losing motivation or contemplating giving up while working on your essay, make sure you have some safeguards in place to help you get inspired and stay motivated.
For example, you could display pictures of famous honor society alumni on the wall by your desk to remind you of where you want to end up.
You could also write a letter to your future self that features words of encouragement and helps you keep going even when you’re feeling down or lacking confidence.
Let Someone Else Read Your Essay
It’s imperative that you let at least one other person read your essay before you submit it.
It could be a friend, a parent, a counselor, a teacher, anyone. Just get at least one other pair of eyes on the essay.
No matter how careful you are about editing and revising it, there’s a good chance you’ll miss something along the way.
Allowing an objective third-party to review your essay gives you a chance to see things in a new way and fill in any gaps you might have left while writing it.
Start Writing Your Honor Society College Essay Today
It’s easy to feel daunted by the idea of writing a great honor society college essay. This is one of the most important documents you’ll write during your time as a student, after all.
If you keep these essay writing tips in mind, though, and it’ll be much easier for you to craft an essay that showcases your talents and helps you accomplish your goals.
Do you need more writing assistance? If so, be sure to check out the Education section of our site today.
You’ll find all kinds of helpful articles there that will provide you with the information you need to become a better writer.
