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Ideal Neighborhood

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Published: Mar 14, 2024

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My Neighborhood Essay

500 words my neighborhood essay.

As humans , all of us live in a society are bound to a neighbourhood. It is an essential place which has a great impact on our lives. So much so that it does determine where we are in life and how we are doing. It is a fact that if we are not happy in our neighbourhood, we will not live peacefully. Through my neighborhood essay, I will explain about my neighbourhood and the reasons why I love it.

All About My Neighbourhood

I live in a great neighbourhood. It is wonderful because it offers us a lot of facilities. The green park near my house makes the area much more beautiful. Similarly, the swings in the park ensure the kids get to play cheerfully all day long.

Moreover, my neighbourhood also has many other bonuses. A grocery store adjacent to the park makes sure people get all their needs fulfilled without having to go far. All my neighbours buy their things from that grocery store only.

The owner also lives in the same area so he is very cordial with everyone. The grocery store saves everyone a long trip to the market and also their time. The park in my neighbourhood remains clean at all times.

The maintenance team makes sure they clean and sanitize it from time to time. It allows my neighbours to sit and relax in the evenings and take walks in the morning. The clean and fresh air gives everyone a great experience.

Why I Love My Neighbourhood

Apart from the top-notch facilities available in my neighbourhood, we also have amazing neighbours who make our lives better. A good neighbourhood is not made of facilities only but good people as well.

I got lucky in this case because my neighbours are very sweet. They help in maintaining the peace of the area so everyone lives in harmony. I have seen very often that if there is an emergency at anyone’s place, everyone rushes to help.

Similarly, we also organize events from time to time so that the whole neighbourhood gathers and enjoy themselves. I have a lot of friends in my neighbourhood with whom I play.

Most of them are my age so we meet every evening to cycle together and play on swings. We also go to each other’s birthday parties and sing and dance. The most favourite thing about my neighbourhood is definitely the residents.

I always notice how we never let any poor person go back empty-handed. My neighbourhood also organizes a donation drive every year. In this, each family donates clothes, toys and other useful commodities for the needy.

Thus, we all live together as a large family. Even though we live in different houses, our hearts are bounded by the same love and respect for each other.

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Conclusion of My Neighbourhood Essay

All in all, a great neighbourhood is important to have a good life. In fact, our neighbours prove to be more helpful than our relatives sometimes. It is because they live nearby so they are most likely to offer help in emergency situations. Similarly, my neighbourhood is very clean and helpful, thereby making my life happy and content.

FAQ on My Neighborhood Essay

Question 1: What is the importance of a good neighbourhood?

Answer 1: A good neighbourhood is important because it helps in providing a safe and secure atmosphere . When people live in good neighbourhoods, they lead happy lives and spread joy around.

Question 2: Why must we keep our neighbourhood clean?

Answer 2: It is important to keep our neighbourhood clean because it will create a hygienic and serene environment. This way, everyone will be able to enjoy outdoors and it will also prevent any diseases.

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My neighborhood Essay And Paragraph

In This essay you will read about a student’s neighborhood. The body paragraphs describes the environment, people, and experiences the student has had in their neighborhood.

Essay About My Neighborhood in 500 Words

1. Introduction:

I am a student, I have lived in the same neighborhood for most of my life. This neighborhood has been my home, and I have grown up with its unique environment, people, and experiences. In this essay, I will describe my neighborhood, including its surroundings, people, and the memories that make it special.

My neighborhood is located in a a beautiful area, and it is surrounded by attracting trees, parks, and small shops. It is a peaceful and quiet neighborhood, with very friendly and welcoming neighbors. The houses of my neighbor are well-maintained, and the streets are clean and safe to walk around.

People in my neighborhood have different backgrounds, cultures and different traditions. There are families with small children, older couples and people of different ethnicity and religions. Despite these differences of religion, cast and creed, everyone here treats each other with great respect and tolerance, and they come always together to celebrate various holidays and festivals.

One of the most memorable experiences that, I have had in my neighborhood was the annual summer party. Every year, neighbors would gather on the street, grill food, play games, and socialize with one another. It was an opportunity to catch up with people we may not have seen in a while and meet new neighbors. The block party was a way for everyone in the neighborhood to come together and strengthen our community bonds.

Another unique feature of my neighborhood is the local small businesses. We have a family owned grocery store, mom and pop bakery and coffee shop that has been around for over 50 years. These companies not only provide their services to the community, but also create a sense of nostalgia and pride in our neighborhood.

3. Conclusion:

In summary, my neighborhood is more than just a place where I live. It’s a community of friendly and welcoming people from different backgrounds. The setting is beautiful and the memories I made here are priceless.

Hello! Welcome to my Blog StudyParagraphs.co. My name is Angelina. I am a college professor. I love reading writing for kids students. This blog is full with valuable knowledge for all class students. Thank you for reading my articles.

My Community Is My Home Essay For Students

Essay on My Neighbour 500+ Words

In the tapestry of life, “my neighbor” is a thread of connection, support, and community. In this essay, we will explore the significance of “my neighbor,” highlighting their role in fostering a sense of belonging, cooperation, and the creation of strong communities.

Neighbors as a Support System

“My neighbor” is not just someone who lives nearby; they are a source of support. Whether it’s borrowing a cup of sugar or helping with a home repair, neighbors are there when we need them most. According to a study by Harvard University, strong neighborly relationships contribute to improved mental and emotional well-being.

A Sense of Belonging

Neighbors create a sense of belonging in our neighborhoods. Knowing that there are familiar faces next door or across the street helps us feel rooted in our community. This sense of belonging is essential for building strong, connected neighborhoods.

Sharing Moments of Joy

From celebrations to simple gatherings, “my neighbor” often shares moments of joy with us. Whether it’s a block party, a birthday, or a holiday, these shared experiences strengthen our bonds and create lasting memories.

Cooperation in Times of Need

In times of crisis, neighbors come together to support one another. Whether it’s during natural disasters or challenging personal circumstances, neighbors lend a helping hand, demonstrating the power of cooperation and unity within a community.

A Safer Community

Neighbors play a role in keeping our communities safe. When neighbors look out for each other and communicate effectively, it becomes easier to address security concerns and maintain a safe environment for all residents. A study by the National Neighborhood Watch Program highlights the positive impact of neighborly cooperation on crime prevention.

Building Relationships Across Generations

Neighbors often span different generations, providing opportunities for intergenerational connections. These relationships are valuable for sharing wisdom, fostering understanding, and bridging generational gaps.

Shared Resources and Support Networks

Neighbors can form resource-sharing networks, making it easier to access tools, knowledge, and assistance. These networks enhance self-sufficiency and promote a sense of interdependence within the community.

A Diverse Community

Neighbors bring diversity to our lives. Interacting with neighbors from different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences broadens our perspectives and enriches our understanding of the world.

Community Events and Initiatives

Neighbors often organize and participate in community events and initiatives that strengthen the bonds within the neighborhood. These activities, such as neighborhood clean-up days or community gardens, foster a spirit of togetherness and pride in the community.

The Ripple Effect

The positive influence of “my neighbor” extends beyond the immediate neighborhood. Strong communities built on neighborly connections contribute to the overall well-being of society. A supportive, connected neighborhood can serve as a model for others, creating a ripple effect of unity and cooperation.

Conclusion of Essay on My Neighbour

In conclusion, “my neighbor” is more than just someone who lives next door. They are integral to the fabric of our communities, contributing to a sense of belonging, cooperation, and unity. Neighbors provide support, create shared experiences, and help build strong, connected neighborhoods. As we reflect on the value of “my neighbor,” we recognize that they play a vital role in shaping the communities we live in and the world we share. The bonds formed with our neighbors are a testament to the enduring power of human connection, and we must cherish and nurture these relationships for the betterment of our neighborhoods and society as a whole.

Also Check: Simple Guide on How To Write An Essay

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How to Make Your Neighborhood a Better Place

Last Updated: April 18, 2024 References

This article was co-authored by Saul Jaeger, MS . Saul Jaeger is a Police Officer and Captain of the Mountain View, California Police Department (MVPD). Saul has over 17 years of experience as a patrol officer, field training officer, traffic officer, detective, hostage negotiator, and as the traffic unit’s sergeant and Public Information Officer for the MVPD. At the MVPD, in addition to commanding the Field Operations Division, Saul has also led the Communications Center (dispatch) and the Crisis Negotiation Team. He earned an MS in Emergency Services Management from the California State University, Long Beach in 2008 and a BS in Administration of Justice from the University of Phoenix in 2006. He also earned a Corporate Innovation LEAD Certificate from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 2018. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 54,031 times.

Creating a better neighborhood is something that many of us want to do for very obvious reasons. Living in a good neighborhood will pay dividends in terms of higher property values and a more enjoyable place to live. Ultimately, though, bettering your neighborhood is a relatively complicated endeavor. Not only do you need to take action yourself, but you’ve got to get your neighbors to act in order to create a better community. Fortunately, with some work and some thought, you’ll be on the road to making your neighborhood a better place.

Starting at Home

Paint your home (as needed).
Make necessary repairs to your home. This includes rotten wood, broken shutters, and more.
While some repairs might be expensive, basic maintenance (paint touchups and replacing wood rot) can be inexpensive if you do it yourself. [1] X Research source

Cut your grass regularly. This might mean cutting every week or two depending on the season and your region.
Remove fallen limbs, sticks, and other organic debris from your yard.
Sod or seed your yard, if you lack grass. [2] X Research source

Step 3 Avoid accumulating junk in your yard.

Don’t store your collection of classic project cars in your front yard or where your neighbors can see them. If you are serious about your fifteen project cars, put up a privacy fence to protect them and hide them from sight.
Make sure trash makes it to the curb on trash pick-up day.
Avoid storing excess furniture, Christmas decorations, your lawn mower, or other collectables on your porch.

Step 4 Don't create problems for your neighbors.

Don’t let your animals roam freely. Free ranging dogs may chase children on bikes, runners, or otherwise cause problems. Free roaming cats could kill birds, squirrels, and more.
Avoid blocking the path to your neighbor’s driveway. This could include not putting trash on the curb next to your neighbor’s driveway, or parking your car (or visitors’ cars) in certain spots.

Monitor your dog (or other pets) and make sure they don’t bark or otherwise disturb your neighbors on a continual basis.
If you have parties, make sure to limit the noise you produce and turn all music off at a reasonable hour. In many cases, eleven or midnight on the weekend is a good time to turn your music off. Nine or ten at night is a good time to turn it off on a week day.
Try not to blast the radio too loud as you’re washing your car.
Avoid sawing wood or cutting down a tree at inopportune times. Home improvement projects are best done between the hours of 10 and 5 on weekends. [3] X Research source

Building a Community

Step 1 Make friends with your neighbors.

Always smile and say hello when you see them walking by, and greet new neighbors with a pie or other gift.
Introduce yourself to new neighbors.
Introduce yourself to neighbors you’ve never had the opportunity to meet. [4] X Research source

Step 2 Organize an annual block party or barbecue.

Plan an annual party.
Ask your neighbors and others in the neighborhood to help you plan it.
Invite everyone in your neighborhood.
Organize mixers and activities for kids and everyone else.
Remember, you may need local government permission to block off a street. [5] X Research source

Arrange for your club to meet once or twice a month.
Hold fundraisers for supplies.
If your neighborhood has a homeowner's association, coordinate with them.

Step 4 Do random acts of kindness for your neighbors.

If one of your neighbors is sick, bring them soup.
If someone’s spouse has passed away, visit them and comfort them.
If you know someone is hurting financially, offer to pick up their utility bill one month.
Offer to do yard/housework for free for seniors. [6] X Research source

Troubleshooting Problems in your Neighborhood

Print out a flyer that calls for volunteers to join a crime prevention organization in your neighborhood.
Talk to your immediate neighbors and anyone else in the neighborhood you may be familiar with.
Hold weekly or monthly meetings in order to plan ways to prevent crime in your neighborhood.
Contact the local police department and ask for them to send an officer to speak at your meetings. [8] X Research source

Taking care of your neighbor’s pets or plants when they are on vacation.
Watching over your neighbor’s children or pets to make sure they are safe. [10] X Research source

Volunteer as a mentor for troubled neighborhood kids.
Pick up litter.
Join your homeowner's association. [11] X Research source

Create community through human connection and by finding common ground. "No matter who we are or what we look like or what we may believe, it is both possible and, more importantly, it becomes powerful to come together in common purpose and common effort."

Step 4 Try to mediate neighborhood disputes.

Suggesting ways to resolve conflict between neighbors who have problems.
Inviting conflicting parties to your home for coffee and a conversation. Let them know beforehand, and let them know you'll act as a mediator between the two.
That you should always be careful when putting yourself in between conflicting parties. You might be causing problems for yourself, too.

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How to Write the Community Essay – Guide with Examples (2023-24)

September 6, 2023

Students applying to college this year will inevitably confront the community essay. In fact, most students will end up responding to several community essay prompts for different schools. For this reason, you should know more than simply how to approach the community essay as a genre. Rather, you will want to learn how to decipher the nuances of each particular prompt, in order to adapt your response appropriately. In this article, we’ll show you how to do just that, through several community essay examples. These examples will also demonstrate how to avoid cliché and make the community essay authentically and convincingly your own.

Emphasis on Community

Do keep in mind that inherent in the word “community” is the idea of multiple people. The personal statement already provides you with a chance to tell the college admissions committee about yourself as an individual. The community essay, however, suggests that you depict yourself among others. You can use this opportunity to your advantage by showing off interpersonal skills, for example. Or, perhaps you wish to relate a moment that forged important relationships. This in turn will indicate what kind of connections you’ll make in the classroom with college peers and professors.

Apart from comprising numerous people, a community can appear in many shapes and sizes. It could be as small as a volleyball team, or as large as a diaspora. It could fill a town soup kitchen, or spread across five boroughs. In fact, due to the internet, certain communities today don’t even require a physical place to congregate. Communities can form around a shared identity, shared place, shared hobby, shared ideology, or shared call to action. They can even arise due to a shared yet unforeseen circumstance.

What is the Community Essay All About?

In a nutshell, the community essay should exhibit three things:

An aspect of yourself, 2. in the context of a community you belonged to, and 3. how this experience may shape your contribution to the community you’ll join in college.

It may look like a fairly simple equation: 1 + 2 = 3. However, each college will word their community essay prompt differently, so it’s important to look out for additional variables. One college may use the community essay as a way to glimpse your core values. Another may use the essay to understand how you would add to diversity on campus. Some may let you decide in which direction to take it—and there are many ways to go!

To get a better idea of how the prompts differ, let’s take a look at some real community essay prompts from the current admission cycle.

Sample 2023-2024 Community Essay Prompts

1) brown university.

“Students entering Brown often find that making their home on College Hill naturally invites reflection on where they came from. Share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you, and what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the Brown community. (200-250 words)”

A close reading of this prompt shows that Brown puts particular emphasis on place. They do this by using the words “home,” “College Hill,” and “where they came from.” Thus, Brown invites writers to think about community through the prism of place. They also emphasize the idea of personal growth or change, through the words “inspired or challenged you.” Therefore, Brown wishes to see how the place you grew up in has affected you. And, they want to know how you in turn will affect their college community.

“NYU was founded on the belief that a student’s identity should not dictate the ability for them to access higher education. That sense of opportunity for all students, of all backgrounds, remains a part of who we are today and a critical part of what makes us a world-class university. Our community embraces diversity, in all its forms, as a cornerstone of the NYU experience.

We would like to better understand how your experiences would help us to shape and grow our diverse community. Please respond in 250 words or less.”

Here, NYU places an emphasis on students’ “identity,” “backgrounds,” and “diversity,” rather than any physical place. (For some students, place may be tied up in those ideas.) Furthermore, while NYU doesn’t ask specifically how identity has changed the essay writer, they do ask about your “experience.” Take this to mean that you can still recount a specific moment, or several moments, that work to portray your particular background. You should also try to link your story with NYU’s values of inclusivity and opportunity.

3) University of Washington

“Our families and communities often define us and our individual worlds. Community might refer to your cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood or school, sports team or club, co-workers, etc. Describe the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, might add to the diversity of the UW. (300 words max) Tip: Keep in mind that the UW strives to create a community of students richly diverse in cultural backgrounds, experiences, values and viewpoints.”

UW ’s community essay prompt may look the most approachable, for they help define the idea of community. You’ll notice that most of their examples (“families,” “cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood”…) place an emphasis on people. This may clue you in on their desire to see the relationships you’ve made. At the same time, UW uses the words “individual” and “richly diverse.” They, like NYU, wish to see how you fit in and stand out, in order to boost campus diversity.

Writing Your First Community Essay

Begin by picking which community essay you’ll write first. (For practical reasons, you’ll probably want to go with whichever one is due earliest.) Spend time doing a close reading of the prompt, as we’ve done above. Underline key words. Try to interpret exactly what the prompt is asking through these keywords.

Next, brainstorm. I recommend doing this on a blank piece of paper with a pencil. Across the top, make a row of headings. These might be the communities you’re a part of, or the components that make up your identity. Then, jot down descriptive words underneath in each column—whatever comes to you. These words may invoke people and experiences you had with them, feelings, moments of growth, lessons learned, values developed, etc. Now, narrow in on the idea that offers the richest material and that corresponds fully with the prompt.

Lastly, write! You’ll definitely want to describe real moments, in vivid detail. This will keep your essay original, and help you avoid cliché. However, you’ll need to summarize the experience and answer the prompt succinctly, so don’t stray too far into storytelling mode.

How To Adapt Your Community Essay

Once your first essay is complete, you’ll need to adapt it to the other colleges involving community essays on your list. Again, you’ll want to turn to the prompt for a close reading, and recognize what makes this prompt different from the last. For example, let’s say you’ve written your essay for UW about belonging to your swim team, and how the sports dynamics shaped you. Adapting that essay to Brown’s prompt could involve more of a focus on place. You may ask yourself, how was my swim team in Alaska different than the swim teams we competed against in other states?

Once you’ve adapted the content, you’ll also want to adapt the wording to mimic the prompt. For example, let’s say your UW essay states, “Thinking back to my years in the pool…” As you adapt this essay to Brown’s prompt, you may notice that Brown uses the word “reflection.” Therefore, you might change this sentence to “Reflecting back on my years in the pool…” While this change is minute, it cleverly signals to the reader that you’ve paid attention to the prompt, and are giving that school your full attention.

What to Avoid When Writing the Community Essay

Avoid cliché. Some students worry that their idea is cliché, or worse, that their background or identity is cliché. However, what makes an essay cliché is not the content, but the way the content is conveyed. This is where your voice and your descriptions become essential.
Avoid giving too many examples. Stick to one community, and one or two anecdotes arising from that community that allow you to answer the prompt fully.
Don’t exaggerate or twist facts. Sometimes students feel they must make themselves sound more “diverse” than they feel they are. Luckily, diversity is not a feeling. Likewise, diversity does not simply refer to one’s heritage. If the prompt is asking about your identity or background, you can show the originality of your experiences through your actions and your thinking.

Community Essay Examples and Analysis

Brown university community essay example.

I used to hate the NYC subway. I’ve taken it since I was six, going up and down Manhattan, to and from school. By high school, it was a daily nightmare. Spending so much time underground, underneath fluorescent lighting, squashed inside a rickety, rocking train car among strangers, some of whom wanted to talk about conspiracy theories, others who had bedbugs or B.O., or who manspread across two seats, or bickered—it wore me out. The challenge of going anywhere seemed absurd. I dreaded the claustrophobia and disgruntlement.

Yet the subway also inspired my understanding of community. I will never forget the morning I saw a man, several seats away, slide out of his seat and hit the floor. The thump shocked everyone to attention. What we noticed: he appeared drunk, possibly homeless. I was digesting this when a second man got up and, through a sort of awkward embrace, heaved the first man back into his seat. The rest of us had stuck to subway social codes: don’t step out of line. Yet this second man’s silent actions spoke loudly. They said, “I care.”

That day I realized I belong to a group of strangers. What holds us together is our transience, our vulnerabilities, and a willingness to assist. This community is not perfect but one in motion, a perpetual work-in-progress. Now I make it my aim to hold others up. I plan to contribute to the Brown community by helping fellow students and strangers in moments of precariousness.

Brown University Community Essay Example Analysis

Here the student finds an original way to write about where they come from. The subway is not their home, yet it remains integral to ideas of belonging. The student shows how a community can be built between strangers, in their responsibility toward each other. The student succeeds at incorporating key words from the prompt (“challenge,” “inspired” “Brown community,” “contribute”) into their community essay.

UW Community Essay Example

I grew up in Hawaii, a world bound by water and rich in diversity. In school we learned that this sacred land was invaded, first by Captain Cook, then by missionaries, whalers, traders, plantation owners, and the U.S. government. My parents became part of this problematic takeover when they moved here in the 90s. The first community we knew was our church congregation. At the beginning of mass, we shook hands with our neighbors. We held hands again when we sang the Lord’s Prayer. I didn’t realize our church wasn’t “normal” until our diocese was informed that we had to stop dancing hula and singing Hawaiian hymns. The order came from the Pope himself.

Eventually, I lost faith in God and organized institutions. I thought the banning of hula—an ancient and pure form of expression—seemed medieval, ignorant, and unfair, given that the Hawaiian religion had already been stamped out. I felt a lack of community and a distrust for any place in which I might find one. As a postcolonial inhabitant, I could never belong to the Hawaiian culture, no matter how much I valued it. Then, I was shocked to learn that Queen Ka’ahumanu herself had eliminated the Kapu system, a strict code of conduct in which women were inferior to men. Next went the Hawaiian religion. Queen Ka’ahumanu burned all the temples before turning to Christianity, hoping this religion would offer better opportunities for her people.

Community Essay (Continued)

I’m not sure what to make of this history. Should I view Queen Ka’ahumanu as a feminist hero, or another failure in her islands’ tragedy? Nothing is black and white about her story, but she did what she thought was beneficial to her people, regardless of tradition. From her story, I’ve learned to accept complexity. I can disagree with institutionalized religion while still believing in my neighbors. I am a product of this place and their presence. At UW, I plan to add to campus diversity through my experience, knowing that diversity comes with contradictions and complications, all of which should be approached with an open and informed mind.

UW Community Essay Example Analysis

This student also manages to weave in words from the prompt (“family,” “community,” “world,” “product of it,” “add to the diversity,” etc.). Moreover, the student picks one of the examples of community mentioned in the prompt, (namely, a religious group,) and deepens their answer by addressing the complexity inherent in the community they’ve been involved in. While the student displays an inner turmoil about their identity and participation, they find a way to show how they’d contribute to an open-minded campus through their values and intellectual rigor.

What’s Next

For more on supplemental essays and essay writing guides, check out the following articles:

How to Write the Why This Major Essay + Example
How to Write the Overcoming Challenges Essay + Example
How to Start a College Essay – 12 Techniques and Tips
College Essay

Kaylen Baker

With a BA in Literary Studies from Middlebury College, an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University, and a Master’s in Translation from Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, Kaylen has been working with students on their writing for over five years. Previously, Kaylen taught a fiction course for high school students as part of Columbia Artists/Teachers, and served as an English Language Assistant for the French National Department of Education. Kaylen is an experienced writer/translator whose work has been featured in Los Angeles Review, Hybrid, San Francisco Bay Guardian, France Today, and Honolulu Weekly, among others.

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Involvement in Neighborhood and Voluntary Associations, Block Social Cohesion (BSC), density of adults versus children and racial concentrations are established predictors or indicators of neighborhood Sense of Community (SOC) (Chipuer & Pretty, 1999; Ohmer, Walker, & Pitner, 2014; Sampson & Graif, 2009; Sampson, Morenoff, &...

South Asian Perspective on the Importance of Neighborhood and Neighbors

Best topics on Neighborhood

1. Impact of Gang and Minority Injunctions on the Neighborhood

2. Observing the Changes in My Neighborhood

3. Why Neighborhoods are Being Reshaped Into Mixed Communities

4. South Asian Perspective on the Importance of Neighborhood and Neighbors

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While an essay about neighborhood may refer to such branches of studies as sociology, psychology, and economics, it usually is assigned to students for their English classes shaped in the form of a descriptive essay. This means that your teacher will most likely expect you to describe the district or area you live in, discuss its advantages and drawbacks, tell about relationships with people living around you, etc. To prepare a stand-out descriptive essay about your neighborhood, you should include evocative details in order to paint a vibrant, long-lasting image in your readers' minds.

To a great extent, the success of your essay about the neighborhood will lean upon a topic you pick for it. According to the writing experts, the best neighborhood essay topics are the ones that touch on every aspect of contemporary life — from school and sports to social media and politics. However, you may not go into detail and present your neighborhood through a simple narrative essay, based on your personal experience. Whichever type of essay and topic you choose to craft, you might need a good example and some writing guidance. And we're happy to offer it to you in our open-access online directory of free essay samples. Being inspired by our professional writers' works, you will be ready to create a flawless essay of your own.

Remember that if you need some urgent writing aid with your essay about the neighborhood and your " write my essay for me free " searches brought you nothing good, you can address our devoted writers and get a faultless piece tailored to your demands in a matter of hours.

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How to Write the Perfect Essay

06 Feb, 2024 | Blog Articles , English Language Articles , Get the Edge , Humanities Articles , Writing Articles

Student sitting at a desk writing in a notebook

You can keep adding to this plan, crossing bits out and linking the different bubbles when you spot connections between them. Even though you won’t have time to make a detailed plan under exam conditions, it can be helpful to draft a brief one, including a few key words, so that you don’t panic and go off topic when writing your essay.

If you don’t like the mind map format, there are plenty of others to choose from: you could make a table, a flowchart, or simply a list of bullet points.

Discover More

Thanks for signing up, step 2: have a clear structure.

Think about this while you’re planning: your essay is like an argument or a speech. It needs to have a logical structure, with all your points coming together to answer the question.

Start with the basics! It’s best to choose a few major points which will become your main paragraphs. Three main paragraphs is a good number for an exam essay, since you’ll be under time pressure.

If you agree with the question overall, it can be helpful to organise your points in the following pattern:

YES (agreement with the question)
AND (another YES point)
BUT (disagreement or complication)

If you disagree with the question overall, try:

AND (another BUT point)

For example, you could structure the Of Mice and Men sample question, “To what extent is Curley’s wife portrayed as a victim in Of Mice and Men ?”, as follows:

YES (descriptions of her appearance)
AND (other people’s attitudes towards her)
BUT (her position as the only woman on the ranch gives her power as she uses her femininity to her advantage)

If you wanted to write a longer essay, you could include additional paragraphs under the YES/AND categories, perhaps discussing the ways in which Curley’s wife reveals her vulnerability and insecurities, and shares her dreams with the other characters. Alternatively, you could also lengthen your essay by including another BUT paragraph about her cruel and manipulative streak.

Of course, this is not necessarily the only right way to answer this essay question – as long as you back up your points with evidence from the text, you can take any standpoint that makes sense.

Step 3: Back up your points with well-analysed quotations

You wouldn’t write a scientific report without including evidence to support your findings, so why should it be any different with an essay? Even though you aren’t strictly required to substantiate every single point you make with a quotation, there’s no harm in trying.

A close reading of your quotations can enrich your appreciation of the question and will be sure to impress examiners. When selecting the best quotations to use in your essay, keep an eye out for specific literary techniques. For example, you could highlight Curley’s wife’s use of a rhetorical question when she says, a”n’ what am I doin’? Standin’ here talking to a bunch of bindle stiffs.” This might look like:

The rhetorical question “an’ what am I doin’?” signifies that Curley’s wife is very insecure; she seems to be questioning her own life choices. Moreover, she does not expect anyone to respond to her question, highlighting her loneliness and isolation on the ranch.

Other literary techniques to look out for include:

Tricolon – a group of three words or phrases placed close together for emphasis
Tautology – using different words that mean the same thing: e.g. “frightening” and “terrifying”
Parallelism – ABAB structure, often signifying movement from one concept to another
Chiasmus – ABBA structure, drawing attention to a phrase
Polysyndeton – many conjunctions in a sentence
Asyndeton – lack of conjunctions, which can speed up the pace of a sentence
Polyptoton – using the same word in different forms for emphasis: e.g. “done” and “doing”
Alliteration – repetition of the same sound, including assonance (similar vowel sounds), plosive alliteration (“b”, “d” and “p” sounds) and sibilance (“s” sounds)
Anaphora – repetition of words, often used to emphasise a particular point

Don’t worry if you can’t locate all of these literary devices in the work you’re analysing. You can also discuss more obvious techniques, like metaphor, simile and onomatopoeia. It’s not a problem if you can’t remember all the long names; it’s far more important to be able to confidently explain the effects of each technique and highlight its relevance to the question.

Step 4: Be creative and original throughout

Anyone can write an essay using the tips above, but the thing that really makes it “perfect” is your own unique take on the topic. If you’ve noticed something intriguing or unusual in your reading, point it out – if you find it interesting, chances are the examiner will too!

Creative writing and essay writing are more closely linked than you might imagine. Keep the idea that you’re writing a speech or argument in mind, and you’re guaranteed to grab your reader’s attention.

It’s important to set out your line of argument in your introduction, introducing your main points and the general direction your essay will take, but don’t forget to keep something back for the conclusion, too. Yes, you need to summarise your main points, but if you’re just repeating the things you said in your introduction, the body of the essay is rendered pointless.

Think of your conclusion as the climax of your speech, the bit everything else has been leading up to, rather than the boring plenary at the end of the interesting stuff.

To return to Of Mice and Men once more, here’s an example of the ideal difference between an introduction and a conclusion:

Introduction

In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men , Curley’s wife is portrayed as an ambiguous character. She could be viewed either as a cruel, seductive temptress or a lonely woman who is a victim of her society’s attitudes. Though she does seem to wield a form of sexual power, it is clear that Curley’s wife is largely a victim. This interpretation is supported by Steinbeck’s description of her appearance, other people’s attitudes, her dreams, and her evident loneliness and insecurity.

Overall, it is clear that Curley’s wife is a victim and is portrayed as such throughout the novel in the descriptions of her appearance, her dreams, other people’s judgemental attitudes, and her loneliness and insecurities. However, a character who was a victim and nothing else would be one-dimensional and Curley’s wife is not. Although she suffers in many ways, she is shown to assert herself through the manipulation of her femininity – a small rebellion against the victimisation she experiences.

Both refer back consistently to the question and summarise the essay’s main points. However, the conclusion adds something new which has been established in the main body of the essay and complicates the simple summary which is found in the introduction.

Hannah is an undergraduate English student at Somerville College, University of Oxford, and has a particular interest in postcolonial literature and the Gothic. She thinks literature is a crucial way of developing empathy and learning about the wider world. When she isn’t writing about 17th-century court masques, she enjoys acting, travelling and creative writing.

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How to talk about your Neighbourhood in English

In the following guide, I want to show you how to talk about your neighbourhood in English.

You might have to do this in the IELTS speaking test. It could be a topic that comes up in parts one, two or three. It could certainly come up in part one, as it is a topic where you are talking about your own life and life experience.

You could also be asked to talk about your neighbourhood in an interview or in an English conversation.

No matter where the subject may appear, talking about your neighbourhood in English should come very easy to you. You are talking about the place where you live and your surroundings, so this should come naturally to you.

But let’s go through all the steps so that you can talk about your neighbourhood fluently and with ease.

Are you ready? Let’s dive in…

Table of Contents

What is the Neighbourhood?

Your neighbourhood is the local area where you live. It is the place that is within walking distance of your home.

Your neighbourhood includes the local stores and shops that you might use regularly, the people who live near you (your neighbours) and other places that you see or visit. You might have lived in your neighbourhood all your life or just for a short time. Wherever you live right now, the surrounding area is your neighbourhood.

Things in your Neighbourhood

Depending on where you live, there could be different things in your neighbourhood to anyone else’s neighbourhood.

A local neighbourhood in a small town in England will be very different from a neighbourhood in India or Japan, for example.

But some things are the same.

Let’s take a look at the most common things you can find in many neighbourhoods around the world.

You should know most of these words. But if you don’t know any of the words, look them up in a dictionary and find out the correct meaning.

Write the meanings of any new words in your Vocabulary Notebook.

Let’s look at some ways to use the above words in a sentence.

Convenience Store — I go to my local convenience store about four times a week. I usually buy milk or some snacks there.

Supermarket — We have two large supermarkets near to where we live. They have everything we need for our daily lives.

Post Office — There is a small post office near my house. It’s small but it can take care of any deliveries.

Park — We have a nice park in our neighbourhood. It’s a nice little sanctuary in the middle of the city.

Local Shops — Our neighbourhood has many local shops. We can buy anything we need.

Houses — My neighbourhood is in the suburbs, so there are many houses here. It is a residential area.

Apartments — As we live in the city centre, most people in our neighbourhood live in apartments.

Police Station — We have a local police station in our neighbourhood, but it is always very quiet there. They mostly deal with people registering for permits or things like that.

Bus Stop — If I need to get into town, I have to take a bus. But there is a bus stop just down the road from my house.

Subway Station — There is a subway station in my neighbourhood. I take the subway to go to work every morning.

Cafe/Coffee Shop — I like to go to this coffee shop in my neighbourhood. They serve really great coffee all day, and it’s a nice place to sit down and read.

Restaurant — There’s a restaurant in my neighbourhood. It’s not exactly five stars, but the food they serve is very reasonably priced.

Clinic — We have a clinic just down the road. The doctors there are very helpful.

Hospital — There is a great hospital in my neighbourhood. I have not been there, but my grandfather had to go there recently.

Community Centre — We are very lucky to have a community centre nearby. They have free classes to learn different subjects. I go there for my yoga class.

Church — There’s a small church in my neighbourhood. I haven’t been inside, but on a Sunday morning, I always hear the church bells ringing.

Bakery — I love to eat freshly baked bread in the morning. And we are lucky in that we have a great baker in our neighbourhood. He always bakes fantastic bread first thing in the morning.

Gym — I go to my local gym about four times a week. It’s a great gym in our local community.

Shopping Centre/Mall — We have a shopping centre in our neighbourhood. It’s not very big, but it’s perfect for all of our needs. A few restaurants, a coffee shop and some other stores. Plus, there is a big supermarket.

Fire Station — We have a fire station in our neighbourhood. I have never seen a fire in our area, but it’s nice to know that we are protected if there is.

School — There’s a big high school in our area. That’s where I go to school.

Bank — We have a small bank in our community. There are only two tellers on duty — and one ATM — but it’s enough for the local people.

Grocery Store — There is a grocery store just down the road from my house. The man that owns it sells fresh vegetables and fruit.

Library — We have a small library nearby. They have a good selection of books and they also have computers for people to use and go online.

Do you have any of these places in your neighbourhood?

If so, try to write sentences about them.

What other things do you have in your own neighbourhood?
Can you introduce these places?
Do you go to these places very often?
Why do you go there?

Adjectives to Describe your Neighbourhood

There are many ways to describe your neighbourhood.

Let’s look at some words we can use.

And this is how we can use some of these words when describing our neighbourhood.

I live in a typical working-class neighbourhood. It can be a little crowded at times, and the local community is densely populated, but it is very friendly.

My neighbourhood is very middle-class. There are many tree-lined streets and it is very clean. It is also safe at night and very quiet.

My neighbourhood is not very nice. It can be a little dangerous as there is a high crime rate, and it is also very noisy. The neighbours are always playing loud music or shouting.

I live in a suburban area on the outskirts of town. It is very quiet there and also spacious. The neighbours all know each other very well so it is very friendly.

I live in the business district of the city. It is very crowded here during the daytime, but also very convenient. Everything I need is very close by.

How about your neighbourhood?

How could you describe where you live?

Try to use some of the words above to talk about your neighbourhood. Try to write a paragraph describing the local area where you live.

Your Neighbours

And every neighbourhood has people. And these people are your neighbours.

Let’s look at ways we can use these words in a sentence.

My next-door neighbour is very kind. If I need help doing something, he will always offer to help me.

One of my neighbours is very quiet and respectable. But the other neighbour is very noisy — they are always playing loud music late at night.

I have a neighbour who is very sociable. They always invite the other neighbours over to their place for a barbecue or some other party. But there’s another neighbour who is very shy. He doesn’t talk to anyone at all.

I have a really terrible neighbour — she is very nosy. Always interfering in other people’s business.

One of my neighbours is very elderly, so I try to help her out whenever I have time.

What about your neighbours?

Do you get on well with them? Or not at all?
How would you describe your neighbours?
What kind of things do you talk about with your neighbours? Do you do anything together?

You can also check my articles below. They can help you talk about your neighbours too.

Use W h Questions to Describe ANY Person in the IELTS Speaking Test

Neighbours from Hell! — a Talking Points lesson for English reading and speaking

There is/ There are/There isn’t/There aren’t

When talking about your neighbourhood and the things and people in your local area, you will have to use the following phrases:

There isn’t

There aren’t

Let’s look at some ways to use these phrases.

There is a convenience store near my house.
There is a lot of traffic in my neighbourhood.
There is a school in my community.
There are so many trees on my local streets.
There are many people living in my neighbourhood.
There are some great little shops in my neighbourhood.
There isn’t much crime in my area.
There isn’t a library in my neighbourhood.
There aren’t many people in my neighbourhood.
There aren’t many places to relax in my neighbourhood.

Now try yourself.

Use the above phrases and make sentences about things and people in your neighbourhood.

Prepositions of Place

And prepositions of place are very useful when talking about things or people in your neighbourhood.

These are some examples of prepositions of place.

Let’s look at some sentences using these prepositions.

I live beside a big school. It’s a bit noisy in the morning when all the students are on their way to class.

We live next to a park. It’s really nice to walk around the park after dinner.

In front of our community is a big supermarket. It is very convenient, and it sells all the things we need for the house.

I live near to a subway station. I take the subway to go to work in the morning.

My neighbour opposite to our house borrowed my lawnmower. Now he won’t give it back!

There are many small shops nearby to where we live. They sell all kinds of things.

We have many trees around our neighbourhood. It’s so nice to see greenery.

There’s a little coffee shop down the road from my house. I like to go there at the weekend.

We have a small library between two of the houses on our street. They have a nice selection of books.

There’s a great convenience store round the corner. I probably go there about six times a week!

We have a gym over the road from our house. I am not a member, but I hear it is very good.

There’s a railway line behind my house. It can be very noisy at times when the trains go past.

Now you try!

Use all of the prepositions of place above in sentences of your own.

Try to describe or talk about things in your neighbourhood.

Talking about my Neighbourhood

It’s a good idea to look at how people talk about their neighbourhoods. We can copy certain elements and phrases and use them as our own.

Take a look at the following people talking about their neighbourhoods.

Use whatever useful phrases or sentences you like and adapt them to your own style and needs.

I live in a very quiet neighbourhood and my neighbours don’t really talk to each other. Sometimes it feels too quiet here. But there is a street nearby with lots of shops and small restaurants. I like to go there when I have time. There’s also a big park — it’s really nice to go there and walk around among all the trees and plants. But when I get home everything feels very quiet as the neighbours are not very sociable.

I live in a very convenient area of the city, but it is very noisy. Just in front of where we live is a street filled full of cafes and bars. At the weekend, it gets very rowdy. But my neighbourhood is full of life — there is always something to do here.

We live in a really vibrant neighbourhood. It is bustling with people and has many great restaurants and shops nearby. I guess you could say it is a desirable area to live. And it is very convenient. There is a subway station nearby that has three lines. So I can get to any part of the city from here very easily.

I live in a quiet little neighbourhood. It is just outside a small town and far from the main shops and supermarkets and things. We have two neighbours on either side of us but there is nothing else here. Because we are practically in the countryside.

We live in a high-rise building downtown. Inside our apartment, it is pretty quiet. But once you go downstairs and on to the street, it gets pretty busy. There is always a big crowd of people milling around on the street. Plus, there are many shops, so there are lots of people going in and out of the shops.

We live near to this huge park. It’s great as we have two dogs and we can take the dogs to the park so they can run around. The other neighbours also take their dogs to the park and it can be a wonderful sight to see all the dogs playing and running with each other.

Talking about your neighbourhood should be easy. It is the place where you live, so you should have plenty to say about it.

But for English learners, they often have no idea what to say exactly.

If you go through all the steps in this guide, you will find that you can build a great introduction to your own neighbourhood and talk extensively about where you live.

Keep practising and try to complete all the exercises above. You can then create a great introduction to your neighbourhood.

And please leave a message in the comments below!

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16 thoughts on “how to talk about your neighbourhood in english”.

Wow that was amazing, I am learning english for Ielts and this page really helped me. Thank you

Hi Mary! I am so glad I was able to help you. Many thanks for reading!

Thanks very much. It’s really helpful for me to improve my English speaking skill. Can you continue to upload more topic like this, please? It’s very fantastic.

Thank you very much, Van!! Your comment is very encouraging to me. I will try to upload more useful content. Have a good day!

Hello sir !Thank you so much for your help. It’s too help full for me . you had cleared everything. Thank again.

I’m very glad to hear that, Atia!

muchas graciassss, excelente!!!

You are very welcome, Raquel!!

Thank you very much, your post is very helpful. And let me ask a little bit, after I finish speaking, what should I say to end?

At the end of introducing your hometown? You don’t need to say anything. Sometimes I hear students say: That’s all. But don’t say that. You don’t need to say anything.

it’s very useful topics my english really improved please do not stop

Hey Alaa! Many thanks for reading and I am glad it was so helpful!

I am appreciate you creat this website , which is really helpful for me as a English learner , especially I am studying for IELTS test , thankful for you work ! 🙂

Hi Lily! Many thanks for reading! And good luck with your IELTS test… ????

Thanks a lot . This page is very useful for my English speaking skills. And it help me to improve my English speaking skills about hometown

HI Lucy! You’re welcome — and I am glad to hear it it useful to you.

How to Describe your Neighborhood in English

Learning how to talk about your Neighborhood is one of the topics that you will find in most popular textbooks.

To talk about your neighborhood, you need to become familiar with:

Vocabulary about places around Town
Prepositions of place
Grammar Structure: There is and There are

Table of Contents

Places around Town

Prepositions of Place

Grammar: There is and There are

Describe your neighborhood – there is and there are, dialogues about your neighborhood, task-based lesson: describe your neighborhood, schema activation (5 mins), pop the balloon, task#1 (10 mins), task #2 (10 mins), task: 10 mins, points to think about, related information.

These are some of the most common places that you can find in a city or neighborhood

These are some of the most common prepositions to locate places in a city or neighborhood

You can describe a neighborhood using there is and there are . In the examples, you will see how to make a sentence using

There is or There are
Places in Town

These are examples of Affirmative Sentences about your neighborhood

There is a church in front of the park
There is a clothing store next to the library
There are three drugstores in town
There are four different supermarkets and two grocery stores

These are examples of Negative Sentences about your neighborhood

There isn’t a park
There isn’t a supermarket in my city
There isn’t a gas station in my town
There aren’t big supermarket in my small town

These are examples of questions about your neighborhood

Are there two restaurants?
Are there three supermarkets
Is there a restaurant next to the police station?
Is there a catholic church

I live in a small town in Honduras, in my community, you can find all kind of places, for example, you can go to the swimming pool which is located near the park.

There are three supermarkets and there is a bus station next to the bank. There are no airports or train stations in my town.

There is a hospital near the park and you can find two or three dugstores.

This is dialogue #1

This is a dialogue #2

This is a task-based lesson to help you teach about your neighborhood

The teacher gives students a balloon with a strip of paper inside, the strip of paper has a place from a neighborhood.
The teacher plays a song and students pass around the balloon, when the music stops, the student with the balloon in his/her hands pops it.
The students read the strip of paper with the place from a neighborhood and he/ she does mimics so their classmates guess the place around town he/she is referring to.
Teacher asks their students to turn on the cellphones, he sends a quizlet se t using the whatsapp group.
The quizlet is made up of places around town in one side and a picture that represents the place on the other side.
Students using the quizlet, check the spelling and pronunciation of 15 words included there.
Once they finished reviewing the vocabulary, they stand up and quiz each other by showing the picture include in the quizlet set and asking their partners “ what’s this?”
Teacher asks students to pair up and read a short description of a community. Each group has a different reading.
Then teacher asks them to highlight expression such as There is , there are, there isn’t and there aren’t
There is a park in Bagaces
There is a hospital in Liberia
There is a Walmart in Nicoya
Students are sent a wordle that has places around town.
“There is a university in Nicoya”
“There are three supermarkets in Nicoya”
Once they are ready, they stand up and talk to their classmates for a 30 seconds, they do that for three minutes

These are some very important things to think about

Teacher uses technology at home so students use it in the classroom. If we want to integrate technology in the classroom, both teachers and students need to use it.
Almost all tasks require that students stand up and interact with others.
Most tasks are learner-centered tasks in which we can see students doing collaborative work and having peer to peer interaction.
Since tasks are teacher-centered, a teacher can take notes without interrupting the interaction that students are having, he/ she can assess and provide feedback at the end of the class.
Since the class lasts around 45 mins, the teacher focuses on 15 words and part of an structure that students can manage easily.
Grammar is taught inductively through short texts.
There is no lengthy explanation about grammar and introduction of vocabulary. Quizlet helps with spelling, pronunciation and meaning.
All tasks use pretty much the same vocabulary and definitely the same structure.

These are some posts that you might want to check out

How to Introduce Yourself in English
How to Describe Appearance and Personality
How to Order Food in English
How to Make, Accept and Decline Invitations
How to Express Opinions in English
How to Give Directions in English
How to Ask for Clarification in English
How to Express Feelings in English

I am Jose Manuel, English professor and creator of EnglishPost.org, a blog whose mission is to share lessons for those who want to learn and improve their English

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How to Write the Perfect Essay: A Step-By-Step Guide for Students

June 2, 2022

What is an essay?

What makes a good essay?

Typical essay structure, 7 steps to writing a good essay, a step-by-step guide to writing a good essay.

Whether you are gearing up for your GCSE coursework submissions or looking to brush up on your A-level writing skills, we have the perfect essay-writing guide for you. 💯

Staring at a blank page before writing an essay can feel a little daunting . Where do you start? What should your introduction say? And how should you structure your arguments? They are all fair questions and we have the answers! Take the stress out of essay writing with this step-by-step guide – you’ll be typing away in no time. 👩‍💻

What is an essay?

Generally speaking, an essay designates a literary work in which the author defends a point of view or a personal conviction, using logical arguments and literary devices in order to inform and convince the reader.

So – although essays can be broadly split into four categories: argumentative, expository, narrative, and descriptive – an essay can simply be described as a focused piece of writing designed to inform or persuade. 🤔

The purpose of an essay is to present a coherent argument in response to a stimulus or question and to persuade the reader that your position is credible, believable and reasonable. 👌

So, a ‘good’ essay relies on a confident writing style – it’s clear, well-substantiated, focussed, explanatory and descriptive . The structure follows a logical progression and above all, the body of the essay clearly correlates to the tile – answering the question where one has been posed.

But, how do you go about making sure that you tick all these boxes and keep within a specified word count? Read on for the answer as well as an example essay structure to follow and a handy step-by-step guide to writing the perfect essay – hooray. 🙌

Sometimes, it is helpful to think about your essay like it is a well-balanced argument or a speech – it needs to have a logical structure, with all your points coming together to answer the question in a coherent manner. ⚖️

Of course, essays can vary significantly in length but besides that, they all follow a fairly strict pattern or structure made up of three sections. Lean into this predictability because it will keep you on track and help you make your point clearly. Let’s take a look at the typical essay structure:

#1 Introduction

Start your introduction with the central claim of your essay. Let the reader know exactly what you intend to say with this essay. Communicate what you’re going to argue, and in what order. The final part of your introduction should also say what conclusions you’re going to draw – it sounds counter-intuitive but it’s not – more on that below. 1️⃣

Make your point, evidence it and explain it. This part of the essay – generally made up of three or more paragraphs depending on the length of your essay – is where you present your argument. The first sentence of each paragraph – much like an introduction to an essay – should summarise what your paragraph intends to explain in more detail. 2️⃣

#3 Conclusion

This is where you affirm your argument – remind the reader what you just proved in your essay and how you did it. This section will sound quite similar to your introduction but – having written the essay – you’ll be summarising rather than setting out your stall. 3️⃣

No essay is the same but your approach to writing them can be. As well as some best practice tips, we have gathered our favourite advice from expert essay-writers and compiled the following 7-step guide to writing a good essay every time. 👍

#1 Make sure you understand the question

#2 complete background reading.

#3 Make a detailed plan

#4 Write your opening sentences

#5 flesh out your essay in a rough draft, #6 evidence your opinion, #7 final proofread and edit.

Now that you have familiarised yourself with the 7 steps standing between you and the perfect essay, let’s take a closer look at each of those stages so that you can get on with crafting your written arguments with confidence .

This is the most crucial stage in essay writing – r ead the essay prompt carefully and understand the question. Highlight the keywords – like ‘compare,’ ‘contrast’ ‘discuss,’ ‘explain’ or ‘evaluate’ – and let it sink in before your mind starts racing . There is nothing worse than writing 500 words before realising you have entirely missed the brief . 🧐

Unless you are writing under exam conditions , you will most likely have been working towards this essay for some time, by doing thorough background reading. Re-read relevant chapters and sections, highlight pertinent material and maybe even stray outside the designated reading list, this shows genuine interest and extended knowledge. 📚

#3 Make a detailed plan

Following the handy structure we shared with you above, now is the time to create the ‘skeleton structure’ or essay plan. Working from your essay title, plot out what you want your paragraphs to cover and how that information is going to flow. You don’t need to start writing any full sentences yet but it might be useful to think about the various quotes you plan to use to substantiate each section. 📝

Having mapped out the overall trajectory of your essay, you can start to drill down into the detail. First, write the opening sentence for each of the paragraphs in the body section of your essay. Remember – each paragraph is like a mini-essay – the opening sentence should summarise what the paragraph will then go on to explain in more detail. 🖊️

Next, it's time to write the bulk of your words and flesh out your arguments. Follow the ‘point, evidence, explain’ method. The opening sentences – already written – should introduce your ‘points’, so now you need to ‘evidence’ them with corroborating research and ‘explain’ how the evidence you’ve presented proves the point you’re trying to make. ✍️

With a rough draft in front of you, you can take a moment to read what you have written so far. Are there any sections that require further substantiation? Have you managed to include the most relevant material you originally highlighted in your background reading? Now is the time to make sure you have evidenced all your opinions and claims with the strongest quotes, citations and material. 📗

This is your final chance to re-read your essay and go over it with a fine-toothed comb before pressing ‘submit’. We highly recommend leaving a day or two between finishing your essay and the final proofread if possible – you’ll be amazed at the difference this makes, allowing you to return with a fresh pair of eyes and a more discerning judgment. 🤓

If you are looking for advice and support with your own essay-writing adventures, why not t ry a free trial lesson with GoStudent? Our tutors are experts at boosting academic success and having fun along the way. Get in touch and see how it can work for you today. 🎒

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 177 college essay examples for 11 schools + expert analysis.

College Admissions , College Essays

The personal statement might just be the hardest part of your college application. Mostly this is because it has the least guidance and is the most open-ended. One way to understand what colleges are looking for when they ask you to write an essay is to check out the essays of students who already got in—college essays that actually worked. After all, they must be among the most successful of this weird literary genre.

In this article, I'll go through general guidelines for what makes great college essays great. I've also compiled an enormous list of 100+ actual sample college essays from 11 different schools. Finally, I'll break down two of these published college essay examples and explain why and how they work. With links to 177 full essays and essay excerpts , this article is a great resource for learning how to craft your own personal college admissions essay!

What Excellent College Essays Have in Common

Even though in many ways these sample college essays are very different from one other, they do share some traits you should try to emulate as you write your own essay.

Visible Signs of Planning

Building out from a narrow, concrete focus. You'll see a similar structure in many of the essays. The author starts with a very detailed story of an event or description of a person or place. After this sense-heavy imagery, the essay expands out to make a broader point about the author, and connects this very memorable experience to the author's present situation, state of mind, newfound understanding, or maturity level.

Knowing how to tell a story. Some of the experiences in these essays are one-of-a-kind. But most deal with the stuff of everyday life. What sets them apart is the way the author approaches the topic: analyzing it for drama and humor, for its moving qualities, for what it says about the author's world, and for how it connects to the author's emotional life.

Stellar Execution

A killer first sentence. You've heard it before, and you'll hear it again: you have to suck the reader in, and the best place to do that is the first sentence. Great first sentences are punchy. They are like cliffhangers, setting up an exciting scene or an unusual situation with an unclear conclusion, in order to make the reader want to know more. Don't take my word for it—check out these 22 first sentences from Stanford applicants and tell me you don't want to read the rest of those essays to find out what happens!

A lively, individual voice. Writing is for readers. In this case, your reader is an admissions officer who has read thousands of essays before yours and will read thousands after. Your goal? Don't bore your reader. Use interesting descriptions, stay away from clichés, include your own offbeat observations—anything that makes this essay sounds like you and not like anyone else.

Technical correctness. No spelling mistakes, no grammar weirdness, no syntax issues, no punctuation snafus—each of these sample college essays has been formatted and proofread perfectly. If this kind of exactness is not your strong suit, you're in luck! All colleges advise applicants to have their essays looked over several times by parents, teachers, mentors, and anyone else who can spot a comma splice. Your essay must be your own work, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting help polishing it.

And if you need more guidance, connect with PrepScholar's expert admissions consultants . These expert writers know exactly what college admissions committees look for in an admissions essay and chan help you craft an essay that boosts your chances of getting into your dream school.

Check out PrepScholar's Essay Editing and Coaching progra m for more details!

Want to write the perfect college application essay? We can help. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will help you craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay to proudly submit to colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now:

Links to Full College Essay Examples

Some colleges publish a selection of their favorite accepted college essays that worked, and I've put together a selection of over 100 of these.

Common App Essay Samples

Please note that some of these college essay examples may be responding to prompts that are no longer in use. The current Common App prompts are as follows:

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. 2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? 3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? 4. Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you? 5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. 6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Now, let's get to the good stuff: the list of 177 college essay examples responding to current and past Common App essay prompts.

Connecticut college.

12 Common Application essays from the classes of 2022-2025

Hamilton College

7 Common Application essays from the class of 2026
7 Common Application essays from the class of 2022
7 Common Application essays from the class of 2018
8 Common Application essays from the class of 2012
8 Common Application essays from the class of 2007

Johns Hopkins

These essays are answers to past prompts from either the Common Application or the Coalition Application (which Johns Hopkins used to accept).

1 Common Application or Coalition Application essay from the class of 2026
6 Common Application or Coalition Application essays from the class of 2025
6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2024
6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2023
7 Common Application of Universal Application essays from the class of 2022
5 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2021
7 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2020

Essay Examples Published by Other Websites

2 Common Application essays ( 1st essay , 2nd essay ) from applicants admitted to Columbia

Other Sample College Essays

Here is a collection of essays that are college-specific.

Babson College

4 essays (and 1 video response) on "Why Babson" from the class of 2020

Emory University

5 essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) from the class of 2020 along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on why the essays were exceptional
5 more recent essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on what made these essays stand out

University of Georgia

1 “strong essay” sample from 2019
1 “strong essay” sample from 2018
10 Harvard essays from 2023
10 Harvard essays from 2022
10 Harvard essays from 2021
10 Harvard essays from 2020
10 Harvard essays from 2019
10 Harvard essays from 2018
6 essays from admitted MIT students

Smith College

6 "best gift" essays from the class of 2018

Books of College Essays

If you're looking for even more sample college essays, consider purchasing a college essay book. The best of these include dozens of essays that worked and feedback from real admissions officers.

College Essays That Made a Difference —This detailed guide from Princeton Review includes not only successful essays, but also interviews with admissions officers and full student profiles.

50 Successful Harvard Application Essays by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson—A must for anyone aspiring to Harvard .

50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays and 50 Successful Stanford Application Essays by Gen and Kelly Tanabe—For essays from other top schools, check out this venerated series, which is regularly updated with new essays.

Heavenly Essays by Janine W. Robinson—This collection from the popular blogger behind Essay Hell includes a wider range of schools, as well as helpful tips on honing your own essay.

Analyzing Great Common App Essays That Worked

I've picked two essays from the examples collected above to examine in more depth so that you can see exactly what makes a successful college essay work. Full credit for these essays goes to the original authors and the schools that published them.

Example 1: "Breaking Into Cars," by Stephen, Johns Hopkins Class of '19 (Common App Essay, 636 words long)

I had never broken into a car before.

We were in Laredo, having just finished our first day at a Habitat for Humanity work site. The Hotchkiss volunteers had already left, off to enjoy some Texas BBQ, leaving me behind with the college kids to clean up. Not until we were stranded did we realize we were locked out of the van.

Someone picked a coat hanger out of the dumpster, handed it to me, and took a few steps back.

"Can you do that thing with a coat hanger to unlock it?"

"Why me?" I thought.

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame. Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally. My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed. "The water's on fire! Clear a hole!" he shouted, tossing me in the lake without warning. While I'm still unconvinced about that particular lesson's practicality, my Dad's overarching message is unequivocally true: much of life is unexpected, and you have to deal with the twists and turns.

Living in my family, days rarely unfolded as planned. A bit overlooked, a little pushed around, I learned to roll with reality, negotiate a quick deal, and give the improbable a try. I don't sweat the small stuff, and I definitely don't expect perfect fairness. So what if our dining room table only has six chairs for seven people? Someone learns the importance of punctuality every night.

But more than punctuality and a special affinity for musical chairs, my family life has taught me to thrive in situations over which I have no power. Growing up, I never controlled my older siblings, but I learned how to thwart their attempts to control me. I forged alliances, and realigned them as necessary. Sometimes, I was the poor, defenseless little brother; sometimes I was the omniscient elder. Different things to different people, as the situation demanded. I learned to adapt.

Back then, these techniques were merely reactions undertaken to ensure my survival. But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The question caught me off guard, much like the question posed to me in Laredo. Then, I realized I knew the answer. I knew why the coat hanger had been handed to me.

Growing up as the middle child in my family, I was a vital participant in a thing I did not govern, in the company of people I did not choose. It's family. It's society. And often, it's chaos. You participate by letting go of the small stuff, not expecting order and perfection, and facing the unexpected with confidence, optimism, and preparedness. My family experience taught me to face a serendipitous world with confidence.

What Makes This Essay Tick?

It's very helpful to take writing apart in order to see just how it accomplishes its objectives. Stephen's essay is very effective. Let's find out why!

An Opening Line That Draws You In

In just eight words, we get: scene-setting (he is standing next to a car about to break in), the idea of crossing a boundary (he is maybe about to do an illegal thing for the first time), and a cliffhanger (we are thinking: is he going to get caught? Is he headed for a life of crime? Is he about to be scared straight?).

Great, Detailed Opening Story

It's the details that really make this small experience come alive. Notice how whenever he can, Stephen uses a more specific, descriptive word in place of a more generic one. The volunteers aren't going to get food or dinner; they're going for "Texas BBQ." The coat hanger comes from "a dumpster." Stephen doesn't just move the coat hanger—he "jiggles" it.

Details also help us visualize the emotions of the people in the scene. The person who hands Stephen the coat hanger isn't just uncomfortable or nervous; he "takes a few steps back"—a description of movement that conveys feelings. Finally, the detail of actual speech makes the scene pop. Instead of writing that the other guy asked him to unlock the van, Stephen has the guy actually say his own words in a way that sounds like a teenager talking.

Turning a Specific Incident Into a Deeper Insight

Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

Stephen makes the locked car experience a meaningful illustration of how he has learned to be resourceful and ready for anything, and he also makes this turn from the specific to the broad through an elegant play on the two meanings of the word "click."

Using Concrete Examples When Making Abstract Claims

"Unpredictability and chaos" are very abstract, not easily visualized concepts. They could also mean any number of things—violence, abandonment, poverty, mental instability. By instantly following up with highly finite and unambiguous illustrations like "family of seven" and "siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing," Stephen grounds the abstraction in something that is easy to picture: a large, noisy family.

Using Small Bits of Humor and Casual Word Choice

My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed.

Obviously, knowing how to clean burning oil is not high on the list of things every 9-year-old needs to know. To emphasize this, Stephen uses sarcasm by bringing up a situation that is clearly over-the-top: "in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed."

The humor also feels relaxed. Part of this is because he introduces it with the colloquial phrase "you know," so it sounds like he is talking to us in person. This approach also diffuses the potential discomfort of the reader with his father's strictness—since he is making jokes about it, clearly he is OK. Notice, though, that this doesn't occur very much in the essay. This helps keep the tone meaningful and serious rather than flippant.

An Ending That Stretches the Insight Into the Future

But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The ending of the essay reveals that Stephen's life has been one long preparation for the future. He has emerged from chaos and his dad's approach to parenting as a person who can thrive in a world that he can't control.

This connection of past experience to current maturity and self-knowledge is a key element in all successful personal essays. Colleges are very much looking for mature, self-aware applicants. These are the qualities of successful college students, who will be able to navigate the independence college classes require and the responsibility and quasi-adulthood of college life.

What Could This Essay Do Even Better?

Even the best essays aren't perfect, and even the world's greatest writers will tell you that writing is never "finished"—just "due." So what would we tweak in this essay if we could?

Replace some of the clichéd language. Stephen uses handy phrases like "twists and turns" and "don't sweat the small stuff" as a kind of shorthand for explaining his relationship to chaos and unpredictability. But using too many of these ready-made expressions runs the risk of clouding out your own voice and replacing it with something expected and boring.

Use another example from recent life. Stephen's first example (breaking into the van in Laredo) is a great illustration of being resourceful in an unexpected situation. But his essay also emphasizes that he "learned to adapt" by being "different things to different people." It would be great to see how this plays out outside his family, either in the situation in Laredo or another context.

Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions combines world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've guided thousands of students to get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit and are driven to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in:

Example 2: By Renner Kwittken, Tufts Class of '23 (Common App Essay, 645 words long)

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver. I saw it in my favorite book, Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go," and for some reason, I was absolutely obsessed with the idea of driving a giant pickle. Much to the discontent of my younger sister, I insisted that my parents read us that book as many nights as possible so we could find goldbug, a small little golden bug, on every page. I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Then I discovered a real goldbug: gold nanoparticles that can reprogram macrophages to assist in killing tumors, produce clear images of them without sacrificing the subject, and heat them to obliteration.

Suddenly the destination of my pickle was clear.

I quickly became enveloped by the world of nanomedicine; I scoured articles about liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, targeting ligands, and self-assembling nanoparticles, all conquering cancer in some exotic way. Completely absorbed, I set out to find a mentor to dive even deeper into these topics. After several rejections, I was immensely grateful to receive an invitation to work alongside Dr. Sangeeta Ray at Johns Hopkins.

In the lab, Dr. Ray encouraged a great amount of autonomy to design and implement my own procedures. I chose to attack a problem that affects the entire field of nanomedicine: nanoparticles consistently fail to translate from animal studies into clinical trials. Jumping off recent literature, I set out to see if a pre-dose of a common chemotherapeutic could enhance nanoparticle delivery in aggressive prostate cancer, creating three novel constructs based on three different linear polymers, each using fluorescent dye (although no gold, sorry goldbug!). Though using radioactive isotopes like Gallium and Yttrium would have been incredible, as a 17-year-old, I unfortunately wasn't allowed in the same room as these radioactive materials (even though I took a Geiger counter to a pair of shoes and found them to be slightly dangerous).

I hadn't expected my hypothesis to work, as the research project would have ideally been led across two full years. Yet while there are still many optimizations and revisions to be done, I was thrilled to find -- with completely new nanoparticles that may one day mean future trials will use particles with the initials "RK-1" -- thatcyclophosphamide did indeed increase nanoparticle delivery to the tumor in a statistically significant way.

A secondary, unexpected research project was living alone in Baltimore, a new city to me, surrounded by people much older than I. Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research. Whether in a presentation or in a casual conversation, making others interested in science is perhaps more exciting to me than the research itself. This solidified a new pursuit to angle my love for writing towards illuminating science in ways people can understand, adding value to a society that can certainly benefit from more scientific literacy.

It seems fitting that my goals are still transforming: in Scarry's book, there is not just one goldbug, there is one on every page. With each new experience, I'm learning that it isn't the goldbug itself, but rather the act of searching for the goldbugs that will encourage, shape, and refine my ever-evolving passions. Regardless of the goldbug I seek -- I know my pickle truck has just begun its journey.

Renner takes a somewhat different approach than Stephen, but their essay is just as detailed and engaging. Let's go through some of the strengths of this essay.

One Clear Governing Metaphor

This essay is ultimately about two things: Renner’s dreams and future career goals, and Renner’s philosophy on goal-setting and achieving one’s dreams.

But instead of listing off all the amazing things they’ve done to pursue their dream of working in nanomedicine, Renner tells a powerful, unique story instead. To set up the narrative, Renner opens the essay by connecting their experiences with goal-setting and dream-chasing all the way back to a memorable childhood experience:

This lighthearted–but relevant!--story about the moment when Renner first developed a passion for a specific career (“finding the goldbug”) provides an anchor point for the rest of the essay. As Renner pivots to describing their current dreams and goals–working in nanomedicine–the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” is reflected in Renner’s experiments, rejections, and new discoveries.

Though Renner tells multiple stories about their quest to “find the goldbug,” or, in other words, pursue their passion, each story is connected by a unifying theme; namely, that as we search and grow over time, our goals will transform…and that’s okay! By the end of the essay, Renner uses the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” to reiterate the relevance of the opening story:

While the earlier parts of the essay convey Renner’s core message by showing, the final, concluding paragraph sums up Renner’s insights by telling. By briefly and clearly stating the relevance of the goldbug metaphor to their own philosophy on goals and dreams, Renner demonstrates their creativity, insight, and eagerness to grow and evolve as the journey continues into college.

An Engaging, Individual Voice

This essay uses many techniques that make Renner sound genuine and make the reader feel like we already know them.

Technique #1: humor. Notice Renner's gentle and relaxed humor that lightly mocks their younger self's grand ambitions (this is different from the more sarcastic kind of humor used by Stephen in the first essay—you could never mistake one writer for the other).

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver.

I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Renner gives a great example of how to use humor to your advantage in college essays. You don’t want to come off as too self-deprecating or sarcastic, but telling a lightheartedly humorous story about your younger self that also showcases how you’ve grown and changed over time can set the right tone for your entire essay.

Technique #2: intentional, eye-catching structure. The second technique is the way Renner uses a unique structure to bolster the tone and themes of their essay . The structure of your essay can have a major impact on how your ideas come across…so it’s important to give it just as much thought as the content of your essay!

For instance, Renner does a great job of using one-line paragraphs to create dramatic emphasis and to make clear transitions from one phase of the story to the next:

Suddenly the destination of my pickle car was clear.

Not only does the one-liner above signal that Renner is moving into a new phase of the narrative (their nanoparticle research experiences), it also tells the reader that this is a big moment in Renner’s story. It’s clear that Renner made a major discovery that changed the course of their goal pursuit and dream-chasing. Through structure, Renner conveys excitement and entices the reader to keep pushing forward to the next part of the story.

Technique #3: playing with syntax. The third technique is to use sentences of varying length, syntax, and structure. Most of the essay's written in standard English and uses grammatically correct sentences. However, at key moments, Renner emphasizes that the reader needs to sit up and pay attention by switching to short, colloquial, differently punctuated, and sometimes fragmented sentences.

Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research.

In the examples above, Renner switches adeptly between long, flowing sentences and quippy, telegraphic ones. At the same time, Renner uses these different sentence lengths intentionally. As they describe their experiences in new places, they use longer sentences to immerse the reader in the sights, smells, and sounds of those experiences. And when it’s time to get a big, key idea across, Renner switches to a short, punchy sentence to stop the reader in their tracks.

The varying syntax and sentence lengths pull the reader into the narrative and set up crucial “aha” moments when it’s most important…which is a surefire way to make any college essay stand out.

Renner's essay is very strong, but there are still a few little things that could be improved.

Connecting the research experiences to the theme of “finding the goldbug.” The essay begins and ends with Renner’s connection to the idea of “finding the goldbug.” And while this metaphor is deftly tied into the essay’s intro and conclusion, it isn’t entirely clear what Renner’s big findings were during the research experiences that are described in the middle of the essay. It would be great to add a sentence or two stating what Renner’s big takeaways (or “goldbugs”) were from these experiences, which add more cohesion to the essay as a whole.

Give more details about discovering the world of nanomedicine. It makes sense that Renner wants to get into the details of their big research experiences as quickly as possible. After all, these are the details that show Renner’s dedication to nanomedicine! But a smoother transition from the opening pickle car/goldbug story to Renner’s “real goldbug” of nanoparticles would help the reader understand why nanoparticles became Renner’s goldbug. Finding out why Renner is so motivated to study nanomedicine–and perhaps what put them on to this field of study–would help readers fully understand why Renner chose this path in the first place.

4 Essential Tips for Writing Your Own Essay

How can you use this discussion to better your own college essay? Here are some suggestions for ways to use this resource effectively.

#1: Get Help From the Experts

Getting your college applications together takes a lot of work and can be pretty intimidatin g. Essays are even more important than ever now that admissions processes are changing and schools are going test-optional and removing diversity standards thanks to new Supreme Court rulings . If you want certified expert help that really makes a difference, get started with PrepScholar’s Essay Editing and Coaching program. Our program can help you put together an incredible essay from idea to completion so that your application stands out from the crowd. We've helped students get into the best colleges in the United States, including Harvard, Stanford, and Yale. If you're ready to take the next step and boost your odds of getting into your dream school, connect with our experts today .

#2: Read Other Essays to Get Ideas for Your Own

As you go through the essays we've compiled for you above, ask yourself the following questions:

Can you explain to yourself (or someone else!) why the opening sentence works well?
Look for the essay's detailed personal anecdote. What senses is the author describing? Can you easily picture the scene in your mind's eye?
Find the place where this anecdote bridges into a larger insight about the author. How does the essay connect the two? How does the anecdote work as an example of the author's characteristic, trait, or skill?
Check out the essay's tone. If it's funny, can you find the places where the humor comes from? If it's sad and moving, can you find the imagery and description of feelings that make you moved? If it's serious, can you see how word choice adds to this tone?

Make a note whenever you find an essay or part of an essay that you think was particularly well-written, and think about what you like about it . Is it funny? Does it help you really get to know the writer? Does it show what makes the writer unique? Once you have your list, keep it next to you while writing your essay to remind yourself to try and use those same techniques in your own essay.

#3: Find Your "A-Ha!" Moment

All of these essays rely on connecting with the reader through a heartfelt, highly descriptive scene from the author's life. It can either be very dramatic (did you survive a plane crash?) or it can be completely mundane (did you finally beat your dad at Scrabble?). Either way, it should be personal and revealing about you, your personality, and the way you are now that you are entering the adult world.

Check out essays by authors like John Jeremiah Sullivan , Leslie Jamison , Hanif Abdurraqib , and Esmé Weijun Wang to get more examples of how to craft a compelling personal narrative.

#4: Start Early, Revise Often

Let me level with you: the best writing isn't writing at all. It's rewriting. And in order to have time to rewrite, you have to start way before the application deadline. My advice is to write your first draft at least two months before your applications are due.

Let it sit for a few days untouched. Then come back to it with fresh eyes and think critically about what you've written. What's extra? What's missing? What is in the wrong place? What doesn't make sense? Don't be afraid to take it apart and rearrange sections. Do this several times over, and your essay will be much better for it!

For more editing tips, check out a style guide like Dreyer's English or Eats, Shoots & Leaves .

What's Next?

Still not sure which colleges you want to apply to? Our experts will show you how to make a college list that will help you choose a college that's right for you.

Interested in learning more about college essays? Check out our detailed breakdown of exactly how personal statements work in an application , some suggestions on what to avoid when writing your essay , and our guide to writing about your extracurricular activities .

Working on the rest of your application? Read what admissions officers wish applicants knew before applying .

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download them for free now:

The recommendations in this post are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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A warning, a watch and an advisory in effect for 12 regions in the area, neighbors voice concerns over proposed freightliner development in paloma neighborhood, if the project moves forward, the community’s top concerns are safety, peace, property values, and pollution.

Avery Everett , Multimedia Journalist

SAN ANTONIO – As the city expands, so are the conversations about the future of this field on the East Side.

“They shouldn’t make money at a community’s expense,” Jo Most said.

The land is located off Interstate 10 and Loop 1604, next to the Paloma neighborhood in San Antonio. Doggett Freightliner Properties, a semi-truck dealership, owns it.

They have multiple locations; the closest is in Converse. However, the City of San Antonio says this application is a plan amendment and voluntary annexation for a proposed development.

The development would be for freight liner sales, servicing, and outdoor storage.

Its proposed location for the next two major roads could be an ideal spot, but the project proposal poses problems for neighbors.

“Outraged, I’m like, no way. You’ve got to be kidding,” Most said.

If the project moves forward, the community’s top concerns are safety, peace, property values, and pollution.

“Think about the people who live here,” Most said.

“So you say 76 homes would have this as their backyard, but there are hundreds of other homes, thousands even, that be impacted,” said KSAT reporter Avery Everett.

“Correct, we have a total of 1344 homes here,” Most said.

Paloma Luxury Apartments, located just across the street from the land, said in a statement, “Residents here are concerned. They want their children to be able to play in a safe, peaceful setting. They don’t want big rigs in their backyards!”

KSAT emailed and called Doggett Freightliner and tried calling the attorneys listed in the rezoning requests. So far, there has been no response.

Neighbors say they’re set to meet with the company on Friday.

“So, how would you describe the Paloma neighborhood outside of this project?” asked Everett.

“Nice, family friendly, lots of military people,” Most said.

They hope to come to a resolution by projecting their community and growing the city.

About the Author

Avery everett.

Avery Everett is a news reporter and multimedia journalist at KSAT 12 News. Avery is a Philadelphia native. If she’s not at the station, she’s either on a hiking or biking trail. A lover of charcuterie boards and chocolate chip cookies, Avery’s also looking forward to eating her way through San Antonio, one taco shop at a time!

14 warnings, a watch and an advisory in effect for 16 regions in the area

Japanese town combating tourists by building screen to block view of mt. fuji, instead of welcoming tourists and the dollars they spend, this town is trying to drive them away.

Keith Dunlap , Digital Content Team, Graham Media Group

Usually towns that are in the middle of a popular tourist spot want to do all they can to cater to tourists.

After all, tourism is usually the lifeblood of the area economy in such towns.