What are the characteristics that make a great essay?

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Jerome A. Cole, MA
Director of College Counseling, The Edmund Burke School
coleecs.googlepages.com/home  
(301) 625-5066

Jerome A. Cole, M.A., is the Director of College Counseling for the Edmund Burke school in Washington, D.C. and the founder of Cole Educational Consulting Services (Cole ECS.) He has worked with students and families for over seven years to help them plan and strategize for college. As a college counselor at Burke, an independent college preparatory high school founded in 1968, Mr. Cole oversees a program that is designed to support students and families as they go through the selection and admission process for college. Mr. Cole advises over 100 students each year in a small academically challenging environment where every senior is expected to apply to and enroll in college. Prior to Burke, he was a school counselor at Bethesda-Chevy Chase high school in Montgomery County, Maryland. He has successfully counseled hundreds of students and helped them prepare for admission to a variety of schools such as: American University, Clark-Atlanta University, Davidson College, George Washington University, Harvard University, Pitzer College, Stanford University, Temple University, and the University of Maryland at College Park, to highlight just a few. He established the consulting firm Cole ECS to provide students and families with the necessary information and support to make the best choice for college. Cole ECS defines the best choice as the optimal learning and social environment to ensure a student’s holistic success, culminating in on-time or early graduation and desirable post-graduate options. Mr. Cole earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Catholic University, and then went on to obtain a Master of Arts in Education and Human Development from George Washington University. He is certified as a school counselor and is a member of the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC).

What are the characteristics that make a great essay?

In this video, Jerome Cole tells you everything you need to know to complete the perfect college application and have a great college interview.

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This series: 15,381 views

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Transcripts

Speaker: What are the characteristics that make up a great essay?

Jerome Cole: Well, the feedback that I get from colleges is pretty consistent. A great essay is one that is well written, that follows the instructions, it is supposed to be 500 words, so it is 500 words and one that talks about you, one that gives me some insight into who you are; what kind of a person you are; what you are going to bring to campus. I know you area good student because I have reviewed your transcript and it tells me who you are in terms of your academics. So, that question has been answered. I have seen your test scores; they reflect the fact that you are strong academically, but that does not tell me what kind of a person you are; that does not tell me what kind of a roommate you are going to be; what you are going to bring to the campus itself and to some extent what you are going to bring off campus. That essay, the well written essays, they speak to that; they give the reader some insight into what kind of person you are; what kind of roommate you are going to be; what you are going to bring to the campus and ultimately that is what the colleges are looking for in an essay.

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