A group of college admissions experts gathered at the National Association for College Admissions Counseling convention in San Diego, and held a panel discussion on college essay writing. These experts (which included the head of admissions at both Cornell and UC-Berkeley) agreed that most students are unable to write compelling college application essays that offer admissions officers any insight into who they are and how they think.
However, they agreed that following five simple guidelines would allow students to write better essays, and therefore, to better indicate what they would bring to a college campus.