Here are a few tips for developing an essay that conveys your personal qualities:

Plan your essays during the summer before your senior year, if you can, or early in your senior year. Allow yourself enough time for all the steps below, and write an individual essay for each college.

Be sure you understand the college’s topics, directions, and deadlines, and look in its catalog or guidebook for descriptions on the personal qualities it is looking for. One selective college, for example, seeks “candidates whose qualities of intellect, initiative, and energy demonstrate desire for both intellectual and personal fulfillment.” An essay for that college should demonstrate to and persuade the institution that you have those qualities.

Before you start your essay, write down your aspirations and how you think the college will help you meet them. Then develop a personal inventory. Make lists of your civic and school activities, your travels, awards, honors other accomplishments, work experiences, any academic or personal shortcoming you are trying to overcome, and the personality traits you value about yourself. To focus your essay, develop a one-sentence theme form your inventory.

Think about the form you might use to convey your information. Straight proses are fine; but if your theme lends itself to another approach, try it.

Now write a draft. Set the draft aside for 24 hours, and then reread it to spot clichés, triteness, vagueness, dullness, grammatical errors, and misspellings. Is your essay focused on your theme, or does it ramble? Is it confusing, or boring? Does the introduction “grab” the reader?

Rewrite your essay based on this evaluation and repeat step 5 as often as necessary, to sharpen your essay.

Ask someone whose opinions you respect to read your essay and give you his or her candid impressions. Ask for specifics but do not let this person rewrite your essay. “Tell me what you think I’m trying to say. How do I come across as a person? What parts confuse you? Where do you need more details? What parts bore you? Tell me the parts you like best?”

If necessary, go back to steps 3, 4, or 5. If this draft is the best you can do, polish it by checking again for spelling and grammatical errors, awkward phrasing, inaccurate usage, unnecessary words, or anything else that does not sound right to you. Read your essay out loud to locate the rough spots