Introduction to Draft an Application Essay

Writing an application essay is your opportunity to show schools, employers, and others who you are and to reveal something important about you that your grades and test scores can't—your personality and what makes you unique.

In this lesson, you will draft an application essay using Google Docs.

You might not have an opportunity right now that requires you to write an essay, and that’s okay.

Writing an application essay now gives you valuable experience and practice for when an opportunity does come along.

All organizations and schools have their own essay requirements, so it’s important to carefully review and follow all directions, including formatting and submission guidelines, and minimum and maximum word counts.

This is especially important because it shows that you can follow directions and can edit as needed.

Because your essay also gives you a chance to showcase your writing skills, it’s valuable practice to write more than one draft, proofread it, and have other people review it, like family, teachers, or a guidance counselor.

Writing an essay takes time and requires lots of thought and rewriting.

Also, everyone writes at their own pace.

If you need extra time to write or think about your essay, feel free to pause any video in this lesson to work in your document.

Then, begin the video again when you are ready to move on.

This lesson uses Google Docs, but you could apply these skills and concepts in most other word processing applications or even on a piece of paper.

As you complete this project in Google Docs, you will: Choose an essay topic, Brainstorm details about your topic, And write a draft of your essay with introductory, body, and concluding paragraphs.

To work on this lesson, sign in to your Google account.

Open a new tab in your browser, and navigate to Google.com.

If you are not signed in, do so now.

If you do not have a Google account, pause the video and create one now.

To begin, open your Google Drive.

Create a new document and rename it.

Then, move on to the next video to begin planning your essay.

Now, it’s your turn: Sign in to your Google account, And create a new document.