When you apply to a college, you may need to submit a college essay so that the college of your choice can get to know you, the applicant, a little bit better. Some colleges may ask that you write about any significant experiences you may have had, or accomplishments achieved that may have helped in defining the type of person you are.

The problem here is that you are not just describing, but also exploring the complexity of the issue at hand. Be careful not to glorify yourself in any given paragraph but rather evaluate your experiences and any ethical dilemma you may have faced and what impact it had on your life.

Other options are that the admission officers would like to get to know you as a person, so concentrate on one issue of local, national or international level and keep it at the heart of the essay.

People don't want to read a political lecture, but rather want to read something that tells them about your character, your passion and where your ability lies. This is one of the other options you can write about.

A third option is to name a person who had significance influence on your life and then discuss what the person in mention brought to your life and how they influenced you. In this type of essay, be careful to not to "Hero Worship" the person, rather discuss the positive or negative influence the person had on your life and how you changed because of it.

Option four; a college may want you to describe a character in fiction, creative work or historical figure that has had an enormous impact on your life and discuss what type of impact this figure had. In this instance you would want to analyze the figure or work of art and how it influenced you.

The above are some examples of what colleges may expect from you. But here are some tips that you can use to write your college essay.

1. This essay is an opportunity, so be creative and let the admission officer know the type of person you are.

2. Try to be yourself. You don't have to write the essay in a tone you don't normally use. If you are funny, then let that part come through in your writing. The same goes if you are serious. Don't try to be something you are not.

3. Try to focus on one thing. Don't go in to too much detail and try to cover everything. If you concentrate on one event, figure or activity, you will find it's much easier to write about it than trying to write about everything.

4. Don't treat your college essay as a history report. Providing some basic background detail is fine but try not to quote what other author's have said or written too much since the essay is all about you and the admission's officer wants to know about you and not someone else.

5. Make sure you have proofread the essay several times. You don't want your essay to come across as "hastily written."

6. Lastly try to keep it to the point and you will have a great college essay on your hands that will let the college know what type of person you are and this will let them know about your character and personality.