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Posts by EF_Team5
Joined: Apr 22, 2008
Last Post: Nov 27, 2008
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Posts: 1583  
From: USA

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EF_Team5   
Nov 2, 2008
Undergraduate / Henry miller, man's destiny - my undergrad admissions essay [2]

You've done a good job of explaining this event, but not a lot of evaluation of it. Try to include a bit more analysis as to what/how this visit has changed you as a person. How do you see life differently? How do you feel about various situations differently? Are you a better or worse person (and in what way) than you were before this trip?
EF_Team5   
Nov 2, 2008
Undergraduate / Soccer Essay. Common App 150 words or less [2]

Good evening.

Your piece is mechanically clean; I could see no spelling or grammatical mistakes. You have good content for this piece as your short story tells a great deal of detail without exceeding the word count. A strong essay; nice work.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Nov 1, 2008
Undergraduate / The Summer of 2001 changed my life completely. UF essay [2]

"The SummerAs this is neither a proper noun nor the first word of a sentence, it should not be capitalized. of 2001 changed my life completely.

(New paragraph.) It was rather exciting how I was ...
... rode their bicycles a, nd of course, walked. Clothing was pretty similar ; they even had brands ...
... I understood most of the conversations people were having, but it still made me feel like an outsider.
... I felt awkward and felt I didn'tAvoid contractions in formal academic writing. belong. Even at the age of 10The general rule in academic writing is that if the number is between one and ten, write it out; if it is 11 and over, numerals are acceptable. years old, I was well-liked in the United ...

... and eating at the local restaurants (which I ended up loving ). I eventually understood Chinese (...) I was no longer assumed an introvert.
During my stay, I got to know ...
My grandfather had a deep converWhat is the intent here? how my mother met my father.
... and how their hard work still goes unnoticed.
... jobs as a cook at a Japanese restaurant and a seamstress at an interior ...
That night, I was watching M*A*S*H on TV and one of the characters said...
... I would be able to fulfill my parents' hopes for me to receive (...) exceptional grades AND to never take the blessings from my family &Avoid using abbreviations and symbols such as this in academic writing. God for granted.

... to success by taking AP & college preparatory courses and being an extrovert (...) Interact Club, and other various ...
... and a waitress which requires youAvoid using the pronoun "you" in academic writing; try using "me," "I," or "one" instead. to be outgoing, enthusiastic, and helpful.

... at the University of Florida studying Education, hopefully teaching Chinese as a foreign language.

You do a great job of explaining your background, but what about the "... and how it will affect your college experience or your contribution to the UF campus community" part of the prompt? More specifics as to this should be included in the piece.
EF_Team5   
Nov 1, 2008
Writing Feedback / Satirical essay; The topic is how lazy American's are. [3]

I'm not really sure that your point comes through in this piece. The tone and voice sounds like that of a whiny adolescent, so if that is what you are aiming for, that is accomplished. I'm just not sure that the "laziness" of Americans shows through.

First, it is not specified that Americans are those you are talking about; second, without your introduction to us that it is about laziness it is difficult for that to be seen.

To remedy this, perhaps trying a different point of view would be effective. Instead of making it a first person narrative, a third person opinion piece with some explanation and examples (like the instance above) could be included. Satire can be used in this form very successfully; if you are familiar with the stand up comedian George Carlson, he does a great job with this. Irony is something else that is often used in satire and might be beneficial for a piece such as this one; perhaps trying that instead of such staunch sarcasm would be more effective in getting your meaning broadcast to your audience.

Keep up the hard work!
EF_Team5   
Nov 1, 2008
Undergraduate / To enrich Howard University - Help with law school personal statement. [9]

Good evening.

Well, let's see. How about discussing an event that changed your life? What about the impact your family has had on you? Or a particular sport or extracurricular activity that has help mold your character into the person you are today? What are the things that have happened to you that make you, you?

Best of luck!

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Nov 1, 2008
Undergraduate / Further explain one of your activities - common app short answer [2]

Good evening.

Your essay is mechanically clean, and as you did not indicate what kind of assistance you are looking for, I'm not sure what other kind of assistance you are seeking. Your content looks like it answers the prompt, but if your word count is a fair number, you could add more details about this event.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Nov 1, 2008
Undergraduate / Lacrosse became my passion - Common App Short answer [3]

Good evening.

How about, "Now, knowing the damage arrogance can cause, I am careful not to fall into its snare." You could also use "overconfidence," "vanity," or "certainty."

Best of luck!

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Nov 1, 2008
Undergraduate / Lessons gathered from an ongoing life experience+diabetes- admission essays [2]

A very nice response to the piece; your tone is confident and strong. Good job.

"Within the college experience, students must rely on knowledge and guidance gained from experiences; some life changing, some not. Some individuals deal with prejudice, some antisocialism. I, however, deal with a disease that has not only changed my outlook on life, but also my determination throughout my years as a student. These lessons gathered from an ongoing life experience will assist me in my college years.

(Removed-see above comments.)
EF_Team5   
Nov 1, 2008
Undergraduate / Moving to a positive direction of intellectual curiosity - FSU Essay [2]

For clarification and to further organize your essay, try using the actual words of their philosophies in your essay. For example, use the word "Mores" in the section at the end where you talk about your moral codes. Other than that and the few suggestions inside the essay, I think you've got a good piece. I think it will make a fine common app response. Good work!
EF_Team5   
Nov 1, 2008
Undergraduate / How I help everyday people - UCF Essay 2! [3]

I like the super heroine analogy; it is very original and I think you can do much with it. You didn't post the prompt for the piece, so I'm not sure if it answers the question or not, but I think you're off to a running start. Keep up the hard work!
EF_Team5   
Oct 31, 2008
Undergraduate / sleek and stylish designs drew me in - Common App: Personal statement [3]

I'm not sure what the point of this essay is. It seems to just be a description of an event, but I'm not sure to what end. Focus in on the prompt for the piece and find a focal point for this in your essay. As it is, I'm not sure really what you are aiming for here.
EF_Team5   
Oct 31, 2008
Writing Feedback / Everything begins at any circumstance in life - FSU essay [2]

You have some good points in this essay, but overall it is a bit disorganized. Focus on a couple main points that you want to discuss, and don't stray off their points. This will help you keep focus on your piece, making it more streamlined and easier to follow.
EF_Team5   
Oct 31, 2008
Undergraduate / Community Service-Teaching and Chinese calligraphy -HELP ON Extra-cirrcular [2]

Good afternoon.

I think the community service topic affords you more possibilities to display multiple facets of your personality. You can discuss frustration, the happiness you experience when making that connection with your students, the different ways of communication you used for each group. There are more opportunities for you to showcase yourself more with this topic. Best of luck with the piece!

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 31, 2008
Undergraduate / WHAT EXPERIENCES HAVE INFLUENCED YOU TO OPT FOR ENGINEERING? [3]

In the future, please include what kind of assistance you are seeking, so that we all know what you need.

In regards to content, your reasoning and body are both appropriate responses to the prompt; you do a good job of explaining yourself, so I don't think I would add anything else to it.
EF_Team5   
Oct 31, 2008
Faq, Help / How do I delete a thread? [40]

You're welcome. One reason we don't remove threads is so that other members can look through the past postings and maybe find answers to their questions as well.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 31, 2008
Undergraduate / "only winning over myself, will I win over the world." - Admissions Essay [4]

Good afternoon.

As I am not a member of the UF admissions manual, I will not be able to tell you if this is "UF material" or not. It is a well organized essay that answers the prompt. You do a good job of describing your reasoning, and it has a good introduction and conclusion. I think it is a good essay overall.

Best of luck.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 31, 2008
Undergraduate / taking challenging courses in school - evaluate my FSU Admission Essay? [2]

Good afternoon.

A few mechanical suggestions. "Who's" should be "whose." Remove the comma after "high school." Also, avoid contractions in formal academic writing; they are inappropriate, and many instructors will count down for their use. The conclusion troubles me a bit because you introduce new information in it, the more "challenging courses." If you want to keep this, discuss these courses earlier on in your essay. If not, take this topic out. A conclusion should reiterate and restate the information already discussed in the piece, not add more new info in.

Best of luck.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 31, 2008
Undergraduate / From visiting my two brothers at UCF I determined that UCF is the perfect school for me. [2]

Good afternoon.

One of my brothers worked on campus for UCF.

After visiting them, I noticed many of the students showing school pride by wearing gold and black shirts and from participating in the UCF blackout football games. I also noticed how UCF is constantly updating itself. I noticed that there are new dorms being built, the high-tech gym, and the brand new amazingly looking football stadium.

Another thing I know about UCF is that the large number of majors that I can choose from. UCF is also known for having excellent academic colleges. However, I am mainly interested in majoring either in biology, computer science, or history."

Your ending is a bit too abrupt, and it introduces new information, so I suggest reworking it so that it restates the main points already discussed and wraps up the entire piece.
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Undergraduate / Penn autobiography; Adults and children are nearly two entirely separate species [2]

Good afternoon.

Mechanically, when you start something with quotation marks, make sure you finish it. For instance, what is the purpose of ..."death to the Jews). With no closing quotations?

Otherwise, this is a great piece. Very good analysis and close examination. Nice work.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Undergraduate / Drawing inspiration from Depression - Common App Essay [2]

Good afternoon.

Mechanically, avoid using contractions in formal academic writing; they are inappropriate and many instructors will count down for their use. Also, watch the capitalization of words that are neither proper nouns nor the first words of sentences. For instance, "Everything" shouldn't be capitalized. Watch your tense in this piece; you switch back from past to present intermittently, creating a very disorienting flow for your reader.

Your content is strong, and your tone is confident. As to the conclusion, I suggest you expand a bit on those three characteristics. It will make the essay a bit longer, but in the end I think you'll be happier with the results as it will give a feeling of closure to the piece.

Best of luck!

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Undergraduate / to spend summer in New Zealand - Common App essay [2]

Good afternoon.

Mechanically, a couple of things.

First, avoid contractions in formal academic writing; they are inappropriate and many instructors will count down for their use.

Second, make sure you are using double (") quotation marks instead of single (') ones, when "referring" to things.

Third, many of your sentences are too short, too close together, giving your essay a choppy flow. Try combining or condensing some of these sentences to smooth out this flow.

Otherwise, this is a great response to the prompt. Good detail but not too much, and an interesting introduction with a tidy conclusion. Good work.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Undergraduate / In the hospitable bed, UF Essay: Meaningful Experience [2]

Good afternoon.

The only thing I noticed about this piece was a contraction- "I'd." Make sure you avoid these in academic writing, as they are inappropriate and many instructors will count down for their use. Other than that, this is a fantastic essay. Concise, but with enough detail to keep your audience interested. Your tone is strong and confident, both very important in an essay such as this. Nice work.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Undergraduate / Calculus & Diversity - Common App Essay [3]

Good afternoon.

This piece is much better; much more focused, and a much better answer to the prompt. The only thing here is that you switch from past to present tense; choose one tense and stay there for the whole piece. You are in past until you begin to tell the actual story of the study hall; then you switch to present, and it is confusing.

Other than that, a fantastic essay! Great work!

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Undergraduate / I will always seek the goodness around me - UF Essay [2]

Good afternoon.

While this is a very well crafted introspective piece, I'm not sure it answers the prompt. What is the meaningful event or experience? This prompt wants a specific time in your life that has happened to you and how it will effect both you while at college and the college campus you attend. A little more focus is really all you need for an appropriate response.

Best of luck.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Faq, Help / Question about starting topics, how to upload, attach a PDF file? [5]

Good afternoon.

You can try and describe the situation here, and hopefully one of the members is extensively versed in PDF and they can assist you. Otherwise, if it is a PDF-specific question, you could contact the producer of the program.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Writing Feedback / [Argument]The residents of San Perdito should vote Montoya out of office [3]

Good afternoon.

I'm not sure if you posted the entire essay or not, but if you did, there needs to be a period at the very end :)

Mechanically, just a couple of things. When you are including numbers in your writing, the general rule is that if it is between one and ten, write out the word. If it is 11 or over, using numerals is appropriate.

Also, avoid using contractions in formal academic writing; they are inappropriate, and many instructors will count down for their use.

Other than that, this is a very concise, well organized, well structured piece. Nice work.

Best of luck!

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Undergraduate / My very first Youth and Government meeting - Common App Essay 250+ [2]

Good afternoon.

Just a few mechanical suggestions.

First, when "referring" to something, make sure you are using double (") quotation marks instead of single (') ones.

Second, make sure your punctuation is enclosed inside of those quotation marks. For example, "...something." rather than "...something".

Other than that, this looks like a very clean, well organized essay. Nice work!

Best of luck.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Writing Feedback / Decline of Complexity in Music, Criticism and Help on Personal Belief Essay [3]

Good afternoon.

A few mechanical suggestions.

First, when you are "referring" to something, make sure you are using double (") quotation marks and not singular (') ones.

Second, make sure you enclose your punctuation inside of your quotation marks. For instance, "...something." instead of "...something".

I'm not sure what reference style you are using, but make sure your inline citations are adhering to the formatting requirements of that citation style.

The content looks well researched and organized, with a very smooth flow. Your introduction and conclusion tie the piece up nicely, but for further comments on the specifics of the content I suggest you have the piece reviewed by someone versed in this topic.

Best of luck!

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Undergraduate / a class taught by a historic figure-living or dead - Writing sample [2]

Good afternoon.

First, remember punctuation at the end of every sentence.

Second, do you mean "stooped," or did you mean "stopped?"

Third, I suggest you run the piece through a spell checking program such as Word or the Mozilla web browser (free at mozilla.com).

Make sure you are only capitalizing proper nouns and the first words of sentences; this includes words enclosed in quotation marks.

Avoid using abbreviations such as "etc." in formal academic writing. Write out all of the items in your series instead.

Make sure your punctuation is enclosed inside the quotation marks when you are using them, never outside of them "after the fact."

I hope these suggestions help you get started; now go back through and carefully look for these instances. Your essay will be much stronger once you have.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Grammar, Usage / Legend / Subtitles... description of images in texts. [2]

Good afternoon.

Generally they are called "captions."

"Together," "with," "in addition to," or "alongside" could also work. Try looking in a thesaurus for "together" to see if there are any other synonyms you like better.

Best of luck!

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Graduate / question about application requirement [2]

Good afternoon.

The prompt asks you to put forth an original idea and support it, so it seems that they want an opinion piece on something. Choose a topic you are well versed and passionate about, and then write an essay about it. Choose something that isn't too controversial (if you can help it) but that is still interesting. This piece will showcase how well you can stand by your own ideas in your writing. I would stay away from autobiographical subject matter for this piece, as it asks for an original idea with support.

I hope this helps you get started!

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Undergraduate / "Why Carnegie Mellon University" [2]

Good afternoon.

A few things.

First, make sure you are only capitalizing proper nouns and the first words of sentences. For instance, "Computer Science" should not be capitalized.

Remove the comma after "computers" in the first paragraph.

Place a comma after "algorithms" in the third paragraph.

Make sure your punctuation is always enclosed in quotation marks when using them. For instance, "The Last Lecture", should be "t he Last Lecture, "

You say you were inspired by Dr. Randy Pausch's...what? Please finish this sentence.

"Horizon" should be "Horizons."

I hope this helps you get started.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Undergraduate / "only winning over myself, will I win over the world." - Admissions Essay [4]

Good afternoon.

Mechanically, a few thoughts. First, the use of hyphens in this piece is unnecessary; you can remove them.

Second, make sure your punctuation is enclosed in quotation marks when you are using them. For example, "experts", should be "experts,".

"...life, "W hat is going..."

Remove the comma after "success" as it is unnecessary.

"..."O nly winning over myself (Remove comma) will I win..."

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Undergraduate / A Cheerleader - a snobby girl who is usually self-centered and typically not intelligent - UF [4]

Congratulations!

A few things on this piece. First, make sure you are capitalizing only proper nouns and the first words of sentences. As such, "Vice President" and "State" shouldn't be capitalized.

Make sure your punctuation is always included inside your quotation marks. For instance, "joke". should be "joke."

Please see your previous posts as to the treatment of numerals in writing.

Nice opening and closing. Good work.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
EF_Team5   
Oct 30, 2008
Undergraduate / fulfilling life because of Color - UF essay [2]

Good afternoon.

A couple of suggestions. First "team mate" is one word: "teammate." Also, the conclusion is a little shaky. You introduce new information in it, which leaves the reader wondering if you are really finished and as such should not be introduced unless you are going to give it an appropriate paragraph of its own. Also, the sentences in this paragraph are too short, giving the essay a very choppy flow. Consider condensing or combining sentences to smooth out this flow.

Good luck!

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com

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