Writing admissions essays and statements of purpose is easily the most challenging part of the application process, and it's easy to understand why. Most people don't like to write, and even those of us who do enjoy writing can come up blank when called upon to write about ourselves, especially when so much is at stake. The fact remains: If you want to get into a high-quality university or grad-school program, you have to be able to assemble several hundred carefully chosen words that sum up your background and qualifications, your career goals (this applies more to grad-school essays), and your reason for choosing the program to which you're applying. Strong communication skills are important to success in college or grad school and beyond, and admissions committees look for evidence of these skills in your writing. Writing admissions essays is stressful-it's designed to be that way-but that doesn't mean it's impossible. Everyone who has ever applied to college or grad school has written admissions essays, and if they can do it, so can you. And if you follow the advice in this guide, the process will be a lot easier than you might expect. The good news is that most admissions essays are mediocre at best. If you can construct essays that are reasonably clear and concise, and if you can spell and punctuate everything correctly-or know someone who can-you'll automatically have an advantage over the majority of the competition. David Bolick has been helping university and grad-school applicants create more powerful essays for more than 20 years. He wrote this user-friendly guide to help applicants write clear, concise, powerful essays and avoid some of the common mistakes