How to Start a College Essay: Openings That Work

Short answer: Write the opening last.

Longer answer: Think of your essay like a cake. You make the cake, frost the cake, then decorate it. The opening line is the decoration. Too many students stare at a blinking cursor waiting for the perfect first sentence to appear — that’s Blinking Cursor Syndrome, and it’ll kill your momentum before you’ve written anything.

In musical theater, the opening number is written last. The writers know the whole show first, then they write the number that sets it up. Same logic applies here.

Write the essay. Then go back and write the opening.

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The system behind the answer

Think like an admissions officer.

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“The strongest essays do not simply tell a story. They make you easier to choose.”