Watch What You Read: College Admissions Essay Help

From the beginning of your essay writing process, you should be aware of what you're reading. The phrase garbage in, garbage out applies: if you are reading a steady diet of mediocre writing, you are missing a great opportunity to improve your own writing.

The point is not that you will copy the good writing you read, but that it will be a positive influence. Your style, structure, and even vocabulary can improve when you are exposed to high quality writing. Therefore, if your literary diet consists of enticing yet averagely written novels or flashy entertainment magazines, put them aside for a while and pick up something new.

What should you read? We've polled English professors and teachers, college counselors, and admissions officers for their ideas. In the following list are books and periodicals that offer pieces on current events, celebrities, book reviews, science, history, sports, and other topics. Choose material that appeals to you; there is no need to force yourself to read about something that holds little personal interest. You can be assured of finding superior writing on a wide variety of subjects in the following:

• Rolling Stone (weekly magazine): essays, fiction, and reporting on political, literary, cultural, and scientific affairs.
• Vanity Fair (monthly magazine): reporting and commentary on con-temporary issues, fiction, and columns on politics, celebrities, and more.
• The Economist (daily newspaper): London publication covering world news, finance and economics, science and technology, books and arts, and business news.
• The New Yorker (weekly magazine): political and business reporting, social commentary, fiction, humor, art, poetry, and criticism.
• Best American Essays 2009, Mary Oliver, editor (Mariner Books, 2009): annual publication; any year is fine; all volumes include a wide range of subjects.
• One Hundred Great Essays, 4th edition, Robert Diyanni (Longman, 2010): great variety of classic and contemporary writing, including works by Queen Elizabeth I, Benjamin Franklin, Zora Neale Hurston, Amy Tan, and Dave Barry.
• The Best American Magazine Writing of 2009, American Society of Magazine Editors (Columbia University Press, 2009): includes fiction and reporting on science, sports, current events, and personalities.