You've gnawed your pencil down to the eraser. Your college essay reads more like a list of accomplishments than brilliant prose. Even you would reject you, based on the tone of your essay, which comes off as only arrogant or self-deprecating, but never in-between.

A parent stands guard behind each shoulder, urging you to brag a little more about the debate team - "honey, you forgot to mention that not only were you president, but you were president for two years!" Sure, it's important to brag. And yes, it's also important to let a college know which activities you love, and how devoted you are to each and every one. But these things have their places: in activities charts, in résumés, in the short essay questions that ask about your most meaningful activities.

The college essay should be seen as a different sort of opportunity -- one where you can jump out from the paper, grab hold of your admissions officer, and proceed to envelop him -- in 500 words or less -- with all that is charming, quirky, or even downright alarming about you. Let him push aside that pile of applications, kick off his shoes, and spend 10 minutes walking in yours.

So how exactly do you go about writing an admissions essay that makes your reader wish they knew you -- or better yet, feel like they already do? Do like the Impressionists do. Impressionist art captures its subject with strong strokes and dabs of color -- more concerned with getting the feel across than with accuracy. A creative application essay is like this -- you're not trying to cram in all the details, but you can capture the essence with a few strokes here, a few dots there.

But what will you write about? How will you write it? Who should read your college essay before you seal it for good and surrender it to the mailbox? To help you along your quest for that perfect essay, some guidelines are listed below. Follow them loosely, experiment with them, or use them as springboards for more ideas. Most of all, be creative and have fun; it'll show.

Lock yourself up for a few hours. This is reflective time -- brainstorm, doodle, and list every single idea that pops up or tiptoes shyly across the back of your mind. Ask yourself endless questions: What makes you different from Applicant #1156? What excites you? What worries you? What is the strangest thing you've ever seen? Then experiment with your answers: Write about yourself in the third person, or try someone else's point of view. Have a conversation with yourself. Be weird. Be interesting. And be yourself. Make sure every sentence you write is drenched and dripping with you.

Send your qualms and reservations to Bermuda... or some other exotic place where they can soak up the rays and leave you alone. When you begin to write, don't write for a stranger. Strangers are people we honk at on the roads, not people we entrust with our personal essays. Instead, write for a best friend. Be enthusiastic, open, honest. Drop your guard on the first draft. Let down your hair, roll up your sleeves, smudge up your notepad so it looks messy and inviting. Postpone your editing and any critical thoughts until you have the first completed draft in all its smeared and scribbled glory, and are sitting happily in front of it.

There are only 500 words. Think of your dream college. Only 2000 spaces. Each admitted student has been carefully evaluated and chosen from all over the country. Think of your creative essay as a "college" too, and you're the admissions officer. There are only 500 spaces, and you must hand-pick each word to make up the most diverse and accomplished incoming class your college has ever seen. Be tough when editing! Be concise and exact. Choose effective verbs:?"Stumble" says more than "fall;" "twirl" says more than "turn around in a circle." Make each word deserve its spot in your top college.

Outside voices. After you have created an essay so strongly you that outside influences will not change the core of it, then -- and only then -- should you consider outside opinions. Read examples of essays that worked magic. Browse the college application shelves at libraries and bookstores. In particular, flip through collections like The Best College Admission Essays (IDG Books Worldwide) or 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays (Griffin Trade Paperback), books that wash over you in waves upon waves of unique voices. Listen to the different styles, and think about how you can find a voice just as distinct. There are many who can read your essay and give you suggestions, but in the end, the choice is all yours.

Choose wisely. Can they read your admissions essay with impartiality? Give helpful suggestions? Will they be reserved in their criticisms, or overly critical? Don't look at your potential readers as "sister" or "teacher," but as people who can or cannot help you with your essay. In the end, though, remember that this is your essay. Own it. Place it under your pillow (not the spotless, wrinkle-free copy you mail in, of course), and sleep on it. Do whatever it takes -- but be possessive. When you claim the words as your own, your unique voice will emerge.

Again, these are only guidelines, but the goal should remain the same: To find your voice, to discover why you are amazing and unique, and to capture some of this in your essay. As writer Ray Bradbury said, "And they were all, when their souls grew warm, poets." Go warm up your soul and wax poetic. Good luck.

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