Being funny is a lot harder than you think. A student who can make an admissions officer laugh never gets lost in the shuffle. The joke is read aloud, everyone smiles, and they can't toss your app into the reject pile. But beware. Most people think they're funny, but only a few really are. Stay away from one liners, limericks, and anything off-color.
Maintain the proper tone. Your essay should be informal without being sloppy, witty without being childish, memorable without being outrageous.
Some reference books are helpful; some are deadly. Make sure your essay is well-written, but make sure that it reflects the real you--not the one with a vocabulary pumped up with huge words.
We can't recommend The Elements of Style, by William Strunk, Jr., and E. B. White, highly enough. This little book is a required investment for any writer. You'll use it again and again and again in college and beyond. If you do what it says, your writing will definitely improve.
Big words from the thesaurus are a big joke. Don't try to "beef up" your compositions by substituting long, difficult words for short, easy ones. Some students write a rough draft in their own words and then use a thesaurus to plug in big, impressive words. Doing this is always obvious and never impressive. Admissions folks can spot a "thesaurusized" composition a mile away.
Throw away your copy of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. One of the worst things a student essay can contain is a lot of sentences that begin, "As Shakespeare said..." or, "I am reminded of Tennyson's words...." Admissions officers will know you found these lines in a book of quotations. If you are succicent and specific, and you allow your personality to show through, you'll do much better than you would be quoting a famous, dead person.
