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Next to finding a good topic, planning your admissions essay is probably the most difficult part of the process. That's because an admissions essay is unique. It doesn't have the same goal as a typical high school essay, which is to carefully follow the proper form and structure, and to demonstrate your mastery of a topic and the English language.

No, the admissions essay is different. Here, in just a page or two, you need to somehow establish a bond with an admissions officer whom you've never met. Sure, that admissions officer wants to read an essay that's carefully put together and is written well. But even more importantly, he or she is looking to find out a little something about what makes you tick. What's important to you? How does your mind work? What are you interested in? Why do you deserve a spot at School X?

In high school you've probably been taught the "five paragraph essay," or something similar to it. An introduction, three idea paragraphs, and a conclusion. While there's nothing inherently wrong with this setup, and in fact it may be a decent way to approach the essay on the SAT or ACT, the strict five-paragraph approach can sometimes suck the life or passion from a student's writing. This is fine if you're in history class, writing about the Revolutionary War. But if you're trying to get through to an admissions officers who reads hundreds of essays each month, you need to work hard to establish a personal connection.

That doesn't mean there's a right or a wrong way to plan and set up your admissions essay. In my experience, here are some approaches that work (and some that don't):

Admissions Essay Structures That Work

• Telling a Story. If your essay is about something that happened to you, try just telling the story as it took place, from start to finish. You can open your essay by setting the stage, and close it by telling what you learned. Stories are interesting and typically do a good job of keeping the reader engaged.
• Discussing an Important Activity or Aspect of Your Life. This can also be done in chronological order. In essays about being an immigrant in America and developing as a filmmaker, these authors lead the reader through their adventures, so that the reader can understand the author's development at each stage.
• Analyzing Something That's Important to You. Sometimes good college essays simply discuss a personality quirk or issue that's important to the author. This works fine, but you need to make sure that you're discussing your topic in an orderly way. Don't just babble about, say, your love of running. For this type of essay, you might want to map out what you'll say paragraph by paragraph, before you begin. Note that if the paragaphs could go in any order, it's probably not a great essay. Ideally, as in this essay about science, there's really only one order that makes sense.
• Going with Your Gut. Sometimes the best essays spring directly from the author's mind onto the page. There's nothing wrong with this approach. But you need to make sure that there's a natural progression to your essay. Don't just throw words on the page.

These are just a few essay formats that work. The key is that each of these setups leave the author with an essay that moves forward from start to finish with a purpose and in an orderly way.

Unfortunately, many college essays don't have such a purpose. Here are some commonly-used admissions essay structures that hurt the author and confuse (or bore) the reader.

Admissions Essay Structures that Don't Work

• Writing Without Organizing. The worst thing you can do structurally when writing your admissions essay is just to write whatever comes into your head, in any order. Don't just write until you hit your word limit! Whether it's in story format or you're writing about the various aspects of something important to you, your essay structure needs to have rhyme and reason. Each paragraph should be about something different, your transitions should be clear, and there should be a reason that you've placed everything in the order you chose.
• Too Many Flashbacks or Asides. Confusing admissions essays often are hard to keep up with. If you change time periods or use a flashback, make sure it's very clear. Lots of admissions essays lose their reader's interest by being difficult to follow.
• Boring and Pointless Commentary. When discussing Topics, we talked about what makes an essay interesting. But poor structure can also make an essay boring. If you're writing about tennis, don't just use an introduction, three paragraphs about different reasons you like tennis, and then a conclusion. That's dull! The essay should progress, and if you're just listing 2-4 arguments or reasons for something, your essay is probably not interesting or personal enough.

Jay Brody is an independent college counselor in Chicago. In addition to helping families with all aspects of the college admissions process, he manages a number of SAT courses and tutoring programs. Jay is passionate about helping students find--and get accepted into--their dream schools.

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