Essay即小论文，是美国本科留学申请重要材料之一，是美国大学了解申请者学习能力的重要途径。对于学生能否顺利申请到美国大学有着非常重要的影响，那么，如何才能撰写一份让人满意的essay呢?YJBYS留学小编为大家进行简要介绍。
1、结构
有些美国申请essay文章虽然有主题和思想，但无奈欠缺章法。没有清楚的脉络，而是一盘散沙，各个部分相互之间关系不大。还有一种常见情况就是思维出现跳跃。段落和段落，前句和后句之间不是很有联系。或者前面在说一件事，后面写的却和前面关系不大。这样容易让AO摸不着头脑，找不出逻辑，说不定心里烦闷就直接大段大段WS了。出现这些情况的原因主要有两种。其一就是结构本来没构建好，组织不清晰连贯。
遇到这种情况解决方法通常是在写之前就找到清晰的线索和叙述顺序，然后一步步按顺序来。
2、语法
语法是国内的应试英语角语十分强调的内容，结果有些同学考试英语在校考试成绩很好，写起文章却错误很多。在此天道留学专家建议在修改时睁大眼睛，仔细地寻找可能出错的地方，就像训练做SAT WR部分选择题一样。通常错误也就那么几类，一般是时态，动词第三人称，Run-On Sentence，前后主谓一致性，无主语等等。特别强调一下似乎不少人都不怎么使用完成时态，这一点不太好。因为很多时候现在完成时和过去完成时是很重要的。
3、句式
句式的多样性一直是一大问题。有些筒子抱怨写来写去都是哪几种句式，不新颖。这里我要说的是多样化的句式都是自己总结出来的，别人不会帮你总结，要靠自己思考和发现。句式是文笔的一大表现，所以各位还是练好写作能力为上。不过还是有些方法，比如长短句结合，被动态句式，排比句，分词作主语，从句。可以尝试一下，看看效果如何。还有一个问题就是超长句。其实没必要把一个句子写那么长。
4、用词
有些同学喜欢先想出汉语，然后翻译成英语。结果一旦不会翻译就求助于Baidu或者汉英词典。后果之一就是文章中有时会出现一些生僻词，但用法其实不对。解决方法就是谨慎用词。或者使用一个拿不准的词前找英语好的人，比如老师或者Native Speaker看看行不行。还有一个问题就是词汇的多样性，这一点也要注意。永远要把相同的两个词之间的“距离”拉得越长越好。
5、完整性
不可否认戛然而止是一种美。但如果你在段中戛然而止或者留下了不必要的“悬念”的话，建议还是让AO看到一个完整的故事比较好。注意检查自己是不是有没有圆满说完的地方。
6、学术性
不可否认有些时候一些比较学术的东西可能会在Essay中出现。对某专业的热爱有时还会成为主题。这时要尽可能低估AO的智商—这样没有坏处。AO不是专业人员，也不是某领域的教授。所以在心中要把他们和劳苦大众划等号，用尽可能通俗的语言把要说的陈述出来。还有，不要为了展现所谓的思想而“炫耀”自己。(这点不少书都说过)现在这个年龄的人不可能有多少成熟完备的思想。展现自己的动力，热情和兴趣反而更加有效。与其大书特书在某领域的不成熟的见解或者已经取得的“光辉耀眼”的成绩，不如给AO展现自己能在今后继续奋斗或思考下去的可能。
7、流畅和音律
一篇好的Essay应该看起来流畅自然，读起来朗朗上口。这就对句型的选取，句式的运用和搭配，词汇的取舍有更高的要求了。所以，大家还可以时不时把Essay读出来，然后体会自己的感受。Essay写到很优秀的层面，不仅内容，思想一流，而且行文有节奏，有韵律，给人以美的享受。能做好这一方面实属不易，而这种层次也应该是大家的奋斗目标。
8、字数
不少去美国读本科的学生在创作时落笔万言，结果发现大大超出了学校字数要求。小编就强调一点，字数的限制一定要遵守!
最后，让我们一起来欣赏一篇优秀的美国本科申请essay!
It has come to my attention that our nations， and nations like ours， have long been plagued by a mysterious occurrence. An occurrence that is as perplexing as it is frustrating， and as baffling as it is widespread， a problem that finds its origins at the very foot of our society. The problem of which I speak is none other than “The Orphan Sock Enigma，” the constant disappearance of individual socks during the laundering process. It is a problem familiar to all of us， and also one to which we have unwillingly admitted defeat.
I recently decided that this puzzle had remained unsolved for too long， and resolved to find an explanation. (In the grand tradition of science， I refused to be discouraged by the basic irrelevance of my cause.) But the truth that I uncovered is more shocking and fantastic than I could have ever imagined. My procedures， observations， and conclusions are as follows：
First， to verify that the problem exists， experimental and control loads of laundry were completely processed (put through the washer and dryer)。 In the xperimental load (load with socks)， by the end of the process， some socks were lost. But in the control load (load without socks)， no socks were lost. Thus the problem was verified.
Next the progress of a load of socks was carefully monitored. The results indicated that sock disappearance occurs during the period of time when the load is in the dryer. Following this conclusion， a literature search was done and a very significant fact was uncovered： there is no mention of socks disappearing in dryers before the invention of dryers in the 1920s. All evidence clearly pointed to the dryer. And it is there that I would find the answer to the enigma.
Then， the actual experiment was done. In four separate trials， a number of socks (ten socks， or five pairs) were put through a normal drying cycle. The types of socks tested were selected by the highly accurate Harvey-Allman Principle Hierarchy and Zero Alternative Reduction Dimension (HAP-HAZARD)。