Lessons learned: 2025-2026

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Test score becomes critical this year.

Counselor is very surprised by DC's EA results. He told DC schools treat anything over 1500 the same, no difference. A super high score would not help him much. And his college list are nearly all reaches.

Couldn't be more wrong.

Not sure I understand your comment. Can you clarify what you mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Test score becomes critical this year.

Counselor is very surprised by DC's EA results. He told DC schools treat anything over 1500 the same, no difference. A super high score would not help him much. And his college list are nearly all reaches.

Couldn't be more wrong.

I find this hard to believe unless it's one of the Tech schools. Ivies are much more interested in course rigor, narratives, and ECs than fine gradations about 1500.

I find it hard to believe because of timing. What schools that would be a reach for a kid like this have released EA results? What, are you in at MIT and Michigan? Congrats but that’s two data points, not a trend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Test score becomes critical this year.

Counselor is very surprised by DC's EA results. He told DC schools treat anything over 1500 the same, no difference. A super high score would not help him much. And his college list are nearly all reaches.

Couldn't be more wrong.

Why would you equate poor outcomes to a single test score? It’s true that schools aren’t deciding who do admit based on small 10 point SAT differences. It’s likely that there were other gaps in the application - blaming it on a test score is just the easiest way to avoid hurting your child’s feelings too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Test score becomes critical this year.

Counselor is very surprised by DC's EA results. He told DC schools treat anything over 1500 the same, no difference. A super high score would not help him much. And his college list are nearly all reaches.

Couldn't be more wrong.

Why would you equate poor outcomes to a single test score? It’s true that schools aren’t deciding who do admit based on small 10 point SAT differences. It’s likely that there were other gaps in the application - blaming it on a test score is just the easiest way to avoid hurting your child’s feelings too much.

The PP is saying the opposite: that his kid had a near-perfect test score, counselor said it wouldn’t matter, but they applied EA to a dozen T10 non-tech schools — and got into all of them. Some of us think this anecdote is a fabrication.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Test score becomes critical this year.

Counselor is very surprised by DC's EA results. He told DC schools treat anything over 1500 the same, no difference. A super high score would not help him much. And his college list are nearly all reaches.

Couldn't be more wrong.

Why would you equate poor outcomes to a single test score? It’s true that schools aren’t deciding who do admit based on small 10 point SAT differences. It’s likely that there were other gaps in the application - blaming it on a test score is just the easiest way to avoid hurting your child’s feelings too much.

The PP is saying the opposite: that his kid had a near-perfect test score, counselor said it wouldn’t matter, but they applied EA to a dozen T10 non-tech schools — and got into all of them. Some of us think this anecdote is a fabrication.

Ahh, I see. It wasn’t worded terribly well.

But I agree - a test score above the 25th percentile at a school will never make an application, unless they are a state flagship who care about them for scholarships .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS who is well rounded and has absolutely no hook got into Duke. His best friend got into an Ivy and he is a well rounded kid as well.

Reading many college counseling websites and this forum, it seemed pointless to apply without a spike to a top rated college. I am not sure what to make of it, but think plenty of well rounded kids are ending up at these colleges.

Wow. That's amazing. What do you think made them stand out in a crowded pool? They got in last year for RD?
Major for both?
Type of HS?
National or interesting ECs?

DS specified Economics and his friend applied for Engineering. We are in FCPS (not in TJ).

Just a really wide range of activities nothing national.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Figure out how to effectively recycle supplementals from one school to the next. Operative word is effectively. This both takes and saves time.

I agree. This is especially important if your kid is applying to 10+ schools, each with multiple supplemental essays.

This part of the process was MUCH more difficult than DD (and then we, her parents) expected!!

Next time (with DC2), we will help him up front in ways that should not be necessary, but I think are . . . by creating a chart of some sort showin EVERY supplemental essay for the schools on his list, and helping him strategically figure out which ones line up and which ones are truly unique.

It seems absolutely ridiculous, which is why it never crossed our mind to consider this with DC1. They applied to 12 schools, each with at least 2 supplemental essays, some with as many as 5. The idea of STARTING the process in August with a chart that included 40 essays to be written would have caused DD's head to explode. But I do think it would have helped save time and effort in the long run . . . .

More details for those who are interested:

While it seems at first that there are only a few types of supplementals (Why X college, Tell us about a community you're a part of, Describe a life experience that impacted you and will influence your involvement at X college) every school finds a way to put their own spin on it. And schools mix and match their questions in different ways such that straight cut-and-paste from other applications doesn't really work.

Sometimes the topic is almost exactly the same but the word limit is 200 instead of 500 (or the reverse), which means a ton of editing to the point that it becomes an entirely different essay.

Sometimes the topic seems to be the same on the surface, but is actually asking for something different. (I'm thinking of one supplement that asked about community, but on closer read it actually focused on CONVERSATION - something about how the kid learned to engage with others in conversation etc. So the straight-up community essay from School X was not at all a fit because the examples were completely off topic.)

And sometimes a school has two supplements are similar to those your kid wrote for other schools, but they overlap in weird ways, so your kid needs to deconstruct and rearrange parts from multiple essays to make it all work as a whole. Again, complete pain in the butt.

Bottom line: If your kid is applying to 10+ schools, each with multiple supplements, ENCOURAGE THEM TO START EARLY!!

And consider having them create blocks of ideas/examples that can be moved around independently to serve different purposes. It involves a level of forethought and planning that is truly ridiculous, IMHO.

(The other option is to apply to fewer schools . . . or to seek out schools with fewer or no supplemental essays. There are some great schools that fall into this category. A quick Google search will bring up lists of supplement-free applications. Just double-check (ALWAYS) on the school's website AND the Common App to be 100% certain. Sometimes schools "hide" a supplement in a weird place - DC almost missed a few because they didn't show up in the same section of the common app as the others. Again, ridiculous.)

Or ask AI to adapt the 3-4 supplements you write to match other schools prompts, then sit down and spend 1 hour humanizing it back to your voice. Saved days. You can also pay someone to write them for you after you meet with them for 1-2 hours and sketch out your answers to each “type” of prompt. Cost is about $1200 an essay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Figure out how to effectively recycle supplementals from one school to the next. Operative word is effectively. This both takes and saves time.

I agree. This is especially important if your kid is applying to 10+ schools, each with multiple supplemental essays.

This part of the process was MUCH more difficult than DD (and then we, her parents) expected!!

Next time (with DC2), we will help him up front in ways that should not be necessary, but I think are . . . by creating a chart of some sort showin EVERY supplemental essay for the schools on his list, and helping him strategically figure out which ones line up and which ones are truly unique.

It seems absolutely ridiculous, which is why it never crossed our mind to consider this with DC1. They applied to 12 schools, each with at least 2 supplemental essays, some with as many as 5. The idea of STARTING the process in August with a chart that included 40 essays to be written would have caused DD's head to explode. But I do think it would have helped save time and effort in the long run . . . .

More details for those who are interested:

While it seems at first that there are only a few types of supplementals (Why X college, Tell us about a community you're a part of, Describe a life experience that impacted you and will influence your involvement at X college) every school finds a way to put their own spin on it. And schools mix and match their questions in different ways such that straight cut-and-paste from other applications doesn't really work.

Sometimes the topic is almost exactly the same but the word limit is 200 instead of 500 (or the reverse), which means a ton of editing to the point that it becomes an entirely different essay.

Sometimes the topic seems to be the same on the surface, but is actually asking for something different. (I'm thinking of one supplement that asked about community, but on closer read it actually focused on CONVERSATION - something about how the kid learned to engage with others in conversation etc. So the straight-up community essay from School X was not at all a fit because the examples were completely off topic.)

And sometimes a school has two supplements are similar to those your kid wrote for other schools, but they overlap in weird ways, so your kid needs to deconstruct and rearrange parts from multiple essays to make it all work as a whole. Again, complete pain in the butt.

Bottom line: If your kid is applying to 10+ schools, each with multiple supplements, ENCOURAGE THEM TO START EARLY!!

And consider having them create blocks of ideas/examples that can be moved around independently to serve different purposes. It involves a level of forethought and planning that is truly ridiculous, IMHO.

(The other option is to apply to fewer schools . . . or to seek out schools with fewer or no supplemental essays. There are some great schools that fall into this category. A quick Google search will bring up lists of supplement-free applications. Just double-check (ALWAYS) on the school's website AND the Common App to be 100% certain. Sometimes schools "hide" a supplement in a weird place - DC almost missed a few because they didn't show up in the same section of the common app as the others. Again, ridiculous.)

Or ask AI to adapt the 3-4 supplements you write to match other schools prompts, then sit down and spend 1 hour humanizing it back to your voice. Saved days. You can also pay someone to write them for you after you meet with them for 1-2 hours and sketch out your answers to each “type” of prompt. Cost is about $1200 an essay.

Both of those methods sound highly unethical. I can't believe we're now paying $1200 for random adults to ghostwrite our children's essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Figure out how to effectively recycle supplementals from one school to the next. Operative word is effectively. This both takes and saves time.

I agree. This is especially important if your kid is applying to 10+ schools, each with multiple supplemental essays.

This part of the process was MUCH more difficult than DD (and then we, her parents) expected!!

Next time (with DC2), we will help him up front in ways that should not be necessary, but I think are . . . by creating a chart of some sort showin EVERY supplemental essay for the schools on his list, and helping him strategically figure out which ones line up and which ones are truly unique.

It seems absolutely ridiculous, which is why it never crossed our mind to consider this with DC1. They applied to 12 schools, each with at least 2 supplemental essays, some with as many as 5. The idea of STARTING the process in August with a chart that included 40 essays to be written would have caused DD's head to explode. But I do think it would have helped save time and effort in the long run . . . .

More details for those who are interested:

While it seems at first that there are only a few types of supplementals (Why X college, Tell us about a community you're a part of, Describe a life experience that impacted you and will influence your involvement at X college) every school finds a way to put their own spin on it. And schools mix and match their questions in different ways such that straight cut-and-paste from other applications doesn't really work.

Sometimes the topic is almost exactly the same but the word limit is 200 instead of 500 (or the reverse), which means a ton of editing to the point that it becomes an entirely different essay.

Sometimes the topic seems to be the same on the surface, but is actually asking for something different. (I'm thinking of one supplement that asked about community, but on closer read it actually focused on CONVERSATION - something about how the kid learned to engage with others in conversation etc. So the straight-up community essay from School X was not at all a fit because the examples were completely off topic.)

And sometimes a school has two supplements are similar to those your kid wrote for other schools, but they overlap in weird ways, so your kid needs to deconstruct and rearrange parts from multiple essays to make it all work as a whole. Again, complete pain in the butt.

Bottom line: If your kid is applying to 10+ schools, each with multiple supplements, ENCOURAGE THEM TO START EARLY!!

And consider having them create blocks of ideas/examples that can be moved around independently to serve different purposes. It involves a level of forethought and planning that is truly ridiculous, IMHO.

(The other option is to apply to fewer schools . . . or to seek out schools with fewer or no supplemental essays. There are some great schools that fall into this category. A quick Google search will bring up lists of supplement-free applications. Just double-check (ALWAYS) on the school's website AND the Common App to be 100% certain. Sometimes schools "hide" a supplement in a weird place - DC almost missed a few because they didn't show up in the same section of the common app as the others. Again, ridiculous.)

Or ask AI to adapt the 3-4 supplements you write to match other schools prompts, then sit down and spend 1 hour humanizing it back to your voice. Saved days. You can also pay someone to write them for you after you meet with them for 1-2 hours and sketch out your answers to each “type” of prompt. Cost is about $1200 an essay.

Yes to AI. That’s absolutely true if you’re willing to go that route.

I genuinely think AI can be very helpful here as long as DC can edit carefully in their own voice and can eliminate the obvious/telltale signs (m-dash, multiple lists of three things, weave/tapestry metaphors etc.)

My true hope is that continued improvements in AI will force schools to drop this supplant nonsense. Hopefully by the time DC2 applies!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Figure out how to effectively recycle supplementals from one school to the next. Operative word is effectively. This both takes and saves time.

I agree. This is especially important if your kid is applying to 10+ schools, each with multiple supplemental essays.

This part of the process was MUCH more difficult than DD (and then we, her parents) expected!!

Next time (with DC2), we will help him up front in ways that should not be necessary, but I think are . . . by creating a chart of some sort showin EVERY supplemental essay for the schools on his list, and helping him strategically figure out which ones line up and which ones are truly unique.

It seems absolutely ridiculous, which is why it never crossed our mind to consider this with DC1. They applied to 12 schools, each with at least 2 supplemental essays, some with as many as 5. The idea of STARTING the process in August with a chart that included 40 essays to be written would have caused DD's head to explode. But I do think it would have helped save time and effort in the long run . . . .

More details for those who are interested:

While it seems at first that there are only a few types of supplementals (Why X college, Tell us about a community you're a part of, Describe a life experience that impacted you and will influence your involvement at X college) every school finds a way to put their own spin on it. And schools mix and match their questions in different ways such that straight cut-and-paste from other applications doesn't really work.

Sometimes the topic is almost exactly the same but the word limit is 200 instead of 500 (or the reverse), which means a ton of editing to the point that it becomes an entirely different essay.

Sometimes the topic seems to be the same on the surface, but is actually asking for something different. (I'm thinking of one supplement that asked about community, but on closer read it actually focused on CONVERSATION - something about how the kid learned to engage with others in conversation etc. So the straight-up community essay from School X was not at all a fit because the examples were completely off topic.)

And sometimes a school has two supplements are similar to those your kid wrote for other schools, but they overlap in weird ways, so your kid needs to deconstruct and rearrange parts from multiple essays to make it all work as a whole. Again, complete pain in the butt.

Bottom line: If your kid is applying to 10+ schools, each with multiple supplements, ENCOURAGE THEM TO START EARLY!!

And consider having them create blocks of ideas/examples that can be moved around independently to serve different purposes. It involves a level of forethought and planning that is truly ridiculous, IMHO.

(The other option is to apply to fewer schools . . . or to seek out schools with fewer or no supplemental essays. There are some great schools that fall into this category. A quick Google search will bring up lists of supplement-free applications. Just double-check (ALWAYS) on the school's website AND the Common App to be 100% certain. Sometimes schools "hide" a supplement in a weird place - DC almost missed a few because they didn't show up in the same section of the common app as the others. Again, ridiculous.)

Or ask AI to adapt the 3-4 supplements you write to match other schools prompts, then sit down and spend 1 hour humanizing it back to your voice. Saved days. You can also pay someone to write them for you after you meet with them for 1-2 hours and sketch out your answers to each “type” of prompt. Cost is about $1200 an essay.

Both of those methods sound highly unethical. I can't believe we're now paying $1200 for random adults to ghostwrite our children's essays.

$1000 generally in my area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Figure out how to effectively recycle supplementals from one school to the next. Operative word is effectively. This both takes and saves time.

I agree. This is especially important if your kid is applying to 10+ schools, each with multiple supplemental essays.

This part of the process was MUCH more difficult than DD (and then we, her parents) expected!!

Next time (with DC2), we will help him up front in ways that should not be necessary, but I think are . . . by creating a chart of some sort showin EVERY supplemental essay for the schools on his list, and helping him strategically figure out which ones line up and which ones are truly unique.

It seems absolutely ridiculous, which is why it never crossed our mind to consider this with DC1. They applied to 12 schools, each with at least 2 supplemental essays, some with as many as 5. The idea of STARTING the process in August with a chart that included 40 essays to be written would have caused DD's head to explode. But I do think it would have helped save time and effort in the long run . . . .

More details for those who are interested:

While it seems at first that there are only a few types of supplementals (Why X college, Tell us about a community you're a part of, Describe a life experience that impacted you and will influence your involvement at X college) every school finds a way to put their own spin on it. And schools mix and match their questions in different ways such that straight cut-and-paste from other applications doesn't really work.

Sometimes the topic is almost exactly the same but the word limit is 200 instead of 500 (or the reverse), which means a ton of editing to the point that it becomes an entirely different essay.

Sometimes the topic seems to be the same on the surface, but is actually asking for something different. (I'm thinking of one supplement that asked about community, but on closer read it actually focused on CONVERSATION - something about how the kid learned to engage with others in conversation etc. So the straight-up community essay from School X was not at all a fit because the examples were completely off topic.)

And sometimes a school has two supplements are similar to those your kid wrote for other schools, but they overlap in weird ways, so your kid needs to deconstruct and rearrange parts from multiple essays to make it all work as a whole. Again, complete pain in the butt.

Bottom line: If your kid is applying to 10+ schools, each with multiple supplements, ENCOURAGE THEM TO START EARLY!!

And consider having them create blocks of ideas/examples that can be moved around independently to serve different purposes. It involves a level of forethought and planning that is truly ridiculous, IMHO.

(The other option is to apply to fewer schools . . . or to seek out schools with fewer or no supplemental essays. There are some great schools that fall into this category. A quick Google search will bring up lists of supplement-free applications. Just double-check (ALWAYS) on the school's website AND the Common App to be 100% certain. Sometimes schools "hide" a supplement in a weird place - DC almost missed a few because they didn't show up in the same section of the common app as the others. Again, ridiculous.)

Or ask AI to adapt the 3-4 supplements you write to match other schools prompts, then sit down and spend 1 hour humanizing it back to your voice. Saved days. You can also pay someone to write them for you after you meet with them for 1-2 hours and sketch out your answers to each “type” of prompt. Cost is about $1200 an essay.

Both of those methods sound highly unethical. I can't believe we're now paying $1200 for random adults to ghostwrite our children's essays.

$1000 generally in my area.

How? When an adult wrote the essays, they don't have the kids' authentic voice.
How did they fare? Got in T20s?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Figure out how to effectively recycle supplementals from one school to the next. Operative word is effectively. This both takes and saves time.

I agree. This is especially important if your kid is applying to 10+ schools, each with multiple supplemental essays.

This part of the process was MUCH more difficult than DD (and then we, her parents) expected!!

Next time (with DC2), we will help him up front in ways that should not be necessary, but I think are . . . by creating a chart of some sort showin EVERY supplemental essay for the schools on his list, and helping him strategically figure out which ones line up and which ones are truly unique.

It seems absolutely ridiculous, which is why it never crossed our mind to consider this with DC1. They applied to 12 schools, each with at least 2 supplemental essays, some with as many as 5. The idea of STARTING the process in August with a chart that included 40 essays to be written would have caused DD's head to explode. But I do think it would have helped save time and effort in the long run . . . .

More details for those who are interested:

While it seems at first that there are only a few types of supplementals (Why X college, Tell us about a community you're a part of, Describe a life experience that impacted you and will influence your involvement at X college) every school finds a way to put their own spin on it. And schools mix and match their questions in different ways such that straight cut-and-paste from other applications doesn't really work.

Sometimes the topic is almost exactly the same but the word limit is 200 instead of 500 (or the reverse), which means a ton of editing to the point that it becomes an entirely different essay.

Sometimes the topic seems to be the same on the surface, but is actually asking for something different. (I'm thinking of one supplement that asked about community, but on closer read it actually focused on CONVERSATION - something about how the kid learned to engage with others in conversation etc. So the straight-up community essay from School X was not at all a fit because the examples were completely off topic.)

And sometimes a school has two supplements are similar to those your kid wrote for other schools, but they overlap in weird ways, so your kid needs to deconstruct and rearrange parts from multiple essays to make it all work as a whole. Again, complete pain in the butt.

Bottom line: If your kid is applying to 10+ schools, each with multiple supplements, ENCOURAGE THEM TO START EARLY!!

And consider having them create blocks of ideas/examples that can be moved around independently to serve different purposes. It involves a level of forethought and planning that is truly ridiculous, IMHO.

(The other option is to apply to fewer schools . . . or to seek out schools with fewer or no supplemental essays. There are some great schools that fall into this category. A quick Google search will bring up lists of supplement-free applications. Just double-check (ALWAYS) on the school's website AND the Common App to be 100% certain. Sometimes schools "hide" a supplement in a weird place - DC almost missed a few because they didn't show up in the same section of the common app as the others. Again, ridiculous.)

Or ask AI to adapt the 3-4 supplements you write to match other schools prompts, then sit down and spend 1 hour humanizing it back to your voice. Saved days. You can also pay someone to write them for you after you meet with them for 1-2 hours and sketch out your answers to each “type” of prompt. Cost is about $1200 an essay.

Both of those methods sound highly unethical. I can't believe we're now paying $1200 for random adults to ghostwrite our children's essays.

$1000 generally in my area.

How? When an adult wrote the essays, they don't have the kids' authentic voice.
How did they fare? Got in T20s?

Yes to T20.
It's "editing". Keep kids' stories/hooks and create a much more detailed and vivid depiction of Why Major and Why School that goes much deeper beyond classes or professors or clubs. Hard to explain. Kid had a great draft. The final product was so much tighter, bespoke, and detailed. Unique to kid too. Sounded like DC bc it used her original, only better.

Ask around in your circle.

[Anonymous]

$1000/essay? So Fall season can easily bring in 6 figures for a freelancer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Figure out how to effectively recycle supplementals from one school to the next. Operative word is effectively. This both takes and saves time.

I agree. This is especially important if your kid is applying to 10+ schools, each with multiple supplemental essays.

This part of the process was MUCH more difficult than DD (and then we, her parents) expected!!

Next time (with DC2), we will help him up front in ways that should not be necessary, but I think are . . . by creating a chart of some sort showin EVERY supplemental essay for the schools on his list, and helping him strategically figure out which ones line up and which ones are truly unique.

It seems absolutely ridiculous, which is why it never crossed our mind to consider this with DC1. They applied to 12 schools, each with at least 2 supplemental essays, some with as many as 5. The idea of STARTING the process in August with a chart that included 40 essays to be written would have caused DD's head to explode. But I do think it would have helped save time and effort in the long run . . . .

More details for those who are interested:

While it seems at first that there are only a few types of supplementals (Why X college, Tell us about a community you're a part of, Describe a life experience that impacted you and will influence your involvement at X college) every school finds a way to put their own spin on it. And schools mix and match their questions in different ways such that straight cut-and-paste from other applications doesn't really work.

Sometimes the topic is almost exactly the same but the word limit is 200 instead of 500 (or the reverse), which means a ton of editing to the point that it becomes an entirely different essay.

Sometimes the topic seems to be the same on the surface, but is actually asking for something different. (I'm thinking of one supplement that asked about community, but on closer read it actually focused on CONVERSATION - something about how the kid learned to engage with others in conversation etc. So the straight-up community essay from School X was not at all a fit because the examples were completely off topic.)

And sometimes a school has two supplements are similar to those your kid wrote for other schools, but they overlap in weird ways, so your kid needs to deconstruct and rearrange parts from multiple essays to make it all work as a whole. Again, complete pain in the butt.

Bottom line: If your kid is applying to 10+ schools, each with multiple supplements, ENCOURAGE THEM TO START EARLY!!

And consider having them create blocks of ideas/examples that can be moved around independently to serve different purposes. It involves a level of forethought and planning that is truly ridiculous, IMHO.

(The other option is to apply to fewer schools . . . or to seek out schools with fewer or no supplemental essays. There are some great schools that fall into this category. A quick Google search will bring up lists of supplement-free applications. Just double-check (ALWAYS) on the school's website AND the Common App to be 100% certain. Sometimes schools "hide" a supplement in a weird place - DC almost missed a few because they didn't show up in the same section of the common app as the others. Again, ridiculous.)

Or ask AI to adapt the 3-4 supplements you write to match other schools prompts, then sit down and spend 1 hour humanizing it back to your voice. Saved days. You can also pay someone to write them for you after you meet with them for 1-2 hours and sketch out your answers to each “type” of prompt. Cost is about $1200 an essay.

Both of those methods sound highly unethical. I can't believe we're now paying $1200 for random adults to ghostwrite our children's essays.

$1000 generally in my area.

How? When an adult wrote the essays, they don't have the kids' authentic voice.
How did they fare? Got in T20s?

Yes to T20.
It's "editing". Keep kids' stories/hooks and create a much more detailed and vivid depiction of Why Major and Why School that goes much deeper beyond classes or professors or clubs. Hard to explain. Kid had a great draft. The final product was so much tighter, bespoke, and detailed. Unique to kid too. Sounded like DC bc it used her original, only better.

Ask around in your circle.

And you paid $1000 per essay? How many in total?

[Anonymous]

There are “reach” schools and “out of reach” schools. Be smart. If you are not in top 10-20% of class, many schools are simply out of reach. If you apply to the top 10 or ivies as your reach school when you are only in top 1/2 of class, you are wasting your reaches. Reaches need to be realistic for your stats.