Lessons learned: 2025-2026

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

20, so $20k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Someone answered for me.
5 schools but the editor threw in a few others.
Well worth it.

[Anonymous]

Strategic positioning matters for unhooked students. Expensive private college counselors help with this. If your DC has high test scores and GPA they might get a boost at schools that have returned to test required. Those schools will have a decrease in application numbers. Not sure if people found that schools that had a high number of international students would also have a decrease in applications. Full pay seems like it helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

People can apply wherever they want. Some of these old complaining farts forgot how to dream.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Strategic positioning matters for unhooked students. Expensive private college counselors help with this. If your DC has high test scores and GPA they might get a boost at schools that have returned to test required. Those schools will have a decrease in application numbers. Not sure if people found that schools that had a high number of international students would also have a decrease in applications. Full pay seems like it helps.

100% agree with this. Worked for my kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This college forum is the best free entertainment known to man. It is great to read during early morning and late night bathroom trips. The level of insanity, insecurity, hang ringing, anxiety, and trolling is un matched anywhere. The fact so many people are knee shit deep invested in names, places, statistics, results, comparisons, and display two year old melt downs makes it as addictive as nicotine. Keep it coming. Now that David Lynch is gone this forum is a great place to come and peek into the surreal world on man’s insanity.

Everyone posts their own very individual experience as if it would apply to all studnets and colleges everywhere.

[Anonymous]

DC wrote supplementals during the break, it turned out to be a much better experience. Mild ADHD. She can actually focused on the supplementals without everything else being in the way. Did supplementals for 10 schools due 1/1 to 1/15.

[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.

Umm this has been going on for over 40 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1

[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?

Those were my thoughts exactly, and it should be clear to colleges that for $$$ other adults are writing these essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC wrote supplementals during the break, it turned out to be a much better experience. Mild ADHD. She can actually focused on the supplementals without everything else being in the way. Did supplementals for 10 schools due 1/1 to 1/15.

Which break? Sorry if it’s obvious! Summer before senior year? When do schools reveal what essays etc they want? And is it uniform, or do some schools add additional requirements later?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't listen to your private school counselor's advice. That's the biggest lesson I have learned this year. Do your own research.

Mine is a little different — don’t assume your private school counsel gives a crap about helping your kid get into more than one “good enough” school. They don’t. They want the easy path (hence the ED push) and are not invested in your kid.

Agree with this—ours was pushing about 10 schools and my kid’s stats (4.0uw; 1500+) were far above the accepted stats range for all of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC wrote supplementals during the break, it turned out to be a much better experience. Mild ADHD. She can actually focused on the supplementals without everything else being in the way. Did supplementals for 10 schools due 1/1 to 1/15.

Which break? Sorry if it’s obvious! Summer before senior year? When do schools reveal what essays etc they want? And is it uniform, or do some schools add additional requirements later?

Winter break. Everyone not in ED panic/kicks into gear and does a slew of apps then. Dc and friends all added schools. Dc’s friend did 20 in two weeks. But literally every kid we know not in ed was writing apps then. After all the work over the summer I didn’t expect this but after deferral they all wanted to add a crazy number of schools.

[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?

Those were my thoughts exactly, and it should be clear to colleges that for $$$ other adults are writing these essays.

A good editor takes the original content and original voice.

Similar to good AI help.

[Anonymous]

AI is now astonishingly good at this, if you know how to use it.

AI has been a massive time and money saver for DC and extremely happy with the result.