How much help are you providing with the high school application essays?

[Anonymous]

So I'm finding that my kid really just can't sit down and write these essays - in one go or over time. The introspection, awareness of who will be reading it and what they will be looking for, planning and organization, proofreading, and any sense of style are quite lacking. I'm not writing anything for her, but I'm having to do some pretty heavy duty coaching. Is this normal? Grades are good, and regular teachers seem to think her writing skills are fine.

[Anonymous]

No, not normal. My daughter did them on her own.

[Anonymous]

Is she coming from a private school, or from public school?

She shouldn't need tons of help with this. Some gentle coaching is fine, though.

[Anonymous]

They will weigh against the SSAT writing sample essay. So too much editing will show. Just keep that in mind.

She needs to become a bit more disciplined. What usually motivates her?

[Anonymous]

Is she anxious about starting them? Our daughter wrote essays on her own, except we had to push her to sit down and get them done. I read for grammar and punctuation with her, otherwise did not edit.

[Anonymous]

I'd be wary of sending a kid like this to one of the more academically rigorous schools in the area. These schools expect students to be self-directed and driven, and not in need of prompting to do work.

[Anonymous]

We did some initial brainstorming and jotting down ideas. Then they wrote an outline which we reviewed for general content and structure. Then they wrote a first draft which we edited, mainly for grammar and punctuation. Then they wrote the final draft.

Keep in mind that many of the parochial k-8s make HS application essay writing part of their fall curriculum in 8th grade. If they can have an English teacher helping them, my child can have me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I'm finding that my kid really just can't sit down and write these essays - in one go or over time. The introspection, awareness of who will be reading it and what they will be looking for, planning and organization, proofreading, and any sense of style are quite lacking. I'm not writing anything for her, but I'm having to do some pretty heavy duty coaching. Is this normal? Grades are good, and regular teachers seem to think her writing skills are fine.

My kid is in a somewhat similar boat. Some short answer but one long essay that I am helping them organize thoughts onto paper. They are writing it for the most part but I'm asking questions that help with tone and audience. I offered similar help to my other DC when they had applications and they are doing extremely well in school now. Some kids just aren't natural writers or haven't had enough opportunities to flex these particular muscles. It's a skill that has to be developed, and certainly will in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd be wary of sending a kid like this to one of the more academically rigorous schools in the area. These schools expect students to be self-directed and driven, and not in need of prompting to do work.

+1
The writing level expected at our k-12 is fairly high, and it is across all of the classes, not just language arts.

[Anonymous]

OP will her English teacher help? We were in public but the 8th grade English teacher worked with the kids who were applying to private and applications schools. It was a big help for my kid and for us. Maybe have her ask and then you can simply proofread when she is done?

[Anonymous]

A lot but my kid is dyslexic. It was fully disclosed on his application.

[Anonymous]

We brainstormed ideas. And talked through what she wanted admissions to know about her and how she could develop that into a coherent piece. She has an easier time with ones that were less open-ended, such as, describe a challenge you have faced, how you overcame, and what you learned that you will bring to our community versus tell us about yourself and why you want to go here.

But at her school it’s part of the English curriculum to work on these so the English teacher made lots of suggestions of where the essay needed to be edited for length or clarity. We then read the final drafts out loud together to test for flow and if it sounded to her what she actually wanted to get across. But we stayed away from editing word selection or anything that wasn’t a blatant grammar error because it needs to be the voice of a 13/14 year old.

[Anonymous]

If your kids school doesn't help at all, I think they do need an adult to help them brainstorm. My kid was originally going to leave out the most impressive things about himself because he didn't want to be cringe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kids school doesn't help at all, I think they do need an adult to help them brainstorm. My kid was originally going to leave out the most impressive things about himself because he didn't want to be cringe.

This. Kids don’t innately know how to approach this type of question. It’s ok to help them with the process. The words should be theirs.

[Anonymous]

You do what you have to do.

I wrote my son's essays in 8th grade. It was covid and he has no idea what he wanted to do for high school and was basically floundering after a year of online school. He was in public school and could barely put words on paper.

Fast forward 4 years and he's graduating near the top of his class at a "Big3" and applying to Ivies.