College Essays - What does your suburban, well brought up, problem free, applicant write about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We visiting several colleges (top tier) last spring and sat in the information sessions. When it came to essays, multiple admissions officers made it clear ...."we want the student to write about somthing that allows us to see what type of person the student really is....".......in other words, did some event make the student a better person? Did he/she learn something that will make them a better conributor to the college as a whole.......I would really focus on this part...how can the student make a real contribution to the school on an overall basis....

PP here with both DD's in college. Just wondering where your DC is in the process.

Because although the admissions officers made it clear, both of my DD's would have had a hard time sitting down and writing a meaningful essay with those goals in mind. I suppose that is "market standard" advice but the devil is in sitting down and writing it. Honestly, a HS senior would have a hard time writing about where she thinks she would fit in on a campus that she has not even set foot on yet. I guess the student could write about how they contributed in HS and try to carry that forward in the essay. But even that is hard.

That's why we did not want our kids writing to the market standard (i.e., something that would sell). We wanted them to write about something that was meanninful to them, that they had strong personal emotions about and that was easy to write.

[Anonymous]

When I was an undergrad, I worked as a student assitant in the admissions office of a top public university. From that perspective, I don't think the subject is the only thing that matters. Quality of writing counts for a lot too (to a point - I mean don't write about something like a trip to the mall). Ever notice how some writers can make even the most mandane events sound so interesting on paper? So, if there is really nothing "important" to write about, why not write about your first or best childhood memory, a time when you helped your sibling with a problem, a time when you got a new puppy and what it taught you about responsibility, a toy you got for Christmas as a kid that's still sitting on your shelf and reminding you of all the happy family times and the importance of family? Happy stories can be just as good and perhaps even more original.

[Anonymous]

Umm folks -- a lot of universities now offer students a choice of 3 topics they can write about so that they have to choose one of the assigned topics.

What we were told (and our dd is at an Ivy) is that the universities don't want to read about how the student was a hero at something or don't want to read about them patting themselves on the back. Instead, they want real passion about something (even if it's about not wanting to wear the uncomfortable school uniform). The topic isn't important...it's the introspection that counts.

[Anonymous]

The Common App, which nearly every college now uses, offers a number of topics, including the ever-popular "topic of your choice". Additionally, most schools require at least one supplemental essay with a topic that can range from the innocuous and easily re-packaged, discuss your favorite book or movie, to the inimitable and quirky UChicago prompts, including last year's "Don't write about reverse psychology."

I worked in college admissions and have gone through the college process with 3 of my kids. My advice re the Common App essay is don't sweat the topic; almost any subject will work if your kid writes in his/her own voice with some degree of self-awareness about what this topic means to them. So, for example, the ubiquitous essay on my summer job at McDonald's can be a winner if the applicant can convey how the experience touched him/her. OTOH, an essay about traveling to Uzbekibekistan (in the inimitable words of Herman Cain) can be deadly if it's just a travelog that doesn't give the reader a sense of who the kid is.

As for the supplemental essays, don't leave them for the last minute. Admissions staffers can spend a lot of time honing the supplemental prompts and their choices reflect the school's admissions philosophy and institutional priorities. Too often kids spend tons of time crafting the common app essay, then blow off the supplementals to their detriment.

Finally, with all essays -- let your kid write it -- admissions staffers can spot an essay written by a parent a mile away.

[Anonymous]

Luckily, you don't need to worry about this, because it's up to your kid what to write about!

(Or, you could suggest that your kid write about the burden of having helicoptoring parents who think it's up to them to decide what their kid will write about for a college essay.)

[Anonymous]

I'm 16:40 -- not sure if you were responding to my post or to others, but I don't think it's helicoptering for parents to learn about the process.

[Anonymous]

OP (and 17:02) your DC needs to write it, including coming up with a topic.

"Learning about the process," does not include doing the work. And coming up with a topic for your child is doing the work. Imagine your DC sitting in an interview and being asked "Your essay is so interesting. How did you come up with the topic?" Your DC can then be honest and say "my mom thought of it," or be dishonest and offer up some other explanation. neither is good.

I'm assuming you don't come up with topics for your child's work at school. It is even more important that this reflect his or her own efforts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Common App, which nearly every college now uses, offers a number of topics, including the ever-popular "topic of your choice". Additionally, most schools require at least one supplemental essay with a topic that can range from the innocuous and easily re-packaged, discuss your favorite book or movie, to the inimitable and quirky UChicago prompts, including last year's "Don't write about reverse psychology."

I worked in college admissions and have gone through the college process with 3 of my kids. My advice re the Common App essay is don't sweat the topic; almost any subject will work if your kid writes in his/her own voice with some degree of self-awareness about what this topic means to them. So, for example, the ubiquitous essay on my summer job at McDonald's can be a winner if the applicant can convey how the experience touched him/her. OTOH, an essay about traveling to Uzbekibekistan (in the inimitable words of Herman Cain) can be deadly if it's just a travelog that doesn't give the reader a sense of who the kid is.

As for the supplemental essays, don't leave them for the last minute. Admissions staffers can spend a lot of time honing the supplemental prompts and their choices reflect the school's admissions philosophy and institutional priorities. Too often kids spend tons of time crafting the common app essay, then blow off the supplementals to their detriment.

Finally, with all essays -- let your kid write it -- admissions staffers can spot an essay written by a parent a mile away.

Ha! Did he actually say that? Sorry to hijack the thread, but Uzbekibekistan is hilarious.

[Anonymous]

17:02 here:

Re Herman Cain: http://blogs.cbn.com/thebrodyfile/archive/2011/10/08/exclusive-hermain-cain-feeling-like-moses-and-ready-for-media.aspx

To 17:17 -- I expressly stated that the essay needs to be the kid's work in his/her own voice. You need to chill -- perhaps a sojourn in Uzbekibekistan might be just what the doctor orders.

[Anonymous]

I wrote my college essay about my best friend and how though we both had the same chances in life, her life went down a different path. And that is why I want to be a doctor (I'm not).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP (and 17:02) your DC needs to write it, including coming up with a topic.

"Learning about the process," does not include doing the work. And coming up with a topic for your child is doing the work. Imagine your DC sitting in an interview and being asked "Your essay is so interesting. How did you come up with the topic?" Your DC can then be honest and say "my mom thought of it," or be dishonest and offer up some other explanation. neither is good.

I'm assuming you don't come up with topics for your child's work at school. It is even more important that this reflect his or her own efforts.

NP here. Last time I checked, which happened to be when I was sitting in auditoriums in various East Coast universities during DD's Spring Break college tour, it's OK to help DC brainstorm. We heard this from several college admissions folks as they delivered their various speeches. They offered us their advice, too, which is similar to what people have suggested here (we want to hear your voice, what you are like as a person, et cetera). I didn't get the impression anyone here was talking about writing the essay itself for our beloved DCs.

[Anonymous]

Its one thing to brainstorm with your child. Its another to ask strangers on the internet what your child should write about. Big difference. The former involves helping your child find his or her own topic, something meaningful to him or her. The latter involves trying to find out "what works" because strangers on the internet don't know your child.

So while most of you are referring to helping your child find their own topic, OP was asking what works.

[Anonymous]

I was the well brought up, problem free, adversity free, applicant back in 2004 applying to top tier schools. I wrote about repelling down a 200 ft cliff in New Zealand and how it changed my approach to life and gave me courage that I did not know I had. Colleges must have liked it as I had 4 different admission counselors write on my acceptance letter how much they enjoyed my essay.

[Anonymous]

My DS wrote about the challenges of moving as a junior to a new town and high school. Not earth shattering stuff, but he drew on some personal experiences, good and bad, and what he learned from them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If DD had to write hers today, I think her college essay would be "How I Almost Missed The Justin Beiber Concert When My Parents Made Me Go To My Great Uncle's Funeral". Oh, the horror of it all.

Mine should have been "How I Missed Lollapalooza In Three Different Cities While My Parents Dragged Me On The Shittiest Road Trip Vacation Ever And My Floozy Frenemy Used My Ticket And Caught Eddie Vedder's T-Shirt." But I'm over it.