NYT College Essays about a surprising mom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Paywall.
Can you please summarize.

+1
Summary?

Buy a subscription.

Why? I subscribe to the WSJ. And when I link to WSJ articles, I always summarize for those who do not have subscriptions. But you do you.

NP: You really can't just summarize these.

[Anonymous]

You can get access to NYT and WSJ through your public library if you have a library card!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It made me realize my kid’s essay isn’t very good.

I came to the conclusion that there are relatively few outstanding essays. And my kid’s would not be among them. It sort reduces the stress.
I don’t think these essays can be taught, edited or coached, from anything my otherwise talented kid could write.

Yeah, I think for the average UMC suburban teen, almost anything you write is going to sound trite and try-hard. My kid has really had a wonderful experience developing a program for younger children that has been very successful so she’ll probably write about that, but I know it will come off as ho-hum. She also was in a locked mental health facility for a while some years ago but will probably not write about that, as the girl interrupted theme is also probably trite and overdone plus she never talks about it.

I’m not taking anything away from the writer profiled in the NyTimes—she sounds like an awesome daughter and writer and would be a benefit for any college. But most kids are just not going to have that kind of material to work with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It made me realize my kid’s essay isn’t very good.

I came to the conclusion that there are relatively few outstanding essays. And my kid’s would not be among them. It sort reduces the stress.
I don’t think these essays can be taught, edited or coached, from anything my otherwise talented kid could write.

Yeah, I think for the average UMC suburban teen, almost anything you write is going to sound trite and try-hard. My kid has really had a wonderful experience developing a program for younger children that has been very successful so she’ll probably write about that, but I know it will come off as ho-hum. She also was in a locked mental health facility for a while some years ago but will probably not write about that, as the girl interrupted theme is also probably trite and overdone plus she never talks about it.

I’m not taking anything away from the writer profiled in the NyTimes—she sounds like an awesome daughter and writer and would be a benefit for any college. But most kids are just not going to have that kind of material to work with.

The article also features an essay from a white UMC teen. Her essay on working at a high end NY restaurant was well written, interesting and unique.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These kids are ridiculously good writers

+1
the one who is a waitress really writes well...

[Anonymous]

I absolutely hate essays that are simply transparent ways to write about all the different activities a student is involved with. No. Pick one interesting thing and write about it. This isn't a brag vehicle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These kids are ridiculously good writers

+1
the one who is a waitress really writes well...

She did a great job of tying up her waitress job with her intended major.

“Tell a story”