Thoughts about your kid's essay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great, so now DCUM posters are spreading advice on how to get away with cheating (i.e., "don't leave fingerprints").

Lovely.

No, I’m merely highlighting what is already going on. Admissions officers can’t tell what they’re reading hasn’t been written by teenagers. If you read all those “Essays That Worked,” that sound like they were written by New Yorker writers, you’ll realize what AO’s have been primed to expect. AO’s who themselves went to East Podunk State. They’ve bought into the crazy race to nowhere. So I say, give them what they want or your kid will be at a disadvantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid wouldn’t even let me see his essay. I’d like to think their essay will help them get into the right level school, for better or worse.

Same here, haven’t seen the essays. I’m trusting my kid and the process, it will all work out.

+1. I got to read prior to submission of the package.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You are fooling yourself if you think admissions can’t tell when a parent heavily orchestrates the essay. Better to let him write it himself, in his own style, in a way that sounds like a 17 year old boy.

I have never understood this. There are high school kids who are great writers. Why would an admissions rep assume an essay was written by a parent just because it's good?

Same here. My kid can be a far better writer than I am. She also had some places that were too wordy or cliched or overstated etc. I flagged them for her, and some of the cliches I flagged sounded like an old person, and I was like "they'll think your mom wrote it!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You are fooling yourself if you think admissions can’t tell when a parent heavily orchestrates the essay. Better to let him write it himself, in his own style, in a way that sounds like a 17 year old boy.

I have never understood this. There are high school kids who are great writers. Why would an admissions rep assume an essay was written by a parent just because it's good?

Read the linked articles posted upthread. It explains how/why they can tell. And I don’t doubt for a second that they can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You are fooling yourself if you think admissions can’t tell when a parent heavily orchestrates the essay. Better to let him write it himself, in his own style, in a way that sounds like a 17 year old boy.

I have never understood this. There are high school kids who are great writers. Why would an admissions rep assume an essay was written by a parent just because it's good?

Read the linked articles posted upthread. It explains how/why they can tell. And I don’t doubt for a second that they can.

The NYT article linked in the Ivy Coach link refers to using "henceforth." My kid uses henceforth!!! (and "piqued" and "enraptured"). Also "everything under the sun" and "filled with song" -- a weird combo of vocab and old timey cliches. That's just how she rolls! (But, I made her take some of the oldy cliches out)!

[Anonymous]

My parenting approach to DS’s essays was consistent with everything I’ve ever done with this fiercely stubborn boy: I stood down and I watched with interest from afar.

I have very little idea what he wrote about and I sure didn’t review or edit it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We never laid eyes on any of their essays. It isn't our essay, it is their essay, why look?

It seems prudent to have a second pair of eyes look over the essays. Some kids are able to ask a teacher. Others a family friend, a counselor, a parent...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We never laid eyes on any of their essays. It isn't our essay, it is their essay, why look?

+1. I figured if it’s bad, then that’s on them and they will land where they should land. If essays are good, then I don’t want to have overly optimistic hope. So either way, not looking is better.
And, with the kid, any criticism or perceived criticism coming from the parents during college app time is fraught with a lot of emotion. I didn’t want that!

[Anonymous]

He’s far from average . 34 ACT. Please just believe in him. He’s coming into his own, may be it took a bit, but 18 is hardly behind. In fact, the fact he was not typical for his demographic makes him more interesting from my point of view. Fwiw I was him. Average LAC transferred to top 20, great career. Happy and very financially successful.

[Anonymous]

My H rewrote one of our kids essays.

The other was a hooked athlete so we didn’t read it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids didn't let me read their essays.

I didn’t let my kid read their essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are fooling yourself if you think admissions can’t tell when a parent heavily orchestrates the essay. Better to let him write it himself, in his own style, in a way that sounds like a 17 year old boy.

I know kids who got into Brown, Yale and UMD CP with essays written/heavily edited by their parents. So, at least some of the admission officers in those places can't tell.

But seriously, they can probably spot the work of someone who doesn't know what they are doing. Or someone who is writing too many essays for too many kids. But there is no way they would catch a one off by a parent who knows how to write. Keep in mind that the students in question have the stats for the schools, so it's not like someone with an SAT of 1000 submitting an amazing essay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He’s far from average . 34 ACT. Please just believe in him. He’s coming into his own, may be it took a bit, but 18 is hardly behind. In fact, the fact he was not typical for his demographic makes him more interesting from my point of view. Fwiw I was him. Average LAC transferred to top 20, great career. Happy and very financially successful.

OP here, and it's kind of hilarious to see that this threat recently revived. Good luck to everyone! Let your kid have their own voice!

Just to respond to one poster, I 100% believe in my kid - I think the original post was pretty clear about that. He's awesome. Super-smart, funny, thoughtful, kind. Wouldn't trade him in any way. I don't need scores or GPAs to tell me that.

That said, and if anyone wants an update, DC did their own essay without input except from an older sibling, who gave some big-picture suggestions. The ultimate essay was still my kid's voice and ambitious but not pulled together. My *awesome* kid is now in at 4 of 4 schools that have reported, and waiting to hear from the other 8 regular-decision. They are good LACs but not crazy competitive; they repeatedly noted the essay; and he would do really well there.

Anyway, I just wanted to send a shout-out to everyone -- thanks for the advice and just wanted to tell you from my perspective that there is a great place for your authentic essay-writing high-school kid who is not a 4.0 GPA. Think about where your kid would be there best self!