College Application Essay
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Anonymous
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How do most people handle the essay portion of the application?
Do you review and edit DC's essay or do most people use outside services? Any recommendations for outside services to assist with brainstorming ideas and reviewing/editing? Typical ballbark cost? |
Anonymous
How does your child want to handle it - it’s kinda their call. Son did it all on his own. Daughter had a person a prepmatters read and go over it with her. Both went to the colleges they wanted to. |
Anonymous
| I steered my DC towards some examples of essays that worked on a website (can't remember which one). She had to write a common app essay at the beginning of senior year for her English class. She submitted that. I never saw it. She's a happy college sophomore. |
Anonymous
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I have heard of consultants that charge up to 2K for this service. I don't believe in it. It strikes me as excessive and it has the potential to mislead the school (which is not ethical in my book nor is it to your child's advantage to trick your way into a place that is over their head).
But, I did get some good tips from one who gave a talk at our high school (which was free, because I suspect she gets clients that way  Her advice was to start by interviewing your child. Write down all of the topics/moments/experiences that they seem passionate about when they talk. You will find your focus in there somewhere. When you/the child picks that idea (use one that will allow her to showcase some of her positive traits/unique characteristics that make her someone a college would want in their community), then the child should OVERWRITE in response to the prompt--meaning that they should write two or three times what they need. THEN, have maybe two adults (one an english teacher? most high schools help with this) start editing it down. That way, it is the child's "voice" but someone more experienced can just polish it up, point out places where the organization goes off track, nominate passages for deletion, etc.
The goal, according to this consultant, is to get the admissions person to feel something about your child. If they have come across as an individual, the admissions staffer is more likely to fight for them at an admissions session. Last but not least, we have heard that the essay only carries so much weight: it can't salvage a child who is clearly unqualified to go somewhere, and is unlikely to sink a child who checks all of the school's boxes. They are important for that large, middle group, who will only get through if they have an advocate at the table. Hope that helps! |
Anonymous
| my kids wrote it. i reviewed/commented on it. some were accepted, some were not which is fine. |
Anonymous
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Why would I review it? Will I be reviewing their work in college?
I know there are many who pay people to write them, edit them, change them, etc... but I feel like it is cheating the system. |
Anonymous
| We didn't go the consultant route, but did read up on it a bit, checked out some examples on the web and helped with editing. It was also reviewed as English teacher. So far, he's 4 for 4 on acceptances. The best advice I'd give is to have a hook to make sure it's interesting to read and to make sure it still has your kid's voice. |
Anonymous
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"Why would I review it? Will I be reviewing their work in college?
I know there are many who pay people to write them, edit them, change them, etc... but I feel like it is cheating the system." Part of the process is teaching your DC that pretty much under all circumstances someone should review and edit anything important that they ever write. This is true for their college application essay, their college papers, their resumes, their dissertations, their grant applications, novels, business plans and wills. It doesn't have to be a parent or a consultant but for it to be their best work, it needs to be heavily reviewed and edited. The student has the last say, of course. -signed proud parent of a straight C HS writer, who learned to write doing his college essay and ended up with an A in his college writing course |
Anonymous
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"Part of the process is teaching your DC that pretty much under all circumstances someone should review and edit anything important that the
y ever write."
+1 |
Anonymous
y ever write." +1 + 100,000,000 Kids have limited access to people to ask. It doesn't make sense to rely on other kids. And everyone else they know (except a hired consultant) has some kind of crazy power imbalance with them. So if my kid had me read his essay. Big whup. I also read my husband's dissertation (and he mine) before submission. |
Anonymous
| Went to a college info night at public high school and there was a UVA admissions rep there. She said parents should absolutely look at their child's essay. Not write it or commandeer the process, but another set of eyes is always a good idea and sending it off without that would be foolish. |
Anonymous
That sounds like very sensible advice. Why wouldn't you want to give your kid his or her best advice for such an important document? We have worked with each of our children on their essays, albeit in different ways. Each child had distinct needs and preferences. One wanted a lot of brainstorming for ideas, one only wanted us to look at the final product, one wanted input on multiple drafts, and our fourth has been a combination of brainstorming and input on multiple drafts. Four down, one to go! |
Anonymous
| My child asked her English teacher and dean to look hers over. There was no need for me to. |
Anonymous
| We used Principia in Mclean and DD got into Cornell. I can honestly say DD would have never gotten in without it. Her initial essay idea was incredibly cheesy, and I wasn't sure how to guide her. The consultant pushed her to dig deeper and take a few risks we never would have done had she been left to her own devices. |
Anonymous
| Bear in mind there are likely to be additional essays, specific to each college. Writing the common app essay is just the start. |