Tips for the 2025-2026 season

[Anonymous]

Most essays submitted by top students from our NYC private school sound like they were written by adults - because that is how they are taught to write! These are kids who have no trouble writing anything from short fiction to A papers to professional emails - putting together personal statements with arresting openings, fast pacing and satisfying conclusions is something they are good at. What they agonize over is the topic or how to "package" their narrative, what traits and growth they want to convey to the AO. When my ds submitted his "first draft" to the school counselor, he had written, rewritten, tightened, polished, reordered paragraphs, and tried out about 5 different endings before he felt confident enough to turn it in. The suggested changes were minimal. Maybe if that essay were coming from a less rigorous school or a student with a low Reading/Writing SAT score it would raise red flags, but it seems the colleges expect it from these kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most essays submitted by top students from our NYC private school sound like they were written by adults - because that is how they are taught to write! These are kids who have no trouble writing anything from short fiction to A papers to professional emails - putting together personal statements with arresting openings, fast pacing and satisfying conclusions is something they are good at. What they agonize over is the topic or how to "package" their narrative, what traits and growth they want to convey to the AO. When my ds submitted his "first draft" to the school counselor, he had written, rewritten, tightened, polished, reordered paragraphs, and tried out about 5 different endings before he felt confident enough to turn it in. The suggested changes were minimal. Maybe if that essay were coming from a less rigorous school or a student with a low Reading/Writing SAT score it would raise red flags, but it seems the colleges expect it from these kids.

this is important. you are compared to your peers, including your writing. know your competition!