Reply to Essays in private school applications -- how much time do you spend on them?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]And people complain about Sidwell's former policy of on the spot questions? Taking anything more than 15-20 minutes is defeating the purpose.[/quote]

What a dumb approach.  Written responses help schools evaluate the parents and their suitability for the school.  The school has no idea how much time you out into the essays, but an articulate, polished response is obviously going to make a better impression than something written off the cuff.

I spent maybe 1/2 an hour drafting responses to each question.  Over a period of several weeks, I spent probably another 10 hours carefully editing each essay, reviewing for brevity, word choice, clarity of ideas, etc.  I used to write professionally, and I applied every erg of talent and training to the essay writing process.

DC was accepted by all the schools where we applied, including Big 3 schools. DC had great test scores and made very positive impressions during play dates, so I can't say definitively that the essays made a difference.  But, since private school admissions are extremely competitive, why would you disadvantage your child by submitting slap-dash essays?  [/quote]

Because being neurotic and passing on that trait to your kids is kind of terrible. [/quote]

So submitting half-ass work product is the better approach? If you think so, then maybe a subpar public school is a better environment for you. [/quote]

No. It doesn't take us 10 hours to put together great answers. I can't believe it takes anyone that long. Maybe look at a different school that fits your family better?[/quote]

You may think the answers are great.  Your readers may not.

Any good writer will tell you that writing well takes time.  Superb writing is not a simple stringing together of words, but requires thinking, reading, re-reading, consideration of a wide variety of possible sentences and words, anticipation of possible misreadings, carefully controlling tone, etc.

Of course, the less you know about writing, the simpler a task it seems.

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10:09 here. I agree that writing is a lost art and that it takes time. However 10 hours is extreme, and the sooner you recognize this the better. Perfectionism and slow processing speed are not appealing traits in most workplaces apart from academia. They are also symptoms of inattentive ADHD (previously ADD). Ask me how I know all these things :-)

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Totally not curious at all how you know these things.  You sound like an idiot.  Taking the time to write and perfect an essay has nothing to do with slow processing speed.  In fact, some of the best writers I know have incredibly fast processing speeds, myself included.

10 hours is not extreme when you're considering that the essays are the tiny thing that gives your application the edge.  You sound like someone who has never gone through an admissions cycle.  Many people pay educational consultants to review and refine essays.  I had the skills to do it myself, and the results certainly convinced me the time was worth it.

Do go ahead and write yours in 15 minutes.  Then console yourself that your child didn't get in because you didn't have connections or it's just a random lottery.  It's not.

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