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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Find someone who is really dedicated, and, smart, and strategic and read a bunch of their edited essays. That’s what you probably need.

The essay editing, though adds up if they are good and in demand.

But it can and does make a big difference that is more important in my mind than anything else.

- Two kids at T10/Ivy[/quote]

I’m sorry, that really sounds like gaming the system. When is it no longer a student essay?[/quote]

DP here.  The student writes the essay, the counselor reads it and provides comments/feedback.  The student revises the essay.  In my kid's case, the counselor told my kid that her essay is completely the wrong topic and told my kid to write an entirely new essay.  Well, my kid would never have taken that kind of advice from me, but in this case she followed-through.  It was entirely her work and I don't think the essay sounds at all like it was written by an adult (I read the final common app essay).[/quote]

Agree, this is our experience.
A good essay counselor goes back and forth on each essay 5-20 times, but they aren't writing it. They'll ask the kid to go deeper, explore why, show them way their essay hook isn't working, and what a deeper hook might look like.  Light word suggestions/changes when word count is an issue.

The big thing a good person does is (ime) they spend weeks helping a kid outline/create an inventory of potential supp essay topics - anywhere from 20-30 essay starts or topics worthy of spotlighting for the various essay categories (why major; why school; community; diversity; intellectual curiosity; character trait, etc.). While it seemed exhausting this summer, well worth it.

And the other big thing to ask essay people when you interview is their experience with selective T20 essays: in their experience, which types of essays resonate with which schools; what traits should be emphasized at certain schools (I'd expect they won't tell you it all - but their response should show you if they'll be able to guide your kid with this degree of specificity); what material is good for an essay and what is good for a video or a potential LOCI, etc.

This is kid #2, and I found our essay person through word of mouth. Quite expensive and didn't use them with kid #1. I'd expect the good ones only go through personal referrals, so ask friends with older kids.[/quote]

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