Massive.

DS has autism and is a great technical writer, but unable to talk about himself without coming across as an AI bot. I edited and worked with him to make his voice sound more human and personal.

I do not expect to have to help DD, who writes well in any genre.

Anonymous wrote:small amount

medium amount

or

massive

?

It actually depends on your child: Good writer vs. bad writer. Confident vs. insecure. Mature vs. immature. etc.

Anonymous wrote:No private counselor and no essay coach.

My kid’s essays came out really well. He’s creative with great grammar. My grammar sucks, but I always wrote very good creative pieces (published). I’m a STEM grad too.

I helped him come up with topics, pointed out strengths he should focus on or funny stories from his past. He took it from there. My husband and I served as editors—making a suggestions for clarity or embellishment but he had final say. Some advice he took, some he didn’t.

They all sound like “him” and capture his personality very well.

ok

No private counselor and no essay coach.

My kid’s essays came out really well. He’s creative with great grammar. My grammar sucks, but I always wrote very good creative pieces (published). I’m a STEM grad too.

I helped him come up with topics, pointed out strengths he should focus on or funny stories from his past. He took it from there. My husband and I served as editors—making a suggestions for clarity or embellishment but he had final say. Some advice he took, some he didn’t.

They all sound like “him” and capture his personality very well.

The common app essay had the most revisions - maybe 5. Most of the supplemental essays were 2-3 revisions. Sometimes the first of that type, like the Why Us essay, may have taken an extra revision or two more than the next time they had a similar essay.

Small. She's a good writer. When I looked at her final draft I added one comma.

She dashed off a supplemental piece in an afternoon. I read it and offered a few suggestions for clarity. I admit I also asked if she was sure she wanted to be so snarky and downbeat, she said she did, I shrugged. Her voice is distinctive and maybe it will be a breath of fresh air to an admissions officer, after hundreds of polite, cheerful topics.

Maybe, maybe not. Wherever she gets in, I don't care about prestige, I want it to be a good fit.

I don't live in the kind of world where I'd even think of hiring a consultant to handle essays, but maybe we didn't need to.

Neo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:small amount

medium amount

or

massive

?

You mean:

small amount - 10 revisions

medium amount - - 25 revisions

massive - - 50 revisions

My student worked with a private college consultant (a big one in the area). Their common app (and the coalition app derivative) essay probably went through 10 or slightly fewer revisions. But the mentor provided very substantive and detailed feedback, reducing the need for additional revisions. The supplemental essays probably involved about 4-5 revisions.

My daughter just got help in her English class - didn’t want to let us read it. I’m guessing 2 or 3 revisions? Shes a very good writer so I wasn’t worried about the essay at all.

My kids are pretty good writers, and I work in communications. They drafted them 100% independently. I offered one round of suggestions. One asked for a second round of feedback because they were over the word count. The other submitted after my one round of suggestions.

One wanted me to glance over supplementals, one did not.

I have no idea whether this is "normal," but I am comfortable with this level of advising/helping.

DD did it on her own, so I've got no idea how many times she updated it, but it can't have been that many because she waited to get started and then had a ton of schoolwork due around the same time. Got in ED though so it worked.

Neo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:small amount

medium amount

or

massive

?

You mean:

small amount - 10 revisions

medium amount - - 25 revisions

massive - - 50 revisions

I figured people would generally understand what I’m asking without quantifying it.

i’m talking from beginning to end.

for my child, it was a massive amount for most of them. ones that were final and used for earlier submissions have been repeatedly reused according to my kid.

so.much.wasted.time.on.this!!!!

are you talking from beginning to end? My DS started his in July ( learning disabilities so he knew he needed to chunk it). When school started, he asked me to look at it once a week for feedback after he worked on it here and there.We did that weekly until about mid October and then he submitted it for the EA deadlines. Starting early was the key for him.

Anonymous wrote:small amount

medium amount

or

massive

?

You mean:

small amount - 10 revisions

medium amount - - 25 revisions

massive - - 50 revisions

small amount

medium amount

or

massive

?