Anonymous wrote:How do you write the essays? Should my DC do a laundry list essay, listing achievements and how they helped growth, or write an essay kinda like a story with a hook and stuff? What parts of the essay are most important? Should DC emphasize growth, resilience?

Treat it as a dry-run for college application. There are 3 boxes (if I remember correctly) to fill in your EC achievements. So in essay, my DC wrote about the genuine interests for one specific STEM subject and how they seek opportunities and put effort along that direction over the years.

There's no formula, OP, but I would recommend taking the same advice you would take for a college essay.

Don't repeat information already shared in other sections, and tell the readers a story that brings you to life.

My child has some pretty stereotypical interests/accomplishments, so they went in a different direction with their essay, knowing that the music/math/art accomplishments would come through in the other sections.

How do you write the essays? Should my DC do a laundry list essay, listing achievements and how they helped growth, or write an essay kinda like a story with a hook and stuff? What parts of the essay are most important? Should DC emphasize growth, resilience?