Anonymous wrote:OP here embarrassed but admitting it YES I meant the common app essay! Sorry!! Now...what do you think

There are tons of good essay examples online and probably in your daughter's counselors office. A good essay on dolls is a good essay!

I think the key for most kids is to start early in drafting the essay. There's no magic to it, but with enough time to think about a good topic and to revise most kids can nail it. One of my kids waited until the 11th hour and his essay was, frankly, not his best work. I don't personally think a professional is needed.

Do not bring in a pro, admissions officers can smell it a mile away. The topic is not as important as how she writes it. Some of the most mundane topics imaginable can be real winners if the applicant is original and, most importantly, conveys a sense of themselves.

OP here embarrassed but admitting it YES I meant the common app essay! Sorry!! Now...what do you think

The OP is clearly very confused.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SAT essay usually has a pretty specific prompt. As far as I can tell, and what my DCs SAT tutor said, the key to a high score is to fill two entire pages, and have good paragraph and sentence structure. I don't think the topic is that important although of course it needs to be responsive to the prompt. Mine has taken SATs twice and had pretty different essay prompts so it would be hard to prepare too much for that.


A lot of selective colleges don't even count the writing portion of the SAT so I would definitely not consider the SAT essay to be critical to admissions.

Are you kidding? We have visited well over 10 selective colleges and almost all have intimated the importance of the essay and we have been told point blank that sometimes the essay can be the one thing that pushes (or not) a student over to the side of being admitted. It is HUGE. That is why she is stressing over the essay!

Are they talking about score from the SAT essay or the essay she will write during the college admissions process? Unfortunately she will need to write more than one essay. College admissions officers will not have access to the essay that she writes for the SAT.

I think people are confusing the essay on the SAT writing section and the essay(s) required on college applications themselves. The latter is quite important.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SAT essay usually has a pretty specific prompt. As far as I can tell, and what my DCs SAT tutor said, the key to a high score is to fill two entire pages, and have good paragraph and sentence structure. I don't think the topic is that important although of course it needs to be responsive to the prompt. Mine has taken SATs twice and had pretty different essay prompts so it would be hard to prepare too much for that.


A lot of selective colleges don't even count the writing portion of the SAT so I would definitely not consider the SAT essay to be critical to admissions.

Are you kidding? We have visited well over 10 selective colleges and almost all have intimated the importance of the essay and we have been told point blank that sometimes the essay can be the one thing that pushes (or not) a student over to the side of being admitted. It is HUGE. That is why she is stressing over the essay!

I think you are thinking about the Common App essay, and maybe the Supplemental essays. The OP asked specifically about the SAT essay, which feeds into the writing score.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SAT essay usually has a pretty specific prompt. As far as I can tell, and what my DCs SAT tutor said, the key to a high score is to fill two entire pages, and have good paragraph and sentence structure. I don't think the topic is that important although of course it needs to be responsive to the prompt. Mine has taken SATs twice and had pretty different essay prompts so it would be hard to prepare too much for that.


A lot of selective colleges don't even count the writing portion of the SAT so I would definitely not consider the SAT essay to be critical to admissions.

Are you kidding? We have visited well over 10 selective colleges and almost all have intimated the importance of the essay and we have been told point blank that sometimes the essay can be the one thing that pushes (or not) a student over to the side of being admitted. It is HUGE. That is why she is stressing over the essay!

I think you are mixing up things. The SAT has an essay component- that has a specific prompt to answer. Colleges do not read the SAT essay, they get the score. Many colleges require an additional essay- the college applications essay is the one that matters more for those colleges. That is the one where the student needs to present herself to the University.

Anonymous wrote:The SAT essay usually has a pretty specific prompt. As far as I can tell, and what my DCs SAT tutor said, the key to a high score is to fill two entire pages, and have good paragraph and sentence structure. I don't think the topic is that important although of course it needs to be responsive to the prompt. Mine has taken SATs twice and had pretty different essay prompts so it would be hard to prepare too much for that.


A lot of selective colleges don't even count the writing portion of the SAT so I would definitely not consider the SAT essay to be critical to admissions.

Are you kidding? We have visited well over 10 selective colleges and almost all have intimated the importance of the essay and we have been told point blank that sometimes the essay can be the one thing that pushes (or not) a student over to the side of being admitted. It is HUGE. That is why she is stressing over the essay!

DO you mean the college application essay? Now that is important.

I think it could be good. The straddle of girl/woman is a big difficulty (hey just ask Miley). Didn't Britney Spears do a song about this?

That topic has potential if your daughter is a good writer.

The SAT essay usually has a pretty specific prompt. As far as I can tell, and what my DCs SAT tutor said, the key to a high score is to fill two entire pages, and have good paragraph and sentence structure. I don't think the topic is that important although of course it needs to be responsive to the prompt. Mine has taken SATs twice and had pretty different essay prompts so it would be hard to prepare too much for that.

A lot of selective colleges don't even count the writing portion of the SAT so I would definitely not consider the SAT essay to be critical to admissions.

So how important is it really? It seems that through the years this inconspicuous benign piece has become really key and really important in the admission process. Do you agree? Having a daughter just going through it she is totally stumped as to what to write about. The few things that came to find seem so cliche and run of the mill and though they were interesting experiences to her, she can already see the yawns that they might evoke with exhausted admissions officers. So...she started trying to think outside the box and think about a subject that reflects back on her, another way for them to get to know a bit more and she was going to talk about why/how she cannot let go of her Madame Alexander doll collection, much to the chagrin of your 17 and 18 year old friends! Does this sound like something she could build on?

This is my first so we are totally stumped and neither of us wants to "bring in a pro" as so many do to help her. She wants to do this on her own and I am behind her every step of the way.....would love your take for anyone who knows.