Anonymous wrote:Revise it and don’t give it a second thought. Everyone else is doing this.

Anonymous wrote:One admissions officer during an essay info session made fun of how one student put “loin king” in her essay about staging a production of The Lion King. Her point was you can’t rely on spell check but it sounded pretty mean when she described how she passed it around to everyone in the admissions office and how they still laugh about it. (The kid was not accepted.)

Anonymous wrote:Revise it and don’t give it a second thought. Everyone else is doing this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a first year college student here.

Last year at this time, my kid was so burned out; by the time she was on her last college application, her essay was pretty weak. She also thought it was good, but IMO she had missed the point of the question.

We went round and round but she was "done," psychologically. It was a safety school for her, but due to the uncertainty of how covid was affecting admissions, I was really nervous.

I ended up negotiating with her to allow me to edit it. And I sent it in.

I'm sick of sanctimonious parents going on about how our kids should do it all themselves, as if this is some life lesson. Maybe their kid is amazing, and/or maybe their kid is applying to ONE college (like, CA students applying only to the UC system).

But IMO the "usual" college application process is in a nuclear-arms-race and our kids are caught in the middle. It's complete BS to think that all kids can do this *well* all on their own while dealing with a full courseload. The lesson should not be "do it all yourselves, even though the "game" is BS." The lesson should be, "do your best and find help if you need it"

So… cheating other, potentially more academically prepared kids, out of a spot because you perceive admissions to be a “nuclear arms race” is OK in your book? Why not just cut out the middle man and bribe the admissions committee?

Anonymous wrote:Parent of a first year college student here.

Last year at this time, my kid was so burned out; by the time she was on her last college application, her essay was pretty weak. She also thought it was good, but IMO she had missed the point of the question.

We went round and round but she was "done," psychologically. It was a safety school for her, but due to the uncertainty of how covid was affecting admissions, I was really nervous.

I ended up negotiating with her to allow me to edit it. And I sent it in.

I'm sick of sanctimonious parents going on about how our kids should do it all themselves, as if this is some life lesson. Maybe their kid is amazing, and/or maybe their kid is applying to ONE college (like, CA students applying only to the UC system).

But IMO the "usual" college application process is in a nuclear-arms-race and our kids are caught in the middle. It's complete BS to think that all kids can do this *well* all on their own while dealing with a full courseload. The lesson should not be "do it all yourselves, even though the "game" is BS." The lesson should be, "do your best and find help if you need it"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't believe how many of you have not taught kids that their decisions have consequences. And that they will have to live with those consequences (be it an HIV infection, drunk driving crash, etc). In a matter of months they will be on their own.

You are DEFINITELY not serving them well.

I know you mean well, but this is not a good way to parent.

This is OP. I hear ya but one big issue is that my DD thinks it’s a good essay. When I am baffled by how she could think something she wrote so quickly could be good enough, I realize her high school has not served her well in terms of writing quality. Not to take the blame off of her but she has always been a responsible, good student but I’m now questioning the rigor of her classes.

Cajoling and bribing go against every fiber of my being but I think the stakes may be worth it. (Though I don’t know what to bribe her with.) I’ve already tried to persuade her by emphasizing how if she only gets into one or two of her last choice schools she will wish she worked harder on this essay. Her response was, “There’s nothing wrong with it.” I hate to be harsh but it reads like it was dashed off by a middle schooler — though at least it’s not offensive and the grammar is correct.

Oh mine too. They seemed so…juvenile. Revise it and submit.

Anonymous wrote:Can't believe how many of you have not taught kids that their decisions have consequences. And that they will have to live with those consequences (be it an HIV infection, drunk driving crash, etc). In a matter of months they will be on their own.

You are DEFINITELY not serving them well.

I know you mean well, but this is not a good way to parent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh for Peet’s sake. Do what every other DCUM parent does but doesn’t have the guts to admit. Help the kid with the essay, edit it, and send it in for her.

I don’t get this. I see how parents could decide to fix grammar or improve the structure but I don’t see how parents can really improve the actual content and answer these personal prompts.