<p>D came home from school today and announced that in seven days she "will officially be a senior!!!" After I processed that comment and clutched my heart from the pain of knowing just how fast her remaining days of high school will pass, we sat down and discussed "the essay." I listened as she recanted what she has been told by her English teacher as far as preparation for this undaunting task. She knows her essay should be personal and real and that it will be her time to shine. A successful college essay leaves the reader with a picture of someone so vivid that they feel like they have met the person they are reading about. It isn't complicated or full of big words but creative and risky with the content carefully chosen so the reader is able to 'see' and 'feel' this person they are reading about. These are the things she will be constantly reminding herself of as she begins writing her essay this summer. </p>
<p>If anyone can suggest other strategies or approaches please do so.....all input greatly appreciated. :)</p>
<p>The book on College Essays by Harry Bauld is a great place to start.</p>
<p>From my D's experience: it isn't necessary to capture your whole self in the essay but rather one or two essential traits that give the impression that a particular college is a good fit and that you have something to offer the community. Genuine is more important than "creative" if you have to strain for "creativity"; don't be afraid to risk originality but go for "risky" only if that's who you are.</p>
<p>Sometimes it helps to start writing in the middle and then work on the catchy opener later, once you know where you want to go in the essay.</p>
<p>Avoid vague generalities --be specific using real-life examples or brief anecdotes.</p>
<p>Use your natural language and tone-- don't sound like you swallowed a thesaurus.</p>
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I listened as she recanted what she has been told by her English teacher as far as preparation for this undaunting task. She knows her essay should be personal and real and that it will be her time to shine. A successful college essay leaves the reader with a picture of someone so vivid that they feel like they have met the person they are reading about. It isn't complicated or full of big words but creative and risky with the content carefully chosen so the reader is able to 'see' and 'feel' this person they are reading about. These are the things she will be constantly reminding herself of as she begins writing her essay this summer.
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<p>I know that the English teacher meant well, but this sort of thinking is an engraved invitation to many months of writer's block.</p>
<p>It is not necessary to sit down and try to write a good essay, incorporating every piece of guidance on essay writing you've ever received. It is sufficient to read through the prompts, figure out which topic works best (or least worst) for you, and type something or other onto the screen.</p>
<p>Whew. The hard part is over. </p>
<p>It's over because you're not writing anymore. You're about to start editing. There is a reason why people talk about "writer's block" but not about "editor's block." Editing is much less scary than writing. If you add the refinements at the editing stage rather than the writing stage, the whole process will seem much less formidable.</p>
<p>And then when you're done, you let the essay sit for a week or so and then proofread it in excruciating detail. And you get at least one other person who's good at proofreading to proofread it in excruciating detail. What are you looking for? The tiny little errors that we all make and that spellcheckers don't catch -- like the OP's use of "recanted" instead of "recounted" in the post that I've quoted from the beginning of this thread.</p>
<p>I suspect you mean that your D recounted, rather than recanted (unless you subjected her to a Spanish Inquisition-style interrogation and she changed her tune), and that you and she are apprehensive rather than undaunted by the prospect of writing good essays.</p>
<p>One more point (if your kid is concerned about the essay):</p>
<p>Some of the most savvy young people I know believe that it would be perfectly all right to submit an essay that consists of pornography written in Swahili to most of the large state universities because these schools process so many applications and have such overburdened staffs that it is not possible for anyone to actually read the essays. The only reason that the essays are included in the applications, the kids say, is that there's a feeling out there that "good" colleges require essays, so an essay-free application makes a college look bad. </p>
<p>I would be careful with that, unless all you care about is gaining admission (may be true in that case, I couldn't say). The essay may be a factor for placement into honors or scholars programs.</p>
<p>I'm not a parent, but I wrote an article for the school paper this year about writing college essays, and my regional admissions officer mentioned my essay in her letter, and I'd be willing to send that as a short how-to. </p>
<p>In general though, the best essays show rather than tell.</p>
<p>Marian: I would be very hesitant to believe that any person who was serious about getting into college would take a chance like this. If I were the admissions person that came across something of this nature it would go right into the nearest trashcan. That isn't savvy but just plain cocky and disrepectful to the people that are taking the time to read these essays, and to all the other students that have labored and stressed over the essay process.</p>
<p>Sharon, that was my first reaction, too. And you're probably right. But the kids who said it to me seemed really convinced. It's a strange story, though.</p>
<p>marite: ya don't need to worry yurself none about me hepin hur with her essay....ain't no way I'm gunna do that! That'z ezactly why I'm a askin fer hep hear.</p>
<p>I think "college essay" is very intimidating. How about "tell me something specific about yourself in two pages or shorter"? My daughter write five or six short essays about her life before deciding what to write for her college essay. In the end, the essay she submitted--about her relationship with her brother--took less than an hour to write, and it was charming, light-hearted, and a pleasure to read.</p>
<p>Son resurrected an essay he'd written about his first ride in a Cobra replica when he was in 8th grade, tweaked it, and submitted that. </p>
<p>It's 500 words (more or less) that demonstrates you can read and write English grammatically. It's not a big deal. Making it a big deal diminishes the entirety of the application.</p>