<p>Bless the AP English teacher for assigning a college essay--who knows when son would have started otherwise. But I have two questions. First, what is a good length for an essay? The Common App says 250 minimum, but that's all the guidance provided, as far as I can tell. My other question is, son wants to write about a political issue. Not one of the hugely controversial topics (not abortion, or gun control), but it's possible that an admissions officer might have a definite opinion on the topic. Son wants to write about a personal experience that broadened his understanding of the issue, and not necessarily which side of the controversy he supports. But is there a conventional wisdom that controversial political issues are not good topics for college application essays?</p>
<p>I'd strongly argue AGAINST using a political topic. The essay is supposed to say something about the student, right? Even professional politicians find this difficult. Also, political thought requires considerable experience in the world -- which teenagers usually lack. Why choose so difficult a topic in an area your S has so little experience?</p>
<p>I wondered about essay length also. Dd's essay was 800+ words. Probably too long - so she edited it - a couple of sentences got omitted, as did some unnecessary wordiness. Anyway the edit tightened the essay, so I'm glad she had to go back and revise. Now the essay is about 600++ words - possibly still too long - but she plans to talk to her gc and an English teacher before she revises again.</p>
<p>IMO - and MO only - the political topic sounds good: not a controversial issue, rather an issue of interest to your son. It SOUNDS as though your s is approaching the topic in all the right ways: topic of interest, personal experience, growth process as a result of the experience, not a treatise on which side of the controversy is the RIGHT one. Sometimes I think admissions officers probably welcome an essay that touches on something notable. Let your son show his personality through the essay.</p>
<p>There is a maximum number of characters that the common app. will allow. I can remember what it was though. My recollection is that mathson aimed for about 500 words, he's not very loquacious so the effort on his end was to make it longer not shorter!</p>
<p>From your description the political topic sounds fine, just keep in mind the essay shines a light on who he is.</p>
<p>Character count on the Comm App is right.
The essay should be written about whatever your son feels passionate about.
Highlighting what he gained from the experience will give the addcom a feel for the kind of person he is. I agree that his approach to the topic seems a good one and it wont go unnoticed by the adcom.</p>
<p>Does your son want to major in Political Science? It might be a very nice essay if he can tie it in with educational goals (i.e. the program he wants to apply toi) AND if the admissions reader will know more about your son. The essay should tell a story about something your son is interested in.</p>
<p>The topic is only a vehicle for sharing information about your son. Like a car, the make and model are not relevant to the destination. A Ford will probably get you to the same destination as a BMW. If a political topic does so, then fine, but some kids get carried away with their opinions instead of sharing concrete information that adcoms can use to determine if they are a good fit for the school. Every word in the essay should be giving them the opportunity to get to know who your son is.</p>
<p>We have a draft! I truly expected that this would not happen without serious struggle, but son just sat down and wrote it in a few hours. </p>
<p>I think I understand generally the idea that the essay is a way for admissions officers to get to know applicants, and that what is important is not that the essay be technically good (commas in all the right places) but that it show who the applicant is. All that is easy to say but even having read my son's draft I am not sure how to evaluate what he has written. Like I said, it is about a political conflict (an international issue (not Iraq); son does want to major in international studies). I think one of his teachers must have hammered into his head that all essays should have a three-prong/five-paragraph structure, so that is what he has done. The three prongs are why this conflict is important to him--meeting a person from one of the countries, family background, and his study of other conflicts in history classes. So in one sense some of it is kind of clinical (especially the part about other conflicts) and not personal (not about son directly) but in another sense it is personal because it reveals what is important to him and what he has taken away from his studies.</p>
<p>I guess I am confused about whether the getting to know the applicant aspect should be direct (lots of "I" statements) or whether a more indirect approach (writing that is objective--e.g., conflicts that contributed to the World Wars--but indirectly also reveals what the applicant thinks, or what is important to him) is also acceptable.</p>