<p>as junior year is finishing and son wants to apply to his choices early senior year (get them out of the way) i was wondering if anyone has any ideas...... his strengths will be gpa, test scores ec's etc but not sure he will be stong in essays or any interviews, He is certainly personable and pleasant, but if one believes left brain/right brain, he is definitely a science geek, ie he can score 35 on science act but only 8 on essay portion (not that an 8 is terrible but..). His writing skills are good, but dont think they would wow any adcom. He can have a wonderful discussion with us or friends or teachers he knows well but tends to clam up or sometimes worse...ramble on with people he doesnt know.
are any of the essay sites ie essay edge or collegekarma etc helpful? should he see if any teacher would put him through mock interviews?</p>
<p>Look for Harry Bauld’s book on writing the college essay. Read it, and have your son read it. Brainstorm with him on possible topics to write about, and let him go at it. Your son’s talents are in science and, I assume, math. He doesn’t need to be “writer” as well in order to get into a good school. If he can write a decent essay or two that show the reader who is is as a person, that will be good enough.
I also think that he can be himself in an interview. He’s a kid. He won’t come across as a polished adult. How refreshing. The only advice I might offer a student in an interview is to listen carefully to the questions before answering, and to look the interviewer in the eye most of the time while answering.
I think that too much prep can actually hurt a kid’s confidence. If he can relax and be himself, he’ll do just fine.</p>
<p>thanks cronie…i actually did something right! bought that book a few weeks ago and that got me thinking about it as his typical essay probably would have fallen in the,ho hum boring, category LOL! he has a great internship for this summer and if i know him he will be passionate about it so hoping something there will give him a jumping off point for some essays.</p>
<p>We used these sites when our son was prepping for a job interview but they might be useful for college interviews in terms of preparation, dress, how to answer, etc.</p>
<p>[Job</a> Interview Videos](<a href=“Best Job Interview Strategies”>Job Interview Videos)
[Classic</a> Job Interview Questions | Job Interview Videos - Monster.co.uk](<a href=“Career Advice”>Career Advice)
[How</a> to Dress for a Job Interview Video – Education-Portal.com](<a href=“http://education-portal.com/videos/How_to_Dress_for_a_Job_Interview_Video.html]How”>Dress for Success: How to Dress at a Job Interview)
[Job</a> Interview Video](<a href=“http://www.collegegrad.com/interview/job-interview-video.shtml]Job”>The Path to Interviewing Success)</p>