Maybe it’s too late @appalachymom , but I really think any kid has something to say, no matter how “boring” that kid might be. The trick is getting it out of them. One of my students wrote about her nightlight. She has had it since she was a little kid, and it brings her comfort. It was a nice essay that showed her personality. It wasn’t a masterpiece, and she wasn’t aiming high. They don’t have to be masterpieces though.
Another student wrote a beautiful essay on a “big” issue: humanity, good, and evil. She made it work, but some people would consider that too broad. She is aiming for a reasonably selective school and is a strong writer. The point here isn’t that a kid has to be a great writer. They just have to write about soemthing that matters to them, big or small.
My kids had a string of mediocre English teachers. They would get a grade but zero feedback. Our D managed to become an astoundingly good writer by helping start a creative writing club but her essay topic (“the bedroom essay”) was awful. Frankly, all their college essays were not the best.
S1 applied only to a state school where he got automatic entry. D applied more broadly, rejected by Colorado College, but ended up at the same state school with a scholarship and Honors College. S2 would be the most applicable.
Accepted: University of Washington, Cal Poly, Notre Dame (EA, attending). ND has a bunch of extra essays that were much better than his Common App one. He is loving it and doing well.
Rejected: Brown, Penn, Cornell. His academics and activities were good, above average for Ivies, no idea about the recommendations (he did not always get along the best with everyone, may have come through), mediocre essay. With these low admission rate places there is really no telling what got him rejected but the essay sure did not help.
“It lacks in creativity and does not reveal significant aspects of his personality, but… not particularly insightful.”
They aren’t looking for the greatest essay ever written. But each college has a kid-type they like. A set of attributes they want and know works well, in their college community. For top colleges, there’s a lot of overlap, fortunately.
If you glean the attributes a tier wants to see, it’s easier to write to that. Imo, you need to do the digging to get an idea. Then pick the narrative that can show a few of those. That’s how simple it can start, imo. Not trying to make a dry recounting into a sweeping arc.
Just a nice tale. I don’t think looking at others’ examples can generate the confidence — too many look at samples for a formula. I think that’s the wrong way to use the energy.
Current update for the mediocre essay writers with excellent stats: my S18 has received all of his EA decisions and is 6/6, including UNC-CH OOS (!), 2 other top 50 universities, and 3 other colleges in the top 150 or so with very good merit. Great results!
Now, for the competitive full ride scholarship results. Zero so far. There were 3 potentials, but S18 didn’t make finalist (or even semi) for any of them. They were UNC-CH Morehead-Cain, Villanova Presidential, and Richmond Scholars… Wasn’t surprised about UNC or Villanova, as just getting into UNC is difficult OOS, and Villanova seemed to be looking for particular students with the scholarship essay questions. I did expect him to get to the semifinalist stage at Richmond, and believe that it was the essays that did him in.
Looking forward to RD and will update then.
Congrats to your son! Getting into UNC as an OOS, is no small feat! Maybe his essay wasn’t as bland as you thought! Sometimes we as parents are bad judges of that type of stuff. A few years back my DH and I were meeting with D’s counselor, fall of senior year. My DH says, I know her essay needs a lot of work. GC says, what do you mean, it’s one of the strongest in the class! (Though I thought it was pretty terrific all along!)
Thank you @wisteria100. You’re right, sometimes we parents are too close to see our kids clearly (both positively and negatively) !
Final update for “mediocre” essay writers. All admissions decisions are in. S did not receive any of the SUPER-competitive big merit (tuition to tuition+) scholarships, but he did very well in admissions and merit in general. And who really knows if S’s essays made a difference in the lack of super-big merit. It may be that those students receiving it were incredible in every way, and some may fill some institutional needs that the colleges have. We will never know.
Admitted EA: Case Western (merit), Fordham (full tuition NMF merit), Miami OH OOS (full tuition merit and honors), Rhodes (merit), Villanova (no merit or honors), UNC-Chapel Hill OOS (Honors after reconsideration)
Admitted RD: Denison (merit), Lafayette (merit), Lehigh (no merit), Notre Dame (no merit, but possible honors), Richmond (1/3 tuition merit), Vanderbilt ($5000 NMF merit)
Waitlisted: Davidson
Rejected: Johns Hopkins
No final decisions yet, but we will be spending more $ than we initially thought, so for any parents out there who qualify for little FA (but cannot full pay) and want a top 100 school, save save save! And have your kid start writing essays 
@appalachymom , congratulations to him, he did very well! Did he submit his ‘bland’ essays, or did he rewrite them?
@Lindagaf Yes, he submitted the “bland” essays (one was for Common App, that went to every school), and he ended up with no teacher help on them.
Ironically, the school-specific essays he felt best about were for schools to which he was waitlisted and rejected RD.
Given his success in acceptances, I suspect that his essays weren’t as bland as you thought they were. Also, he probably had very good teacher recommendations, which would have definitely played a part in his acceptances. I might be assuming, but I am guessing that where you live could have come into play too, as colleges like geographic diversity.
As an aside, I know a kid who was just accepted to Lafayette with top-notch stats. He was offered no merit. So I really do think something of your son’s personality must have come through, either in his recs or essays. Getting money from Laf is no small feat. Best of luck, he has great choices.
Congrats! Sometimes essays are surprising. Back in the day when we had to hand type each application, I thought I wrote an insightful heart felt and relevant essay for Harvard and kind of an obnoxious one for Yale (had a really bad tour experience). The thin and thick envelopes came in contrary to expectation, and to my horror my essay was one of the ones read by the Dean of my residential college on freshmen welcoming dinner night. You just never know how strangers perceive your writing.
Thanks @Lindagaf. You may be right about my assessment of essays. This is my first time through this process. And interesting to know about Lafayette; I didn’t realize that receiving merit was that unusual there.
Yes, recommendations probably were very good. And geographic diversity may have helped
FYI, I have really enjoyed your thread about “average excellent” students!
@BKSquared Funny! What a way to start your college experience!
Congratulations! Happy for your son (and you!)
Wow. Getting into UNC from OOS is really good. If you don’t mind sharing, what were his stats and extracurriculars? Just curious!
@catwoman101 No problem. ACT 36 taken once, GPA 3.9/4.3, most rigorous curriculum, no school ranking, National Merit Finalist, 12 APs by graduation, AP Scholar with Distinction, 7 AP tests so far (5 5s, 2 4s), SAT Subject Tests: Math 2 790, Chemistry 800, Varsity athlete with awards, good science ECs. No hooks and not “pointy”-- he’s extremely well-rounded, which for him has led to a happy and enjoyable high school experience (and always a full night of sleep!), but maybe not what leads to super-big-competitive merit at very selective schools. No complaints.