<p>My son is struggling with his app essays. My DH and I are having trouble giving him our opinions on the essays and I am now afraid that we are being too harsh with our criticism. Does anyone know of any excellent advisors/parents/people to give him some very honest feedback? We are willing to pay. If you know of someone, it would probably be best to PM me with the info. Thank you!</p>
<p>Does he have a college guidance counselor or English teacher who can review them and give him feedback? That’s what a lot of kids do…and it’s free!</p>
<p>Yes, his English teacher looked at one, had some comments and then he decided not to use that essay. She said she would only look at one essay per student. I am much more concerned with his content than the grammar and phrasing.</p>
<p>I think the guidance counselor is worthless for the essay. They are basically paper pushers unfortunately.</p>
<p>These are rough waters-- ideally, you can find someone who knows him fairly well and can talk him through it, rather than editing/criticizing. Is there an English teacher or guidance counselor who can do that for him? (I believe College Karma, the college counseling service associated with CC, has a reasonable service to help with essays.) It’s really a matter of getting the kid to shine on the page, letting his personality show through. </p>
<p>What worked for me when I was in this position with D-- we just walked away from the whole thing, took a walk together, went for coffee and sat there talking about who and what she loves, what her favorite experiences in life have been, what she wants from her education. Once we were a couple of miles from the computer and the common app, the talk flowed pretty easily-- I’d point out possible topics as they came along and we had a long list suddenly. Then, since these were things she loves to think about, she was able to write some pretty good essays-- which really showed who she is and what’s important to her. GC read and approved them and off they went. (Of course the proof is in the pudding…and there’s no pudding yet.)</p>
<p>Do you have any friends who have recently gone through the process? I think the better someone knows the young person, the better it is. When I looked over my daughter’s essays, I knew what she had done and could prompt her on what she might add to fill things in. Even an aunt or uncle or grandparent might give a fresh eye. Good luck.</p>
<p>I’ll agree with Gwen. My son was having trouble with his essays and I told him to just walk away from them for a while. We talked about what he wanted to get across. His basic premise was OK but he didn’t have any details that he brought up that would back it up. He actually had plenty and he realized it after we talked and I pointed out some. He came up with even more once he got thinking about it without the pressure of doing the actual writing. </p>
<p>He organized his thoughts a little more, even discussing it with a good friend. His essays weren’t perfect (I’d have been shocked and amazed if they were knowing him) but they were very good. Just needed some time to really formulate before the typing started.</p>