<p>The important thing you want to think about when you plan your essay topic is “how will the reader remember or categorize me after reading this essay?” So what ever you think is an important identity or strong “selling” point should be reflected in your essay. The essay will be considered along with your scores, grades, and resume, so it does not have to be a laundry list of accomplishments. D who was applying for studio art talked about how she notices small details in life and slows down her pace in everyday life to see things others pass over. The essay revealed her artist eye and creative inspirations. Older D focused on the formation and success of an acappella group she formed, reflecting on how she felt at its first meeting and projecting how she would feel at its last meeting at our house and how the group will move forward without her. It revealed her leadership and musical ability. I agree that I would write a great essay with authentic voice and then figure out which essay prompt it best aligns with. </p>
<p>My oldest kid’s essay said, “I’m a self-motivated computer nerd with a sense of humor.” The youngest was less easy to categorize, but I think his essays said, “I’m a bit of a diamond in the rough. I am willing to teach myself new skills, I’m observant, I have a sense of humor and I’m a little quirky. Possible future writer.”</p>
<p>The odd thing is that this advice was cut and pasted from the Michelle Hernandez website - and my understanding is that she is a well respected admissions “guru”. She also charges $14k for a 4 day rising senior application boot camp. So why does this advice seem so off? </p>
<p>I wonder if she’s losing it, or if the kids she works with really are such academic powerhouses they don’t have anything better to talk about. </p>
<p>I agree with all the advice given to you above. If you want to look at some sample essays for reference, here are some of my personal favorites:</p>
<p><a href=“http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/essays/”>http://apply.jhu.edu/apply/essays/</a> (my favorite one is the spy one)</p>
<p><a href=“Past Essays | Tufts Admissions”>Past Essays | Tufts Admissions;
(a couple of different examples, including supplements)</p>
<p><a href=“Students and Money, in Their Own Words - The New York Times”>Students and Money, in Their Own Words - The New York Times;
(I absolutely love the first one on this page)</p>
<p>If you want, I can have a few samples of my own that I’d be willing to send you. A college essay should above all be personal, and about the person who wrote it. Going outside academics is wise, although not required, it allows you to show another side of yourself that you don’t usually see in an application. It’s honestly my favorite part of it.</p>
<p>Oh and another book you could read is “Essays that made a difference” by the princeton review, they have good ones in there I’d avoid reading too much though, it’s good to just go from the gut and just write from the heart. Be original. Be creative. Be yourself. Good luck!</p>
<p>As a side note, I’d recommend you show the GC some of the advice you have received on here. It is a bit unerving that a guidance counselor would be giving such advice to kids…</p>
<p>The best advise my D and I read as she prepped to write her Tufts essay came from the book “College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step” by Robin Mamlet and Christine VanDeVelde. The authors suggest that applicants not read ANY of the standard books containing boilerplate “what worked” essays, but read instead great essayists like David Sedaris, Amy Tan, Anne Lamott and others. I’d add Calvin Trillin, E.B. White, Sarah Vowell, Jonathan Franzen, Domenica Ruta.</p>
<p>My D’s Common App essay was about a day spent with her father at a white elephant sale. It simply and effectively distilled many things about her: her observational skills, her connection with her father, her academic interests, her nuanced look at the world, her sense of humor. An adcom made a point of telling her that it nearly made another adcom cry. </p>
<p>Don’t try too hard to impress. Find the large picture in the small.</p>
<p>My D2 and I read a college essay book together, and thought the essays were TERRIBLE. And some of these students got into really good schools! It gave my D a confidence boost, she KNEW she could write better essays than these. It made me feel sorry for admissions counselors if this was a collection of some of the best they ever see. </p>
<p>One of my kids wrote about her long time obsession with Sherlock Holmes (starting in middle school, nothing to do with the TV show) and how she tried to imitate him for years in various ways. My other kid wrote an essay about a foreign language she had studied for years (not a language spoken in our family, just something she had an interest in), and her experiences with it and how it had shaped her over the years, including a visit to the country where it is spoken one summer in high school.</p>
<p>“My D2 and I read a college essay book together, and thought the essays were TERRIBLE.”</p>
<p>I agree. I am often stunned at how generic, dull and forced many of these “essays that worked” are. Not that applicants should be expected to magically turn into gifted wordsmiths, but considering, at least for top tier colleges, a certain exceptional ability to turn thoughts into words might be expected, it’s a little irksome to know that sub-par essays don’t necessarily translate into college rejection. </p>
<p>My daughter wrote on a subject her “counselor” advised against, fought against, and told her would kill her chances for admissions. She gained admissions everywhere, places in the one and two digit admissions rates, these days. She also later published the essay as creative nonfiction.</p>
<p>Let the kid show the schools who they really are. It’s the only real chance on the app.</p>
<p>good luck to your kiddo.</p>
<p>“they copied ALL the points from that link. And, no, they didn’t credit their source.”</p>
<p>WOW. I disagree with the content of this advice, but copying like that is inexcusable regardless of its correctness. What an example to set for the kids! You should bring this to the school’s attention.</p>
<p>Michelle Hernandez’s daughter is going to Harvard in the fall. No surprise there. Clearly her advice worked for her own family.</p>
<p>Or, perhaps she puts generic junk on her website so that her private clients can do much better? (And also her daughter).
I think the school counselor who cut and pasted should be held to the same standards that his or her students will be at the universities to which they are applying. In other words, probably academic probation if not expulsion.<br>
If the counselor wanted to take the zero effort way out, all he or she had to do was credit the source. Jeez. </p>
<p>“Michelle Hernandez’s daughter is going to Harvard in the fall.”</p>
<p>I don’t even want to imagine how that girl’s app was massaged and primped and micro-tweaked. IMO, Michelle Hernandez is a blight on the whole college admissions scene.</p>