Teachers vs. Tutors vs. Counselors

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I was wondering who's advice should I listen to the most. I'm not sure much of their abilities since it's only the first trimester and I don't really talk to the counselor that much. I first had my college essay reviewed by my English teacher. Then I put it together and walked over to a place that was hosting free tutoring. They were also hosting an event where they would look over college essays for a few hours. After that I revised it and it looked good to them and good to my English teacher as well.</p>

<p>Then I went to a counselor to look over it. They made big critics, though some of them were just word changes. I was told that I should take out a dialogue (which is about a paragraph) since it doesn't explain the main part. My English teacher told me I should add in anecdotes in my essay. The anecdote did relate to my topic, like it was about me struggling and my dad telling me to not give up. There I was able to reflect on it to prove that I do not give up that easily, a way to show my characteristic. </p>

<p>So, maybe it may all depend. But my counselor did like it, but he/she/it said it didn't flow as well. While the tutor and English teacher said it flowed much better and looks neat.</p>

<p>Would a college counselor be much better to listen to, or well my college counselor?</p>

<p>I am so conflicted on points, because when you have so many "eyes" that read it, it's like some of them contradict each other. I'm not saying they are changing my essay, mainly proof-reading. Though, whose advice should I be following? I know maybe I should follow what I think, but I never did 'story-writing about myself' in High School. It's mainly literature and analysis write-ups that I learned.</p>

<p>Just for some information. I would have edited into the post, but the edit button is gone.
This is an AP English Teacher.
The tutor is from a nonprofit tutoring center.
The high school counselor is the one mainly working with the senior graduation project.</p>

<p>It sounds like your English teacher is making the right comments. Comments regarding word choice/sentence structure/grammar are editing-focused and not oriented towards the big picture, which is what you actually need. </p>

<p>Ideally, the first thing you want to hear from a reader is ‘this is great!’. If someone shoots directly to editing, chances are your story reads too much like an essay. You want them to comment on the content and not the structure. </p>

<p>You can see some examples here [Effective</a> Essays for College Applications - The App Style](<a href=“http://theappstyle.com/college-essay-examples/]Effective”>The App Style - A College Application Guide)</p>

<p>For any bigger edits (like whether to omit an entire paragraph) I would trust the college counselor. It’s their job to know what admissions counselors are looking for. If all are doing their job properly (big if, perhaps) then trust the counselor. End of story.</p>

<p>I see, getting different points as well. xD Thanks.
I totally felt proud of myself when I heard from my tutor (I only went to that tutoring center once though), and my teacher.</p>

<p>Then when I heard from my counselor, I was like wondering if they knew what they were saying. That’s why it’s so conflicting. </p>

<p>But mainly because I don’t want to get rid of that entire anecdote because I thought it could use some ‘story’ to it. That’s why I thought the counselor got rid of it because it was too much of a ‘dialogue’ so it didn’t really say much literally, rather than the meaning behind it.</p>