<p>Thanks, Doubleplay. My S alluded to stories from GM about her service in WWII; they clearly had their own private world. </p>
<p>Alumother, my little cousin wrote a story about the sights and smells of his GF's house. Like your comments, his too were poignant, & his story was published.</p>
<p>My eldest S wrote a really wonderfully funny essay about when my mother moved in with us, and brought not only Alzheimer's Disease, but her two Jack Russell terriers with her. While he related some of the bad things - he wanted to concentrate on the better times we all remember. (Mom used to sing all night long, at the top of her lungs: "She'll be comin' 'round the mountain!" We'll never be able to hear that song again as a family without cracking up!) An English teacher at the college to which he was applying was a family friend and critiqued the essay for him, saying it was great, etc.</p>
<p>Well, S was rejected from this Ivy. Same English teacher approached the adcom and asked why - given his stats and this great essay, etc. Adcom said he felt the essay could not have been written by a 17 year old. We didn't pursue it. He was later admitted by Penn and Dartmouth, neither of which he attended.</p>
<p>I think I will eventually get around to this point: sometimes those people reading your essay, no matter how good it is, or how good others might think it is, just won't get it, or won't like it. It happens. Move on...</p>
<p>Earlier someone asked why the schools have their own essay questions. I think I know one possible answer ... they want the applicant to answer a question they have not answered before; a question for which they do not have a pre-thought out polished response.</p>
<p>Why do I say this? It is a common approach to interviewing for jobs. The best version was a prospectice boss who asked a me a series of "3" questions. What are the last 3 books you read? What 3 books would you recommend for someone applying for this job? And my favorite ... if you could meet any 3 people in the history of the world, real or fictional, who would they be and why? </p>
<p>In the book the Gatekeepers there is a great example of a student being honest to themself and eventually suceeding using a essay that could have been cheesy. The writer guy wrote of the initial development of his friendship with his best friend, who needs a wheelchair. The story is very well written but is a corny tale of a couple kids sharing interests at a camp when they are 9-10 years old ... well written but not life changing. Unknowst to the applicant the best friend's parents wrote a recommendation that described the friendship and the length's the student went for friend (carrying him, changing diapers, etc). It's essentially a cheesy topic (look at me I have a friend in a wheelchair) and when his application was done the school had a picture of a tolerate, devoted, and loving young man ... it painted a picture of who he is.</p>
<p>"I think I will eventually get around to this point: sometimes those people reading your essay, no matter how good it is, or how good others might think it is, just won't get it, or won't like it. It happens. Move on..."</p>
<p>This is so true!
Even looking across these message boards, you can see stereotypical attitudes toward certain types of people and certain activities. I've read stereotypes about football players (violent and stupid), high school jocks (conceited), student government officers (it's all about popularity, not the most deserving), fraternities (drunkards), summer travel (bought and paid for by mommy and daddy), community service abroad (rich kids' boondoggle)... the lists go on and on. I'm sure there are certain stereotypes carried among application readers as well (honestly, everyone has some biases). </p>
<p>You just hope the person reading your essay doesn't harbor some deep rooted resentment for whatever you're writing about. Of course, you could always do what a previous poster suggested and write about brushing your teeth! :D</p>
<p>The point that mommusic makes about using big words from a thesaurus reminds me of some essays that oldest wrote in his junior year. He has a very straightforward way of writing, and the subjects were his grandfather's illness and a teammate's murder. Since the subjects are sort of touchy anyway, he didn't flower it up much- he wrote what happened, how it affected him, etc. My oldest is a sort of quiet, stoic, tell-it-like-it-is sort of man. The main criticism he received from readers (not adcoms) was that he needed to put some $10 words in.</p>
<p>I guess after all these years we still don't have a handle on what it is that people really want.</p>
<p>My son used only examples from science fiction on his SAT writing section. I don't think the graders like them. :(</p>
<p>fencersmam
That would have irked me as well, to hear that they doubted your S writing the essay. If his other writing scores were excellent, including CR or Verbal, they should have realized this was your S's writing.</p>
<p>This illustrates how random acceptances can be. One committee thought the essay was so good, could not have been written by a 17 yo, and other clleges liked it. It would be interesting to get feedback.</p>
<p>fencersmother - well your S's experience dashed my earlier hope that maybe they used the Writing section of the SAT to validate quality of essay submitted with application. Shows how silly I am.</p>
<p>Dobleplay -Post #52 was great! You hit the nail on the head. These are kids. Most have not gone down the Nile, produced a documentary, or won a Noble prize. THEY"RE KIDS.</p>
<p>Just read the first two and final pages of this thread, so some but not all..</p>
<p>Echoing an earlier poster who commented on the extra processes required by
performing arts candidates in theater or music (auditions); art studio kids who want to submit a slide portfolio for review at a university or LAC; film students who need to send in an original piece, this is on top of the essays! Read the musical theater thread around March and weep for those parents and kids who are running around and staying in motels for brief, high stakes auditions and l0% admit rates to the department (some of them), the same week the school report in AP is due. By then some of their peers will just be chilling or cowering, waiting for the mailbox or with rolling admits in hand...and those performance guys are still at it in March; plus they've also done all the same essays the previous Fall. </p>
<p>But I'm very glad, actually. S wants to become a writer professionally, for film or TV. The places where he got IN were those that also asked for a supplementary portfolio. They all gave original screenplay prompts ("two boys waiting for their father's funeral" "three strangers sit in a hospital waiting room.." and other choices), and they had to write a 3 page script. These were all due at the same time, or at most 3 weeks later, than the rest of the college essays and main application.</p>
<p>Wherever he had a chance to write creatively as described above, he got IN.
WHerever he wasn't allowed to send in his writing, he got REJECTED. All the rest was virtually the same: scores, transcripts, main essays, short answers.
Each of the 8 schools required different treatment, with some minimal tweaking on the big essays and virtually no recycling of short answers. </p>
<p>It really did feel like a meat grinder here last Fall, so I sympathize with OP to a degree.</p>
<p>BUT -- don't know if this has been said yet: colleges are also trying to put together a community, a cohort. I think if they can sense from one's approach to ANY long essay a sense of "I respond to my environment" they know the kid will be a curious, productive person on their campus. It's about the kid's overall approach to new stimuli, as well as what they've done in the past re: accomplishments, that makes them a positive addition to their campus. </p>
<p>Ultimately, I think that is felt by the AdCom intuitively, when reading the essays. Does this sound like the kind of person that will take full advantage of the resources our school has to offer? That can be sensed no matter what the topic: how the kid responded to the new family resident (grandparent with Alzheimers & two terriers moving in!) or seeing the cats at Reed College.</p>
<p>So actually I think a kid could also write on a "hackneyed" topic if that's what is truly them, but evidence an approach that shows responsiveness to that old topic. I don't feel kids should be dissuaded from this or that topic. They're not there to entertain the AdComs. I guess I would look for sincerity, no matter what... </p>
<p>But I'm just a parent, not an Adcom, so I'm guessing not knowing, obviously!</p>
<p>I keep rewinding Little Miss Sunshine in my head as we move through this college process. Sometimes I act like the grandfather, who thinks his grandkid is the tops and gives her great confidence, and sometimes I'm the teenaged brother, who worries that all those perfect little girls will put his sister to shame and she shouldn't perform. And there's that fantastic ending--not your typical fairytale ending but even better, because the family grows--I can only hope our family will be like that come April, no matter what comes in the mail.</p>
<p>But just today, I read a blurb for a new book on college apps: Don Dunbar's book about "What you don't know can keep you out of college." Something about the value of character in addition to grades/tests. That sounds good, but then the blurb mentions the "dangerous" essay topics to avoid. Oh boy. Makes you want to get up on stage like Olive in Little Miss Sunshine and just do what makes you happy, to heck what the judges expect.</p>
<p>This is a great thread, and very helpful, by the way. My S has not previously been introspective on paper, but the crafting of essays has actually helped him focus what he wants to do with his talents and interests.</p>
<p>p3t,
Although music and a few other special programs come close, there is no admission process as difficult as musical theater: lots of time, effort and money with a limited chance of success. You gave a good try but I am sure some posters will still think a few short essays are a big deal. Some won't even try to understand the use or value of these essays. They think it should be some sort of brag sheet, where the applicant describes how they saved mankind or made some other major accomplishment. They don't understand the idea of fit. Makes you wonder if the same lack of effort went into the college selection process.</p>
<p>In defense of those who worry about their essays- I do not see it as simply people being too lazy to write 500 words. What I see are students who are intimidated at the "unknown"- Is my essay topic a good one? Is my essay too risky? Will the adcom be bored? Will my essay be too similar to others? That, coupled with the fact that narrative writing may not be the student's strongest suit... think about all the math/engineering type kids who write well, but are not uber-creative writers. It's sort of like asking a creative writer to postulate on principles of physics. Huhh? </p>
<p>My son would have much rather interviewed personally, even if it was a rigorous grilling, instead of coming up with a 250 word treatise on how he will add diversity to campus. He would have much rather done twenty hours of calculus problems. He would have preferred spending eight weeks on a research project. There are many things that he would have felt more confident at doing to show his stuff, rather than writing the essay on "talk about an aesthetic experience you've had". It's not that he's lazy or stupid- it's that his talents and skills lie elsewhere and writing a 400 word essay is not the best vehicle for him to demonstrate them.</p>
<p>doubleplay, I agree that writing is not easy for many kids. My D's interests were music, science and math. She did not enjoy writing essays. Fortunately, she took the SATs before the writing section. I would like to see alternatives to the essays, but that is how the process works currently and I do understand the reasons. Do you have any alternatives that could replace the essays? You mentioned interviews. That does not seem feasible due to the vast amount of time and very subjective nature of that process. I suspect that would terrify the a lot of kids and they would prefer essay writing.</p>
<p>I don't think interviews would be doable. I was just using it as an example of something equally difficult to writing an essay, my point being that not all students who find essay writing difficult are lazy or whiners. I do not see a viable alternative. Although I commiserate with students who agonize over their essay, even though to some it seems like a relatively simple requirement.</p>
<p>I have often wondered this, though...
How do universities who have to sift through literally tens of thousands of applications actually weight the essay, especially large public universities with 33%-plus admit rates? I mean, is State U going to deny a kid with a 4.0 and 1400, because his essay is passable but boring? INstead, is State U going to accept another student who writes a scintillating essay, but who is carrying a 3.3 and 1180? IOW, how important is it, anyway??? Does the essay carry as much weight as grades, scores, and ECs? Is it really worth getting one's tummy in an uproar?</p>
<p>I went through auditions to get into college (music performance), and let me tell you, I'd MUCH rather prepare for an audition and feel like I have at least SOME control over my performance (and subsequent acceptance) than have to prove something about myself in less than 500 words.</p>
<p>Plus, I'm sure there are a certain number of "ghost written" essays ever year, which throws a whole 'nother monkey wrench into the game.</p>
<p>Essays are tough but I think it's important that college kids are comfortable with writing--and, most especially, editing. It's hard to find a job in science, math, music, or any field, where writing is not important, and many times you'll have to write in concert with other people.</p>
<p>The trouble is, I think, that most of us feel we need to sound intelligent--even profound--from the get-go. I say that's what multiple drafts are for, and I also say, don't aim point-blank for profundity but if it happens, fine. I also suggest reading aloud what you've written. You can even get started by dictating thoughts using a voice-recognition program. At least that will get some words on the screen (maybe generate a few laughs at the errors). I write descriptive nonfiction (not essays, but stuff that helps people make decisions) and I have never been able to say what I want to say in just one draft, and I always read aloud as I go. I always write to a word limit, too. In fact, most things you write for a career will likely have a word limit, or people will wish you had one. (Okay, maybe a famous novelist can write as many words as he wants. Or maybe not--look at Thomas Wolfe's tussles with his editor.)</p>
<p>Reading good short essays can help with writing, too. I frequently open The New Yorker to a select page and stick it next to a cereal bowl in hopes that one of our sons will accidentally read it in the fog of breakfast. My own most read and re-read essayist is E.B. White (One Man's Meat is my favorite), who is my model for clarity, humor, and just the right amount of profundity. And I don't recall ever seeing the word "plethora" in his writing.</p>
<p>"I am sure some posters will still think a few short essays are a big deal" </p>
<p>edad- from OP "For the record the post was not started about a "few short essays." </p>
<p>Most kids reply to more than three schools. In fact I suspect most kids apply to three times that many. I think we can all appreciate how difficult the application process was in your case. I'm sure it is just as difficult for any student in the performing arts and that student's parents as well. The post was started, by me, to see if other parents and thier children thought the essay part of the application process was more burdensome than it needed to be. Since then I have come to understand the need for multiple essays, some of which must be unique to particular schools. I really don't think any parent visiting this site, and taking this degree of authorship with their child's college search has, or would complain, about "three short essays" Lastly attempting to determine if other parents are, or have been, equally frustrated with the process is not, at least by my definition "whining".</p>
<p>Your discussion raises a lot of the points I"ve been thinking about. I'm concerned about the bias in admissions that says that only things you've EXPERIENCED are important (In the social sciences, we call that 'constructivism' -- the idea that knowledge is constructed only in relation to your own experiences and experiences of reality). I think it basically advantages: extroverts; loud mouths, and those whose behavior and attitudes tend to be risky.</p>
<p>I guess I'm concerned because I believe that a quiet student who has spent most of his life reading, and who maybe has even led a fairly sheltered life (even being homeschooled) is always going to be compared to and found wanting next to a more arrogant guy. I remember reading that book by the Duke University admissions representative where she talks about the guy who wrote the clever essay about his sexual experiences and how 'winning' she found it. Obviously, she would find an undergraduate who was a virgin to be boring and to be somehow "bringing less" to the college experience. I'm worried about a paradigm that privileges experience above all else. </p>
<p>Here's a hypothetical example -- you could have a guy who has taught himself Greek and read Homer in the original, or you could have the guy who writes the winning essay about his TRIP to Greece, where he visited lots of museums and met a 'hot babe'. I'm afraid that many admissions officers would find the second candidate more compelling -- because in their eyes, the first guy hasn't really "done anything."</p>
<p>As a parent, I'm really not comfortable sending my young daughters around the world in search of 'experiences' which would make them more interesting, and not everyone wants to be a leader. What happens to the bright student who's an introvert. I spent most of my high school years practicing the violin. Yes, I won some competitions -- but I'm afraid in the current climate, I can just hear the interviewer yawn at the thought of interviewing someone who spent most of her life in an 8 x 8 practice room by herself! How boring! What kind of experience is that? Can anyone else relate to my feelings?</p>
<p>My hand is raised, although I'm pretty impressed with the guy who has taught himself Greek and read Homer in the original, as well!</p>
<p>My son actually made a joke about this when he was going through the essay writing process. He toyed with the idea of writing a typical day in his life- get up, read a little, go to school all day, football practice until 6:30, home by 7, shower, eat, study, play drums, study some more, go to bed. That was basically his life for four years with a few variations. Nothing really out of the ordinary happened to him. <em>sigh</em> Except a broken arm, rib contusions, concussion, and separated shoulder. Oops, forgot- the "recovery from athletic injury" essay is also on the verboten list. :D </p>
<p>I suspect people think I'm whining, but I really don't mean to... I just see the other side of students trying to come up with "winning essays" when they are being advised to avoid this, that, and the other. For some, it leaves very little left over. Now that it's all over for my kids (and it all turned out well!), I try to help their younger friends as best I can with their essays, because I soooo understand how difficult it is for some.</p>