<p>a few months ago i planned out a super elaborate schedule for every single essay i needed to write. i had a list of schools, i got a list of their supplemental questions, i put them all in order, etc. etc. </p>
<p>then i found out that i'm going to a summer program which i love as my heart, but during which i will have zero time to write essays. my summer is 9 weeks long, of which 6 are at the program, 1 is at a contest for an e.c. at which i will also have no time, and 2 are a college-visit road trip. needless to say, this completely zaps the aforementioned schedule.</p>
<p>so, when should i write my essays? i'm planning to apply to 10-12 schools. only 4 are not common app, and most of the supplements for the others are short (going by past years). i have a fall sport that takes up a lot of my time then and a major e.c. in the winter that also sucks time. should i try to do them during the road trip? during the summer program?</p>
<p>Whenever people ask a question like this I think about what Chris Rock said about hosting the Oscars:</p>
<p>The Oscars were in January and I knew the summer before that I was going to host them. By October I had my monologue memorized. By January it was invincibly perfect.</p>
<p>D1 started her apps and essays over the summer. While it helped to get all the lists and grunt work done, she HATED her original essays that she wrote over the summer. She ended up re-writing about a month befor they were due and was much happier with them.</p>
<p>My kids wrote all the essay questions on one piece of paper, maybe in October. They actually wrote the essays just before sending the applications in. I think the essays were done last, in fact. They did fine getting in their schools.</p>
<p>I agree with the people who say it is an individual thing, really. It helped to know what the questions were, but really, there was no need, in our household, to make a big deal out of the essays. They really didn't spend that much time on them.</p>
<p>And applying to 5-6 schools also worked, with 2 reaches, 2 matchs, 2 safeties, for instance. They put a lot of effort into choosing and visiting, before applying, not after. That can cost some money and time, but so can doing all those applications.</p>
<p>I'd say start in the summer. But not necessarily 'start', maybe just roll the ideas around in your head, jot down ideas in a notebook, stuff like that. Don't waste your summer going, "Gee, I'd really love to go ____ , but I've gotta finish these essays.."</p>
<p>Really start getting your ideas down about what you want to focus on for your essays by the end of summer. This is (hopefully) where you've had some fun and have (somewhat) found out or solidified who you are as a person.</p>
<p>The greatest single piece of advise I can give when choosing essay topics and when writing essays is to write them as a way of showing that you're different with respect to whatever you're talking about. For example, say you've done some research with a professor already. Hundreds, maybe thousands of others applying to your school(s) will also write about their research experience(s) in one form or another - how was yours different? How did it turn out differently because you were in that situation and not someone else?</p>
<p>Myself, I had a lot of specific essays to write - easily 10 > 200 words. My apps were all due either Nov. 31/Dec. 1 or Jan. 1, but I procrastinated until about 2 weeks before each app was due to really type out my essays and get them beyond pre-writing/free-writing stages. Locking yourself in a room for a week before apps are due worked relatively well for me before both of my main due dates.</p>
<p>I guess I have one more piece of advice for writing those essays - like what you write. Especially if you hate writing like me, if you can think of a topic or way of writing that makes you motivated and passionate about creating quality essays, you'll end up better off. Motivation by wanting to get accepted (or not get rejected) isn't enough at a lot of places - none of my essays to the places I was accepted felt forced or were difficult to fill with useful material. If it comes naturally, there's a great chance it'll be better and reveal more of you than something contrived or cliche.</p>
<p>Oh, and one more piece of advice for the OP and other CCers is this situation:
More than 10 schools is too much in most cases. Sure, I had 4 CommonApp schools, but combined they required 8+ decently long supplements that couldn't be recycled from other essays. Even if you think you're awesome and the greatest writer since __________, it takes focus and a lot of time to really love and know both a school and its application to make it worthwhile. There are the best of the best around here who do manage to get into 12/15 schools, but for many, this just isn't realistic. This can obviously spawn its own thread for discussion, but I really agree with my counselor that 7 is just about the perfect number of apps. Each school you apply to (yes, possibly especially your safeties) should hurt inside when you get rejected and should feel joyous when you get accepted. I really believe summer is the time to trim down your list of schools to 10 at most, so that each school you apply to you'll be perfectly happy attending. I ended up applying to 9 (with 3 UCs and 4 CommonApps), and it's fair to say 2 of my rejections didn't sting as much as my other two did. Really, try and get it below 10 - it's not very fun trying to decide among 3-5 schools you each love for different reasons after getting accepted - the acceptance dilemma.</p>
<p>(Ok, that was a bit of a rant too, but you gotta do something when there's no homework to do)</p>
<p>I am just finishing my sophomore year in college, so I did this a few years ago but here are my thoughts.</p>
<p>I applied to 7 schools, which apparently is the middle-ground these days (I've heard 6-8 from some people, but 10 being max and 6 the min to allow the 2 reach, 2 match, 2 safety selection). I think more than 10 is sort of crazy. Are you visiting all 20 beforehand? I didn't visit all my schools, but I saw four on the west coast (where I live), and the 3 I didn't visit were really unnecessary to apply to anyways as an afterthought. You should be willing to go to any one of the schools you apply to, and with 20 it just looks like you are applying to... I don't know where. Do you have 10 reach schools or something? I'd just say trim it down for sanities sake (not to mention needless application fees).</p>
<p>To your question: when to write the essay(s)? Well, how many schools are common app schools? How big are the supplements? I was lucky and none of the supplements required an additional essay, and only one didn't take the commonapp, so I took a question from the school that didn't take the commonapp, wrote my essay for that topic, and then made that my question for the commonapp essay. It was even for an assignment during my senior year of high school! My point by saying all this is that you could start months beforehand, but I am pretty sure my essay is what got me into my schools and I didn't spend a month writing and refining, I spend a week or two in class. I would suggest spending time finding good questions, ones that would allow you to be creative and show something unique about you. I'm not even a creative person but after seeing the questions and thinking about them, I got a really good idea and went with it and it was probably the best "essay" I have written. This essay full of creativity and that was truly a joy to write was a shock since I am a science guy... I do physics and math and I really hate every creative writing assignment I have ever been given. Spend time finding questions, getting a good idea. If the inspiration strikes to sit and write then I obviously wouldn't stop it, but don't sit down months in advance to force out something. You have plenty of time.</p>
<p>That depends on you :P How fast you can think and write! But on the whole, you can start writing right now...Just write random things to find your voice. And you can write out an essay about your life (sort of like an autobiography) to help you remember the things that have happened after you came into existence. These should help you when you decide to write your essays, unless you already know what to write :D </p>
<p>This is what I did: I wrote little bits like vignettes whenever I was in the 'mood' for almost two years. I didn't start doing it for college, but the diary came into good use when I was writing those essays...they were great for reference. </p>
<p>I also wrote my essay the day before the deadline...which was one horrible experience. I wouldn't suggest you do that! :D All the best.</p>
<p>I wrote mine in November one night while watching SNL. It worked for me although my english teacher was worried I'd never get it done (cuz she proofread all of ours for grammar and spelling) and mine was a month and a half after she wanted to see them :P</p>
<p>Better yet, don't write any essays. Submit your application and let your test scores and national alligator-raising champion award do the talking. All the true BA's do it that way.</p>
<p>I agree with all those who say you should start your essays before school starts. These essays are supposed to be well thought out; they will decide whether you are accepted into a college you want to go to. Therefore, they are not trivial. Take your time. Start brainstorming and you'll know a good idea when it hits you. It'll be spontaneaous and you will feel happy about writing. Do not hold anything back; instead, show yourself as you truly are.</p>
<p>What tlesc01 said is exactly right...I started my essays in July before senior year and wound up working on them until a week before the deadline in January. 4 of my supplimental essays took months and months to work on, and the reason things kept up like that was because I kept b.s.-ing and trying to say things I thought colleges would like to hear, vs what I really felt. It sounds cliche, but I know from experience that the most honest papers take a very short amount of time. My best college essay was done in about three drafts and was something I wrote in about one hour. Just sit down, focus, and write what you feel. But just in case this is hard for you (like it was for 6 out of 7 of my essays), start early!!!</p>
<p>I agree with Poof. One of the most important things to realize when writing the essay is that it's basically the only thing in the application that YOU have complete control over... it's not a number, or a statistic to be analyzed. They're trying to get to know YOU. So, don't write about what you think they WANT to hear, because you'll end up with an essay that sounds cliche, and corny. I found it became easier to write when I stopped thinking about why I was writing, and instead focused on what I wanted to say.</p>