Parents of entering seniors,
The summer before a student’s senior year is traditionally a time for parents and the student to battle over writing the college application essay. That’s too bad, because, given plenty of time and the right approach, the process, while difficult, can produce an essay of which your student is quite proud and that really improves acceptances, and the essay can be completed with zero screaming.
One key insight: the piece need not be about Nobel Prize-level research your student is doing in his or her spare time, nor need it be of Shakespearean writing quality. How do I know? There are several books out that are compilations of actual essays with information about where the students were accepted. We’ve used and liked College Essays That Made a Difference. Read all the essays; you will probably be relieved.
Your student is competing against hundreds or thousands of other applicants, many of whom are well-qualified. The essay may be your student’s best chance to stand out from this group and to reveal attractive characteristics that transcend grades, test scores, and so on, thereby getting “mind share” among the admissions team. A workmanlike but predictable essay, the likes of which have been submitted countless times before, probably won’t do this job. A piece that is personal and courageous just might.