<p>I will begin to harp on DS after the 4th of July week to begin getting act in gear for the “senior Crunch”. My thoughts - I am of a compulsive nature - is for him to be methodical and work on one essay per wek. A plan which is manageable would be my preferred method. DS is more of a manana kid who I cannot fathom would be able to crank out a dozen essays along with senior year courses, events, his computer games and all the TV shows he must watch once the new school year begins. Some of the essays are quite similar and may present some smaller challenges. I would like him to start with state schools first, followed by safeties, matches, etc etc. leaving the common app. essay to the end.</p>
<p>My question is - single space or double space? When essays says 1 to 2 pages is that single spaced or double spaced? S is quite used to writing essays - school has format for margins, type face - 12 point - so no cheating there. For school it is always double spaced.</p>
<p>Why would your son need a dozen essays? Most of the supplemental application answers call for short answers. The whole point of the common app is to cut down on the work.</p>
<p>I think you shoudl first organize the schools and they type of application needed. If his safeties are your local or state univeristies, they usually have their own common application that you can use. As far as the others, I agree with calmom, that if using the common application, if a school has a supplemental application where there are a number of short answer statements. Even these can be crafted in a way where you can use them for more than one application. </p>
<p>I think over all if your son can craft 3 good essays; the essay on the topic of his choice for the common app, the why _____ college essay (which can be tweaked for each school) and another essay, something which usually asks how your experiences have shaped you , then he should be in good shape.</p>
<p>Many of the apps S did during 2006 had character limits/space limits so you can really see how the length works. You do them online and can save them, and the line-spacing is automatic. But if not, then assume single-spaced.</p>
<p>I think you should be careful of wearing your S out/forcing him to write when in the wrong frame of mind. Many people need to be “in the mood” to write at their best.</p>
<p>I suggest taking a look at the essay prompts for the schools he is considering. I believe you will find, as calmom and sybbie have said, that there is often overlap in prompts and/or schools which let you write on “topic of choice.” The Common App has had that as one of its prompts for at least 2 years. </p>
<p>My contribution to S’s essay writing was to put the prompts up on a big blackboard, so he could “noodle around” the ideas in his head. I did this over the summer, but he didn’t write a single essay until later on. He didn’t do it as early as I would have liked; otoh, he did not leave it for crisis last-minute time. Doing it on “my” timing might have been relaxing for me, but might not have produced his best writing.</p>
<p>Many of the supplemental essays are centered around common prompts. However, in app for School A they want 100 words, School B wants 250 words and School C wants 500 words. Thus the difficulty. I plan to use a big pin board in my S’s room so he can organize the central themes.</p>
<p>Smiles, excuse me – I noticed that in the “How to Fly to College” thread you referred to yourself as a “neurotic mother” and you opened this thread you said you had a “compulsive nature” and wanted your son to “be methodical”, despite the fact that he is more of a "ma</p>
<p>To help you get through the time that he is “not writing,” when you wish he were writing, realize that the wheels are turning inside his head, essay ideas are forming/being rejected/developing… He <em>is</em> working, even if you don’t see the outward signs.</p>
<p>I agree with much of what calmom says. First of all, the word limit is just a guideline. It does not mean that if the form asks for a 250 word essay, your S will be penalized for writing only 200 or even 100. </p>
<p>As well, it’s good to have some writing prompts in mind, but only so that your S can mull them over slowly. He should not try to start producing one essay per week beginning in July. As other posters noted, many of the writing prompts are very similar and some basic essays can be tweaked to fit the requirements of different colleges. </p>
<p>If your S is applying for rolling admissions, then, of course, he needs to produce essays earlier than in the fall. Otherwise, writing essays in October for EA/ED deadlines of November 1 is quite appropriate.</p>
<p>I can empathize: Some kids are more self-motivated than others. You are right to project that September-December senior year is a busy time and that a headstart on essays makes sense. So, how to get something on paper (figuratively speaking) this summer?</p>
<p>What my son a worldclass procrastinator did was to make a list of about 5-6 topics that were of interest to him. The required topics at many colleges are mostly general and essays CAN be recycled. The three prompts that he found most multi-purpose were:
Describe a significant moment
Why XX College?
What activity or extracurricular means the most to you?</p>
<p>Thinking about these three in conjunction with each other also helped to focus on and re-inforce themes or strong areas of interest.</p>
<p>My son worked on rough drafts for three topics through out the summer. It was slow going and sporadic. He completed all the required essays for his #1 ED school first, his favorite safety second, then ticked off one by one the supplemental essays required by the others.
He was able to use the main, common application essay for all 8 of the colleges that he planned to apply to. If I remember correctly he needed about 6 different supplemental essays, but they were all either Why XX or EC related.</p>
<p>They were almost but not all written before the ED results came in. Had the results been negative those last stragglers would have been difficult so I strongly recommend completing all essays as the ED application doesnt exist.</p>
<p>This may be self evident, but I wouldnt recommend trying the Why XX College? before visiting.</p>
I certainly agree, but this is not always possible. For S’ freshman apps, he did this. But for his transfer apps, it was simply not feasible to visit any schools he had not already seen. Much can be done by digging <em>deeply</em> into school websites. Go beyond the obvious, to look to special research interests of faculty in selected depts; read recent news releases/student newspapers to see what colleges brag about, are trying to further develop… Look for interesting clubs/organizations which you might bring a special talent to, etc.</p>
<p>I appreciate all the thoughts and suggestions from the erudite parents on this board. Although I may be a compulsive/neurotic/obsessed mom, I am careful as to not “helicopter” my son. I never ask if his homeowrk is completed or if he has finished the chapter and I am very confident that he can handle the daily challenges that schoolwork presents. I am not planning on standing over him and watch that he writes an essay a week. I am merely giving him a guideline so that every application is done and done well. Although Marite has suggested that schools do not care if same supplemental essay is submitted, while school A asks for 100 words, School B asks for 250 words and School C asks for 500 words, I differ on this. This subject came up at one info session this past spring and the admissions officer was quite clear, in that in the Supplemental essay they want the applicants to show their interest and a 100 word answer to a question asking for 500 words is not acceptable. Of course I understand that there is some give on 500 words and an essay cannot be exact, but schools know recycled essays when the word counts are way off.</p>
<p>Please. I talked about being able to write 100 words for a 250, not a 500 word essay. A 500-word essay is meant to be the MAIN essay. A 100 or 250-word essay is not. Nobody in their right mind would write 100 when 500 are the norm, or 500 when 100 is the stipulated limit.
100 for explaining why Podunk. And THAT cannot be recycled.</p>