<p>Most of us don’t have kids at “very competive” high schools though. </p>
<p>My sister-in-law gave my son the best advice. (She dropped out of Phd. in English.) She described it as the prompt vs. the agenda. On the one hand there’s the question - you have to make an effort to answer it. But the agenda is even more important to answer - and that’s revealing something about what makes you tick. How are you unique or interesting? Do you have an appealing vision? A quirky sense of humor? An unusual interest?</p>
<p>My son wrote his common app essay one night because he needed to show his guidance counselor something the next day. I think this was Sept of senior year. I pointed out one typo. GC loved it, passsed it on to a few writing/English teachers, then an admissions person he knew from a highly selective local college. Then I passed it on to someone I knew who read apps for a local U. They all loved it, so that’s what he used.</p>
<p>Everyone said the most important thing is to find your own voice and use it to say something about who you are. My son cares deeply about human rights and freedom of speech. He wrote a funny essay about his campaign for student body president (which he lost) and the censoring of his posters by the administration. It can be about anything, it just needs to be well-written (your daughter can take care of that LB) and self-revealing. Does not have to be deep, does not have to be funny, but must not be boring. The ad com people are reading huge numbers of these. </p>
<p>I admit, I wasn’t sure about my son’s the first time I read it. I decided to step back and let others give input. In the end, I realized he’d done a great job.</p>
<p>I second the advice to get your d. a copy of the Harry Bauld book On Writing the College Application Essay and then stepping back from the process.</p>
<p>Somehow I think that, if she is so inclined and left to her own devices, Laserdaughter could write an absolutely hilarious and heartwarming essay entitled, Life with my Father. ;)</p>
<p>Speaking from a student’s point of view, I think the most important part of this process for the parent is to trust the kid. Since LB is obviously very well acquainted with what his daughter’s personality and habits are by now, he should try to help in ways that facilitate success, not hinder it. For some people, the more overbearing the parents are, the worse the quality of work. If LB’s D is like that, then perhaps an offer to proofread the essay is enough, rather than a full on brainstorming session. And vice versa if the opposite is true.</p>
<p>In any case, my parents didn’t trust me. Well, that’s not exactly true. My father’s paranoia outweighed his trust for me. I didn’t let him on my brainstorming or the writing process, so he essentially knew nothing about my essay. Which is why he made me go see a college essay counselor who, if anything, made my essay worse because I’m the type of person who can’t talk about something as private as the college essay with a complete stranger. In the end, I undid all the changes that had been made during that session and went to see my English teacher, someone I trusted and who wasn’t a complete stranger.</p>
<p>But I probably had it easy. I wrote one major essay and revised it to death.</p>
<p>I have to go now. It’s thunderstorming, and my grandfather’s convinced I’m going to get electrocuted if I don’t unplug the computer.</p>
<p>I will agree with corranged: this depends on the high school and the teacher. For example, I was in the middle of taking a class on writing creative non-fiction and personal essays (a class in which one of the assignments IS to write a college essay) with a brilliant teacher as I was writing my essay…you’d better bet I asked him for advice, and he was really helpful (even though all of his kids are still elementary school age and obviously have not gone threw the process). But then, I went to a private school where teachers are heavily involved with helping students outside of class as well as in, so he’d certainly seen many, many such essays.</p>
<p>However, even at non-private, non-competitve schools, if an English teacher is any good (and especially if they ever teach creative writing or personal essays), my guess is they can be of some help. After all, the college essay really isn’t THAT special, it’s just a short personal essay: a good English teacher will know how to help with that.</p>
<p>Anyway, I also agree with the advice of getting her a good college essay book. It certainly helped me get a sense of what they were looking for. It might help you to read it (or at least skim parts of it too), if she does come to you for advice (as others have said, don’t butt in, but also don’t turn away if she asks for help). </p>
<p>Anyway, the best advice I can give about the college essay is exactly what was said at the UVA site: show, don’t tell. Very basic creative writing advice, but I think too many people approach the essay as an academic problem, not a creative one. As the UVA site said, it’s bad to say, “I am the head of x club, and through that, I’ve learned leadership, how to read people and conflict resolution,” and then lay out the evidence for each of these points: that’s how you’d write an academic essay, but not how to write this. It’s better to, say, describe a scene (that really happened!) that SHOWS you using that leadership, ability to read people, and ability to resolve conflicts. It’s more engaging that way.</p>
<p>At my D high school the counselor already announced to the Junior class that the essays will be written in their Senior English classes, where the English teachers can help critique most student essays.
I know not all high school will offer that, but to give a blanket statement saying not to use the high school English teachers is not always a good advice because it’s not always applicable to all students.
I believe lb D is at a competitive high school, if my memory is correct.</p>
<p>A key piece of advice, which is just my personal opinion having read about a half-gazillion essays (on a volunteer basis only).</p>
<p>Step away from the thesaurus. </p>
<p>It is far too easy today to click the drop down menu in Word and cast about for fancier vocabulary words. Pretty soon the essay reads as if the primary goal was to maximize the number of syllables in as many words as possible. Teens using this approach very often choose a synonym which is totally out of place in the context:</p>
<p>Example: “It was the saddest day of my life” becomes “It was the saddest day of my vivacity.” Yes, vivacity is in the thesaurus as a synonym for the noun ‘life.’ But it is obviously totally off base in context.</p>
<p>Part of finding your own voice is speaking simply. Let your kids know, if they seek out your advice, that plain, natural speaking is not just okay; it is desirable.</p>
<p>Okay, maybe one trip to the thesaurus ;). But be careful.</p>
<p>I continue to disagree with such statement, mostly because it assumes the teachers to be … good. For the record, what do you think is the percentage of HS English teachers who earned a degree in English as opposed to a degree in Education? What is the percentage of HS students who graduate from high school lacking the most basic writing skill, despite having “good” teachers? </p>
<p>While the college essay isn’t THAT special, it represents a very different exercise from what high school teachers typically teach … or know about. After all, not many TE books on this subject are available to teachers who are used to such crutches. </p>
<p>Well, duh. I said that. If the student does not have faith in their teacher, than no, they should not go to them for advice. </p>
<p>And yes, there are obviously schools where there will be no teacher who can help. The kind of schools where people come out with horribly poor poor writing skills. I’m from Baltimore, believe me, I know about sub-par public education. But those are not all high schools, and they are, honestly, probably not the schools that most CC members attend or send their children.</p>
<p>DH and I both write for a living. It is utter torture to stand back and observe from afar…but DS is a witty, sardonic writer. I need to have faith! He will (by nature) share his work product with us, so I look forward to reading what he has to say. I doubt his English teacher will have much to contribute as far as his essays are concerned. Now having some adult friends who know him well might be a real source of productive feedback… </p>
<p>My suggestion would be to look at the essays on the Common App/supplements and come up with potential story lines/approaches to each prompt. Develop them a little. See what “takes.” IMHO, college essays can’t be written in twenty minutes on the fly. DH spent three months on his grad school essay. It worked. Incredibly well.</p>
<p>Kids should realize that even if they get drafts written this summer, they will change so much in the fall that it will be well worth it to come back and reevaluate and revise. Essays that have time to “ripen” will be more effective in the long run.</p>
<p>One thing that drove me crazy last fall was all the posts saying, “it’s only 250 words…” When one must write that tightly, EVERY WORD COUNTS. Even the short answers count.</p>
<p>Xig- perhaps I should have added “…or someone your daughter trusts,” to my suggestion about the English teacher, but the main point is that the reader should be someone other than himself, in this case. I believe most students recognize who would be helpful and who wouldn’t in looking over their essays.<br>
</p>
<p>Maybe, but that may not be a bad thing. Personally, I think less is better, in most cases. </p>
<p>Neither of my kids used essays that had been read by teachers, but they did have good teachers they could have asked. My D thinks her writing doesn’t need other’s eyes, and she wouldn’t take anyone’s editorial advice, anyway. My son procrastinated in writing his essays until winter break, so he asked his sis to read them. She had a lot of suggestions, but he only used a couple of them - ones that added clarity. Like the student poster above, he knew which comments were valuable and which were better to ignore because they would weaken his voice. </p>
<p>The important thing is for parents to stay out of the picture, both for the conception, the writing, and the editing. It makes sense to have someone else read them, if only for obvious grammatical mistakes that people make because they are too close to their work to see them. But it’s best if it’s not the parent, imo.</p>
<p>Kids are not taught how to write within a word limit, which seriously hurts the college essay. My brother is a newspaper editor- now HE is someone I would go to for help on a 250 word high-impact piece. </p>
<p>What students learn in high school is the exact OPPOSITE of writing concisely for effect. They are given minimums instead of maximums. The are rewarded for voluminous writing. The are taught that every sentence must be long and full of “dollar” words instead of nickel words. </p>
<p>Sometimes the best writing is short. “I heard the shot. And another. Followed by three more. Then… dead silence.” This would be cause for an “F” in most kids’ high school language classes.</p>
<p>Here is the situation. DD got a horrible SAT I in March but since then has got a 34 ACT with a 12 on Essay, a three decent SAI II scores (Phy 800, USH 750, Bio M 750). I was thinking that she would take a Math I in Oct and be done with all teh tests. But, today, DD says that she wants to take the SAT I again. </p>
<p>I kept telling her it would not be necessary. She said she did very badly (believe me, it is bad) that day and want to take it one more time to show her true capability. Should we let her take another one?</p>
<p>Why not? Most schools superscore anyway, which means that they take the highest score in each section regardless of when the test was taken.</p>
<p>As far as having an English teacher edit essays, you/the student really has to know them and have a good feel for their capabilities. S’s 10th grade Eng teacher was a psycho-**tch (regarded as such by all of the guidance staff as well as students) and no one would ever consider bringing an essay to her. But the 11th grade eng guy was wonderful - warm, witty, encouraging. For extra credit, he asked them to write an essay from one of their colleges of interest and he would give constructive criticism. My s was one of a handful that he offered to read their essays the next year if they wanted him to - he was retiring, but gave them his email address. He came to school, picked up essays, and brought them back 2 weeks later.</p>
<p>Sure, with all the additional education she will have gotten since March, her scores are bound to go up. In addition, now she will know how to pace herself during the test. My son took it 2 times, and knew the 2nd time to have a big breakfast, take a nutritious snack and a coke, and when he could eat it to keep his level of energy up [ It is a long test!] I see no reason not to take the test again. Colleges can look at either ther ACT or the SAT, and if her scorses do go up, it will just solidify and give credibility to her SAT II scores.</p>
<p>lb, yes especially she is the one that suggested. It’s definitely a test of endurance. I had to bake a special breakfast to go that would give D the extra energy(not healthy bar, btw):).</p>
<p>O.K. I think I talked her out of taking SAT I again. Here is my reason. She has sent both SAT I and ACT to 4 schools on top of her list. We could make the point that she had a bad day on that SAT I, using her GPA, ACT, and SAT II as evidences. If she took SAT I again and failed to get over 2300. Then those school could think that her first SAT I was real and ACT was not. Since there is no garantee on test results, why risk it?</p>
<p>On the other hand, I pursued her to take ACT one more time w/o picking any school to send score. If the result is good, we send it and otherwise we don’t.</p>
<p>There is no use making a point the “she had a bad day” . The colleges have heard it all, and it would just sound like an excuse. She does not need to take the ACT over- she got a 34 for crying out loud. I think you need to stand back and stop micro-managing your very capable daughter’s college application process. She is the one taking the test and living with the consequenses, not you. You are still acting like it is your applicaton, not hers.</p>
<p>I am reminded of Marian’s previous post and will remind LB that if DD is intending to major in the sciences/math/engineering, the schools will want an SAT-II score in Math! Be sure to check what the schools on her list require…</p>
<p>If she’s not going to do ED, then she could do Math (level I or II) in Oct. and the SAT in November. Most schools with EA will take a November score – but the score that counts the least here is a second SAT. Get the math out of the way! Most colleges superscore – don’t clutter her app or the GC’s letter about “having a bad day” when she took the SAT. No excuses – just put it out there. It’s still a good score.</p>
<p>Glad to hear she is starting to take ownership of the process!</p>