ML and everyone, congratulations to your DDs and DSs for getting the early applications in. My DS made two EA and one ED application. He started very early; his CA essay was done at least a month ago. But among the 3 colleges, there were 12 (!) supplemental essays! This includes a “stealth” essay that popped up for his ED college when he selected a major. Certain majors trigger a 350-word additional essay.
Most of the supplemental essays were done ages ago. But DS insisted on going over and over everything, agonizing over every word and comma, and even wanting to trash a couple and start from scratch. It was a hard weekend. The two EA applications went in on Saturday, but the ED application didn’t get in until after 10 last night.
And 3 of the essays were from a college that is a true safety - 100% chance of admission and he would be happy to go there. He believes that he has over a 50% chance of ending up there, because the rest of his list is reach-heavy. So, although he worked hard on those essays, he didn’t go crazy second-guessing himself over the weekend.
I don’t know how we will get through RD. My plan was to work on essays for the other schools, and try to get 1-2 completed each week, so that everything is ready to go by mid-December, when he will hear from the early schools. Then we can just submit the other applications (the number going in will depend on the EA/ED results). But now I can see that he is going to go nuts in the last half of December, trying to improve his RD applications. I don’t know how to turn his anxiety off.
Right now, DD is in the right frame of mind and open to suggestions. So, I’m going to try and get her to do essays for some of the schools she would apply to even if she got into her favorite EA school. Fortunately, once she’s satisfied with her essay, she’s happy to not look at it again. The advantages of a fundamentally lazy child
ihs 76, that’s funny…I usually advise kids who are overwriting (big words misused, ambitions to cure cancer etc.) to write as if the reader is in the room with them and they are having a conversation. I guess that advice isn’t appropriate to all!!
My younger son’s tendency was always to write in a style that was too colloquial for schoolwork, so it served him well when it came to college essays. He was always very good at dialogue and creating a voice. Older son OTOH, it’s like pulling teeth to get him to open up at all. They both wrote essays that revealed their personalities in the end.
I really don’t think most teachers have that good a feel for what is needed. I figure, at least I read applications (for architecture school), so I know what it feels like to read an essay, even though obviously an essay for grad school is not going to be that much like one from a high school student.
So glad your daughter sent out an essay you were happy with.
