My daughter is finding it impossible to get through the supplemental essays. She thinks part of the problem is that for her top choices, she is worried she is going to sound silly, boring, cliched, unsophisticated, you name it. She is second-guessing herself to death. She spends HOURS agonizing over and scrapping 200 word supplements.She has had lots of advice, and just being left to get on with it. Are there any students out there who have been through this and have suggestions? Maybe an admissions rep or similar who has seen kids do this before?
Any parents or counsellors who can share a technique that worked for their child/student?
I’m not a parent or a counsellor, but that was exactly how I went through my entire college application process. Started over the summer, ended up changing things right up to 11:57-11:58 PM on the deadline… That was miserable. But what I’ve realized in retrospect / from helping people edit their essays is that:
If the problem is not having a good enough topic, it’s easier to think of what you KNOW want to convey to colleges first–what personality traits / values you want to highlight. Then you go backwards and think of a topic that illustrates that thing. Or if your daughter has the experience in mind but doesn’t know how to make it more interesting than just retelling it, she could show how it shaped her identity to develop the traits she wants to highlight.
If the problem is just her thinking that she isn’t a good writer, I would suggest that she write, then leave her draft alone for a few hours, then come back and look at it more objectively. Alternatively, instead of deleting everything, have her give the supplements to trusted readers. They can tell her what they learn about her or how she actually comes across in the supplement, so she can see that what she thinks is distorted. Personally, I think that would have helped me the most.
Maybe do an example or two answering the prompt as yourself. If a parent isn’t boring and cliched, who is? I’d she sees these, it may give her some ideas, or may make her nor comfortable with her own choices in topics/substance?
Thanks so much Onmyway. I appreciate this. She can read it and hopefully use some of your tips. Any other suggestions are welcome.
@HRSMom , that made me laugh. In fact, I tried that. Guess what? I am boring and cliched! 