Have any of you parents hired an essay coach for your child? I didn’t even know such a think existed until I read the novel, “Early Decision” by Lacy Crawford, a former essay coach.
My conversation with my child this evening went something like this:
Discussion about college apps in general then he commented about a friend’s essay topic.
Me: “How is your essay?”
Him: “My essay is terrible!!!”
Me: “Really? Maybe you should start from scratch then?”
Him: “No, I like it actually. Ir’s fine.”
I have not read it. He told me the topic but I don’t know much else (about a specific incident where he was injured.) He wrote it in class last year and this is the first time I have even heard the topic. I don’t think he wants to share it with me.
I’ve been thinking maybe since he has been secretive about it with me, it would be good to have a professional set of eyes look at it. I am pleased with the SAT tutor but this would be a different specialty. (For his brother, we had no outside help with anything with an ultimately favorable but somewhat tenous outcome for a while there.)
Is this something others have done and if so, were you happy with the outcome? He is applying to mostly LACs where his stats are in the mix and where anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 of applicants are admitted from our high school in any given year.
I’d be curious to hear people’s thoughts on this. Are you thinking if hiring someone to just read over his essay or do you need someone to help organize his thoughts and help guide the flow/topic?
I told my D2 that was the one area where I would hire a coach if she wanted to. Her academic EC team coach is also a private college counselor, he “gets” her, and I knew it wouldn’t be wildly expensive. She decided to use me as her coach instead. But I would have hired this guy if she had turned me down. Kids applying to first & second tier colleges have quite a few essays, too, with all the supplements.
We got help with essays for D1 because she is somewhat high strung and at age 17, it was just easier for her, and for us if she worked with someone else.
My D. volunteered as essay coach and general application advisor for some HS seniors while in Med. School. She enjoyed an experience. Her services were free.
I did. Friends had warned that letting the English teacher review was a bad idea ( unless they are really focused in on college admissions many English teachers don’t understand the process and ruin the essays by eliminating a kids voice). Our Private College Counselor did the job. She brainstormed ideas, reviewed and offered critical comments and did sone final editing. She acted the way a professional writers editor works. She definitely did not write the essay for them.
After I’d seen the process I helped a friend kid with her essay. She wrote a beautiful essay about her father who died her freshman year of high school. The English teacher told her it was “perfect”. Of course it was nothing of the sort. It told a wonderful story about her father but little about her. I had her rework it, telling her she had to make it about her and offering broad suggestions about how to do that. She’s a great kid and she got into the Ivy League school she wanted. I’m not taking credit, but that other essay was a disaster.
We did have a guy who helped S with “language” parts of the SAT and then started reviewing his essays until the lessons stopped due to the scheduling conflicts. I was worried but then (quite unexpectedly!) his Lit teacher at school took over. Apparently she integrated the college essay writing into the senior year curriculum. I am a bit relieved, although I don’t know yet how it will turn out - it can be a life- (and money-) saver or it can be useless. We will see
My son is a Math/Science guy and writing has never been his greatest strength. He dreaded the half dozen essays he had to write - so we hired a virtual essay coach. It was money well spent! She chatted with him on the phone and helped him see the things he really cared about and could write a great essay on - and they did an online back and forth with suggestions for him.
In the end - he had great essays that were his entirely - his voice was distinctive. She didn’t write anything - she just helped him shine. Same as what an athletic coach does for the team - improves performance but doesn’t do the work for them.
I’d highly encourage it if you have a student who isn’t’ a natural at writing. It not only resulted in strong essays but it improved my sons confidence in his writing!
While hiring or getting help on the essay can be a great idea, this is why I hate that they have essays done the way they are. I would rather have students only submit what comes through a timed test writing submission like ACT or SAT writing, or an expanded version of that writing session. Too many kids have essays that are so finely groomed by others whether they pay for it, or have a parent, friend, counselor or teacher do it, that it is barely their essay when they turn it in. Kids that actually turn in their own work, while admirable and how it should be done, can be at a big disadvantage. There are students that pay people to write the entire essay, it can be so corrupt. And don’t fall for the “they can tell if you didn’t write it.” They cannot. The winners are whoever can find the best person to “help” with their essays. Lock them in a room for 3 hours writing an essay, and just take that to get a true representation of the student.
But under the current system, yes, find the best “coach” you can, everyone else does whether they pay for it or not.
My sister is a professional editor who has worked with college essay writers before. I “hired” her, with an offering of dinner and an exchange of babysitting. She came in and spoke to my son in our living room so I was able to watch the interaction. My son had already written 2 versions of his essay and she went over each version with him. She guided, didn’t give instructions, and told him the advantages and disadvantages of each essay. (One was more narrative and in his voice, the other more of a traditional essay, both had risks depending on the reader.) She went over several ideas for ending the essay. That was what he was having problems with. She was very very very helpful.
After her conversation with my son ended, she walked over to me and told me that I was not allowed to ask my son any questions about his essay. Period. I was fired. Sigh. She was right. I was driving him nuts and she was able to see that.
After watching what a good essay coach can do, I recommend it. Sometimes a kid needs a sounding board, and someone to just tell him he is doing well. And sometimes someone needs to tell the parents to back off. My son’s essays were fabulous before my sister stepped in but she was able to see things in his essays that I just couldn’t. A professional writer/editor can give input that a parent and sometimes a high school teacher cannot.
I do want to say that my sister refused to really work with him until he had something on paper. She made a huge point that she would never ever write his essay for him. This was not an issue for my son, but she made that clear in the beginning.
I would add that I do not think it is worth spending big money on this. I hear that some of these services are very expensive. I suppose that may make sense in a rare circumstance, but usually I would see no benefit in that route.
They can be helpful in talking through ideas, and helping the student find the best ones that aren’t so overused as to be meaningless.
They can also be good at guiding a dead end essay toward how it says something about the student. For example, don’t just talk about the dead of a close relative and stop. You have to tie it into how that has impacted the person that you are.
As a part of a work benefit, we get free college counseling. Up to 10 essay reviews or re-reviews. We just submitted 2 essays so we’ll see if it is of any use/help.
Thank you very much for all of your insights! After reading the responses, I’m even more inclined to do it, provided we can find someone before the EA/ED deadlines in Nov. He did say his English teacher from last year had said she could help him, but I feel a little bad about him relying on her, especially since he is not her student this year. It would be nice to have a fresh set of eyes. I just hope his essay is not some horrible cliche! His SAT tutor does not provide this service, but may know someone who does. The idea of a virtual coach is intriguing/appealing. (I may send a personal message for more info on who you used.)
We have a friend that has worked at colleges, and we hired her to give DS some guidance. She helped on mostly on tone (not too modest, not too braggy) and topic selection. She also helped him with his plan of attack on the 10 required essays, some with similar topic but different word count. It was great for him to have a non-parent sounding board.
@LBowie, please don’t rely on an English teacher. While most of them may be very good at teaching their classes, helping students brainstorm and pick apart college essays is not within their “sphere,” unless they have some very specific understanding of the college admissions process. Formal English essays are so different from college essays. Every time I see a comment on CC about asking an English teacher, I get concerned. (Except if we are talking about grammar & spelling)
I work in a high school guidance setting, specifically helping seniors with their college essays. They know that I absolutely will not write the essay. When I speak with the senior class I tell them that when they write their college essay as an assignment for their English teachers, they should write the essay to get the best possible grade they can. I explain that when I work with them, we may use that same topic (or may not) but the topic will be approached from an entirely different point of view or voice.
Check out this website by Janine Roberson. She wrote a great book about college essays and has excellent info on her site…blog posts that I think really nail the college essay. I sent my younger son a post she wrote that explained the various common app essay prompts and one that explained the UC prompts. They can really help wrap your head around what may work as a topic. I think you can hire her as an essay coach as well.
I had a friend who was a good writer. He reviewed son’s essays, but only made comments like “give an example” and fix the ending. He wrote these essays over a weekend, and there wasn’t time for more.
I often had my boss review my letters, so in later years, like NHF essays, he reviewed sons essays. My philosophy is “less is better”. However, it really depends on your child. I guess I don’t think it is necessary to spend months writing these things.
