Got a Senior? It’s essay time!
if you have a rising senior your know you’re life is about to get busy! College and scholarship applications are coming up and your can’t rely on your high school counselor to take the lead. Why? Most don’t have the training or expertise in this area. So what do you do?
re College app ESSAYS:: Here is a step by step approach.
Most seniors, 3.8 GPA kids, can’t write worth squat when it comes to college essays. They’re down right awful. Teens are taught to NOT use the word “I” in their writing, but this/these essays do. For some reason that one issue throws everything else they’ve been taught about writing out the window (organization, thesis, topic sentence, transitions, etc.) When I say they suck, I’m not kidding. You can’t pay me enough to edit these essays. (And people have tried.)
First rule about the college essay is to NOT read the essay prompts. First decide what you want them to know that can’t be found in their transcript and list of activities. White about that. Write without regard to topic or word count. Just write. There is no “topic they’ve never seen before.” They’ve seen it all. The purpose is to write about yourself. To get to know YOU.
Don’t read winning essays until after you’ve written yours. It will influence your topic. Your topic is YOUR topic. It completes your application. After you’ve written your essay, THEN read winning essays. (See next paragraph.)
Don’t try to be cute or funny. You’re not. Period. These are adults you are writing for. After writing your essay, read it and ask yourself, what am I really telling the reader? This is where reading past winning essays helps. How does it make the reader feel about the teen who wrote it? What did you learn about them, their character, what’s important to them?
Where can you find winning essays? You’ll find a few online. Johns Hopkins releases 5 each year. (My clients receive more than 30.) Where to find the John Hopkins essays? Google is your friend!
Now that you’re done with YOUR essay, read the essay prompts. Which prompt best fits your essay?
it’s best to get the college essays done before senior year begins. that way it’s not hanging over their head while classes are going on.
To your success!
Want your teen to have all the advantages of Cracking the Code to College? Let’s get on a call and see if I have a plan or service that’s a good fit for your family.
https://www.getaheadoftheclass.com/apply
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