Q. What Are Most College Essays Missing?
A. The V Word.
What if I’m not good at showing my emotions?
I find emotions embarrassing.
I’m always happy.
I’ve had an easy life.
I come from a good family.
Do I have to be sad or have problems to write a good college essay?
These are just a few of the questions and statements from students I’ve worked with. The last one is a favorite of mine; I’ve been asked it more than once. My answer to each of ...
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A student just told me that he’d written a great essay for his Common Application. “Great?” I said. “That’s a bit hyperbolic, no?” He looked nonplussed. I wasn’t sure if his confusion was over my using the word “hyperbolic” or because I was questioning his greatness. Regarding the latter, I always advise students not to shoot for great. In 650 words, with a goal of expressing a clear point-of-view and an infectious tone-of-voice, I recommend that students write a “good” ...
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The College Search Part 3:
The Importance of The Curated College List
| Curate (Middle English: from medieval Latin curatus, from Latin cura ‘care.’): To select, organize, and present (online content, merchandise, information, etc.), typically using professional or expert knowledge.
This year, I had a student with high standardized test scores but a GPA that descended as he ascended. Let’s just say he began Freshman Year on a high note and ended Junior Year off-key. Some call a student with ...
The College Search Part 2:
Are Application Boot Camps Beneficial?
Many schools, local test prep centers or college counseling organizations offer their own version of an application Boot Camp, which to quote the online dictionary, means: a short, intensive, and rigorous course of training.
Parents, and even students themselves, have told me that signing up for a Boot Camp makes the I’m-going-to-college process real. Just as every student’s journey through elementary, middle and high schools varies, so does a student’s receptivity, ...
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The School Search Part 1:
When’s the “Right” Time to Start Looking at Colleges?
Parents generally ask this question during our first college counseling meeting. Followed quickly by these two:
“Should we begin touring now?”
“Are we LATE?”
First, a moment of reassurance: You’re not late.
Second, there’s a practical and an emotional answer to all three questions which depend on your student’s reaction to the idea of applying to college.
Is your Junior:
Excited?
Terrified?
Confused?
None of the above?
All of the above?
I’ve had students ...
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As with most questions pertaining to essay drafting, the answer to this one straddles the YES versus NO divide so it’s obviously an important one for college applicants to ponder. If the narrative’s compelling and useful, then students should repurpose content. Why reinvent the wheel? No red flags have ever been raised from using the same essay for multiple applications. At least not that my students — or admissions officers – have shared with me!
Wearing my marketing/PR hat, here’re some ...
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T’is the season!
It goes without saying that your college applicant has shifted into high-gear right about now: homework, year-end assignments, championship games, recitals, performances and, drumroll please, college application deadlines.
Mid-November, December 1, December 8, the list goes on and on. The dates for various application decisions, honors programs and financial aid forms come in waves making it difficult for students to discern the shore let alone the horizon.
Here are three words — or phrases — of encouragement I’m offering ...
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#collegeessaytransitions
Moving Fluidly From Paragraph to Paragraph
The beginning of the college application process marks the beginning of transitioning, from home and high school to college and beyond. This journey of moving from one place and state-of-mind to another can be practiced, and nearly perfected, in application essay writing. I call it the Art of the Seamless Transition. A reader might not even know when a writer has nailed this “move” because of its magic: Thought A has morphed into Thought B ...
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How to Turn Down the Temperature of An Overheating Senior
It may seem like an oxymoron, but there is a way to ease into the hectic college application season after a relaxing summer vacation.
During my first counseling session with families, I stress the importance of mitigating any stress until after September. In October, November and December, parents won’t have to “pump up the volume” on anxiety because in-school college counselors and ex-missions directors, the College Board and the ...
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