Tackling the College Essay

No matter what college classes your children take, the time will come when they are assigned an essay. Of particular importance is the essay often required to accompany college applications. This type of writing should not be daunting but, rather, an opportunity for your child to shine.

Make the process an exciting challenge! Channel your teen’s interests into the endeavor, and make sure he understands there is no wrong way to write an essay. Personality and unique thoughts are welcomed by professors and college faculty. Each essay should be personal and self-reflective, which means it should be written in first person. Employing I, me, my or our, this document will answer the question, “Who are you?”  And be technically perfect and create vivid word pictures that demonstrate the student’s writing ability.

Be sure each essay is college specific. For example, have your teen describe how that particular college will meet her goals. This clearly gives admissions staff reasons your student would be a good fit for their university. College applications do not happen overnight, so you and your children can practice some application essays before their senior year arrives. These just-for-practice essays can even be used during the senior year application process.

Think of this essay as a selfie of sorts. Each college admission essay is like a self-portrait of your child. To provide a full portrait of a person, you need more than one picture from three different angles. For photographers, this means three costume changes, three background choices and three different props. If a college asks for three essays, make sure your teen gives them three different portraits. Each essay should paint a word picture and offer a completely different perspective on your child. If your teen loves animals, then one essay may mention any career involving animals. If he or she likes economics, that should be mentioned in another of the essays.

The perfect essay will start with a surprising or shocking story or event that will grab the attention of the person reading. Have your student think about a single moment in time, perhaps the moment a picture was taken. This “hook” for each essay could be the moment of impact when a close relative became deathly ill or injured, or the most startling thing seen on a mission trip, mountain-top or once-in-a-lifetime experience. Your child’s short, personal, true, descriptive, creatively written essay will be different than these suggestions, of course, so encourage uniqueness! A child might write about seeing a goat being born, surviving a natural disaster or experiencing an eye-opening event. What story has made a grandparent gasp? Don’t be appalling but do begin with a moment so unique the reader will continue the essay to the end and remember your child when finished.

Refrain from mentioning grades, course titles, grade point average or test scores, as these are found on the application separately. Tailor each essay to each college, perhaps mentioning details about the college visit or specific things your student looks forward to doing there. This is truly a love letter to the college. Colleges know your child is not perfect, and the essay should never leave the impression your teen thinks that of himself.

Make a list of topics together, then discuss stories your child may tell to explain each one. Review her transcript and activity list and look over your calendar for the past couple years. After generating ideas, circle the ones that might work.

Edit, edit, edit! Consider having another adult help edit the paper, and don’t change the “teen” voice of your child’s essay. Simply point out any errors and give suggestions for improvement, but your student should be the one making corrections. This essay will reveal to the college your child’s personal style and convey his attitudes, personality, values and character. As plagiarism is a big problem in high schools and colleges, never be tempted to copy an idea, phrase or paragraph from essay samples. Colleges immediately reject any student suspected of copying words.

Colleges want to know your student can communicate in writing. By requesting essays, they learn who students are or who they think they are. The first sentence can set the tone for the rest of the story. Those first few words are the most difficult, so take encourage your student to take his time. Don’t be too flowery but be straightforward so the reader’s interest is piqued. A few examples: “The first time I stepped on the stage, I felt alive!” or “Baseball and breathing are one and the same to me.”

Now, go forth and encourage your child to write his or her story!

An avid outdoors girl, Judy Goppert lives in Lee’s Summit. She enjoys drawing on her personal experiences to write about the nuances of everything wonderful about life.

Sources: HomeHighSchoolHelp.com, TheCollegeEssayist.com.