College application essays -- how is it going?

[quark]

Has anyone else's DC started their application essays? We decided to start now because DS will be away for most of summer and juggling a crazy workload in fall.

 

I very quickly skimmed through Lori's pinned threads on the high school board but didn't see much about essays and essay writing. Did I miss it? Should we not discuss essay-writing tips, challenges, worries?

 

DS has been writing away but not enough to finish. Thankfully, he has not started complaining (yet). But I sometimes worry about how he will come across in the essays. He can be very mature at times but also very childlike in certain writing attempts and I know it is so important for him to be himself. Just thinking aloud and wondering if anyone else wants to commiserate/ worry with me.

 

I know he will be writing several drafts...maybe that's when the complaining will start full swing. Ack.

 

Thank you to all who suggested Harry Bauld's Writing the College Application Essay! It has just the right dose of humor to keep DS reading. :laugh:

[amsunshine]

Following. :lurk5:

[Crimson Wife]

I've got to work on my grad school apps so that I can have a preliminary package done before fall semester starts on August 24th. I can't actually do anything to submit until CSDCAS (like the Common App but for speech & language pathology) opens up their 2016-2017 cycle in mid-September. But the more I can have drafted and ready to go, the easier things will be in the fall. I'm taking 4 classes including an on-campus one that will require a 75-90 minute commute each way once per week. Ugh!

 

I've got a very rough draft of my statement of purpose from my Observation & Grad School Prep course last fall but it needs a LOT more work and then tailoring for each specific program.

 

I need to update my resume and coursework completed list.

 

I need to line up recommendations and send them a list of "hey, it would be great if you could talk about these" points.

 

I need to update my spreadsheet with this year's deadlines and finalize exactly which schools I will be applying to.

 

 

 

 

[Luckymama]

Not yet----dd's away until mid-August!

[quark]

I've got to work on my grad school apps ... I need to update my spreadsheet with this year's deadlines and finalize exactly which schools I will be applying to.

 

Whoa! All the very best CW! Fingers crossed for you.

 

Not yet----dd's away until mid-August!

 

Wow, she left already! That's a long program. DS leaves in 2 weeks. Part of me wishes he would finish all drafts by then. Part of me knows that if/ when that happens, I won't be seeing him for the next 6 weeks. :sad:

 

Okay, come mid August you must start commiserating with me okay? :thumbup:

[snowbeltmom]

Has anyone else's DC started their application essays? We decided to start now because DS will be away for most of summer and juggling a crazy workload in fall.

 

. :laugh:

 

My son has completed everything on the Common Application except the essay this past weekend while he had downtime at the hotel between his tennis matches.  He is leaving again tomorrow for 4 days and then plans to get both of his essays completed next week when he gets back home.

 

Unlike S15, who had a boatload of essays to write, S17 is applying to one school and only has two essays to write - the one for the CA and the school's optional supplemental essay.

 

My son is way ahead of me.  I still have to finish the Course Descriptions,organize the reading list, and write the guidance counselor letter.  The first two items will be easy as I just need to organize the info I already have.  That guidance counselor letter is the one that takes me the longest.  I am hoping to get all of my stuff done by August 1st.

 

[JeanM]

DS is away now, and he'll be gone or busy between now and the end of July. So I'm hoping he'll get started on college applications in August, which gives him plenty of time before school starts (I think it starts Sept. 1st).

 

He doesn't want to write his common app essay in August though. He'll be taking AP English literature at the local public high school, and the school has every senior English class devote time to writing and critiquing common app essays. He's been through this once already because he took a "senior" English class as a sophomore. While I would dearly love for him to just get going, he has a rational reason for putting it off. So I'm hoping he can get started in August on supplemental essays, etc.

[quark]

[...] S17 is applying to one school and only has two essays to write - the one for the CA and the school's optional supplemental essay.

 

My son is way ahead of me.  I still have to finish the Course Descriptions,organize the reading list, and write the guidance counselor letter.  The first two items will be easy as I just need to organize the info I already have.  That guidance counselor letter is the one that takes me the longest.  I am hoping to get all of my stuff done by August 1st.

 

 

2 essays! So wonderful. He is very focused!

 

I finally have my CDs and school profile done. :hurray: Just needs minor tweaking as senior year courses are not firm. I am listing planned senior year courses in it. Should I leave them out?

 

Summarized some of his extra reading into a one-page list for now. Have no idea how I am going to write the counselor letter. Good luck snowbeltmom!

[quark]

 

He doesn't want to write his common app essay in August though.

 

Definitely a good reason! Glad he has that opportunity/ critiquing avenue! DS just spent an hour brainstorming with our consultant and it really helped him. He could brainstorm with me too but I think having an outside "authority" gives it more weight (and is more fun) somehow.

 

Good luck to your DS, JeanM!

[quark]

Those Uni of Chicago prompts are sooooooo neat. :001_tt1: Kiddo isn't applying but we like reading them all the same.

[Grantmom]

I was looking for essay questions just to do some practice, but couldn't find them. Can you already see the essay questions for the fall applications?

[quark]

Grantmom, here are a few I've seen so far:

 

U of Chicago

 

Personal insight questions for UCs

 

Common App

 

And college specific prompts/ supplement info will also be available on their site, depending on the college.

 

[amsunshine]

Wait, am I reading this correctly?  The UC schools want you to write 4 separate essays???   What in the world?

[Grantmom]

Thanks, quark!

 

With the five essay prompts on the Common App, do students do ALL five?  Do some schools pick certain ones?

[Grantmom]

Thanks, quark!

 

With the five essay prompts on the Common App, do students do ALL five?  Do some schools pick certain ones?

[quark]

Thanks, quark!

 

With the five essay prompts on the Common App, do students do ALL five? Do some schools pick certain ones?

Pick one. Some schools have supplemental essays so your DC will need to do the one CA + the supplements.

[quark]

Wait, am I reading this correctly? The UC schools want you to write 4 separate essays??? What in the world?

Yes! It used to be just 2. Now you choose 4/8.

[Grantmom]

Do you think it matters which one you pick?

[JanetC]

Summarized some of his extra reading into a one-page list for now. Have no idea how I am going to write the counselor letter. Good luck snowbeltmom!

 

The counselor letter is the hardest one!!!!

 

[quark]

Do you think it matters which one you pick?

 

I'm hoping they will be weighted equally. :001_unsure:

 

[JeanM]

2 essays! So wonderful. He is very focused!

 

I finally have my CDs and school profile done. :hurray: Just needs minor tweaking as senior year courses are not firm. I am listing planned senior year courses in it. Should I leave them out?

 

Summarized some of his extra reading into a one-page list for now. Have no idea how I am going to write the counselor letter. Good luck snowbeltmom!

 

Wow, you're very on top of things. I need to get moving! I've got course descriptions for the first two years, but not beyond that.

[The Girls' Mom]

One of my girls has two written (one general, and one specifically tailored to a scholarship she wants to win).  The other hasn't even begun...lol.  

 

 

[quark]

Wow, you're very on top of things. I need to get moving! I've got course descriptions for the first two years, but not beyond that.

 

Our schedule was suddenly free in May after classes started wrapping up and exam season began. So I started pulling everything together and writing things out. I could also copy and paste generously since DS took quite a bit of DE. I only needed to c&p and tweak syllabus info. :D

 

Thank you for asking on the other thread about the counselor letter!

 

[Arch at Home]

DD has two apps submitted including one essay. She has 3 scholarship apps submitted, each with unique essays. She has a start on the Common App but I am not sure where she stands on the essay. I think that she is tweaking a previous essay. She leaves for a 4 week program in 1 1/2 weeks so everything will soon grind to a hault until the end of July.

[quark]

Thank you for all the updates! I was under the impression that it is too early to complete the Common App and that it is only available starting Aug 1! Can he start now?

[JanetC]

Thank you for all the updates! I was under the impression that it is too early to complete the Common App and that it is only available starting Aug 1! Can he start now?

 

Yes, he can start now, but this is the first year this "rollover" feature has been offered. Save copies of everything just in case! Note in particular, he does not create an account as a "freshman" before august 1st. If he creates one today, he uses the "other student" option and then changes to freshman app August 1st.

 

https://www.commonapp.org/whats-appening/application-updates/account-rollover-faqs

[quark]

Thanks so much JanetC!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I don't think DS will start this process until July or August.  He's in an intense Chinese course this month, and I'm trying not to pile other stuff on.

 

I will be sending him away in July for several camps with some reading and writing assignments to do during airport layovers.  Then August will be a chance to crunch through several apps before classes start again towards the end of the month.

 

One thing we did have him do a while back was to develop a resume, so he could get all of his various activities down in one place.  I've also been printing out things like his transcript and score reports as they come in, so that he has them for ready reference.  With DS1 doing the CA, sometimes there was a lot of slowdown just to find information.

[snowbeltmom]

Yes, he can start now, but this is the first year this "rollover" feature has been offered. Save copies of everything just in case! Note in particular, he does not create an account as a "freshman" before august 1st. If he creates one today, he uses the "other student" option and then changes to freshman app August 1st.

 

https://www.commonapp.org/whats-appening/application-updates/account-rollover-faqs

 

Yikes - My son just filled out a ton of the info on the CA last weekend.  I just checked his account and he listed himself as a "freshman".  I can't figure out how to change it to "other student."  Does anyone know how I can do this for him?  He is out of town and I would hate for him to lose his info and have to start over.

 

[8filltheheart]

Quark, I like the example essays of accepted students that JHU has posted on their website: https://apply.jhu.edu/apply/essays-that-worked/ The breaking into cars essay cracked me up bc that sort of chaos is probably how our kids view life here. ;)

 

We have been working on dd's college list, but she has not started writing essays yet. I think her plan is to start next week.

 

I have finished her transcript. (It looks awesome! Very happy with it.) I have written her math course descriptions. I detest writing course descriptions, so I keep putting it off. I think I have decided to tackle 1 subject/ day. I have a counselor letter and school profile from Ds and from her applying to NSLIY. I just need to go through both of those and remind myself how I wrote them. Writing that won't be hard for me bc I enjoy that sort of writing, especially for my kids who are over the top enthusiastic students.

[Grantmom]

Thanks for sharing the JHU link! I think that will be helpful, not just to read the essays but also to read their comments on why that one stood out to them.

[quark]

Quark, I like the example essays of accepted students that JHU has posted on their website: https://apply.jhu.edu/apply/essays-that-worked/ The breaking into cars essay cracked me up bc that sort of chaos is probably how our kids view life here. ;)

 

We have been working on dd's college list, but she has not started writing essays yet. I think her plan is to start next week.

 

I have finished her transcript. (It looks awesome! Very happy with it.) I have written her math course descriptions. I detest writing course descriptions, so I keep putting it off. I think I have decided to tackle 1 subject/ day. I have a counselor letter and school profile from Ds and from her applying to NSLIY. I just need to go through both of those and remind myself how I wrote them. Writing that won't be hard for me bc I enjoy that sort of writing, especially for my kids who are over the top enthusiastic students.

 

Oooh, I love that one! DS found it a few days ago and that was the first one I read. Haven't seen the others though. Thanks so much for reminding me!

 

We have been going over the list too and just realized (funny how clarity comes suddenly upon you like that) that one of his choices probably won't work for him. We might be able to afford it (there might be a possibility of merit aid) but the idea of him spending 4 years there somehow doesn't gel.

 

So that leaves us with 6, maybe 7 schools, 5 of which are within the UC system which makes writing essays a little easier. :laugh:

 

My once reluctant writer is really getting into it though. I'm so happy to see this side of him. Feeling good knowing this is the right time for him.

 

Good luck with the course descriptions and everything else, 8! She is such a capable, talented student. I can imagine how fun it must be! So psyched for her! :001_wub:

[quark]

Yikes - My son just filled out a ton of the info on the CA last weekend.  I just checked his account and he listed himself as a "freshman".  I can't figure out how to change it to "other student."  Does anyone know how I can do this for him?  He is out of town and I would hate for him to lose his info and have to start over.

 

:ohmy: I hope you found an answer, snowbeltmom!

 

[snowbeltmom]

:ohmy: I hope you found an answer, snowbeltmom!

 

My son is out of town.  I think I will call for him on Monday and see if the CA folks can adjust his settings.  

[snowbeltmom]

My part of the application process is finished!  I have sent in the transcript, school profile, official test scores, course descriptions and a reading list for the official pre-read on July 1st. 

 

This time around is drastically different than it was for my oldest.  My rising senior made his decision a few months ago.  While he notified the other coaches of his decision, he was going to wait until he was officially admitted in December to make the official announcement on the national website for his sport. 

 

My boys won a big tournament last week and were interviewed by a reporter.  He told the reporter where he had committed.  On our long drive home, my husband calls us to tell us that my son is being discussed on twitter.  The next day, I log in to the national website to discover the announcement of where my son is headed.

 

Since it is now official, I have updated my siggy.  I am thrilled for my son as we all feel he chose the perfect school for him.

[Luckymama]

Congrats (on so many levels!) to snowbeltmom and ds :party:

[callapidder]

I'm so impressed with those who are making progress on these already. I'm having a hard time motivating my rising senior to work on anything extra right now (outside of job, mowing, etc.). My goal at this point is to get going in July...

[quark]

I wanted to ask you about the siggy. :D

 

Wooohoooo! Thank you for sharing. So cool! Congrats to your DS and to you for the hard work, especially after sending your first DS off too!

 

So does it work differently if a student is recruited by a coach? Do they find out earlier? (I am wondering about the Class of 2021 in the siggy).

[quark]

I'm so impressed with those who are making progress on these already. I'm having a hard time motivating my rising senior to work on anything extra right now (outside of job, mowing, etc.). My goal at this point is to get going in July...

 

But he has a job and is mowing! I wish mine would mow. :glare: We are trying to get this done sooner because I really don't want to pile on the stress closer to due dates. I'm the kind of person who will arrive at a 3pm appointment at 2.30pm just so I can avoid running to the door because I am late. Prefer walking in calmly to running lol.

 

It's possible that the stress will be inevitable though.  :mellow: 

 

Best of luck to your DS, callapidder!

 

[callapidder]

But he has a job and is mowing! I wish mine would mow. :glare: We are trying to get this done sooner because I really don't want to pile on the stress closer to due dates. I'm the kind of person who will arrive at a 3pm appointment at 2.30pm just so I can avoid running to the door because I am late. Prefer walking in calmly to running lol.

 

It's possible that the stress will be inevitable though.  :mellow:

 

Best of luck to your DS, callapidder!

 

 

I'm the same way about being early. :) (And actually, my son is too, so I'm not worried that he'll put it off forever...just for a now.)

 

He watched his senior friends last year wait until the last minute, be completely stressed out, apply at a ton of schools and have a hard time making decisions... and he wants nothing to do with that. So once he's recovered from junior year, I do think he'll be ready to get things done and out of the way. I do think there will always be some amount of stress that goes with this process, though. ;)

 

All the best to yours as well!

[goldberry]

Are these 2017 graduates we are talking about, starting essays now?  OMG, am I behind?  I thought we worked on applications in the fall??

:willy_nilly:

[snowbeltmom]

I wanted to ask you about the siggy. :D

 

Wooohoooo! Thank you for sharing. So cool! Congrats to your DS and to you for the hard work, especially after sending your first DS off too!

 

So does it work differently if a student is recruited by a coach? Do they find out earlier? (I am wondering about the Class of 2021 in the siggy).

 

Yes, the timeline is different for athletic recruits, and that timeline varies by sport.  In my kiddos' sport, Div I Coaches can make contact with a recruit per NCAA rules on September 1st of junior year. 

 

While my son loves his sport, academics have always come first, and he knew that he either wanted to play in the Ivy League or a high academic Div III because both leagues have restrictions on both the number of school days missed due to travel and the number of hours each week the player spends on the court.  (He has friends at non-Ivy Div I schools who spend 8+ hours a day training and knew that wouldn't be a good fit for him.  His friends are very happy with their schools though, too)

 

In both the Ivy and NESCAC leagues, the coach is given slots (the average seemed to be 3) and as long as the recruit has the required test scores/transcript gpa and passes muster with admissions, that coach is able to offer him a slot.  The academic requirements also vary depending on the school.  Based on our experience and that of son's peers, P'ton, Yale, Williams and Amherst have the highest academic requirements.  (The academic standards are high in both leagues, but the Academic Index that the leagues abide by is a function of the overall test scores of the entire student body at each individual school)

 

We took our son on a college trip this past fall.  He met with coaches, professors, and players on the teams.  He narrowed his list down to 4 schools - 2 Ivy and 2 NESCAC.  We then took him back to revisit the 4 schools at the end of February. 

 

I was surprised how open the coaches are with each other and with the recruits.  In one coach's office, he had a list of all the recruits he was meeting with that month, along with all of the recruits' stats.  I found it strange to be sitting in the office with that chart posted on the wall in very easy view.  As we were leaving the last school, College X, on the February visit, my son received a text from Coach at College Y asking him how his visit went at College X.   This whole process was very interesting and stressful at times.

 

While some of my son's peers began officially announcing their commitments in March (one of my son's friends announced his Ivy commitment in December of his junior year!), the commitments are all verbal at this point.  Technically, the recruit is not admitted until he receives his official admissions letter from admissions, which doesn't come until results are announced.

 

My son was going to wait to officially announce until he received the official letter from admissions, but he wasn't keeping it a secret when someone would ask him.  Now that it was officially announced in writing on the national website, I felt it was safe for me to celebrate and announce it here.

 

[8filltheheart]

Are these 2017 graduates we are talking about, starting essays now?  OMG, am I behind?  I thought we worked on applications in the fall??

:willy_nilly:

 

We have been working on a college list since Sept 2015.  She hasn't started her essays yet, but she is still emailing depts and gathering info.  She will start working on her essays in a couple of weeks.

 

I want the application process completed by the first week in Sept.  I do not want her sr yr consumed with applications.  College apps are hugely time consuming.  I want them done!!

[JanetC]

We have been working on a college list since Sept 2015.  She hasn't started her essays yet, but she is still emailing depts and gathering info.  She will start working on her essays in a couple of weeks.

 

I want the application process completed by the first week in Sept.  I do not want her sr yr consumed with applications.  College apps are hugely time consuming.  I want them done!!

 

I think you should at least be at the point of "making final college list choices" by the end of junior year, and the bare minimum by the end of the summer is "final college list done" and main personal statement and/or common app essay done. You can still be working on the rest in the fall, but if you can get it done earlier that is great. We didn't and it was so hard to fit it in with DD's DE schedule. 8Fill is totally right that the apps are hugely time consuming, and depending on what your senior is doing, it can be really hard to get it all done without ruining Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Are these 2017 graduates we are talking about, starting essays now?  OMG, am I behind?  I thought we worked on applications in the fall??

:willy_nilly:

 

The Common Application for the class of 2020 opens up on August 1, BUT students can create log ins now as Other Student (instead of prospective freshmen) and enter a bunch of the data (address, school info, parents' educational status, etc).  On Aug 1, the info will roll over and the student can redesignate as a prospective Freshman.

 

The essays for CA will be the same as last year's, so a student could get started on those at any point.  The best practice for essays or short answer responses is to write them in a word processing program and then paste them in.  This lets you do spelling checks, print and revise as well as save a copy for later revision and use.

 

You aren't behind.  But many schools have early action deadlines in fall or have an early fall deadline for primary scholarship consideration.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I think you should at least be at the point of "making final college list choices" by the end of junior year, and the bare minimum by the end of the summer is "final college list done" and main personal statement and/or common app essay done. You can still be working on the rest in the fall, but if you can get it done earlier that is great. We didn't and it was so hard to fit it in with DD's DE schedule. 8Fill is totally right that the apps are hugely time consuming, and depending on what your senior is doing, it can be really hard to get it all done without ruining Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks.

 

While I agree that this would be ideal, for us summer is as busy or busier than fall.  I'm trying to get ds to work through at least the service academy portion, where there really are early deadlines (nomination applications are due by Sep in our area).

[Kinspired]

I keep visiting this thread to motivate myself to start my part off the app, but the part of me who's in denial that my oldest will be a senior in the fall has the upper hand. It's as if my not doing my counselor letter and such, yet, will delay what's inevitable.

[goldberry]

I feel nauseous... :ack2:

 

We do have a sort-of-final list... Several colleges on her list do not accept the common app, and the couple of ones that do accept it also have their own.  I guess I should look if it is even worthwhile to do it? (common app, I mean)

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I feel nauseous... :ack2:

 

We do have a sort-of-final list... Several colleges on her list do not accept the common app, and the couple of ones that do accept it also have their own.  I guess I should look if it is even worthwhile to do it? (common app, I mean)

 

I feel like even if only 2-3 schools use the Common App, that is fewer sets of transcripts, school profiles and homeschool supplements to send in to individual offices.  As a counselor, you will be able to see when schools have downloaded the application documents (which is really helpful when a school can't find stuff).  And it helps to cut down on the number of separate actions recommenders have to take to provide recommendations.  

[JanetC]

I feel nauseous... :ack2:

 

We do have a sort-of-final list... Several colleges on her list do not accept the common app, and the couple of ones that do accept it also have their own.  I guess I should look if it is even worthwhile to do it? (common app, I mean)

 

 

Whether you do the common app is up to you. It won't change your workload all that much, just which websites you fight with to upload it to colleges.

 

You will be doing a transcript and course description anyway. The school profile and counselor letter could be skipped if you skip the common app. However, if you are not doing them, you would probably explain how your homeschool worked in the course description document to provide some background information to colleges.