Shellydon Posted July 7, 2019 Share Posted July 7, 2019 My rising senior is really struggling with writing essays for her college applications. This daughter is a particularly good writer and enjoys writing papers for classes so I have been caught off-guard with how much of a struggle a personal essay is for her. None of the school she is applying for require the personal essay, it is optional. Are ACT scores make her an automatic act meant for all of her schools as well. Should we just skip the essay? Will it be important for scholarships? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted July 7, 2019 Share Posted July 7, 2019 8 hours ago, Shellydon said: Are ACT scores make her an automatic act meant for all of her schools as well. I don’t understand what you are asking. Can you please clarify? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted July 7, 2019 Author Share Posted July 7, 2019 Sorry for that typo. DD ACT scores qualify her for automatic admission at each college she wants to attend. Since the essay is optional is it really that bad to skip it or will that hurt scholarship chances? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted July 7, 2019 Share Posted July 7, 2019 Hmmm, good question. Is it a school that publishes automatic merit aid numbers for certain GPA/test scores? If so, I would think it wouldn’t be necessary to write the optional essay. It might be worth asking the schools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royspeed Posted July 7, 2019 Share Posted July 7, 2019 5 hours ago, Shellydon said: Since the essay is optional is it really that bad to skip it or will that hurt scholarship chances? Shellydon: My guess: It will definitely hurt her scholarship chances. Both of our students wrote really fine essays for colleges where they hoped for scholarships; each received merit aid worth full tuition or more. — Difficult to imagine their receiving such awards without those essays... —Roy Speed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted July 7, 2019 Author Share Posted July 7, 2019 3 hours ago, fourisenough said: Hmmm, good question. Is it a school that publishes automatic merit aid numbers for certain GPA/test scores? If so, I would think it wouldn’t be necessary to write the optional essay. It might be worth asking the schools. Yes, all of the school she is applying for publish automatic merit financial aid numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted July 7, 2019 Author Share Posted July 7, 2019 25 minutes ago, royspeed said: Shellydon: My guess: It will definitely hurt her scholarship chances. Both of our students wrote really fine essays for colleges where they hoped for scholarships; each received merit aid worth full tuition or more. — Difficult to imagine their receiving such awards without those essays... —Roy Speed This is what I'm really worried about. at this point though we may not have a choice she simply is not being able to produce an essay. Literature analysis and technical writing it's very easy for her and she excels, but this type of writing is apparently impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royspeed Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 7 hours ago, Shellydon said: This is what I'm really worried about. Shellydon: It's distressing to hear that your daughter is struggling with this challenge — i.e., the personal essay. I have long been concerned about our standard approaches to student writing — for instance, students' being asked to write essays before they've actually read any. Unfortunately, the standard approaches don't always help the student discover his or her own "voice" in writing. Feel free to message me, Shellydon; I may have some suggestions. —Roy Speed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellydon Posted July 8, 2019 Author Share Posted July 8, 2019 15 hours ago, royspeed said: Shellydon: It's distressing to hear that your daughter is struggling with this challenge — i.e., the personal essay. I have long been concerned about our standard approaches to student writing — for instance, students' being asked to write essays before they've actually read any. Unfortunately, the standard approaches don't always help the student discover his or her own "voice" in writing. Feel free to message me, Shellydon; I may have some suggestions. —Roy Speed Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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