How much do you help with college app essays?

[ByGrace3]

This feels like high stakes . . . but surely helping edit is ok? Not writing it for them obviously, but this doesn't seem like the time to be hands off. My dd is super ready for college, got an A in comp 1 and will fly through comp 2 this semester . . . but for some reason I am super intimidated by the college admission process. She has the grades, the GPA, the test scores, I don't think admittance will be a problem -- but she will need merit aid if she goes out of state so the stakes are high.... How much do  you help?

[EKS]

I helped a lot in the sense that we discussed and discussed and discussed and at the end I made sure that the mechanics were correct.  No regrets.

[8filltheheart]

I steered them toward active voice and showing  vs telling. We read through multiple JHU's "essays that worked" and then we discussed how they could turn their ideas into compelling stories. I would help them edit for spelling, grammar, mechanics by highlighting errors. 

[Farrar]

Please feel zero guilt about helping with all mechanics issues. Anything that falls under copy editing is fair game for you to literally just tell them to fix.

For everything else, use your judgment. But I think it's fine to suggest changes, including big ones. Just make sure it's suggestions. Don't write the essay for them. Let them keep their own voices.

But... be sure everyone's idea of what makes a good essay is at least in the ballpark. I've had conversations with parents who have some weird ideas about what would make a good essay. Not necessarily weird in that I see why it sounds good on paper. But often not actually a great topic. And keep in mind that admissions can see your kid's activities and transcript. You don't have to rehash it in the essay. In fact, don't. Also avoid cliches (winning the big game, losing the big game...). Seconding the JHU essays that worked, but other colleges put those out as well, like Hamilton. And the College Essay Guy's examples are really good.

[easypeasy]

We brainstormed ideas back and forth and worked together to narrow down to a couple final choices (if I didn't brainstorm this part with them, none of them would have ever attended college, I don't think. Coming up with the ideas was the hardest part for all 4).

Then, the kid would write a rough draft and I'd read it while it was still rough to see if I felt the story had teeth. If I gave a thumbs up (and I didn't always... sometimes they would be married to an idea and it just had no meat to its bones, imho... I'd let them start it but not encourage them to spend hours and hours more if their rough draft didn't have a clear direction or if I found it boring), they'd work the essay until they felt it was a solid "early-final" draft and I'd read it again. I'd give constructive criticism ("This part drags on too long," or "You've buried the lead.") and they would tackle it again. When I'd get it back, I'd scratch out any lazy verbs and tell them if their intro/conclusion was boring or muddy. Then, they'd get it again! lol After this point, siblings would get a read-through and the kid would send it to a couple close friends/mentors and get outside perspectives and make sure everything read clear. Through this process, they would polish the essay up and I'd get one last read-through before it was considered "done."

Oh - at some point in the process we had a "table talk" about the introductory paragraph - making sure they had a hook of some type and that it was catchy. They'd just start writing sentences and we would verbally thesaurus ideas/words/sentences back and forth until they found a combination of words they were happy with.

Long process. Worth it, though.

Edited August 25, 2022 by easypeasy

[gstharr]

18 hours ago, ByGrace3 said:

but for some reason I am super intimidated by the college admission process. She has the grades, the GPA, the test scores, I don't think admittance will be a problem -- but she will need merit aid if she goes out of state so the stakes are high.... How much do  you help?

Don't allow the essay to stress you. It seems daunting. But, if your daughter has the classes, grades and TEST scores, and the scores fall at or above the school's 50th percentile, the essay is just another, and slightly lower factor, in the admission process.  70% of admissions is grades, gpa and test scores.  While it will be nice to have one of those knock out essays, a reasonably competent one is all that is required if you are at the 50+ percentile.  Having strongly met the admission requirement, acceptance is more about what a school is looking for to round out its class.  Think something that is not otherwise shown in the rest of the application package.  otoh, essays are extemely important for  no testers, reaches, and marginally quallified applicants, 

[8filltheheart]

@gstharr I'd add competitive scholarships to your list.  For example, for schools like USC Columbia, the app essay is probably the most important part of how they select honors college students and Top Scholars. 

[ByGrace3]

This is all helpful, thank you so much!

[Momto6inIN]

Prewriting we discussed the topics ad nauseum wrt what aspects of themselves to highlight. That was very collaborative, but ultimately obviously their call as to what to write about.

After they wrote the first draft, I helped with grammar and mechanics for sure. I highlighted parts that sounded awkward or repetitive or irrelevant or whatever and sometimes they took my advice and sometimes they didn't. So the editing process was somewhat collaborative, but mostly just me giving feedback and them deciding what to do with it.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

No ethical issue with providing feedback, asking questions, or copy editing. 

But do be light handed. Let the student write in their own voice. I doesn't have to sound like a 40 year old wrote it.