Weekly Column Tag: parents and college
Tag: parents and college
 |
 |
 |
|||||
Another group of admission representatives from highly selective colleges were in my hometown last week to talk with students and parents about their schools. They also had a breakfast meeting with counselors, and their responses to questions about the application process have a little something for every member of a college-bound family: Supplemental essays are the game-changers. We’ve talked before about the Common Application, where students fill out their name and class schedule just once, saving time and avoiding repetition. Hundreds of colleges welcome Common App, but almost every college asks you to submit an extra essay or two (or three) you’re supposed to write just for them… …and it seems this is where things begin to go badly in a hurry. Many students are putting very little thought into these essays, which can include questions like “What makes our college different from the other colleges you’re applying to?” Since the essays are much more important than your address (they assume you’ve got that answer down), you really want to make these answers count. So don’t spend 30 seconds on the college Web site and answer “Your mascot is a marsupial, and the other colleges have mammals.” You have to take the time to think about why this college is special to you; when essay time comes, come back and find out how this is done. Talking to your BFFs? I think not. The reps were also dismayed at the very revealing content of many of the essays. As a group, these admissions officers were young, so they know all about Tweeting, IMing, and News Feeding—but they also know a college essay isn’t the place to talk about what you did in the high school parking lot after homecoming, har har har. Yes, you are indeed supposed to use your own voice and be yourself in a college essay,-- but use that voice to share your vision of solving a world problem, or a life lesson you learned that isn’t R rated. Be you, but be your best you—and that’s “you”, not “u”. LOL. Write with a brainy heart, not a hearty brain. The reps also had a word for students who think they can smooth talk their way into a college by getting “help’ with their essays, or buying them online: “Sorry.” It’s one thing to have someone proofread your essays, or to ask an English teacher to tell you if the essay sounds like you. Downloading a “winning essay” and retro-fitting it, or getting someone else to give your essay a boost creates an admissions file that’s inconsistent, immoral, and just too slick for a high school student. So write your own stuff, and share your thoughts and feelings with a reasonable amount of restraint. How will they know the difference? As one rep said, “We’re savvy, too.” “Let the kids drive.” This is the advice one rep gave to parents about the admissions process, and it’s perfect. A student admitted to a highly selective college will have to have a strong set of skills to make it through the next four years. The college application process test drives these skills—time management, written and oral communication, research, stress management—and just like driver’s ed, Mom and Dad can’t take the wheel, or the student could crash once they’re really on their own. Applying to college may be a new experience for a student, but the only way they get better at those skills is with a lot of practice and a little parental help, not the other way around.
|
|||||||
 |
 |
 |
| Comment | 0 | Hits: 364 |